2022 ALASKA MOOSE 14-DAY DIY (and a preseason 10-day float)

[roymunson]

whole lot to love about this...

lotta confidence in the weapon to take a head shot with lungs that big nearby. Can't argue with the success tho. Good work!

 

[mobilefamily]

Congratulations! Thank you for your report and THANK YOU for your example that we may all keep doing it for many more years if we take care of ourselves.

 

[keller]

Congrats on a great hunt!! Really enjoy reading your posts. I'm headed moose hunting in the same area next year. Would be my pleasure to meet you coming or going!! Best wishes

 

[boliver29]

Congrats


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[AM3]

Very good write-up, congratulations on years of success and memories.

 

[Redwood]

Congrats on an awesome bull! Great story thanks for sharing

 

[ETtikka]

Awesome story, thanks for sharing the experience and nice pictures!

 

[OXN939]

We have fortunately always taken two bulls on these hunts, and then shared our meat across our grateful families and friends. The good wx windows this year were few and relatively short in duration, and we were repeatedly mindful that it would likely be tight for us two older guys to do responsible meat retrieval without the meat getting wet in the next rain, which seemed to always be just around the corner on many of our hunting days. My hunting friend just turned 70, and I turn 70 next week, so we do move slower.

We prioritize bringing home quality meat and doing responsible field-care once the animal is down, e.g., careful field butchering, keeping meat dry in the process, getting all meat loads back to camp that day, and having meat hanging dry and bagged under the tented meat-pole that we make every year, etc. I’m sure many/most/all fellow ‘sliders here share those values. A huge rack is a bonus for us.

On our hunt the longer/drier wx windows occurred in the first two-days of our hunt with one exception on hunting Day #8 discussed later, but the wind was really heavy and pretty consistently strong throughout those first few days, e.g., 30-35mph. Moose generally don’t like to move in strong wind, nor is calling very productive in heavy wind at least in my experience. Conversely, those particular first few nights were oddly super-calm with a full moon…so the moose were partying all night and then sacked-out all day sleeping it off while hunkered-down out of the strong wind.

Some good viewing moments between the rains those first couple days.

On evening #2 we saw a predominantly white wolf all by itself about 300yds out. Just a 20 second moment in time…it was on the move. Phone was in my pocket in the quick-draw, but my rifle wasn’t in my hands, so no shot. I took about a half-dozen quick pictures.

The highly detailed image below shows just how amazing and contrastingly white that wolf truly was in our tundra setting. I am, of course, being sarcastic because that photo of the wolf is…well…it sucks…all those photos did! I had to buy a new phone this summer, so I got an iPhone-13 Pro, which I do like. I’ve always used Lifeproof ™ cases with my previous phones when in the field, but that case for this phone model didn’t work consistently well for me in several ways…one of the ways is shared in that photo!
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Incredible writeup and an awesome story. Thanks for sharing!

 

[AKDoc]

Thank you all for your very kind and thoughtful comments. I'm very happy to share my hunting and outdoor adventures with others here on Rockslide. So many good and like-minded people here!

 

[Red Letters]

booked

 

[Dryfirepete]

Doc,
your posts are always insightful and a pleasure to read, but that is just epic for anybody dreaming of a diy hunt in Alaska. Great write up! Thanks!

 

[jmort2]

Looks like an amazing trip! Congrats!

 

[Footshooter]

I am interested in the white sled you are pulling the horns on in your picture. A hunting buddy and I are headed to AK (with Renfro’s) next season and working on the final gear list. A sled or way to deal with meat and such (other than 100% pack carry) would be worth looking Into.

Congrats on that bull, he is a really good one.

 

[AK Troutbum]

I am interested in the white sled you are pulling the horns on in your picture. A hunting buddy and I are headed to AK (with Renfro’s) next season and working on the final gear list. A sled or way to deal with meat and such (other than 100% pack carry) would be worth looking Into.

Congrats on that bull, he is a really good one.

IDK if Doc is using one of these or not, but this might be a good place to check out anyway. Especially the light weight ones.

Airframes Alaska can now be found at the Alaska Gear Company

 

[Footshooter]

IDK if Doc is using one of these or not, but this might be a good place to check out anyway. Especially the light weight ones.

Airframes Alaska can now be found at the Alaska Gear Company

Thanks for sharing that info, those look like the same as he had. Seems like it would be a good idea.

 

[AKDoc]

IDK if Doc is using one of these or not, but this might be a good place to check out anyway. Especially the light weight ones.

Airframes Alaska can now be found at the Alaska Gear Company

You're on it TB!! Good suggestion!

I am interested in the white sled you are pulling the horns on in your picture. A hunting buddy and I are headed to AK (with Renfro’s) next season and working on the final gear list. A sled or way to deal with meat and such (other than 100% pack carry) would be worth looking Into.

Congrats on that bull, he is a really good one.

Thank you! Having a roll-up sled has been very helpful over the years for me...and I've gotten numerous compliments from pilots for bringing one.

The sled you're asking about, I've used for the past two years (three bulls)...it is well designed, and has worked very well for me. It is a sled designed by Larry Bartlett, and now marketed by Northern Sled Works. This sled is extremely well made, and is going to last much longer than me! My kids will be using it further down the road. Nothing but good to say about it...

Airframes Alaska Is Now Alaska Gear Company

For several years I used a less expensive and lighter sled for these same drop-camp moose hunts. It worked ok, but not without some repetitive hassles, i.e., just one example is that the sled would tend to develop a pointed front as I'd pull moose loads over the tundra...and of course that pointed front would dig into the tundra, increase drag and eventually brake the drag. Here is the one that I previously used, but I've got to say that the LB designed sled is much better. Cheaper is not always better LOL...

https://www.amazon.com/DEER-SLEIGHR-Magnum-Game-Sled/dp/B001CJI7XA

A couple of additional comments...I've never dragged bagged moose meat through water or sloughs. I don't do that. The LB designed sled drags extremely well over the tundra. Dragging bagged moose back to the meat-pole is much preferred by me, especially at my age. I've humped my shared of moose meat bags on my back over the tundra!

 

[Scottf270]

I used the Deer Sleigher magnum this year myself. It was not perfect, but helped a lot. It did become "pointed" in the front and tried rolling over several times. We attached a rear guide line and my buddy walked behind helping steer the rear around curves and obstacles.
We were in trees so the pointed front actually helped get it started thru the brush. I left it at Papa Bear.

 

[JPD350]

I just saw your story and enjoyed every bit of it, also congratulations on your bull and the window of opportunity! I often feel the ups and downs of mother nature are big part of what enhances the adventure, generally it's a known factor but often the extent of Wx is way more than predicted. Many of my hunts are remembered just because of the adverse conditions I got to endure.

Sorry to hear that your buddy isn't able to do your trips anymore, I imagine that's a tough thing for both of you! hopefully he stays busy doing what he can and having fun doing it.

Thanks again for taking the time to post!

 

[mcseal2]

Congratulations and thanks for sharing your adventures with us.

 

[Aries_Ranger]

Congrats!

And thanks for sharing that amazing hunt.