joelbiltz
WKR
I just finished up a awesome trip to Alaska where I was able to kill my third and final moose species to complete the moose slam. I booked this hunt three years ago with Jeremy Reusink of Rogue Expeditions.
The hunt started out Friday as I left my home town of Brookville Indiana for the long flights to Anchorage. My guide picked me up and we overnighted at the outfitters house. Saturday morning early I experienced my first super cub flight to moose camp. Mid day was spent doing camp chores and napping. That evening I stayed at camp to glass the river bottom for moose while my guide and packer went up to a glassing knob to look into some hidden meadows. As I sat close to the bottom I could hear the faint grunt of bulls in the trees but never laid eyes on them. When the guide and packer got back to camp they were excited to say they found two bulls. One of them was legal (in this area the bulls had to be 50 inches or three brow points). Best of all theses bulls were only 300 yards from our camp. After viewing footage and pictures although the legal bull was not wide he had great fronts and lots of nice points. I made the decision that I would be more than happy with him if he showed up.
Sunday morning Was nice and cool with a slight frost. Absolutely no wind. As we were enjoying our mountain house breakfast my guide looked across the river to find the smaller of the two bulls. We knew the bigger legal bull had to be close. Then after moving a few feet my guide spotted the bull only 60 or so yards down river in a meadow right on the river bank. We quickly confirmed it was the same bull and I set up for a easy 208 yard shot. As I steadied the crosshairs on my Proof Research Glacier and Nightforce 2.5-10x42 scope. The bull took two steps and I sent a 208 ELDM bullet on its way. We heard a solid hit as the bull rocked his head back and dropped instantly. After about three minutes of celebration I looked over to see the bull back on his feet. One quick follow up shot with a solid hit. The bull disappeared in the brush. We hurried across the river to find the bull a mere 20 yards from where he stood at the first shot. The next 8 hours was spent cutting up, quartering and packing the moose approximately 400 yards back to the airstrip. Just like that three years of anticipation was over in less than thirty minutes of my first day. I will never forget this special place with the big river bottom and steep mountains on both sides.
The hunt started out Friday as I left my home town of Brookville Indiana for the long flights to Anchorage. My guide picked me up and we overnighted at the outfitters house. Saturday morning early I experienced my first super cub flight to moose camp. Mid day was spent doing camp chores and napping. That evening I stayed at camp to glass the river bottom for moose while my guide and packer went up to a glassing knob to look into some hidden meadows. As I sat close to the bottom I could hear the faint grunt of bulls in the trees but never laid eyes on them. When the guide and packer got back to camp they were excited to say they found two bulls. One of them was legal (in this area the bulls had to be 50 inches or three brow points). Best of all theses bulls were only 300 yards from our camp. After viewing footage and pictures although the legal bull was not wide he had great fronts and lots of nice points. I made the decision that I would be more than happy with him if he showed up.
Sunday morning Was nice and cool with a slight frost. Absolutely no wind. As we were enjoying our mountain house breakfast my guide looked across the river to find the smaller of the two bulls. We knew the bigger legal bull had to be close. Then after moving a few feet my guide spotted the bull only 60 or so yards down river in a meadow right on the river bank. We quickly confirmed it was the same bull and I set up for a easy 208 yard shot. As I steadied the crosshairs on my Proof Research Glacier and Nightforce 2.5-10x42 scope. The bull took two steps and I sent a 208 ELDM bullet on its way. We heard a solid hit as the bull rocked his head back and dropped instantly. After about three minutes of celebration I looked over to see the bull back on his feet. One quick follow up shot with a solid hit. The bull disappeared in the brush. We hurried across the river to find the bull a mere 20 yards from where he stood at the first shot. The next 8 hours was spent cutting up, quartering and packing the moose approximately 400 yards back to the airstrip. Just like that three years of anticipation was over in less than thirty minutes of my first day. I will never forget this special place with the big river bottom and steep mountains on both sides.
