Archery for alaskan moose

[Oregonbred]

like the marines or whatever branch that started it says, "Embrace the suck." Thankfully I have been training with heavy pack loads for the past few years to keep the body used to getting half an elk out in one go In burn recent enough that it's like walking in foot-deep snow when you walk on the "dirt" more dust if you ask me. so it won't be as much of a shock I hope.

not trying to say it will be like an elk pack, I know my ass will get kicked on a moose pack.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

like the marines or whatever branch that started it says, "Embrace the suck." Thankfully I have been training with heavy pack loads for the past few years to keep the body used to getting half an elk out in one go In burn recent enough that it's like walking in foot-deep snow when you walk on the "dirt" more dust if you ask me. so it won't be as much of a shock I hope.

I like doing heavy sandbag workouts all winter too. Seems to help me in the fall when I’m dealing with heavy chunks of meat on soft ground.

 

[Oregonbred]

I like doing heavy sandbag workouts all winter too. Seems to help me in the fall when I’m dealing with heavy chunks of meat on soft ground.

yup 120 on the back and 50 in each hand for 4 miles is the routine off season trainer for me. don't do it as much come winter because falling with that much weight due to ice is a good way to write off any upcoming hunting trips for the next year

 

[Oregonbred]

anyways I appreciate all the tidbits everyone has shared, helped with getting some of the expectations set early. hopefully around this time next year, Ill have another post in here to share how things went.

 

[mooster]

Unless you know the terrain of where your hunting it’s hard to say a bow would be appropriate but I’d still take it. You can always borrow someone in camp’s rifle if you realize the bows not gonna work, or you approach the last days of your hunt and get desperate.

My lake drop this year was an ideal setup for bow, but I didn’t kill anything as the only legal opportunities were un-callable and un-stocksble bulls with cows at a distance. I had sublegal bulls within trad range, so I could have taken an animal if they had been legal. My hunting partner, using a rifle was successful.

Over the three bow hunts I’ve been on, I’ve had numerous sub-legal bulls within 15-50 yards. Given penetration concerns, I’d be anxious about longer shots.

 

[wildwilderness]

Some tidbits I’ve acquired from my limited moose experience-

Moose hunting can be very BORING until a legal bull shows

Been on a few unsuccessful hunts, and 1 archery Shiras successfully, and a couple successful helping others

Archery is totally doable. Moose are not the toughest animals despite their size. A marginal hit will usually slow them down enough to let you get follow up shots. Nothing like a tough elk

Packing meat sucks but is doable and not much worse than elk, usually just pace yourself and will be fine.

They are as big as a barn door, so you can shoot as far as you want to . Be ethical but a 60 yd shot at a moose is the same MOA as a 20 yd shot on a whitetail.

Used fixed broadheads, need penetration. Don’t bring a rifle if you want to kill with a bow. Bring a rifle if you really want to kill a moose! Low density means there may only be one opportunity or none

Lots of arguments over a Wheel Gun vs a semi auto pistol! Many debates have raged but the fact of the matter take what you have or what you shoot better- most importantly have it ON YOU and LOADED at all times, especially when cutting meat. I really like the Gunfighters Inc Kenai Chest harness. You will likely never use it. Living in AK I have used it on a Black Bear, and had a very close call with a brownie

Easy test - get a basketball size ball (cheap rubber playground one) Strap on your handgun. Go to a range with a steep hill. Throw the ball about 20 yards up the hill. See if you can hit the ball before it bounces/rolls back to you.

Not a chance with a heavy revolver for me, but I can unload my G20 pretty fast!

Good luck

 

[E Butler]

When I booked with Larry Bartlett he said if I brought both I would shoot my bull with a rifle 95% of the time. I decided to only take my bow. I shot my bull at 8 yards and my caribou at 37 yards. Not sure I would have felt accomplished with a gun.

 

[william schmaltz]

I'd say every year but one we've had at least one bull shot within 30 yards. When I bring guys along and they ask, it comes down to if this is your one chance in your life to shoot a moose and it's missed because you had a bow instead of rifle in your hand, will you be disappointed? If it hangs up at 60 yards in the willows and it's flight time for that bull and it comes down to your rifle hunting partner needing to take the rifle shot ASAP and you don't tag out will you be just as happy? That will give you the answer. If it's the experience you were after, you both had the same experience.

My thoughts are, what does it matter? The cool part of moose hunting is all the other stuff. If you spot a bull at 400 yards and you're watching it for 2 hours coming in on a rope and thrashes through the willows to 20 yards eyeing you down, that's the hunt. That's the experience you were after, and that's the part that matters. What happens the last split second of all that just doesn't matter to me. It's dead either way. I like hunting with my bow and donate to the local bowhunting association, but it honestly makes no difference. We've shot a lot of bulls where I've said "I could've shot that with a bow," but I've never really wished I had it because the outcome would've been the same. The part of moose hunting I enjoy the most isn't that final split second; it's everything that leads up to it. And that happens no matter what weapon I'm holding and usually happens at close range. My answer changes with other animals that require a different style of hunting, but moose hunting is inherently an in-your-face type of hunt. It takes a substantial amount of time and money, neither of which I have too much of, so I will always take that insurance to make sure I bring home the bacon if he hangs up at 100 yds. My family literally depends on it.

 

[AkRyan]

I have personally harvested all of my moose under 100yrds other than 1 and he was at 150ish. If anyone in your group can call I would bring the bow.

 

[Kevin Dill]

There are bowhunters. There are bow-only bowhunters. One is NOT better than the other, but they are different. I'm in the second group, and of course I eat tags regularly. That's my choice and I've never doubted it. You could send me on a $40k sheep hunt and my only weapon would be a bow and 6 arrows. And for what it's worth I would happily hunt right alongside a partner toting his tackdriver....but I wouldn't use it to complete my hunt.

2 components are necessary to my ultimate satisfaction. I need any big game animal close....under 25 yards (and 10 yards is my preference), and I need to kill it with one accurate arrow from my longbow. Moose were literally made for this...for me. Nothing beats a worked-up 1200+ pound bull rocking and talking at spitting distance. When they get what I call the 'whale eye'...eyes rolling around...and they're displaying that headgear prominently at ultra-close range, that's what I'm there for.

This is me. As I always point out, no judgment of those who do it differently. I've been called weird more than once.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

There are bowhunters. There are bow-only bowhunters. One is NOT better than the other, but they are different. I'm in the second group, and of course I eat tags regularly. That's my choice and I've never doubted it. You could send me on a $40k sheep hunt and my only weapon would be a bow and 6 arrows. And for what it's worth I would happily hunt right alongside a partner toting his tackdriver....but I wouldn't use it to complete my hunt.

2 components are necessary to my ultimate satisfaction. I need any big game animal close....under 25 yards (and 10 yards is my preference), and I need to kill it with one accurate arrow from my longbow. Moose were literally made for this...for me. Nothing beats a worked-up 1200+ pound bull rocking and talking at spitting distance. When they get what I call the 'whale eye'...eyes rolling around...and they're displaying that headgear prominently at ultra-close range, that's what I'm there for.

This is me. As I always point out, no judgment of those who do it differently. I've been called weird more than once.

I was that close to one this year. Shot it with a rifle though.

 

[Kristian13]

Take the bow and smile in the end.. satisfaction