I had to close my wife's giftshop in Pioneer park before I could go. We had the last three days of season. We shot up there and camped at the Marion Creek Campgrounds. It was really nice there. One couple who is on here were there. We never connected and did our own thing.
Day 1. We left camp early on while the aurora was active in the mountain skies. There was a lot more semi traffic than normal as the Alpine and Pika fields are blowing up. We had heard that there was six times the regular traffic. It was warm and clear the entire time we were there which is not the best weather for moose hunting. We saw six different cows during the first day by driving slow and watching the shoulders or the high hanging valleys. I heard one bull return grunts from Tushapuk lake that is near the mountain. He never showed up but this looked to be a good area.
Day 2. We got up early and saw a 40ish bull about 600 yards off of the road. I tried to go straight towards him because the wind was right. There was a copse of trees about 150 yards and I thought I would be able to stalk from there. I got there and he had been spooked by somebody hitting their jack brake. I recircled and got to 115 yards. The wind changed and he winded me and kind of melted into the trees. I was 40 yards with my gear and ability from getting the deal done. I returned to the road and visited with some other hunters. They said that they saw a paddle bull( They were hunting with a non-resident tag) and couldn't shoot the small moose.
Day 3- We woke up and went on the prowl for the paddle bull. We found him in a pond about 25 yards off of the highway. I snuck through brush and got to a viable spot about 60 yards from him. I went to full draw and was going to release when another truck made a racket and he skittered into a place where I had no shot. He then moved about 250 yards further. I attempted to cut him off but he was faster. Two good opportunities but just fate kept me from scoring.
Good Optics are a must. The moose are pretty sensitive and I think its the traffic. It is going to be heavy trucking to nail a 50+ bull up there but with days it would be doable. A solar or stryker inflatable up one of the creeks would be money. There were several groups camping on the river and the moose were high.
