DIY Moose hunt suggestions

[CameronAycock]

I will put out a name for you guys to call and talk to and research. Cole Hawkins with Hawk Mountain Air out of Birchwood, AK. I have met him at an SCI function and we had a good chat about what he was starting in 2014/15. He used to guide and fly exclusively for Revelation Mountain (I think). At the time of our face to face chat he was planning on developing more access for the upper reaches of the western Susitina drainage's like the Skwentna river and other further west in 16b and 19c. This region has been under extensive bear management for almost a decade and Cole's opinion in 2014/15 was that the bull moose were coming back and getting big/mature. I do not know if his flat rate of $4,000 per person for moose include a meat haul trip or not. You will have to call him and ask. However, $4,000 flat rate to get a person into and out of the boundary of 19c/16b with a moose is about as great a deal as I can think of. And if that includes horning in on the lower area of the drainage that Skankster is working over when he is not in court, all the better.

what do you mean by "when hes not in court"?

 

[Ray]

what do you mean by "when hes not in court"?

Long tedious issue with numerous violations of game laws and general decency.

Read this all the way to the end. Then you will have to start searching AK courtview and small market media outlets for more recent details.

 

[CameronAycock]

So are you telling me his operation is not ran very well? And that I shouldn't go with him?

 

[Ray]

So are you telling me his operation is not ran very well? And that I shouldn't go with him?

You need to read that link I posted. There are other threads for sheep hunts that spell it out the same. On 24Hour Campfire there are other threads on his operation that spell it out as well. You need to make a choice about the experience you want to have based on the experiences others have had. Its not always about the money.

 

[Huntfun]

Getting meat out of the bush and back home is far more complicated (and expensive) then I initially thought it would be. If you are on a tight time schedule to get home you better be really organized and know your options well or be prepared to pay someone to do it for you….so you need to know who that person will be ahead of time. The more flights you are away from a main city like Fairbanks or Anchorage, the more complicate and expensive it gets. How much meat you elect to take home plays a role too. My goal is to take all my meat home and share it with my many hunting friends who likely will never get a chance to hunt Moose…the meat is good eating!

I have charted out in detail and in writing all my options to get meat from each location to home to include contact info and flight schedules, name , etc. so I know who all my options are depending on the day I can get my meat out of the bush. I have to get my meat from the bush to village to Anchorage then home.

I spoke to Pen Air last week, who works hand in hand with Alaska Air flying to remote villages, as I was firming up info on my options to get meat to Anchorage and was advised as follows:

1. If you chose to ship your meat back with us (penAir), take it as baggage, not cargo, because baggage has priority over cargo and September is their busiest time of the year so it is highly possible cargo will get bumped (meaning left behind). Those of you fly Alaska Air should check to see if they have the same policy.

2. If you can, use Northern Air Cargo (NAC) to back haul meat...it is significantly cheaper and they will have the room to get your meat back. The issue with NAC you need to be aware of is they only fly to villages a few days a week...only 2 days a week where I will be.

After reading this thread, and knowing I plan to get all my Moose meat home, I pursued and have now become a Known Shipper with Alaska Air Cargo. This gives me another option to get my meat from Anchorage home. If you elect to become a Known Shipper with AAC, check the airports they fly into to make sure there is one near you and allow lots of time for the approval process to take place. Once AAC approves your application, they will give you contact info for a company who will have to send someone to your house, at your expense, to validate in person you are you and you live where you said you live. I am TSA Pre and Global Entry (US Customs) approved for air travel and they still had to send a person to my house to prove I am who I am and I live where I said I live.

 

[Beendare]

So are you telling me his operation is not ran very well? And that I shouldn't go with him?

You are booked with Tom Shankster? Oh boy, pretty sure the link provided you is one I chimed in on as I had won an auction hunt through FNAWS with him many years ago.

I'm not a very picky guy...when it comes to hunting...I can put up with a lot. And Tom is a great guy, great pilot....but his operation and organizational skills are poor; always overbooked so plan on sitting around for days at a time while he gets his act together, terrible equipment, etc. I was lucky as my hunt was through FNAWS so I got special treatment.

I will post the pic on my other computer of the rotted tent he dropped us with. I saw an old tent from the air 1/4 mile away and walked down to scrounge fabric we duct taped as a rainfly.

I wouldn't even consider booking another hunt with him.

 

[Kevin Dill]

Getting meat out of the bush and back home is far more complicated (and expensive) then I initially thought it would be. If you are on a tight time schedule to get home you better be really organized and know your options well or be prepared to pay someone to do it for you….

Excellent! Your entire post, which I part-quoted above, shows exactly the kind of effort required to make a diy moose hunt end with lots of good meat. It's understandable that most guys don't have a real clue how much effort and logistics are required to move well over 500 pounds of meat from a dead carcass....to camp...to village....to city and airport....to home...to a processor...and keep it in good shape the entire journey. Many people think in terms of the bulk and weight while forgetting it must be kept chilled or frozen all the way. Having lots of options and knowing how to execute plans A, B and C ahead of time can really save you money, stress and wasted effort.

While I value antlers as much as the average guy, I consider moose meat the ultimate culinary trophy. I've got enough moose racks to last a lifetime for me. I would instantly sacrifice a 60" rack in favor of a freezer full of fine meat. As a traveling NR moose hunter one of my most valuable meat tools never gets blood on it....a satellite phone. Planning...planning....planning....and then knowing what to do when tossed a curve is just smart thinking.

 

[VernAK]

I have had an incredible amount of moose and caribou meat given to me by non-resident hunters that were up against their flight schedules and they went home without meat. I have enough meat from my own efforts but a quick call to several older folks and the extra meat is put to good use.

Planning an Alaska hunt on a tight schedule is asking for problems. Unfortunately work and families limit time afield. If you have two weeks off and are planning a 10 day hunt, you are up against it.

 

[ELKMO]

Did a DIY by renting a boat out of Galena and traveling up the Yukon, not to the Koyukuk. Mailed up all gear prior, donated some meat to the locals in the village. The boat gives you flexibility vs air drop. Hard to venture far when packing a moose back to camp is required. Under 4k door to door from lower 48 10 years ago. Just another option.

 

[crunchy]

Did a DIY by renting a boat out of Galena and traveling up the Yukon, not to the Koyukuk. Mailed up all gear prior, donated some meat to the locals in the village. The boat gives you flexibility vs air drop. Hard to venture far when packing a moose back to camp is required. Under 4k door to door from lower 48 10 years ago. Just another option.

Is love to hear more, about this. Did you donate some meat because you knew you couldn't bring it all back?

 

[ELKMO]

It was a massive amount of meat from two bulls, one was 72" and over a 1,000 lbs. Packed them both about a mile to the river, there are elders in the village unable to hunt and were very grateful for some of it. pm sent with more details.

 

[Huntfun]

2017 Moose Hunt update…

In 2014, what was to be my first AK Moose bow hunt down the "Moose John" river, made famous by Jay Massy, was cancelled exactly 2 weeks prior to my flight to AK due to the Outfitter crashing his plane. The area was subsequently lost to another Outfitter that is not a traditional archery fan and the guy I was to do the hunt with pulled out. It has taken to 2017 to pull all the pieces back together to make another hunt happen and it will be in totally different area. I booked all my flights from MI to the Bush, 3 in and 3 out, 6 months in advance. Access to some of these small villages is very limited so I wanted to make sure I had my spots secured.

On September 28th, 13 days prior to flying to AK on 9/12 for my 2017 Moose bow hunt, I get a call from Penair (this is the airline that services Alaska Airlines customers) at 2pm EST letting me know they cancelled my 9/13 flight offering me the option to take a 9am 9/12 or 9/14 flight. My 9/12 flight from MI to Anchorage does not get in until 2:30pm so the 12th option is out. Our Bush pilot is booked for 9/13 noonish and he is booked tight so the 14th was really not an option either. I have rock solid blood pressure but I could feel it going out of control as I made a panicked call to Alaska Air Transit, who back when I was booking did not fly Wednesdays to the village I needed to get to, to see if they could save the day. Fortunately, they had added a flight on Wednesdays and had 6 seats left so I booked 2 of them at twice the clost of what I booked Penair 6 month ago. Hunt saved and blood pressure on its way back to rock solid!

The two week mark sure seems to be a bit of a curse for me when it comes to hunting AK.

What saved my bacon, and the point I want to impress upon all those who plan their DIY hunts, is I knew all my options in detail for pretty much every aspect of this Hunt and was able to quickly pivot to save my hunt. With 6 seats left on the only other flight to this village (other than chartering a flight), 4 now that I took 2 seats, I've got to think had I not known all my options and been able to quickly go into recovery mode by findig the name and phone number in my AK hunting notes, this hunt may not be going off as originally planned due to others getting those 6 seats. I’m guessing there are a lot hunters who are very upset right now as a result of the shor notice Penair droped on all their 9/13 passengers, as I am certain all those seats were sold quickly.

I had no idea, this late in the game, an airline like Penair would pull such an dirty move that could put my entire hunt at risk...but at the saying goes Sh*t Happens we just need to be ready to deal with it.

Happy to say in 11 days I will be on my way to my first AK DIY Moose bow hunt with another Traditional bowhunter friend I will finally meet on 9/12. On the 13th, we will be in the bush waiting for the morning of the 14th to begin my first AK Moose hunt.

 

[ChrisS]

I had no idea, this late in the game, an airline like Penair would pull such an dirty move that could put my entire hunt at risk...but at the saying goes Sh*t Happens we just need to be ready to deal with it.

Good luck with your hunt.

Re: Penair, this might have something to do with it.

While they're a small regional airline, but I'm getting convinced that major airlines have some complex algorithms that identify low-profit or money-losing flights, which they then cancel and shunt customers to other flights. If you have two planned flights and one is 75% full and the other 35% full, cancel the 35% and push the customers to the other flight, the extra 10% that get oversold get pushed out to other flights.

 

[KJH]

I've told a lot of people they need to have a great plan for doing their DIY trip and be 110% ready to make adjustments to it. Stuff will happen, and you need to have the patience, flexibility and level attitude to deal with it. I just learn from it and add it to my planning factors for next year. I guess I expect flight delays, bad weather, other camps nearby, etc. so when it doesn't happen I'm happy as can be.

I never take someone with me to AK on a hunt if its really their "once in a lifetime hunt" because if something happens, and something will, I don't want it ruin their hunt because there is so much pressure they put on themselves because of the once in a lifetime opportunity.

Huntfun- You have a great example of being smart and flexible and making the best out of a bad situation. Good on you.

 

[BasinBuster]

 

[BasinBuster]

I think the attachments worked this time

 

[Robinhood21]

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Wow!! You guys did great! Congrats! Lets hear the story