Hey you frozen north guys...

[Where's Bruce?]

Done it several times out there. Never used anything fancy either. And you won’t see -40 temps either. Are you actually going on this hunt, or just dreaming about it?View attachment 487838

What is that outer layer you're wearing...can't quite make out the brand but I like it.

 

[Nick Muche]

Oh, that’s a nautica sweatshirt my dad bought my 20 years ago when I was in high school. Pants are just cheap Cabelas over whites. No need to go crazy with gear for this hunt. Have some warm clothing, warm boots, good mittens. You sleep in a heated house at night.

So you drew a permit? Or are you just dreaming/posting?

 

[Where's Bruce?]

I cancelled my Greenland hunt because I cannot bring the meat home...that left me with three options:
Unit 18 which has better draw odds and plenty of very mature bulls, Nelson Island is pure DIY and I am not prepared to go it alone or road hunt on the newly reopened Haul Road muskox hunt north of Deadhorse (which has very limited draw odds). Selected Unit 18 with max apps and will carry recurve & spear. Seems like my best choice. Transporter recommends tent camping for serious trophy hunting so you aren't traveling 30-40 miles to and from a warm shelter every day. Adds to the adventure IMHO. Don't have any serious cold weather gear and have never experienced minus temps. This is where I live.

We have two seasons in South OC...sock season and no socks season. I hate sock season. LOL

No socks season is 100 times better.

 

[Mojave]

I cancelled my Greenland hunt because I cannot bring the meat home...that left me with three options:
Unit 18 which has better draw odds and plenty of very mature bulls, Nelson Island is pure DIY and I am not prepared to go it alone or road hunt on the newly reopened Haul Road muskox hunt north of Deadhorse (which has very limited draw odds). Selected Unit 18 with max apps and will carry recurve & spear. Seems like my best choice. Transporter recommends tent camping for serious trophy hunting so you aren't traveling 30-40 miles to and from a warm shelter every day. Adds to the adventure IMHO. Don't have any serious cold weather gear and have never experienced minus temps. This is where I live.

We have two seasons in South OC...sock season and no socks season. I hate sock season. LOL

No socks season is 100 times better.

Yep your going to die, much colder there.

 

[Nick Muche]

So, you’re asking about a hunt that you’ll likely never draw. Figured that was the case. Never can be too prepared I guess.

 

[william schmaltz]

I cancelled my Greenland hunt because I cannot bring the meat home...that left me with three options:
Unit 18 which has better draw odds and plenty of very mature bulls, Nelson Island is pure DIY and I am not prepared to go it alone or road hunt on the newly reopened Haul Road muskox hunt north of Deadhorse (which has very limited draw odds). Selected Unit 18 with max apps and will carry recurve & spear. Seems like my best choice. Transporter recommends tent camping for serious trophy hunting so you aren't traveling 30-40 miles to and from a warm shelter every day. Adds to the adventure IMHO. Don't have any serious cold weather gear and have never experienced minus temps. This is where I live.

The Haul Road hunt is resident only. Nelson Island is essentially closed to nonlocals after it was abused and guys posted their illegal rental operations for a hunt on refuge land all over the internet. You can send a thank you to the dumbasses at Kuiu for their video and putting the nail in the coffin there. Nunivak has a 0.6% chance of drawing and the reward for a nonresident to draw comes with about a $12k-$15k price tag. I'd take a hard look back at Greenland if you are serious about hunting musk ox.

I have a hard time believing a transporter told you to camp out. I'd love to hear if anyone has actually done that. The trails on the island are a highway and 40 miles is an hour snowmachine ride. We literally completed this hunt in 6 hours from landing in Merkoryuk, shooting 2 musk ox, butchering, and drinking whiskey back at the house.

 

[akrdkill]

fwiw....Canada Goose Down company makes great coats & bibs also....for the most part i'd spend my money on a good parka with the ruff. the ruff really helps in the wind & the wind is whats gonna get ya...easy to pick your layering under.....cabelas parkas, eddie baur they'll all work to. ....-20 to -40 all fine in regular shit but add 10-20 mph wind & the game changes fast...a windproof balaclava face mask & a windproof liner neck gaiter, dont skimp here, dont go regular fleece. easy to pick your layering under.....cabelas parkas, eddie baur they'll all work to....good oversize mittens with several liners gloves of your choice....a windpro or windproof liner jacket under your parka works wonders also
Big Rays in alaska sells there Kavik line.....bibs & jackets
cabelas trans alaska was some of the best stuff for that if you can find any
i've seen the trans alaska boots on ebay a bit...
personally the baffin boots are to restrictive for me
bunny boots & BAMA socks work great

 

[Where's Bruce?]

Hmmm...you guys are posting things that are very different than the AK Fish & Game biologists I spoke to in these regions.

 

[Nick Muche]

I guess it doesn’t really matter, you don’t have a permit and the likelihood of you getting one anytime soon is slim to none. Water under the fridge as they say…

 

[Where's Bruce?]

I guess it doesn’t really matter, you don’t have a permit and the likelihood of you getting one anytime soon is slim to none. Water under the fridge as they say…

One of the things people hate about me is the reliability of my dumb luck. Raffles...I get the top item 50% of the time. Stupid crazy luck. Drew 4 NR elk tags in AZ in 6 years of applying. There are residents of Arizona applying that long that haven't drawn a bull tag. Only hiccup is this IBEP number required before you can apply for the permit. Can't find a course nearby and it's a stupid requirement considering you can get close enough to spear one but that method of take isn't shown on the application page. (((sigh)))

 

[Nick Muche]

Yeah, that IBEP card is surely your only hang up. You must be hoping to get the archery only tag for unit 18 that doesn’t exist.

 

[Yukon Cornelius]

My nephew and I are doing this hunt in early February of '23. We intend to use our ice fishing and snowmobile gear with appropriate layers underneath. White bunny boots and large mittens and appropriate headgear is our plan. And face covering ski goggles.
We have successfully hunted and fished down to -25 or -30 with this style of gear in the past in Montana and Michigan. We have added extra layers to our gear to use as needed.
One thing we haven't yet found is a good white outer layer. Any input on this or advice on our gear or tip overall is much appreciated.

White sheet. Or German surplus winter poncho

 

[Yukon Cornelius]

One of the things people hate about me is the reliability of my dumb luck. Raffles...I get the top item 50% of the time. Stupid crazy luck. Drew 4 NR elk tags in AZ in 6 years of applying. There are residents of Arizona applying that long that haven't drawn a bull tag. Only hiccup is this IBEP number required before you can apply for the permit. Can't find a course nearby and it's a stupid requirement considering you can get close enough to spear one but that method of take isn't shown on the application page. (((sigh)))

Have you applied yet? Because tomorrow is the deadline.

 

[Nick Muche]

Of course he didn’t….

 

[william schmaltz]

One of the things people hate about me is the reliability of my dumb luck. Raffles...I get the top item 50% of the time. Stupid crazy luck. Drew 4 NR elk tags in AZ in 6 years of applying. There are residents of Arizona applying that long that haven't drawn a bull tag. Only hiccup is this IBEP number required before you can apply for the permit. Can't find a course nearby and it's a stupid requirement considering you can get close enough to spear one but that method of take isn't shown on the application page. (((sigh)))

Have you bothered to look at the hunting regulations or draw supplement yet? It's not rocket appliances. Anyways, as Nick said, it's water under the fridge now. I'd expect the G&F page to be down the rest of the afternoon.

Here’s a snapshot of a guy sticking out like a turd in the punch bowl spearing one on the island from like 8 feet a couple years ago. Not my picture. He must’ve found the magic/invisible spear hunt code while applying.

 

[Nick Muche]

Yeah, and I’m sure he just walked up to it….smh

Anyone that’s hunted musk ox knows exactly how that took place “most” of the time.

 

[Bcleck90]

Y’all going to talk this out or leave all of us hanging? @Nick Muche @Where's Bruce?

 

[sneaky]

I mean, since we're daydreaming here. Might as well get a custom done just how you want it. Their website is,um, lacking... but from what I've read you call them up and they'll make you exactly what you want. Coyote, wolf, arctic fox, or wolverine ruff on them that's removable. Lots of Iditarod mushers use these and layer underneath. If you just have money you need to spend just in case. www.skookum.shop

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[william schmaltz]

Yeah, and I’m sure he just walked up to it….smh

Anyone that’s hunted musk ox knows exactly how that took place “most” of the time.

I guess that's my experience. The two photos you shared have a much different landscape than the two photos I shared form presumably a different location. So maybe it's different on Nelson - especially those first few years the hunt was open out there. Every herd I've seen on Nunivak is already at a full blown struggle run through the deep snow by the time you lay eyes on it. They've been hunted for decades and know exactly what happens next when they hear the machines. Not like you can park behind a ridge or bushes and sneak up or glass from it, the place is a giant flat pure white room. We basically hang back to try not to make it feel like harassment and wait for them to stop running, at which point they're already exhausted. There's no other way to do it. Drive to a couple hundred yards or so, hop off and walk up to them. They may run 100 yards or so a couple times, but they're well out of gas. I'm not gonna act like its some great skilled hunt. And I'll admit that it teeters the ethical lines for me personally, but they need to be shot so I can play through that. It's basically the guy shooting the cow in the head on Napoleon Dynamite. It's a fun adventure that breaks up the winter and allows me to hang out with some buddies in the village. Hopefully I'm in the lucky 0.6% this year instead of having to keep getting cow tags.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

Threw my back out doing holiday honey-dos, sitting hurts. Probably not a good idea to sit and post while on pain meds & tequila.