How far have you actually packed a moose?

[KShunter8080]

This past fall was my first time hunting moose in Alaska, and I ended up shooting one about 3/4" of a mile from camp. Nothing about it was enjoyable but it makes me wonder if those ones I saw 1.5-2 miles away would be manageable.

That brings me to my question. What is the farthest that you have actually packed a moose out on your back? It would be helpful to know how many people and if it was bone in or out.

I am not condoning people shooting them a longs way from camp, I am just genuinely curious what kind of misery some of you guys have put yourself through.

 

[Robinhood21]

In 2022 mine was 3/4 mile... packing that thing was the hardest thing I had ever done in my life at that point. Then in 2024 mine was dropped at 1.3 miles... again, pure misery. Both times it was just my cousin and I and it was bone in.

For me, 2 miles with 2 guys would definitely be pushing it but I think is doable. 3-4 guys would be nice. My concern would be meat care. A lot of factors would have to go into it, as in how warm it was and what kind of weather we were getting for the next 2-3 days.

Also, how capable are you and your partner? I have no shame in saying that I'm not the strongest guy out there but my cousin is a Clydesdale. We both shared hinds and fronts but it was obvious that he could handle the weight better then I could.

A creek or small river to float one back would be ideal if dropping one a couple miles in. Unfortunately I haven't had that luxury.

 

[todd h]

1.8 miles with 2 guys
and 1.3 miles on same trip

 

[dallen]

About 2.5 miles is the farthest. Two guys and a relatively young bull. Had another monster bull I was drawn back on a few days prior but he was at about 4 miles on an August archery hunt and we knew we would lose the meat. The bull we did pack was tough. We started packing at 1500 and brought the last load in at 0400 the next morning. I vowed to not make that choice again….,and haven’t. We had been sheep hunting for about a week at that point so began a little tired.

 

[ndfb35]

Granted not a Moose, but a large bull elk. The bull I killed this year was 3.25 miles deep as the crow flies in the bottom of a drainage. I arrowed him around around 16:05, found him at 16:30. Hiked back up the mountain to grab my pack and such. Got back to him around 17:30. It took me 2.5-3 hrs or so to get him broken down and the meat staged on a fallen tree. I hiked up the other side of the drainage to where camp was and tried to sleep. Slept for all of 2.5 hrs on the side of a hill because I didn't reach the top where it was flat. Woke up before the sun and started hiking back to the truck to meet reenforcements. Got there at 09:20. Had some food and drink and caught my breath. Left to go get the meat at 10:20. The three of us arrived midafternoon to the meat, lucky undisturbed, and began leap frogging the meat back to the truck. Ended up leaving the head and marked it on GPS about halfway to the truck and doubled up all of our packs to get the meat out in one trip. Made it back to the trucks at 04:20. So in total, the three of us took 18 hours to get him out. My buddy and I each had a rear and a front quarter and my girlfriend carried the trimmings and back straps. I went back and got the head and antler during rifle season while hunting with my dad.

 

[ElDiablito]

1.5 miles alone - boned out. Shiras bull. Six 85lb loads. Not too bad.

 

[Robinhood21]

1.8 miles with 2 guys
and 1.3 miles on same trip

Wowser, I would cry!

 

[Chirogrow]

1.1 50 inch yukon then 7 days later 1.52 with two guys on a 61 inch bull. The tussocks felt like a dream after having to work through the alders but it was all terribly awesome!

 

[todd h]

it was on back to back days
finished packing first one at midnight
shot second bull at 11:00 am next morning 4 trips per person each bull

 

[cfdjay]

I'll let you know when I get back in late Sept...I'll be solo

 

[akcabin]

Hows your physical condition ? Muskkeg, thick tall alder patches. Hills, swamp n such all will play out when considering how to pack out 500 plus pounds of meat. Especially in the dark. If you have to get through any brush, get ready to fall down a bunch. Twist anchles and knees. Gutting n breaking down a whole moose in the dark is dangerous. And takes near twice the time. Done orcseen it all over the years.
As I get oller and finding folks that want to get out as much as I do isn't always possible. So to think that I would give up some of the most productive times to hunt by not allowing myself to harvest a moose because it's evening time is ridiculous to me. Keeping your meat dry is also important. Never let it get near a salmon stream with dead salmon carcus in the water unless you really want your meat to spoil fast.
I do try n stay prepared. I now hunt where I can get a wheeler with a winch n meat trailer near. I've left gutted moose out in the field with no problems. In AK the evening temperatures during most of moose season get cooler at night and the nights get longer.
How far have I packed, seemed too far but at the end of the day it's always great memories.
My suggestion, get out n hunt as much as you can while you still can. Good luck n have fun

 

[AKDoc]

As folks read the distances shared in this thread, I encourage us to keep in mind obvious factors that we all know...

• Not all terrain is equal...especially here in AK. As one example, humping moose loads over tundra is a completely different world from hard/dry ground with good footing. Once you've done it, you realize that the distances are not comparable nor equal whatsoever. One guy's 1.75 mile distance may be functionally equivalent to another guy's .5 mile distance in a different setting.
• We also know that the distance from the kill-site to camp is seldom (if ever) the distance that we hump meat loads. That is, it's not a straight line...terrain challenges can make it far from a straight line. I honestly can't tell you the farthest that I have humped moose loads on my back because I have no idea how far I actually walked/hiked from a particular kill-site back to camp. In other words, even though the distance from camp to one kill-site may be equal to another kill-site, the walking/hiking distances are seldom equal...sometimes nowhere near equal.

I know I'm stating the obvious...it's just a well intentioned reminder to us all as we read answers to the simple question, "How far have you...?"

 

[NRA4LIFE]

3 feet

 

[ColeyG]

As folks read the distances shared in this thread, I encourage us to keep in mind obvious factors that we all know...

• Not all terrain is equal...especially here in AK. As one example, humping moose loads over tundra is a completely different world from hard/dry ground with good footing. Once you've done it, you realize that the distances are not comparable nor equal whatsoever. One guy's 1.75 mile distance may be functionally equivalent to another guy's .5 mile distance in a different setting.
• We also know that the distance from the kill-site to camp is seldom (if ever) the distance that we hump meat loads. That is, it's not a straight line...terrain challenges can make it far from a straight line. I honestly can't tell you the farthest that I have humped moose loads on my back because I have no idea how far I actually walked/hiked from a particular kill-site back to camp. In other words, even though the distance from camp to one kill-site may be equal to another kill-site, the walking/hiking distances are seldom equal...sometimes nowhere near equal.

I know I'm stating the obvious...it's just a well intentioned reminder to us all as we read answers to the simple question, "How far have you...?"

This. I was going to say the same. All excellent points.

Distance is but one factor that determines the difficulty of a pack out. Some of my shorter pack outs have been far worse and more physically and mentally exhausting than my longest one.

It happens every year that over-eager hunters go after a bull much farther or harder from camp than they can reasonably manage. The end result is almost always lost meat, if not injured hunters, overdue timelines etc.

Every situation and setup is unique and adequately judging the difficulty of the potential pack out and your physical and mental wherewithal is hugely important in responsible moose hunting.

Elevation gain and swampy ground increase the perceived difficulty exponentially.

2.5 miles on firm ground with 1-2k of elevation gain is my limit of reasonable.

.5-ish mi in a flat swamp is my reasonable limit based on past experience.

Tussocks and some combination of wet and dry ground with some elevation gain...somewhere between the two limits.

 

[AKDoc]

^^^^very well said, sir^^^^

 

[Larry Bartlett]

my first bull in 1996 co-harvested with my battle buddy (KIA 2004). We shot this 40" bull down in a steep valley floor, 1/2-mile straight line from the truck/road. Zero experience with the actual weight of moose meat nor the volume. We had army rucks and blazed a packable route up and down this 15% gradient. Cookie trailed 1.2 miles one way.

Took us 2 long days and we had to debone it to pack it up hill.

That winter I bought a 13' American Camper raft from K-mart in Fairbanks and changed my hunting strategies. I vowed to NEVER shoot a moose more than 300 yards from camp. For 28 years since, I have not.

From experience, if you think you have to, you really just need learn better ways to coax them across that gap. I've dragged 30"- 67" bulls that varied in weight from 400 lbs to 720 lbs. Trust me, that shit hurts even short distances. Because of that experience, the last 15 years I can't recall packing one even 100 yards from the river/camp.

 

[TheCougar]

1.3 miles one way. A big moose, but we did cut the rear quarters in half with a saw (not deboned). We limited it to no more than 80lb per load and we did 10-12 loads, I believe. The terrain wasn’t too bad, some ankle rollers and marsh, but it could have been much worse. We had two adults and my skinny teenage son. Because we cut the rears in half, it wasn’t nearly as bad as I feared. The terrain is the biggest wild card in AK, and I feel like we had pretty decent terrain to work with.

 

[king402]

This past fall was my first time hunting moose in Alaska, and I ended up shooting one about 3/4" of a mile from camp. Nothing about it was enjoyable but it makes me wonder if those ones I saw 1.5-2 miles away would be manageable.

That brings me to my question. What is the farthest that you have actually packed a moose out on your back? It would be helpful to know how many people and if it was bone in or out.

I am not condoning people shooting them a longs way from camp, I am just genuinely curious what kind of misery some of you guys have put yourself through.

4 miles, mostly down hill or it would have killed me, on a Utah Shiras moose with the bones in. It was brutal!!

 

[Lowell]

Several miles with mules in Idaho. The 52" heavy horns were much more difficult to pack then bull elk. Elk I connect the main beams to the leg of the quarters, balancing moose on stock proved to be much more challenging.

 

[BRWNBR]

Mile seems to be pretty average.
If I’m close I tend to overload to cut the amount of trips. If it’s farther I slim down my load.
One 55” moose me and a packer took out in two loads each. I swore I could hear my bones in my body grinding on each other.
Hindquarter (weighed at 153lbs)
Backstrap
Rack of ribs
Tenderloin
In the first load. We tried to weigh the packs and it pulled the bolt from the ceiling. So we just weighed the hind quarter and stopped cause we realized no one would believe us. I never did that again.