How far have you actually packed a moose?

[dallen]

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.

The custom willow stick is the trick

 

[medvedyt]

was with a friend that killed his first moose. 1.6 miles from the boat: inland ... it was his first moose in a swampy area and he got helps but he was told because of the first moose ... his next one was 20 meters from the shore ... you always learn from experiences lol

 

[PredatorSlayer]

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.

Nowhere near the same thing…elk are so much smaller than an AK moose. I have done both and I would rather pack an elk out by myself 10 miles than a moose 1 mile in the tundra.

 

[Nykki]

My first moose was way to far from the car. My dad and I had packed in four and a half hours on a primitive trail. I shot a huge bull the next afternoon. I had an old army ruck and Dad had a cheap frame he had picked up somewhere, both were trash when we were finished. We packed out 693 pounds of meat, a boned out hindquarter was 80 pounds. It took us four days to get it out. That was in1973 and neither one of us ever did that again.

 

[Decker9]

Iv packed a few over the years. Furthest one was by myself with my dog 2km from the lake. Dad took a bull evening before fly out day lol, I packed moose while dad and the pilot ferried gear home. We did get 1 quarter out that evening, the next day was 4 trips for my dog and I, her taking 10-15 pounds each trip.

A couple others that were close to a km give or take pack out, but with help. Usually 4 quarters then a big load of trim and caped out head, that trim load is usually the heaviest one, nice to break it up if the man power is there vs an extra trip.

I love working for my feed and adventure hunts, but moose are sure nice to get home whole lol.

 

[Grassymike]

Every time we shot a moose when I was a kid it was all excitement until someone pulled the trigger... Then it was "o crap we are how far from the trail ?"

 

[Meknowy]

7 miles, although I was able to use a sled for some of it. Solo, took seven trips. This was in November, so the meat was frozen solid in the field.

 

[alaska80]

I enjoy the work of packing moose. If it's within 3 miles of my extraction mode and a mature bull, it's a go. If it was 70+, that radius would extend. My son was 13 for his first experience with me packing a moose more than a mile. We walked in 12 miles with pack rafts, shot a bull about 1.25 miles from camp and proceeded to pack. Took 5 trips, I let him pack the front quarters. Then floated out 24 miles.

Shot two last year, 55 and 54. First was 1.25 miles from boat and second was 3.5 miles. The worst part was I got sick, really sick. Packed 10 hours a day for 4 days. It was both miserable and awesome at the same time. Harder than any sheep hunt I have ever done.

For me modern society is so cush and makes me soft, I enjoy some hardness being injected into my soul.

 

[mtbraun]

2 guys, 632 pounds, 3/4 mile through the lovely Kenai swampy lowland. It was tough, but I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

 

[akcabin]

Packing moose will inspire you to learn how to do your moose calls more successful. What calls to use n where. Kinda nice to get them to walk to you as much as possible.
Easiest way to get a moose out. Get him to walk himself

 

[johnnycake]

Bull #1 (AK spike/fork): just under 3.5 miles to the nearest road, 3 guys, 1 trip. About 1.5 miles of that was in beaver swamps and thigh high dwarf willows, the rest dropping down a canyon and walking out an overgrown creek with over 1000' elevation change. Pure horror show.

Bull #2 (AK 34" 3x2): 1.2 miles with 1 other guy. It was 600 yards of muskeg and the rest on a nice ridge with a game trail dropping 800' elevation back to the truck. Leap frogged it in 8 total loads, and it wasn't too bad.

Bull #3 (AK 55"): 1 other guy, 3.5 miles, 3 beaver creek crossing, only the last .8 miles were not in swamps. Never. Again.

 

[tkhuntsman]

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.

A friend of mine killed a nice bull in Colorado about 1 mile from the truck. We had cut his tracks in the snow right at daylight and tracked him to his bed by about 8:30. He killed him in his bed and the 2 of us made 3 trips each to get it all out. We loaded the last load right at dark. No tundra and muskeg but 12" of snow and plenty of blowdowns and rocks. It was tough but an enjoyable part of the hunt keep your mind right and enjoy the labor. Your there to hunt and the pack out is part of that experience you can debone game and keep your weights manageable just put one foot in front of the other.

 

[rickyw]

Bone in meat, plus head and antlers. 3/4 mile slipping through a swamp in the middle of the night with 2 friends. We dragged it in jet sleds but the mud and grass would grab the sleds and slow us down. It was easier when the sleds had some water to float on.
Everything else has been close to the ATV

 

[MallardSX2]

I killed an archery bull almost 2 miles in a straight line from the boat.

 

[riversidejeep]

3 miles in on a trail with maybe 1000' elevation change, 2 guys, wife, 6 month old son ( he wasn't much help) Archery cow harvested at maybe 08.00 and last pack out was 8 at night. Our last bull moose was about 100', that was a lot better pack.

 

[hunt1up]

I've only packed one so my experience is nothing like some these distances already mentioned. It was about 1/3 of a mile. I could see camp right across the lake. It was so dense around there and the ground was all boggy and along the lake you could make the ground ripple if you bounced. It was miserable. Since I shot the moose I had the privilege of packing both rear quarters bone-in. My two buddies took the rest of it. Easily the hardest thing I've ever done physically. I'd lay down on top of my loaded pack, roll over, then have the other guys help me to my feet. There were a few spots along the lake where I'd take my pack off and roll it or drag it, as I didn't want to fall in with that sort of weight strapped to my back.

After that, an elk seems like a cake walk. Me and a buddy packed a bull elk this past year about 1.5 miles with some up and down. It also sucked, but nothing like that moose. I'll never complain about an elk pack out again.

I do think the bugs were the worst part. They weren't all that bad prior to killing the moose. Once I got the essence of moose on me, plus all the sweat, those flies ate the crap out of me. I think I had 50 welts on my forearms. They were all puffed up and itchy for a few days. The moose tasted awesome though!

 

[Str8shtr]

Alaskan moose are huge and live in some of the worst places to pack. I think I'm in the boat of rather packing an elk 10mi than a moose 1 mile.

 

[JDBAK]

4 miles and 3000 vertical feet. And no, that was not the plan at all. I happened to see a large cow moose and decided there was enough strong backs to pack it out.

However, it was ideal conditions - a nice trail for 2 miles, then relatively firm alpine ground. Only a bit of swamp where I shot it. And best part, had 3 other guys to help pack.

 

[diamond10x]

I would say the avg distance for all of my packouts have been about .75 of a mile. The longest was around 2 but it was on some decent ground and it really wasn't that bad being bone-in.

By far the worst was a .5 mile packout on a stud bull my dad killed. Shot in a meadow next to a lake. Fell over and died on a high spot, which was nice while we broke him down. We didn't know it until we walked through it, but the "meadow" was more of a bog, you couldn't walk the same path twice with a loaded pack for risk of sinking in mud to your mid-thigh. Was a short linear distance but absolute slog trying to get the meat across it. Took dad, brother, and myself almost 10 hours nonstop packing to get all the meat.

 

[akn300wsm]

Bull 1- maybe 5 yards to the sleds, which were being towed by snowmachines. It was December.

Bull 2- about 100 yards down hill. I’ve definitely been spoiled and don’t expect the rest to be this easy.