How far have you actually packed a moose?

[wytx]

I had a little help from the LO who let me hunt.

 

[johnnycake]

I had a little help from the LO who let me hunt.

View attachment 876734

Congratulations and I hate you very much right now

 

[wyodog]

I shot my Alaskan moose .6 miles from our drop camp in the morning. Our area was bone in. My and a friend finished getting him hung in camp right at dark. We did spend time to cape him before we started hauling the load across the tundra and swamp. A few days later we shot another bull about .25 miles from camp, no swamp, and It felt like and easy stroll compared to the first one. I think anything much further than a mile an you could be looking at more than 1 day. We had Brown bears and wolves by camp so I would worry about leaving one on the tundra over night.

 

[JJ_whitetailhunter]

All great info. I'm doing a diy moose hunt this year and was curious how far out was too far out. It seems like a lot of factors go into making that decision and everyone has a different opinion.

 

[kwackkillncrew]

most have been about 20 yards and thats using my truck to drag them out of the ditch from the trooper road kill list. the one we shot was about 300 yards to the atv trail

 

[TopherDave]

No. No it is not.

I've killed 2 wild bison (4 yr old cow Henry Mountains UT late December; 17yr old massive bull Delta Junction, AK). I've helped clean and pack several other bulls and cows. Some with snow, some without. Luckily only one of the cows involved any real packing. Dealing with the whole hide is pretty terrible over anything more than a couple hundred yards.
The suck factor on breaking bison down compared to AK bull moose is pretty equal I think.

I’d love to chat about your delta Junction bison experience. Not a lot of info on here, but I pulled the Delta Junction tag this year. Did you hunt the fields, river, or pay some farmer? What year was it? Thanks.

 

[TopherDave]

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.

1. 3 of us, about 10-15 yards to the atv’s.
2. 3 of us, 10-15 yards down the bank to the boat.
3. Able to drag it out with the side by side to the road, where we broke it down and tossed it into the box of the truck.
4. 1.5 miles up hill (7-800 feet). Was just outside of Anchorage, and I had a call list of friends to come help. I personally broke it all down and only did 2 trips. Was still a day though!
5. I was on a call list for a buddy who arrowed a cow on Xmas eve. Was flat ish terrain. Was close to 2.25 miles. People were able to get back there on XC skis. I opted for my fat tire bike. I was first on scene and helped with the break down. Did 1 trip out, a hind, I remember the excess pressure it put on my sit bones! Oh, and it was -15.

 

[Pwb199]

In 2022 I killed one almost exactly 4 miles from the air strip. 10 total pack loads through the tundra over 3 days. Thankfully there were 4 of us to make it happen. We killed 2 that year, both about the same distance from camp.