OMG...Now what?

[Jimss]

In The Drink!

The work begins!

 

[Buck2747]

Any luck trying a lightweight block md tackle? Or is that just a waste of time since there seems to be minimal anchoring points? I have had to tie elk off to prevent them some slipping while we bond them for transport but they are no where near the size of a moose.

 

[Kevin Dill]

Regarding pulling rigs and such, there are probably innumerable ways to build them and get the job done. Certainly a lot easier if you have plenty of space and weight allowance to take a good rig with you. One principle of pulling anything is that you must have an anchor to pull toward, and moose (or other huge animals) don't take this into account when they decide to lay down and be dead. Therefore, you must somehow devise an anchor where none exists....or else you just don't use a pulley system.

Contained within this story (link) is a section regarding butchering and meat recovery. I had to physically pull the bull away from a hazard and did use my own pulley system and anchors.

15 Days Alone

 

[AKBorn]

The work begins!

View attachment 83374

Ouch - the silty ground doesn't look like any fun either. You earned that one after getting it done.

 

[GotDraw?]

After the second double-lung pass through, my moose decided to head to water for "safety".

Too late for safety, but he did manage to get me back by making it more difficult to work him up. On the plus side, we had a skiff and were able to drop the quarters in the skiff after bagging them as we went along. Took about 5 hours to work him up with two of us, after having to drag him to shallower water, etc. Could not get him fully to shore, he weighed far too much so we worked him up in about 14" of water after 4 of us dragged him as close to shore as possible.

I could not imagine doing this task alone and trying to slog through a bog, etc for multiple trips. The water logged hide weighed well over 100 lbs by itself.

JL

 

[Jimss]

View attachment 83382
We were able to lash a rope around the cow moose's neck and oar it down river around 1/4 mile to a spot where we could pull it somewhat up on the shore. If we had a come-along with us I'm pretty sure we could have tied the cow to a "dead-man", tree, rock, or something to pull it completely out of the water. It was definitely a chore! A large bull would be even more work!

Our cow floated really well behind the raft....the stomach was somewhat bloated plus there was air inside it's body cavity. We would have been in trouble if it sank!

 

[AKBorn]

Regarding pulling rigs and such, there are probably innumerable ways to build them and get the job done. Certainly a lot easier if you have plenty of space and weight allowance to take a good rig with you. One principle of pulling anything is that you must have an anchor to pull toward, and moose (or other huge animals) don't take this into account when they decide to lay down and be dead. Therefore, you must somehow devise an anchor where none exists....or else you just don't use a pulley system.

Contained within this story (link) is a section regarding butchering and meat recovery. I had to physically pull the bull away from a hazard and did use my own pulley system and anchors.

15 Days Alone

Kevin - that was an epic adventure, thanks for sharing the link.

 

[Grumman]

Great thread. With only whitetail experience I was really humbled after I worked up my first elk in the field. I thought I was in good shape but afterwards I was sore in places I didn’t even know I had muscles. My hats off to you guys working up moose in the backcountry.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Buck2747]

Thank you for the link and the write up. The information and experiences that Kevin, Akborn and Vern share in these forums is phenomenal. I for one owe you guys a drink and or dinner should our paths ever cross. The information you have provided to help my planning for a future Alaska hunt is greatly appreciated.

 

[Stid2677]

They do love the water....

We always have a small come-along and synthetic rope.

Come-along is handy in many ways.

Another swimmer, come-along used again. Butchering in ice cold water sucks.......So much nicer to winch them dry.

 

[wjohnson1983]

I don't have any pictures.

Short version of the story is I shot a cow in the edge of a pond assuming she would run out off it. She was getting nervous and it was now or never. She took off at the shot and everything was going to work out until a similar picture as jimss above occurred. Just farther away from the bank.

Luckily I had a tow strap and come along in the truck which wasn't too far away. Called two buddies at the truck. Used the come along to get the cow shallow enough to gut, and then brought it the rest of the way up with the reduced weight. By the time the buddies got there it was on dry land and had one side pretty much quartered up.

A random stranger with the same tag let us borrow his canoe to paddle the meat out instead of packing it out. Thank you to whoever this was 8 years ago! Hope you were successful as well.

 

[Stid2677]

Cut resistant gloves, meat hooks, and sharp blades,, all make it so much safer.

Meat thermometer and extra game bags help manage meat too.

I like to unbag at night and allow the meat to breath, but have to be up before the bugs and birds and get the bags back on.

 

[hodgeman]

My partner shot one this fall...standing in 4' of water, 100' offshore, at last light.

Getting it to the bank was easy...butchering it in the knee deep swamp at the edge in the dark was not.

 

[TexasCub]

I’ve killed quite a few moose but I made a pact that if I couldn’t get a 4wheeler within 50 yards I wouldn’t shoot it.I passed on a several good bulls over the years that were standing tits deep in water. Had a buddy kill one in a swamp one time and it was the worst experience of my life butchering that thing in knee deep water. I could never understand why guys I knew would do fly out hunts for moose knowing good and well they might be packing them miles, PHUCK that , moose are too damn big for that to be any fun at all. I never didn’t kill a moose when I wanted to using much easier methods. The best pack out I ever had was the bull I arrow’d in my neighbors yard and it died in the dry ditch at the edge of our road. Backed the truck up right to it and only had to haul it 100 yards home......by truck!

 

[Kevin Dill]

I loved Steve's pictures, and his experience is unquestioned. Having the right gear for this work is essential. It's one thing to butcher a moose which dies in the perfect location, but quite another when things go wrong and you must adapt. Part of the issue (for me) is my gear weight limits on a fly-in hunt. When you've only got a 50-75 pound allotment, the ratcheting come-along doesn't make the cut. Neither do I have the advantages of a battery-powered reciprocating saw, winch, atv or boat. When solo, I'm (obviously) one man trying to make good shots and good decisions. Because I have to physically pack out 100% of the meat plus the head, I limit myself to shorter distances from camp when hunting. I'm not afraid to push the distance a little bit when I have a partner, but I won't be taking shots a mile out when I'm solo hunting moose. I try like crazy to make effective killing shots and I simply will NOT shoot a moose next to a pond or in some really rough place where I might not be able to accomplish the butchering and recovery.

I love to hunt moose in a wilderness setting, away from competition and noise. I don't exactly love the pain (or outright misery) of backpacking multiple loads of meat through rough terrain, but I have done it and will continue to do it as a requirement of hunting far from any road or navigable water. I love the sense of accomplishment that comes from completing a challenging hunt which ends in a kill. I've suffered under many a heavy packload and thought it was awful at the time. Later, I'm left with the satisfaction of doing the hard work and reaping the rewards. My body recovers and somehow my mind can't remember the degree of discomfort I endured.

 

[OFFHNTN]

I have broke down and cut up elk alone, but can't imagine trying to do a moose alone. Even the small moose I killed was a big chore! Kudos to you gents!

 

[KJH]

This is a good thread. Thanks Kevin.

I've never killed a moose within a 100 miles of a road or near a boat, and I'll keep doing it that way. I don't like seeing others in the field and enjoy the solitude.

You all make great points, and since I'm going to start moose hunting on my own I need to be smart about it. Its just too hard to get a reliable partner with work schedules, etc. and is someone you actually want to hunt with and shares your values, work ethic, and expectations. I'm thinking about how bad it will suck doing it all on my own. But like Kevin said, the feeling of accomplishment will be well worth it. Based on experience, I'd leave something else at home before I leave a come along!

Making good decisions on how far you can shoot one away from the landing strip or lake will be a big factor. Shooting away from a swamp or creek is already in my shoot / don't shoot decision making. Either way, the simple opportunity of maybe putting a moose on the ground is something I live for.

 

[mcseal2]

I know I could do one myself if I had to, but I would rather not. I'm lucky to have a partner to hunt with that I get along with and work with well. We grew up a mile apart and learned to hunt together. We have been hunting together for over 20 years now. Our strengths and weaknesses in hunting and hunt planning have developed to complement each other too, we each know our roles. As long as life doesn't prevent us from hunting together, I don't have to worry about a lot of the solo issues.

We didn't have to pack them a mile on our trip. My moose was around 600 yards (straight, not how we had to walk) and his was a shade closer. That was enough through the terrain we were crossing. It was really swampy and every step we sunk in some to a lot. We had to keep changing our path too as the ground got disturbed and less stable. We had an inflatable boat we packed it to. It was 8 heavy backpack loads of moose to get to the boat, and 2 trips with the boat to get all the meat to camp. That's my only experience packing moose but I've packed several elk. I'd rather take an elk hind quarter over 3 miles of dry Wyoming mountain than a moose hind quarter over a half mile of swamp. Where we hunted there wasn't anything that wasn't swamp for miles. We couldn't avoid shooting them in swamp. We just tried to avoid the bog where there was just water under the vegetation and not mud.

When we got my moose back to camp and all taken care of and I lay down that night I thought to myself I probably don't need to do this again, glad I did it once but that's enough. The next day I was thinking maybe I did need to do it again and the day after that I was sure I did. Pain is temporary but the good memories last forever. Every time I go to back a tractor out of our shop and see the euro mount hanging from the wall I remember my first AK adventure and can't wait to get back up there.

 

[AKDoc]

Some of those wet retrieval and butchering scenarios made my back hurt just reading about them and looking at the pictures! You guys did a good job getting it done, and I'm sure there must have been an extra feeling of satisfaction in the end. Dropping a moose in water is no one's goal for sure...and some of that water out there smells real nasty and is.

I say this very humbly, while knocking on wood...so far not me...and I hope that I am not jinxing myself. In thirty years of living and hunting in Alaska, I've not had a moose drop in the water...pretty darn close a few times, but no cigar! Just humping the meat back to camp over tundra and through muskeg is challenge enough for me!

I have had mountain goats run after the shot and die in some pretty scary places to retrieve, but on the plus side it was dry!

Again, good job getting it done guys! (I hope I didn't just jinx myself for next fall...)

 

[AKBorn]

I’ve killed quite a few moose but I made a pact that if I couldn’t get a 4wheeler within 50 yards I wouldn’t shoot it.I passed on a several good bulls over the years that were standing tits deep in water. Had a buddy kill one in a swamp one time and it was the worst experience of my life butchering that thing in knee deep water. I could never understand why guys I knew would do fly out hunts for moose knowing good and well they might be packing them miles, PHUCK that , moose are too damn big for that to be any fun at all. I never didn’t kill a moose when I wanted to using much easier methods. The best pack out I ever had was the bull I arrow’d in my neighbors yard and it died in the dry ditch at the edge of our road. Backed the truck up right to it and only had to haul it 100 yards home......by truck!

My Dad was the same way – he wouldn’t shoot a moose unless we could get a vehicle or ATV right beside it. This was back in the 60s and early 70s in Alaska, so moose hunting was simpler and less crowded – we usually got a bull hunting the Denali Highway or Hatcher Pass country.

One year we were hunting the Denali Highway, on the trail to Osar Lake at about the 36 mile marker – that was our favorite Denali spot back then, very little competition once you left the main highway. My Uncle John was with us, recently out of the military, about 27 years old and new to Alaska.

We saw a bull about 1.5 miles across the big swamp on the east side of the trail back to Osar Lake. Dad said “I can’t get my Jeep across that swamp, no way to do it. And, I’m not willing to pack one back from over there.”

Uncle John volunteered to hike across the swamp and try to drive the bull toward us. He put on an international orange windbreaker, so we could track him through binoculars. Worked like a charm, and my Dad shot the young bull about 150 yards from the trail, and drove the Jeep right down to him. Uncle John did all the work, and Dad did the easy part. We had him mostly broken down by the time Uncle John got back from a wet slog through that swamp.