Shoutout to the Rokslide Moose Community

[KShunter8080]

I just wanted to give a huge thanks to everyone on this forum. I am not super active on it, but it was a tremendous help in planning my Alaska moose hunt. If anyone has any questions (besides my spot) about a DIY hunt in Alaska, I would be happy to answer what I can.

 

[Robinhood21]

Fantastic!! What a cool bull and congrats to you!

 

[rayporter]

i will bet that smile is still on your face!!!

 

[cjdewese]

What an awesome bull. What did you shoot it with?

 

[AKBorn]

Congrats!! That's a heckuva bull.

 

[KShunter8080]

What an awesome bull. What did you shoot it with?

300 Win Mag. He was broadside at about 100 yards. He took a couple steps after the first shot so I put another one in him and he tipped over a couple steps later.

 

[MtnW]

Nice bull. Congratulations. Sounds like you had a great time.
MtnW

 

[cjdewese]

300 Win Mag. He was broadside at about 100 yards. He took a couple steps after the first shot so I put another one in him and he tipped over a couple steps later.

Congrats man, sounds like an awesome experience.

 

[Beendare]

Wait, you got your info here….and didn’t shoot him with a .243 ?

Grin,
Congrats on a great bull.

 

[AKDoc]

Nice bull!

 

[PredatorSlayer]

What did he tape out at?

 

[KShunter8080]

What did he tape out at?

68”

Doesn’t have huge paddles but made up for it in width!

 

[Robinhood21]

68”

Doesn’t have huge paddles but made up for it in width!

That’s a whopper!!

 

[cnelk]

I’ll go first..

Where’s your spot?

 

[keller]

Nice!! Congrats!!

 

[rhammond31]

Congrats on a great bull

 

[1jeds]

Congrats, that's a stud! I do have a few basic questions:

Did you go solo or with a partner?
How long from planning to the actual hunt was needed?
What resources outside of the forum did you find the most useful for planning?
Anything you'd do different or things that went well that you'd recommend?

 

[KShunter8080]

Congrats, that's a stud! I do have a few basic questions:

Did you go solo or with a partner?
How long from planning to the actual hunt was needed?
What resources outside of the forum did you find the most useful for planning?
Anything you'd do different or things that went well that you'd recommend?

My dad tagged along with me. He was not hunting but it was nice having someone else there, I would not do it alone.

I booked the pilot December of last year after my first option cancelled on me in October after being booked for a year.

YouTube was the biggest help for me. Watched a lot of gear dump videos to see what guys were taking on these types of hunts. Also taught me how to call (although I'll admit I am still not very good).

Only thing I will do differently next time is take a raft of some sort. I opted not to take one and that limited me on some areas I could hunt due to access.

 

[Jahvette20]

Did you use a guide service to fly you into their area/pre established camp or did you do all the homework of finding an spot you wanted to hunt and your pilot just provided transportation?

I am a PA guy in the very begging stages of planning a diy moose hunt with a friend. Hoping to go asap. We have both separately hunted diy out west multiple times and each successfully taken elk solo, mine 5 miles from the truck on a bivy hunt. We also have plenty of backpacking and camping experience but neither have been to AK. We both are diy kind of guys, too to bottom, and like getting the best value for our dollar, but it almost seems insurmountable to do this completely without local expertise. The destination hunting we have done always was within a half day walk to the truck and half day drive to spot b-c-d if we didn’t get into action.
I did talk to a few outfitters at the Great American Outdoors Show the other week that offer drop hunts with motor boats or float options that claim high success, but is it worth $13k to press the “easy” button? 4 years ago the same guys were 5k less…
Anything you’d be willing to share of the steps you took along the way would be appreciated. Thanks

 

[KShunter8080]

Did you use a guide service to fly you into their area/pre established camp or did you do all the homework of finding an spot you wanted to hunt and your pilot just provided transportation?

I am a PA guy in the very begging stages of planning a diy moose hunt with a friend. Hoping to go asap. We have both separately hunted diy out west multiple times and each successfully taken elk solo, mine 5 miles from the truck on a bivy hunt. We also have plenty of backpacking and camping experience but neither have been to AK. We both are diy kind of guys, too to bottom, and like getting the best value for our dollar, but it almost seems insurmountable to do this completely without local expertise. The destination hunting we have done always was within a half day walk to the truck and half day drive to spot b-c-d if we didn’t get into action.
I did talk to a few outfitters at the Great American Outdoors Show the other week that offer drop hunts with motor boats or float options that claim high success, but is it worth $13k to press the “easy” button? 4 years ago the same guys were 5k less…
Anything you’d be willing to share of the steps you took along the way would be appreciated. Thanks

Pretty much did everything on my own on this one. I picked a unit that I wanted to hunt and then started contacting people about flying me in. I settled on somebody that charges by the hour but doesn’t provided locations or anything. I looked at aerial maps before heading up there to get an idea of where I wanted to be. Once we got into that general area, we just flew around until I thought something looked good and we landed as close to there as possible.

Saw 8-10 different bulls on the trip but most were too far away to pursue. If I had another younger set of legs instead of my old man, a few would have been doable. Passed on one 75 yards from camp that I thought was too small but looking back was definitely legal.

I spent no where near 13k to do this trip. Although, I can see why people take the “easy” route and book with those guys. Lots of logistics involved with everything. I got mine processed up there as well as the euro mount done up there. I could shave a couple thousand off the trip if I did it a little bit different next time.

I’ll be honest, I definitely felt uneasy when that plane took off and left us out there on our own. By about day two of being out there the nerves went away and I loved every second of it. As long as you have good gear and a little bit of common sense, you’ll be fine.

Not sure if any of that helps but I’m hesitant to give too much info out since I plan on returning soon. I am happy to answer anything not relating to who I used or where I went though! Don’t hesitate on going, just book something and do it. You won’t regret it.