BowMan86
FNG
- Joined
- Feb 24, 2021
- Messages
- 86
This past year my daughter was lucky enough to get drawn for a youth moose hunt here in Alaska. We chose the 22-25th in hopes of catching the rut as we were informed that the rut in this are has been taking place later and later in the season. This was our first real moose hunt. I have done several other hunts here in Alaska to include caribou, deer, goat, and bear, but have never had a great opportunity to chase a bull moose. We had no idea what to expect but as we walked into the first field the first morning of the hunt, we knew we were in a special place.
That first morning as we walked out at first light we were completely surrounded by moose. We must have had 30 moose or so in the fields around us. It was actually too many moose, as we were immediately spotted by several cows who never took their eyes off of us. We saw 3 bulls that morning, one about 40in and 2 forks, but with the amount of cows out there, there was no chance of closing the distance. This hunt requires a 50in bull, 4 brow tines, or a spike/fork. After the moose left the fields that morning the rest of the day was pretty slow. We saw another bull and a few cows that evening but not much more.
The next morning we saw 2 bulls and several cows. One bull again was about 40in or so and another larger bull off in the distance. Again we were surrounded by several cows and could not move any close. We attempted to call, but with the amount of cows already out there the bulls didn’t seem to care. However, that all changed that afternoon. Up to that point it didn’t seem like there was any rut activity whatsoever, but as we walked into the field that afternoon about 2 pm we were quickly greeted by a 30in bull charging out of the brush at us from about 200 yards out. He saw us and came within 50 yards circling us grunting, drooling, and licking his lips. Definitely an exciting experience.
Shortly later we were set up in the edge of the field and started calling. We got 3 cow calls in before we heard a loud crash and a 40-45 in bull came crashing out of the woods towards us. He came into 50 yards, walking back and fourth grunting and licking his lips. Unfortunately, again, we couldn’t make him 50 or 4 brow tines, but man was it exciting.
Fast forward to the next day, we were treated with much of the same that morning, but all of the same bulls and nothing that we could make legal. So we went back to our cabin for lunch and while my daughter was napping I decided to scout some new areas. I found another field that was huge and absolutely covered in tracks. It was clear that there were tons of moose using this area and I knew this was the place we would hunt that evening. I went back and grabbed my daughter and quickly set up for the evening. It proved I was a little too excited as we were set up by 2 and didn’t see a single moose til about 7 that evening. It started slow with a few cows but quickly progresses to several cows and a few bulls. At this point they were all several hundred yards away, but we heard some noise coming from the woods behind us and both looked at each other in excitement. We heard a bull grunting and knew he was coming out into the field. He ended up coming out about 200 yards away and started following cows away from us. I had my spotting scope up and saw 4 browtines and the hunt was on. I knew we were going to start loosing light quickly and he was not interested in our call at all. I knew we would have to quickly stalk within range if we were gonna get this bull.
We were lucky that in this field there were several trees that made this stalk possible. We got out of our spot and waited until the perfect opportunity to move. Once they got behind the trees we quickly snuck up as far as we could and got set up for the shot. By the time we saw him again he had already moved much further and was about 375 yards out. My daughter is a great shot and I was hauling around a field pod for a rest so I knew she would be solid, but that was still a lot further than I was comfortable with, so we decided to moved closer. As we were moving in we kept getting spotted by cows and would have to hunker down until they lost interest. This kept allowing the bull to get further and further out. We stalked what seemed to be 100 yards and when I looked up again he was still 350 yards. Lucky for us, another smaller bull decided to enter the field and they started sparring in the middle of the field. We knew they would be distracted so we took this opportunity to move quickly and got within 250 yards. It was getting dark and I knew it was Now or never. We watched the two bulls sparring for several minutes and it seemed as though he was purposely using the smaller bull as a shield. Everytime it looked like we would get a chance he would turn the other bull, placing him between us and the him. Finally they both turned broadside and I coached my daughter through the shot. As all the moose scattered, I instantly knew she made a great shot. The bull we were after stood still, widening his legs in order to keep himself from falling over. After a few seconds of swaying he tumbled over right there. Didn’t make it 5 yards. This was an amazing hunt and I truly thank ADFG for putting this hunt on. He ended up measuring exactly 50in but with the 4 browtines it didn’t matter how close he was. We ended up cutting that bull up until about 5 AM. We debated gutting it and coming back in the morning, and lucky for us we decided to stick it out and finish the job. Earlier in the hunt we saw several wolf track around the field and knew there were bears in the area. Towards the end as I was removing the last bit of meat, I heard wolves howling downwind of us but that seemed a long ways off. As I got the last bag of meat out of the field and heading towards the truck they were howling a couple hundred yards away and by the time I got out of the field I could hear them on the carcass. Couldn’t see them as it was still very dark, but there was no doubt they were on it. It was a little nerve racking, but an amazing experience to harvest that much meat. It was a clear night and had the northern light dancing above our heads the entire time we were out there. By far the best hunt I have ever experienced and so glad to spend it with my daughter!
That first morning as we walked out at first light we were completely surrounded by moose. We must have had 30 moose or so in the fields around us. It was actually too many moose, as we were immediately spotted by several cows who never took their eyes off of us. We saw 3 bulls that morning, one about 40in and 2 forks, but with the amount of cows out there, there was no chance of closing the distance. This hunt requires a 50in bull, 4 brow tines, or a spike/fork. After the moose left the fields that morning the rest of the day was pretty slow. We saw another bull and a few cows that evening but not much more.
The next morning we saw 2 bulls and several cows. One bull again was about 40in or so and another larger bull off in the distance. Again we were surrounded by several cows and could not move any close. We attempted to call, but with the amount of cows already out there the bulls didn’t seem to care. However, that all changed that afternoon. Up to that point it didn’t seem like there was any rut activity whatsoever, but as we walked into the field that afternoon about 2 pm we were quickly greeted by a 30in bull charging out of the brush at us from about 200 yards out. He saw us and came within 50 yards circling us grunting, drooling, and licking his lips. Definitely an exciting experience.
Shortly later we were set up in the edge of the field and started calling. We got 3 cow calls in before we heard a loud crash and a 40-45 in bull came crashing out of the woods towards us. He came into 50 yards, walking back and fourth grunting and licking his lips. Unfortunately, again, we couldn’t make him 50 or 4 brow tines, but man was it exciting.
Fast forward to the next day, we were treated with much of the same that morning, but all of the same bulls and nothing that we could make legal. So we went back to our cabin for lunch and while my daughter was napping I decided to scout some new areas. I found another field that was huge and absolutely covered in tracks. It was clear that there were tons of moose using this area and I knew this was the place we would hunt that evening. I went back and grabbed my daughter and quickly set up for the evening. It proved I was a little too excited as we were set up by 2 and didn’t see a single moose til about 7 that evening. It started slow with a few cows but quickly progresses to several cows and a few bulls. At this point they were all several hundred yards away, but we heard some noise coming from the woods behind us and both looked at each other in excitement. We heard a bull grunting and knew he was coming out into the field. He ended up coming out about 200 yards away and started following cows away from us. I had my spotting scope up and saw 4 browtines and the hunt was on. I knew we were going to start loosing light quickly and he was not interested in our call at all. I knew we would have to quickly stalk within range if we were gonna get this bull.
We were lucky that in this field there were several trees that made this stalk possible. We got out of our spot and waited until the perfect opportunity to move. Once they got behind the trees we quickly snuck up as far as we could and got set up for the shot. By the time we saw him again he had already moved much further and was about 375 yards out. My daughter is a great shot and I was hauling around a field pod for a rest so I knew she would be solid, but that was still a lot further than I was comfortable with, so we decided to moved closer. As we were moving in we kept getting spotted by cows and would have to hunker down until they lost interest. This kept allowing the bull to get further and further out. We stalked what seemed to be 100 yards and when I looked up again he was still 350 yards. Lucky for us, another smaller bull decided to enter the field and they started sparring in the middle of the field. We knew they would be distracted so we took this opportunity to move quickly and got within 250 yards. It was getting dark and I knew it was Now or never. We watched the two bulls sparring for several minutes and it seemed as though he was purposely using the smaller bull as a shield. Everytime it looked like we would get a chance he would turn the other bull, placing him between us and the him. Finally they both turned broadside and I coached my daughter through the shot. As all the moose scattered, I instantly knew she made a great shot. The bull we were after stood still, widening his legs in order to keep himself from falling over. After a few seconds of swaying he tumbled over right there. Didn’t make it 5 yards. This was an amazing hunt and I truly thank ADFG for putting this hunt on. He ended up measuring exactly 50in but with the 4 browtines it didn’t matter how close he was. We ended up cutting that bull up until about 5 AM. We debated gutting it and coming back in the morning, and lucky for us we decided to stick it out and finish the job. Earlier in the hunt we saw several wolf track around the field and knew there were bears in the area. Towards the end as I was removing the last bit of meat, I heard wolves howling downwind of us but that seemed a long ways off. As I got the last bag of meat out of the field and heading towards the truck they were howling a couple hundred yards away and by the time I got out of the field I could hear them on the carcass. Couldn’t see them as it was still very dark, but there was no doubt they were on it. It was a little nerve racking, but an amazing experience to harvest that much meat. It was a clear night and had the northern light dancing above our heads the entire time we were out there. By far the best hunt I have ever experienced and so glad to spend it with my daughter!
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