Post by: Ryan Rothhaar on October 14, 2022, 10:01:28 PM
The moose trip was a little different this year....the pilot had an opening early season and encouraged us to take it. My buddy John and I would be flying in the last day of August and hunting the first 10 days of season, September 1-10. The rut would still be a couple weeks from starting, bulls would just be out of velvet, and rather than rut crazed moose looking to fight or breed we would be hunting bulls working on determining pecking order and coming off of summer patterns. A huge part (really THE huge part) of DIY type hunting in AK is having a good transporter, and I think we have managed to luck into getting on with the best, so I wasn't going to argue with him.
We got into town a couple days early and with a good WX window the pilot flew us in 2 days before season, so we had a full extra day to get situated and get camp set and ready. We were hunting in foothill country, pretty decent elevation, with the Cub strip on top of a ridge with camp right by it. Water was a 20 minute walk downhill, but easy to get to, and great with a spring coming right out of the ground so we didn't need to even filter.
Camp was a Sawtooth. With pretty tight weight restriction on the Super Cub flight, and no desire to pay for a gear flight, we kind of took it as a challenge and we each ended up a couple pounds light on gear
We threw a gear tarp over some old frame a previous hunter built to store food bags, our bows and extra stuff.
Post by: Ryan Rothhaar on October 14, 2022, 10:06:23 PM
Post by: MnFn on October 14, 2022, 10:16:58 PM
Post by: Ryan Rothhaar on October 14, 2022, 10:20:04 PM
Plenty berries around.....fortunately we ran into 0 bears, which was a bonus!
Post by: Ryan Rothhaar on October 14, 2022, 10:22:14 PM
Post by: Ryan Rothhaar on October 14, 2022, 10:24:51 PM
Post by: Ryan Rothhaar on October 14, 2022, 10:30:30 PM
Post by: Ryan Rothhaar on October 14, 2022, 10:38:29 PM
One afternoon I called a small bull in to 14 yards of John, a legal moose in an any bull area, but not what either of us were looking for.
Things were getting better day by day, and one morning in the fog we had a pretty exciting hunt. We had pretty much settled on positions on the hillside about 30 yards apart, at the same elevation, watching downslope with trails crossing in front and to the sides of both of us. We would trade off calling, mainly scraping brush with a cut off oil can on a stick or an old shoulder blade we found, with an occasional grunt thrown in.
Post by: Ryan Rothhaar on October 14, 2022, 10:50:22 PM
The new bull went downhill and both quieted down...and I never laid an eye on either in the fog. After things settled I sneaked over to see what happened and it turned out this second bull came in from uphill and went 30 yards or so on the other side of John, thrashing brush and grunting, but he never had a shot. He said the bull was over 60 inches wide with long tines and velvet hanging off the tops.
Post by: Ryan Rothhaar on October 14, 2022, 10:57:13 PM
I did a little brush thrashing and thought I heard a grunt from behind me, uphill. I looked over to John and could see he was looking up there too, so figured I wasn't imagining things. I banged on the sapling a couple more times and got a good response back! A few grunts and thrashing brush and I was sure the bull was coming in. I got an arrow on the string and tried to peer through the 6 foot high regrowth.
Pretty soon I could hear him walking....then horns popped up over the brush 25 yards uphill. The bull was coming right at me and when he fully came over the hill into the open he was 10 yards away...head on. Not a monster bull, but big enough for me! He paused and was looking around trying to locate the other bull that had been thrashing brush. After a few seconds...here he comes! Still head on and closing. I wondered if I was going to have to spook this moose before he stepped on me.
Post by: Ryan Rothhaar on October 14, 2022, 11:06:29 PM
This bull was so close it was unreal. At one point had I held my 64 inch recurve by one tip I could have touched his right antler with the other.
When he got as even with me as I could stand I lined up and right before I let the arrow go it went through my mind..."What if I shoot an arrow into him and he takes a swipe at me??!!" 😀
Post by: Ryan Rothhaar on October 14, 2022, 11:14:20 PM
When I got out from behind my bush the bulls tracks from where he took off were 3 paces from my bush...10 feet from where I was standing when I shot.
The bull ran over just downhill of where John was standing about 20 yards and he was giving me the what's up? sign. He knew I shot the moose but the side he could see was the opposite side and the arrow did not punch out. Pretty soon the bull crashed, out of sight, but only 40 yards away.
Post by: Ryan Rothhaar on October 14, 2022, 11:19:04 PM
Well the fun was over and now the work begins....
The look on my face is..."Now what the hell did I do THAT for?" 😀
Post by: ottertails on October 14, 2022, 11:35:40 PM
Post by: Ryan Rothhaar on October 14, 2022, 11:38:03 PM
We had 2-3 hours of daylight and got the bull 75% butchered, most of the meat packed a hundred yards uphill, then took one load to camp. We had things in good shape to cool off but would have to go back in to the carcass in the morning to finish butchering and get the horns.
John lives in SW Montana, and has alot of grizzlies around home, and bad ones too as they know people mean picnic baskets. Not too many grizz here in Indiana, so I told him to just tell me what he wanted me to do and we would team up. We went into the kill site in the morning pistols out, and talking / making noise and the good news no bears.
After a total of 10 hours butchering and packing the meat was back at the landing strip in great shape. This moose was unbelievably fat, the fattest wild animal I've ever butchered. The meat was prime, and we worked our way through 10 lbs of tenderloin over the next 4 days
I shot the bull with a 61 lb bow, ILF riser by Chuck Hawes (Chucks custom bows). Vapor carbonwoods and a big Snuffer weighted up to 690-700 grains. I centered the bulls heart and the head stuck in an offside rib so tight I had to wiggle it free like it was stuck in wood.
5 hunts to AK (3 for moose, 2 for caribou) and I finally get to punch a tag!
Hard to tell, but there's about 500 lbs of meat under that tyvek.
Post by: Ryan Rothhaar on October 14, 2022, 11:41:48 PM
Next year will be another adventure....and it is John's turn! I hope about mid September next year we are popping advils from the pack out and toasting another great bull!
Ryan
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Post by: kopfjaeger on October 15, 2022, 04:18:12 AM
Post by: TIM B on October 15, 2022, 06:12:14 AM
Thanks for the share
Tim B
Post by: hawkeye n pa on October 15, 2022, 07:45:38 AM
Post by: stevem on October 15, 2022, 08:30:32 AM
Post by: Bisch on October 15, 2022, 08:50:52 AM
Congrats!
Bisch
Post by: stagetek on October 15, 2022, 09:37:25 AM
Post by: Roughcountry on October 15, 2022, 09:55:40 AM
Post by: MnFn on October 15, 2022, 10:02:58 AM
Gary
Post by: Orion on October 15, 2022, 10:03:41 AM
Post by: durp on October 15, 2022, 11:05:30 AM
Post by: 5deer on October 15, 2022, 11:18:33 AM
Post by: JohnV on October 15, 2022, 12:34:48 PM
Post by: GCook on October 15, 2022, 01:31:46 PM
Post by: shoes on October 15, 2022, 01:51:34 PM
Post by: Walt Francis on October 15, 2022, 03:45:24 PM
Glad to hear the full story, thanks for taking the time to put the words and pictures to paper (paper reads better then computer to these eyes) and sharing with everybody. It is appreciated.
Oh Ya: You Done Good…..Really Good!
Post by: mj seratt on October 15, 2022, 04:06:06 PM
Murray
Post by: Gun on October 15, 2022, 04:35:29 PM
Post by: Bernard Bjorklund on October 15, 2022, 07:42:20 PM
You have a great knack for recapping your hunts that we can all enjoy.
Good luck with the big whitetails this fall!
Congratulatins on an outstanding hunt!
Bernie
Post by: Bowwild on October 15, 2022, 09:37:51 PM
Thanks for sharing.
Congratulations!
Post by: kennym on October 15, 2022, 09:54:02 PM
Post by: glass76 on October 15, 2022, 10:17:44 PM
Post by: Sky-chief on October 15, 2022, 10:46:36 PM
Any guess on what your heart rate spiked to???
Good luck with the whitetails. Been a sleepy start for me in Owen county, but, that will change in the next couple of weeks as you know...
Best of luck!
Post by: Jerry Gille on October 16, 2022, 01:08:44 AM
Post by: Sawpilot 75 on October 16, 2022, 07:13:24 AM
Post by: rainman on October 16, 2022, 07:52:42 AM
Post by: PICKNGRIN on October 16, 2022, 08:06:41 AM
Post by: KAZ on October 16, 2022, 09:30:51 AM
Post by: rastaman on October 17, 2022, 11:17:22 AM
Post by: Wudstix on October 17, 2022, 12:13:29 PM
Thanks for posting your story. That has been a dream of mine for some time, probably will remain just that! It we can swing another visit, perhaps I'll get a taste.
:campfire: :coffee: :archer2: :campfire:
Post by: huntingarcher on October 17, 2022, 04:45:08 PM
Post by: Barry Wensel on October 17, 2022, 06:25:09 PM
Post by: Homey88 on October 17, 2022, 09:18:12 PM
Post by: John Cholin on October 18, 2022, 12:55:39 PM
Thanks for the story of your hunt and congratulations. I second what Barry said. Make those memories! The only regrets you will have are the opportunities you didn't make happen. At 73 I am too old to undertake what you did but I sure wish had tried back when I was younger.
JMC
Post by: Cyclic-Rivers on October 18, 2022, 01:52:37 PM
Post by: Brokearcher on October 18, 2022, 02:50:33 PM
Post by: IndianaBowman on October 18, 2022, 03:26:15 PM
Post by: woodchucker on October 18, 2022, 04:19:50 PM
Thank you for sharing it with us!!!!
Post by: Nomadstalker on October 18, 2022, 04:28:30 PM
Post by: Herdbull on October 18, 2022, 05:43:18 PM
Post by: vaguely on October 18, 2022, 07:19:13 PM
Post by: huckbuck on October 18, 2022, 07:30:40 PM
Post by: azhunter on October 19, 2022, 08:33:27 AM
Post by: RIVERWOLF on October 19, 2022, 06:05:59 PM
Thank you for taking us along Ryan !
Post by: Chad R on October 21, 2022, 08:07:51 AM
Post by: Jeff D. Holchin on October 24, 2022, 08:33:24 PM
I know it was an “any bull” unit, but just for practice, what was his spread? Looks like right at 50” to me, but what do I know??? I do see the 4 brow tines on the one side, but I know how hard it is to count the brows sometimes…
Post by: doubleo on October 25, 2022, 08:27:59 AM
Post by: Ryan Rothhaar on October 26, 2022, 05:01:08 AM
Jeff, you'd have to be careful with this bull I a restricted unit, 49 1/2 inches wide. The brow tines would make him legal, though.
R
Post by: JR Chambers on October 30, 2022, 11:14:54 PM
Post by: Terry Green on October 31, 2022, 12:09:49 PM
:clapper: :jumper: :jumper: :jumper: :jumper: :clapper:
Post by: Tony Sanders on November 01, 2022, 05:21:58 PM
Tony
Post by: BruceT on November 05, 2022, 08:16:35 AM
The thing that amazes me is the beautiful coat on that animal !!
Post by: elkken on November 08, 2022, 10:14:32 AM
Post by: ShadeMt on November 10, 2022, 09:21:22 PM
Post by: Irish Archer on November 11, 2022, 09:46:42 AM
Post by: todd smith on November 16, 2022, 12:50:08 PM
The hunting kind of wound down over the next few days with moose sightings going to 0. The time of the year had come for the moose to move down country towards the river drainages to rut.
Next year will be another adventure....and it is John's turn! I hope about mid September next year we are popping advils from the pack out and toasting another great bull!
Ryan
Great story Ryan! I love hunting moose. It has been over 30-years for me. I especially like reading stories with great pics like that. Well done sir!! Good hunting!!
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