Yukon Moose DIY

[Kevin Dill]

There is definitely a point in our lives where 2 windows have to line up before we can chase moose. The windows are age and income. When they get aligned it’s time to roll. Sometimes the opportunity is short, and for some it never works out. I’m lucky to have had so many consecutive years of doing this, but some day it will end for me.

Life is the ultimate example of fickleness and unpredictability. If it really matters to you....hunting moose in Alaska....go when you can make it happen. Opportunity isn’t going to grab your hand and drag you up there. Writing that first check isn’t an easy thing. Getting in shape is always a pain. Nothing but hurdles to stop you if you let them. I remember being invited to hunt sheep in Siberia many years ago but didn’t make it happen. I learned from it though.

Those of us scheduled to hunt this year....I hope we all get to do it. Lots of uncertainty with travel and various restrictions. Feels pretty shaky to me personally but I’m 100% in unless a bridge gets closed. I need to listen to the river again and feel some cold wind on my neck. Moose meat sustains us. I can smell woodsmoke.

[The Night Stalker]

Jeff is coming to shoot with me this afternoon and we will talk about preparation. I have basically three setups.  Basecamp with canvas which I will use on certain hunts like Colorado elk and Georgia pigs. My light and go backpack set up is 40 lbs for 10 days with and an Hilliberg Akto and my Badger bag , etc. Good for elk hunting backcountry.  Kevin,  you are familiar with my middle of the road setup with Kifaru sawtooth and Ti goat WiFi stove. With 70 lbs being the cut off, planning is stressful the first time you do it. I would not mind having a slightly larger set up like a seek outside 8 man.

[Jeff D. Holchin]

Thanks Walt, your hunt story was a classic!  Amazing when plan A actually works, huh?  Hope that you will have a similar experience this fall in Alaska!

[sam barrett]

Well, this is a dream of mine too, unfortunately I can't ever find anyone that wants to go with me...so if you want a partner, I can hike and pack meat all day long, I never get down and dejected and I'd be just as happy to help pack your moose out as I would my own. Send a PM and we can talk! 😁

[IndianaBowman]

Thought I'd keep you guys entertained a little bit with a day by day run down of two DIY moose hunts.  For full disclosure the first was with a gun (only way my wife would go with me) and the second with a recurve. I will not add any kill pictures of the gun hunt.  Hopefully, it will give you an idea of what to expect from a DIY drop hunt for Alaska Yukon Moose. The hunts were single location lake hunts. These hunts were taken nearly 20 years ago now, but I feel like they were just yesterday. I've been to Alaska 9 times to hunt for moose, caribou, bear, and Sitka blacktails.  All were DIY. I can't wait to head back up for moose and caribou next year. Figure I better get in all the hunts I can before it's too late.  Anyway, here we go!

2001 Alaska Moose Hunt Journal (Sept 6-20, 2001)

The hunt being described was a fly-in DIY drop hunt along the Yukon River. My partner for the hunt was my wife.

“Come on get your shoes on and gather up your stuff! There’s a giant moose bedded down by the end of the bay.” “No there’s not!” was Tina’s reply. “Yeah there is, I’m not kidding. Come on, get ready!” I exclaimed. Her pessimism probably wouldn’t have been apparent had it not been for the fact that she had cried wolf on our first day out and almost daily since. We were canoeing along the lake edge when she shouted “look there’s a moose”. I nearly received whiplash from turning to look so quickly. She must’ve been thinking I was getting even, but I wasn’t!  There really was a giant moose bedded at the end of the bay.  The spotting of the massive bull was the beginning of the end of a 10-year quest for moose.

It all began with the reading of a magazine article in 1991 titled “The Yukon’s Hidden Treasures”.  It told of the hunt for big Alaskan-Yukon moose and I was hooked.  I spent the next ten years dreaming and scheming. The journey involved reading everything I could find on moose hunting (Hunt Alaska Now by Dennis Confer, Hunting in Alaska by Chris Batin, Moose by Robert Strong, The Hunting Report, all of Jay Massey’s books, etc…) and watching as many videos as I could find (15 total). I took a couple of caribou hunts in 1997 and 1999 as primers for what to expect in Alaska. I learned volumes from those two hunts. In late 1999 I began getting very serious about a moose hunt and started intensive searching for the best location. I used all available resources from Glen Stout the Alaska biologist out of Galena, Bob Rebuchek the Koyukuk Refuge manager, the Moose forum on The Bowsite, and a multitude of other resources. I was finally able to define the area I wanted to hunt and determine a reputable air-taxi operator to deliver me to the location. I selected an air taxi outfitter out of Galena due to glowing reviews, his flight safety record, a personal conversation with him, and because of his high moral convictions. You see this wasn’t going to be a routine hunt. I was bringing my wife on her first Alaskan experience and I didn’t want it tainted with a bunch of rough speaking, beer-drinking slobs. The air taxi pilot holds a tight line against this behavior and selects only clients willing to abide by his rules. The pilot is also a small outfit only taking 12-14 hunters per year, which I hoped, would transfer into a little more personal attention. Man, was I ever right on that guess!

[IndianaBowman]

Our hunt began on September 6, 2001 with a flight from Indy to Chicago. There we changed planes for another leg to Anchorage and then on to Fairbanks.  We arrived in Fairbanks at 2:30 PM so we rented a car to tour the town. After checking into the Super 8 we headed out for a quick stop at Burger King for dinner. We decided on the drive through so we could have more time to tour the town. After getting our meal, I was unwrapping my Whopper at a stoplight when the light changed and I hit the gas to go. The car in front of me slammed on the breaks and I slammed into the back of the car – DOH! Fortunately, the damage was pretty minimal on the other car and she just wanted to go on about her business. OK, fine! Since it was my fault for hitting a car in the rear I was anxious to accept this. The only problem now was the crunched front end of the rental car. My luck has to get better! After overnighting in Fairbanks we caught a Frontier Air puddle jumper to Galena. Fortunately, the weather cooperated and the pilot was able to fly us to our lake location that afternoon. Following is a day-by-day diary of our hunt beginning with the flight to the lake.

September 7 – A beautiful flight over the Yukon River. The birch trees were changing colors and produced a glowing yellow tint to the landscape. Still within sight of Galena, I spotted my first moose. It was a small bull bedded near a pond. We spotted several more moose on the way to the lake. As we circled the lake for orientation we spotted more moose on our home lake. One lanky old cow didn’t even bother to evacuate the lake as we landed and motored up to our camping location. Tina took some shaky video of the cow. Tina and I were able to fly together but some of our gear had to stay behind. Our pilot made a second trip to retrieve our gear. We made camp and began glassing. During the afternoon and evening we saw a total of 7 moose (3 bulls and 4 cows). The bulls were sparring just across from camp on the North side of the lake. Two of the bulls were young (40-42”-Littleboy and 48-50”-Spiker), but the third gets my heart pumping. He never showed himself long enough to get a good size estimate, but he certainly dwarfed the other two. I racked brush and cow called from camp with my “Bull Magnet”. I also placed a couple scent rags with Cow in Heat lure around camp.  I was pumped for the next day’s hunt.

[IndianaBowman]

September 8 – In the early AM I glassed the lake from camp and saw 11 moose (4 bulls and 7 cows). I also racked some bush and cow called. I immediately received an answer from the corner of the bay by camp. Upon investigation we saw a nice bull emerge from the willows and start in our direction. Tina and I decided to stalk up through the woods and managed to get within 100 yards of the bull. A great animal of about 55” with heavy palms and 3 unusual brows on each side. We decided to pass on the bull, but worked him anyway. I cow called and he walked in my direction. A second later a real cow called from the brush behind him. He started to turn and go to her when I cow called again. He started toward me again but then the real McCoy chimes in again and he turns toward her. I sent Tina back into the brush to cow call to simulate the cow leaving. He turned and started in our direction again. This time advancing to within 60 yards. The real cow responded once again and stopped his advance. I postulated that maybe if I bull grunt he would think another bull was trying to steal his hot cow and would charge on in. Wimpy bull! He evidently had recently received a butt whooping because when I bull grunted he turned and ran to his real cow. I guess a cow in hand is worth a cow and bull in bush! We continued to glass and spot from camp to try to pattern the moose with the intent of moving in on them later. A terrific day with lots of excitement! I did experience a little 2nd guessing about whether I should have shot the 55” bull. After all the excitement was over Tina said you should’ve shot the bull. Now she tells me! I believe Tina had ulterior motives because she wanted a fire and to be able to talk out loud. Come to find out later, she was getting frustrated with all the quiet. I guess it’s hard to go from 4 kids and chaos to utter silence. I kind of figured this out after she angrily told me to stop ssshhhhing her. Enough said, I sssshhhheeeddd no more.

September 9 – I glassed from camp in the AM and saw 8 moose (4 cows and 4 bulls), all on the Northeast end of the lake. The bulls were Littleboy, Spiker (one brow on left side), 50” 3 brow (different from the day earlier), and BIG boy. I couldn’t tell exactly how big the biggest bull was, but he was noticeably bigger than the rest. I only caught a fleeting glimpse of him as he cruised the cows and went back into the willows. My guess would be that he was 65”+ with 4-6 brows per side. A definite shooter! Our routine evolved into glassing until 11:00 AM and then working around camp until 3-4:00 PM and then glassing again. I built Tina a pretty impressive kitchen with a table, roof, and seating. Just like home – well almost! In the PM Tina and I decided to stalk into the Northeast end of the lake to set up on the bulls. We paddled down (canoe was flown into the lake prior to our arrival) ¾ of the way when we spotted a cow on the lake. We immediately backpedaled and cozied in next to a beaver hutch. About 100 yards of open marsh separated Tina and I from the cover of the willows. We made like a moose and I bent over and Tina put her hands on my hips so hopefully we looked like a really ugly moose.  Seems to have worked because all the moose stayed on the lake. We reached the willows and started down toward the moose. We got to within 150 yards and positioned ourselves on a point with good visibility of the existing moose and a view of the area where the other bulls had been emerging.  Within a few minutes Littleboy and Spiker came out with a couple more cows. We then had 6 moose in view. We got some great video of Spiker and a couple of cows. Pretty impressive animal. He was massive and in great physical condition. The other big bulls didn’t show but it was an awesome day. On the paddle back to camp, with a spectacular sunset (video), I remark to Tina that I believe our trip was made. We had opportunities to shoot a couple of big bulls and saw lots of moose and experienced true Alaskan splendor.

[IndianaBowman]

September 10 – The temperature dropped to about 30oF during the night so the lake was very foggy.  The fog didn’t lift until about 10:00 AM. A lone cow crossed in front of camp no more than 50 yards out. After the fog lifted we spotted a few more cow moose on the far end of the lake. We then decided to take a trip around to the backside of camp into a big grassy opening with another lake on the far side of it. We got to the edge and cow called and racked brush a few times with no response. Tina then decided we should take a walk across the grassy field to check out the other lake so we sloshed our way about 100 yards to another point and quickly realized that walking across the muskeg swamp was not going to be easy. We huddled up and reconsidered our decision and concluded that it would be a waste of effort since there was no possible way that we could pack a moose back out across the swamp. We then decided to head back to camp and continued glassing our home lake. On the way back we thought it would be a good idea to leave a scent trail in the hopes of a bull following it to camp. Great idea except Tina wouldn’t let me spray the stuff on her pant legs. I tried to explain that her pant legs will be contacting brush and we need to hide our human scent.  She said “I’ve been pretty cooperative about everything you’ve asked, but you aren’t going to spray moose pee on my pants”. I thought she was just kidding and started to spray some on her pants. OUCH! She wasn’t kidding! After getting back to camp an hour or so later Spiker and Littleboy showed up just across the cove on the Westside of camp. They were within 60 yards and visibly excited by the cow in heat urine spread around camp. They sparred for a bit and mingled around for about 20 minutes before starting to leave with Spiker leading the way. Littleboy followed very close and nuzzled Spiker’s rear. Spiker stopped and Littleboy took advantage of the stationary target and mounted up on him. Spiker took this personal and turned and jabbed Littleboy with his antlers. Littleboy turned and faced Tina and I with a look that said; “did you see that”? I guess he was a little confused with all the great odors around and no cow. Tina captured the whole event on video. We glassed four more cows on the Northeast end of the lake in the evening, but there were no other bulls sighted for the day.

[IndianaBowman]

September 11 – Early in the AM a cow and calf crossed the lake within 150 yards of camp. Tina tried to get it on video but the camera shut down with a warning that read “dew detected”.  We wrapped the camera in towels from that point forward. It was pretty foggy and we couldn’t really see the far end of the lake. I had been racking brush and getting answers from the Northeast end and I could hear two bulls clashing and racking brush. The fog finally cleared and I could see two huge bulls. It was hard to tell exact size, but they were definitely shooters. There were also four cows within view on the lake. Tina and I then decided on a plan for the evening’s hunt. We planned to paddle, in the tree shadows, all the way down to the Southeast corner of the lake and catch the two big bulls coming out for their nightly feed. We left early and arrived at 4:30 PM. We then positioned ourselves on a nice little point with a good view of the area where the moose were spotted. We agreed that we would stay till until about 9:30 PM and then head back to camp. Up to this point the moose have always shown themselves before 6:30 PM. Not that evening! Tina was getting restless and suggested we leave at 9:00 PM. I reluctantly agreed and we headed for camp. About halfway back at 9:15 PM I told Tina that there were moose on the lake down by where we were. She responds with “no way”! Yep, several cows and a BIG bull! DOH! Oh, well! I gave her some ribbing but I really didn’t have any negative feelings. We had a really nice evening just talking about our future and some decisions in life. Time very well spent! As usual I racked brush and cow called before turning in for the evening. My routine was for early AM and late PM racking and cow calling. Our pilot was supposed to do a mid-hunt fly by today but unknown to us he was grounded because of the terrorists events of September 11. I told Tina not to fret because Alaskan bush pilots are on a whole different time schedule.

[IndianaBowman]

September 12 – Our 6th day in camp and it started out with heavy fog and low visibility. I racked brush and cow called and heard a response directly across the lake to the North. It was too foggy to see anything so Tina and I retired back to the tent for reading and warmth. It was damp and cold outside but dry and warm in the tent. The fog was too thick to see anything until about 11:00 AM. I was getting up about every half-hour to go out and glass and spot. At 11:00 AM the fog was starting to thin and I spotted some cows on the Northeast end. Nothing to get excited about but I continued with my meticulous glassing of the entire lake and was approaching the West end of the bay by camp when I noticed something in the grass that wasn’t there previously. Nothing obvious just something different. I put the spotting scope on it and saw that it was a HUGE bull bedded in the grass along the lake. This is where the story began! After finally convincing Tina that there really was a bull, she got ready and spotted the bull. We took about 10 minutes to really assess the bull to make sure he was legal. There was no doubt and we planned the attack. We decided that the woods might be too noisy for an approach but since the weeds were damp from all the fog I might be able to quietly advance along the woods edge. This would take the bull out of my view for quite a ways so we decided to leave Tina on the spotting scope to let me know if the bull got up and we would have to change strategy. The stalk was on! It took about 45 minutes to get within 150 yards and I only had another 20 to the end of my cover. I had a small bush picked out that I could hide behind and get a clean shot. Just as I started to move the bull got up. I don’t think he heard or smelled me because there was a strong crosswind. Tina was out of sight so I couldn’t tell if she was signaling or not. I’m sure she was wondering what to do. Well, she did the right thing and just watched. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the video running. The bull started in my direction and moved to the edge of the woods where he thrashed some brush. While his head was down thrashing the brush, I sprinted to my desired bush. He advanced further to within 80 yards and then walked into the bush. DOH! I thought he was gone for good. A quick prayer asking for the bull to come back out and after some severe bush whacking he emerged on the edge of the woods. Thank you, thank you, God! He was antler swaying and stiff legged walking right at me. I kept letting him advance hoping he would turn and give me a shot. I waited and waited and waited until he was at 15 yards and still coming. Quite an imposing figure as I looked UP at him. He was a giant and I was SCARED! All I could envision was me shooting him, him lunging forward and making me into tundra trash. Fortunately, he turned and offered a shot at less than 15 yards. The shot was good, but he reached the edge of the lake, swayed a bit and then splashed into two foot of water – triple DOH! I took about 3 seconds to get over the disappointment of having to butcher him in the water! I was jumping up and down and yelling and I couldn’t even see the bull. I was in my hiking boots so approaching him wasn’t an option. I headed back for Tina and a boot change, yeah I said BOOT. She was able to watch the whole event and was equally excited. I think she was most excited about now being able to talk out loud and yell whenever she wanted.  She even grabbed the tent zipper and zipped it up and down quite noisily. After she got that out of her system we grabbed the video camera, still camera, knives, and game bags and headed for the bull. Tina videod my approach and reaction. The video revealed several “holy smokes, oh my goshes, big bull” and just sheer dumbfoundedness! Huge animal! Unfortunately, we were not able to get many good still photos because I was unable to lift his head out of the water. Huge rack! I was positive he was legal in width, but he only had three brow tines per side. I pulled out my tape just to make sure and was awed by the fact that he spanned 66” across! The work began! Tina and I were caping and skinning when I looked across the lake and saw my bull’s grand-daddy. Clearly several inches wider and at least 6 brows on his right side – quadruple DOH! My disappointment lasted less time than my disappointment with him falling in the water, about 1 second! A bull in water is worth a thousand in the bush! He ghosted back into the willows to never be seen again – NEXT YEAR! We continued to process the bull and looked up and saw a cow moose approaching. Tina videod her and she approached to within 30 yards. I was out in the open butchering the bull and she could care less. I made a couple of modified cow calls (mmmeeerrrrrmooosy, mooosy, mooosy) and she came closer. Tina was getting a little nervous with her so close, but I was having a ball with her. The cow finally decided to move on. There were 6 other cows on the Northeast end of the lake.  In the evening while butchering my bull we counted 10 moose on the lake (all cows).  We managed to get a hindquarter, front quarter, backstrap, and neck meat removed. Tina was now getting nervous about having all the meat around and the possibility of bears. I mentioned that the bears usually take a couple of days to get on a kill. They usually follow the Raven’s flight path to the kill. That night at about 1:00 AM I got a nudge in the ribs. “There’s something moving outside” Tina whispered. “So, go back to sleep” I replied. “Yeah right, make it go away!” she retorted.  Realizing I wouldn’t get any sleep until whatever was breaking sticks and rustling leaves right outside of the tent wall was gone, I hollered and shined a flashlight through the tent. “Now go back to sleep” I encouraged. No such luck. Two minutes later another nudge and another “It’s still out there”.  Up I got armed with a flashlight, gun, and questionable courage. Tina would not be left alone in the tent so she plastered herself to my backside. At least that side of me was safe. I peaked around the corner of the tent and shined my flashlight into two glaring eyes!  Fortunately, they belonged to a porcupine and not a mad moose or hungry bear.  I poked him with the gun barrel to run him away and he scurried up a nearby tree. We took a moment to look up and the Aurora Borealis was spectacular.  We truly believe the porcupine was sent to us as a messenger to get up and awe in the beauty of the lights. Our pilot was now two days late for the mid-hunt fly by and Tina and I were starting to get a little curious as to whether or not Brownie forgot about us.

[IndianaBowman]

September 13 – Caaww, caawww! The Ravens woke us up bright and early. I guess I shouldn’t have told Tina about the Ravens. She was getting even more nervous.  Moose were everywhere!  Six cows were on the Northeast end of the lake. I continued to butcher my bull and quickly realized that flipping him over was not going to happen. Even after I removed all the meat thus far. I decided to remove his left side rib cage and pull out all of the internal organs. I estimated this would reduce the weight by 400 lbs. With this task accomplished we tried to flip again – NOPE! I then cut through his backbone at the hip hoping to be able to flip the front quarter for caping. Still nope!  I couldn’t get him turned; the darn antlers were so wide I couldn’t get enough leverage. We finally flipped him up on his nose, but still couldn’t get to the underside of his cape. It was now about 11:00 AM and I was beat. I took a short respite and looked up to see two HUGE bulls coming our way!  Both of them were in the 55”-60” range, one of them maybe bigger. They both had good palms and thick brows. Tina took some good video of them. We tried to ignore them but they kept getting closer. The closest bull was visibly aggressive and was thrashing brush and posturing for a fight.  The only problem with this was that he was coming toward ME!  I was out in the open about 20 yards from the tree edge where Tina was. The bulls kept on coming and got to within a couple hundred yards, so I yelled at them to try to scare them off. No such luck! They stopped and zeroed in on the annoying little man wrestling with their buddy. Right at this time a plane echoed in the distance. Tina asked if I thought it was our pilot. I responded with an “I hope so!”  It was!  He circled once and the bulls stopped momentarily to admire his Maule 17 plane, then they continued to swagger toward me. I could hear Tina on the video later saying “He’s yelling at the moose, planes flying by, and the moose are ignoring it. And he made me whisper and zip the tent quietly”. I think that was a jab at me. Tina then asked me “Is he going to land?  This is making me nervous!” Her nervous! I was the target they decided to stomp who was 20 yards from safety. Again, lady luck smiled and our pilot motored the plane down into the bay to where I was processing the bull. The bulls finally got the idea that they were unwanted guests and moved off into the willows. Phew! Brownie congratulated me on my great bull and said, “let me tell you what’s been going on in the world”.  He then told us about the terrorists attacks of September 11.  I had to actually sit down on the floats of his plane and was noticeably nauseous. Tina and I made the decision then and there to try to get out and get back to our kids.  I took advantage of our pilot and had him help flip the remaining quarter and neck of my bull (thank goodness). Our pilot was able to take a full load of meat and said he would try to get back tomorrow or the next day. I continued to butcher my bull and finished with everything except scraping the cape.  We hung everything in the shade of the woods except my rack, which I placed in the canoe and took back to camp.  Tina was pretty adamant that I use my Alaska duck stamp and shoot a couple of ducks for dinner. Bwana great white hunter headed out to collect food for his mate. Well after paddling across the lake and back and several shots later I had two ducks in the boat.  I started cleaning the ducks, finished one and placed it on the floor of the canoe and started on the other. Just as I was doing a final rinse it slipped out of my hand and sunk to the bottom of the lake – DOH!  Tina said the one barbecue duck was really good! Tina was in ecstasy because she also got to build a fire. It was interesting to note that while canoeing around the lake shooting at ducks all the moose pretty much ignored me. I was within 60 yards of a cow when I shot and she simply looked up at me and then resumed feeding.  I also had a small 45” bull walking along the South bank following me back to camp. Fortunately, he went back into the forest before he got too close to camp. In the evening the sky clouded up so I rigged a tarp over the meat and cape.  It rained pretty heavy most of the night and this comforted Tina because I told her the bears and moose don’t like to travel in the rain.  At least she slept well! The rain just kept me from hearing the animals if they approached.

[IndianaBowman]

September 14 – Day 8 in camp and Tina was ready to go. During breakfast Tina thought she heard something in the woods. I heard it too, but told her it was nothing so she wouldn’t be afraid it was a bear.  We finished breakfast and started down to the meat cache to work on the cape. As we stepped into the open, sure enough there was a 50” bull standing near the kill sight. I think it was Spiker. Tina didn’t like him that close to camp so big strong me came to the rescue and ran him off. A few Tarzan yodels and muscle flexings later the bull sloshed off across the marsh. I think I was her hero! A little later another different 35” bull trotted across in front of camp, no more than 50 yards out. Couldn’t get rid of the dang bulls. It continued to be overcast most the day and our pilot finally showed up at about 2:00 PM. He packed up Tina and the remaining meat and charted a flight path back to Galena. I had about 2 ½ hours to break camp. It took all the time, but the campsite showed no trace of our existence.  Our pilot showed up right on time and we headed for town.  During the flight back we spotted no less than 6 different bulls and dozens of cows. Back in our pilots bunkhouse Tina and I unpacked gear and organized things for the flight home.

September 15,16 – Tina and I tried to get an early flight home with no luck due to the air restrictions associated with the terrorist attack. We enjoyed the time with our pilot and helped process meat for packing home and for donation.  The neighbor was the local Pastor and he had five kids.  He was more than happy to take some of the moose meat off of my hands. At $5/lb for hamburger, I could understand his enthusiasm for free moose meat. We got a chance to get to know our pilot and developed a nice friendship. Truly a great man to know.

[IndianaBowman]

September 17 – We caught a flight to Fairbanks and stayed at the 7 Gables Inn bed and breakfast. This was a little bit of a splurge for Tina after her enduring my camping restrictions. I tried to check my cape in at Alaska Airlines and they had shut down all cargo because of the terrorist attack – DOH! Thanks to Tina’s great foresight we actually came into Fairbanks a day early to see the town, so we had time to work out the logistics for getting my cape home. We decided to have it wet tanned at a local tannery and shipped to Indy when complete. The rack went home on the plane with us as OVERSIZE luggage.  We spent a nice day touring town and then went to dinner at “The Pump House”. We both had some awesome Cajun Alaskan salmon. Good food, probably even better than barbecue duck – but I wouldn’t know.

September 18 – A visit to the University of Alaska Museum was well worth the $5 admission. We picked up a few souvenirs to go with the $150 worth we picked up a Fred Myers. Due to airline check-in concerns and car rental return we arrived at the airport 6 hours before flight departure. Everything went pretty smoothly except for some last-minute stress about getting my antlers on the flight. Fortunately, 2 minutes before take-off they were loaded on the plane. 

September 19 – We arrived in Chicago and because they wouldn’t transfer my antlers all the way through to Indy we had to pick them up at baggage claim and transport them over 1 mile through the terminal to another flight check-in. Quite a task since they had to be turned just right to fit into the elevators. I was worn out after lugging the 72# antlers through the airport. We had to change our original flight because we didn’t have enough time to make the connection with the movement of the rack.  It was a good thing we changed flights because the rack created quite a stir and drew a nice sized crowd in the Chicago Airport. “Is that what I think it is” was one response. “Depends on what you think it is”, was my reply. Another dull bulb asked after I showed him my hunting pictures, “so are you a hunter?” Duh, “no I ran into him with my canoe”! We finally got everything checked in and caught our flight. We arrived in Indy at 10:00 AM. My brother picked us up and took us to his house where my car was parked.  Another logistical problem arose because the rack wouldn’t fit in the car. Tina and I drove 30 miles to our home, I took a quick shower, went to work till 4:00 PM, drove to my brother’s with Tina’s van and picked up the rack, and then drove back to work where I hosted a professional meeting. Since I was president of the organization the responsibility for entertaining the attendees fell to me when my speaker showed up and then refused to speak – DOH! Oh well, I then proceeded to give a talk on how to deal with difficult people. I arrived home at 10:00 PM and fell into bed. 

September 20 – Whew – What a trip! Couldn’t have been better. Sure lots of requirements for adapting and adjusting, but I harvested a 66” 219 6/8” bull moose. Guess what? I’m going back next year! Tina hasn’t expressed much interest in going with me at this point, but I’m betting that time will heal all wounds/bear fears/ear ringing/travel stress/blackfly scars/etc…

[sam barrett]

Terry, thanks for sharing, can't wait to read it all later tonight!

[Kevin Dill]

I just love reading Terry’s moose stories. That’s a heck of an account of how crazy things can get when moose are around and in the mood for company. It’s truly amazing to be able to experience those days when you just almost can’t run them off. You can walk in plain sight and they don’t worry about it. Rather, they come in to kick your hind-side.

[Jeff D. Holchin]

Great stuff, Terry!  Especially to be able to share that adventure with Tina.  You’re a blessed man!

[IndianaBowman]

2002 Alaskan Moose Hunt Journal (September 3-17, 2002)

The hunt being described was a fly-in DIY drop hunt along the Yukon River. Unfortunately, my wife didn't feel a second trip was worth the risk given all that happened with 9/11 the prior year and because there would be no gun in camp.

September 3rd – The day began fairly uneventful as I stopped in the office to tie up some loose ends and confirm my flights. “What do you mean you don’t have a Flight 1722!” The customer service representative confirmed what I had already discovered on the website. There was no Flight 1722 on Alaska Airlines! Fortunately, I was able to discover that my flight was actually with American Airlines. Unfortunately, all the information was calling for a 1:00 PM departure instead of the expected 3:00 PM departure. This put a big glitch in the program since I was in Indy and needed to drive to Chicago for departure. I quickly called my partner and told him I would pick him up in 35 minutes. We made it to the airport on time and were able to make our flight. I do have to say that the airport security screeners are very thorough.  They were patting down places better left to my wife.  I did seem to have the look of a terrorists since I was stopped for bag check and a pat down at every connection. We arrived in Fairbanks at around midnight and set up camp next to the Frontier Air check-in counter. I pulled out my sleeping bag and caught a bit of a nap.

[IndianaBowman]

September 4th – The flight to Galena was smooth and as soon as we reached the air taxi operators house we immediately began preparing for the floatplane flight to the bush. We decided that I would fly-in first and setup camp while the pilot returned for my partner and the remainder of our gear. The flight was pretty uneventful and the low clouds and rain kept us from spotting many moose. I arrived at the lake and began pitching the tent in a steady rain. I was thoroughly soaked before I was able to get the cook tarp, tent, and other camp necessities arranged. My partner was able to get into camp and we jumped right in and built a nice cook table.  We saw our first moose at about 10:00 PM. It was a lone cow on the far East end of the lake. Temperature was about 40-45oF.

September 5th – We began the day at sunrise (6:00 AM) and immediately spotted a cow standing in the lake 40 yards in front of camp. The cow mulled around and fed on the aquatic vegetation until about 9:30 AM. Another cow and calf crossed the bay to the South and joined the original cow. When taking a photo of the cows, My partner forgot his flash was on and spooked the cows away from camp. One of the cows repeatedly let out a really loud belching sound. Saw one other cow on the far Northwest end of the bay in the morning. It rained sporadically throughout the day and had a downpour around noon.  Four other cows were spotted in the afternoon. A total of 7 moose spotted. Temperature ranged from 35-45oF.  Each day during the hunt we would cow call and rake brush with a “Bull Magnet” megaphone. I also hung moose cow-in-heat saturated rags around camp. We didn’t have any open fires.

[IndianaBowman]

September 6th – The morning moose move was pretty impressive with 9 moose spotted. The highlight was a 60+” moose with 4 brows on the Northeast end of the lake near a beaver hut. Saw six cows and one bull on the lake at one point. Saw another cow and calf cross the point in front of camp and had 3 cows in the area where I killed my bull last year. It rained most of the morning and all afternoon. Saw 5 moose in the afternoon (3 cows and 2 calves). Temperature was about 40-45oF.

September 7th – Saw 6 moose in the morning (4 cows and 2 calves). About 40oF and still raining. Everything is wet. In the afternoon I canoed over to the area of the beaver hut crossing and didn’t see any moose. My partner saw 2 cows and 2 calves.

[IndianaBowman]

September 8th – In the morning I canoed to the area of the beaver hut and saw a big bull cruising the tree line approximately 200 yards away. No chance to put on a stalk. I also saw a fork horn bull and 4 cows and a calf on the SE end of the lake. A cow hung around camp most of the day and I actually canoed to within 50 yards of her without spooking her. Rained most all morning except for a brief time when the sun actually showed. My partner set at near the beaver hut in the afternoon and saw 3 cows and 2 calves. I saw the same animals. Toward dusk a cold wind blew in dropping the temperature from 50-29oF in about 3 hours.