Sergio, we didn't eat any of him. I thankfully managed to dodge his musk glands while skinning him out but he smelled exactly like a brown bear in the spring - like he was fresh out of the den.
Jim, I was hunting a natural pinch point in the topography. The 400-yard-wide braided stream bed where we landed, camped, and hunted was right at tree line (about 3400 feet in this part of Alaska). I was perched up on a near-vertical bluff overlooking a trail that pinched out where the main channel of the stream cut into the mountain face (creating the vertical rock faces). Any moose migrating into the mountain valley for miles coming from the northeast would bump into this range of mountains. Any moose following that trail along the base of the mountains would have to walk about 15 feet below me at a range of 12-15 yards just before crossing the braided stream bed.
I was trying to stay as comfortable as possible while standing on my cliff perch when I heard approaching loping steps. My setup location prevented me from seeing much farther than about 20-25 yards in that direction. The thought of moose was immediately ruled out because the steps weren't heavy thuds and were too closely spaced together. My next thought was wolf. There are lots of wolves in this part of the state and non residents can take 5 without even having to have a wolf tag. Then I saw that it was a wolverine when he paused on the trail. Quick decision - is he worth my moose tag? Yes was the answer.
Remember - I was expecting a bull moose that's 7' tall at the shoulder to walk by - not a wolverine. There would only be one small window where the shot would be clear. He resumed his loping gait along the trail and I swung my recurve with him. I was fortunate to put a decent shot on him at 12 yards when he loped through the window in the brush. It was a bit too far back meaning that I didn't allow enough lead in my swing to account for his movement. But it was good enough. The heavy moose arrow buried about 6" into the rocky riverine soil and was a total pass through. The wolverine left a good blood trail. After climbing a very steep alder-covered face between two sheer rock faces he died laying on a large flat rock while watching his back trail.
Getting him down that steep hillside (pictured behind me) was a challenge in that I didn't want to fall 150 feet to the stream bed below. I field-skinned him out right there (leaving the skull and feet and tail bone) beside the stream and carried his hide back to camp. Later that day I skinned out the skull, split the lips and nose and turned the ears and removed the feet and tail bone. Thankfully we had enough salt available for the hide.
Topic: Wolverine instead of moose (Read 2163 times)
