3Rivers Archery



The Trad Gang Digital Market













Contribute to Trad Gang and Access the Classifieds!

Become a Trad Gang Sponsor!

Traditional Archery for Bowhunters






LEFT HAND BOWS CLASSIFIEDS TRAD GANG CLASSIFIEDS ACCESS RIGHT HAND BOWS CLASSIFIEDS


Author Topic: Longbow moose, Wrangell Mtns, 2009  (Read 5015 times)

Offline elkken

  • TG HALL OF FAME
  • Trad Bowhunter
  • *****
  • Posts: 3925
Re: Longbow moose, Wrangell Mtns, 2009
« Reply #60 on: September 25, 2009, 11:46:00 AM »
:thumbsup:    :thumbsup:  Great story and a mighty fine moose ... This is why I love Tradgang. Congrats
Sometimes it's better to be lucky than good

TGMM Family of the Bow

Offline Frenchy

  • Trad Bowhunter
  • **
  • Posts: 148
Re: Longbow moose, Wrangell Mtns, 2009
« Reply #61 on: September 25, 2009, 11:55:00 AM »
I enjoyed seeing your pictures.Thank you so much for sharing    :clapper:

Offline highlife

  • Trad Bowhunter
  • **
  • Posts: 173
Re: Longbow moose, Wrangell Mtns, 2009
« Reply #62 on: September 25, 2009, 12:10:00 PM »
Congrats on the awesome bull ... Moose hunting and longbows go hand in hand, I love September in Alaska!
There's something about holding a longbow in your hand!

Offline todd smith

  • SPONSOR
  • Trad Bowhunter
  • *****
  • Posts: 612
Re: Longbow moose, Wrangell Mtns, 2009
« Reply #63 on: September 25, 2009, 12:37:00 PM »
Congrats John!

Moose are my favorite and you did a great job getting in him!  That's good moose hunting right there...  todd
todd smith

Live wild live free

 www.ToddSmithCo.com

Offline wisconsin wood butcher

  • Trad Bowhunter
  • **
  • Posts: 445
Re: Longbow moose, Wrangell Mtns, 2009
« Reply #64 on: September 25, 2009, 08:57:00 PM »
great hunt john and steve thanks for sharing  :campfire:

Online Herdbull

  • Trad Bowhunter
  • **
  • Posts: 1903
Re: Longbow moose, Wrangell Mtns, 2009
« Reply #65 on: September 25, 2009, 10:27:00 PM »
John - tell Steve congradulations from me. It was a long time comming and I know the frustration of taking a mature bull. Good for him, and I'm sure he appreciates your selflessness as a hunting partner. I couldn't be happier! Mike

Offline straitera

  • Trad Bowhunter
  • **
  • Posts: 3860
Re: Longbow moose, Wrangell Mtns, 2009
« Reply #66 on: September 25, 2009, 10:37:00 PM »
Rock solid stuff here John. If I can't go myself, sure glad friends share their stories.
Buddy Bell

Trad is 60% mental & about 40% mental.

Offline Cowboy Al

  • Trad Bowhunter
  • **
  • Posts: 219
Re: Longbow moose, Wrangell Mtns, 2009
« Reply #67 on: September 26, 2009, 12:15:00 AM »
Thanks for the story and pics! And most of all Congrats!

Offline John Havard

  • Contributing Member
  • Trad Bowhunter
  • ****
  • Posts: 726
Re: Longbow moose, Wrangell Mtns, 2009
« Reply #68 on: September 26, 2009, 09:20:00 AM »
Hey Mike,
Thanks for the kind words and congratulations.  As you well know, the work begins after the arrow flies!  It truly was a team effort.  

We came awfully close to getting another bull several days before this one, so we almost went 2-for-2.  Maybe next year.

Offline limbow

  • TGMM Member
  • Trad Bowhunter
  • ***
  • Posts: 1200
Re: Longbow moose, Wrangell Mtns, 2009
« Reply #69 on: September 26, 2009, 09:30:00 AM »
Magnificent story and bull!
Kevin Osworth
->>>--TGMM Family of the Bow-->

Offline Cyclic-Rivers

  • TG HALL OF FAME
  • Trad Bowhunter
  • *****
  • Posts: 17675
Re: Longbow moose, Wrangell Mtns, 2009
« Reply #70 on: September 26, 2009, 09:37:00 AM »
I am jealous.  Someday I will have a picture of an exhausting last pack out   :notworthy:  

Awesome hunt/Story.  Congradulations!

Charlie
Relax,

You'll live longer!

Charlie Janssen

PBS Associate Member
Wisconsin Traditional Archers


>~TGMM~> <~Family~Of~The~Bow~<

Offline BUFF

  • Trad Bowhunter
  • **
  • Posts: 1095
Re: Longbow moose, Wrangell Mtns, 2009
« Reply #71 on: September 26, 2009, 10:33:00 AM »
:clapper:    :clapper:    :clapper:

Online trad_bowhunter1965

  • TG HALL OF FAME
  • Trad Bowhunter
  • *****
  • Posts: 2642
Re: Longbow moose, Wrangell Mtns, 2009
« Reply #72 on: September 26, 2009, 10:45:00 AM »
John Great story and Photos thank you.Blake
" I am driven by those thing that rouse my traditional sense of archery and Bowhunting" G Fred Asbell

Trad Gang Hall of Fame
Yellowstone Longbows
Compton Traditional Bowhunters
Professional Bowhunters Society Associate Member
Retired 38 years DoD civilian.

Online frassettor

  • TG HALL OF FAME
  • Trad Bowhunter
  • *****
  • Posts: 4665
Re: Longbow moose, Wrangell Mtns, 2009
« Reply #73 on: September 26, 2009, 01:25:00 PM »
desperate times call for desperate measures". I took out both scapulas (it must have been fate that led us to the second one), leaned my bow up against a tree and then said to Steve: "nock an arrow, get right on my a**, move when I move and stop when I stop. We're going to walk right up to that SOB and shoot him."
  :notworthy:    :notworthy:  Great job to say the least
"Everything's fine,just fine". Dad

Offline excelpoint

  • Trad Bowhunter
  • **
  • Posts: 360
Re: Longbow moose, Wrangell Mtns, 2009
« Reply #74 on: September 26, 2009, 07:03:00 PM »
I still cant get my head around the size of those animals. Well done guys.
"A hunt based only on trophies taken falls short of what the ultimate goal should be ... time to commune with your inner soul as you share the outdoors with the birds, animals, and the fish that live there."
Fred Bear

Offline Ted Fry

  • Tradbowhunter
  • Trad Bowhunter
  • *
  • Posts: 1457
Re: Longbow moose, Wrangell Mtns, 2009
« Reply #75 on: September 26, 2009, 07:26:00 PM »
Great story John , glad that bull didnt turn you into part of the tundra.

Offline Stephen A Kenesie

  • Trad Bowhunter
  • **
  • Posts: 1
Re: Longbow moose, Wrangell Mtns, 2009
« Reply #76 on: September 26, 2009, 10:47:00 PM »
Hey everyone,
I would like to thank you for all the great comments! Exspecially comiming from my peers. I would like to say that even thro I shot the arrow that harvest that bull, this was truly a team effort and that was our bull and not my bull. John, I would also like to say that it is truly an honor to have you as a friend and a hunting partner, I have a fine set of antlers because of you! Thanks to you and  everyone on Trad Gang...............Steve

Offline VTer

  • Trad Bowhunter
  • **
  • Posts: 1253
Re: Longbow moose, Wrangell Mtns, 2009
« Reply #77 on: September 27, 2009, 07:41:00 AM »
John, you crazy SOB.....I take back my "good sound judgement" comment I made earlier in the thread!   :bigsmyl:  Congrats to both of you.
Schafer Silvertip 66#-"In memory", Green Mountain Longbow 60#, Hill Country Harvest Master TD 59#

"Some of the world's greatest feats were accomplished by people not smart enough to know they were impossible."
    - Doug Lawson.

Offline John Havard

  • Contributing Member
  • Trad Bowhunter
  • ****
  • Posts: 726
Re: Longbow moose, Wrangell Mtns, 2009
« Reply #78 on: September 27, 2009, 09:33:00 AM »
A friend asked me to describe the hunting experience, so I'll give that a quick shot.

First of all, for those unlucky enough to have never hunted in remote Alaska, it's difficult to describe how wild and untamed the land is.  We were hunting inside what was simply "one" of the interior fires in Alaska in 2002.  The amount of acreage allowed to burn in this "one of several" fires in 2002 was more than triple in size to all of the acreage burned in the L48 in that same year.  Unless structures or towns are threatened the State just lets nature take its course.

No roads, no trails, no paths, no 4-wheelers, no guides or outfitters, no trucks parked in or near camp - none of that.  When that plane leaves you are on your own.  You and you alone are responsible for everything from your toothbrush to toilet paper.  Food, shelter, clothing, hunting technique, optics, gear, everything.  It's a 100% DIY hunt and that's all I have done now for the past 31 years, every year.  

It's odd for me to see stories about hunts where trucks are parked beside tents or read about animals falling near trails and then to assign the word "remote" to such hunts.  In this location the air taxi operator takes in ONE party of two people each year for a single hunt.  That's it.  It's about as original and raw and unspoiled as you can find most anywhere on the face of the earth.  Perfect!

Each day we'd load up our packs with close to 50# of gear (extra clothing, rain gear, food, water, binoculars, spotting scope and tripod, survival gear, meat bags, tarps, knives, sharpeners, rope, and anything else we might need to hunt, survive, and harvest meat.  We would choose a good vantage point, sit down (hopefully out of the ever-present wind), start glassing, and once a bull was spotted we would devise a plan to go after him.

Then we'd bail off of the end of the ridge and go down several hundred vertical steep feet to the valley floor below us and try to work our way in close enough to call to the bull we were chasing.  Usually by the time we got off the ridge and closed the distance to the bull (all while he was out of sight) he had chosen to move on.  If that happened we'd hunt into the wind and make several setups where we'd attempt to call in a nearby bull.  At the end of the day we'd haul outselves and everything we had with us back up to the top of the ridge and back to camp.  By the time we got back to camp we were usually so tired we just boiled some water, reconstituted our freeze dried meal, shoveled it down our throats, and went to bed.

Water was about 450'-500' below camp, so every couple of days we'd have to carry our two 2.5 gallon dromedaries down to the stream in our backpacks, fill them and our 4 water bottles, and then haul it back uphill to camp.  Nothing too dramatic there, but it was a necessary and unavoidable demand on our time.

It's a physically demanding hunt.  Not as difficult as spring brown bear hunting and it didn't require us to cover as much ground or climb as many vertical feet as a typical dall sheep hunt.  But it was plenty challenging and demanding.  I know my pants fit quite a bit more loosely after the hunt than they did before, and that's a good thing!

Offline Pat B.

  • Trad Bowhunter
  • **
  • Posts: 2495
Re: Longbow moose, Wrangell Mtns, 2009
« Reply #79 on: September 27, 2009, 09:51:00 AM »
Sounds like a fantastic hunt John..  I kind of sit back in awe... At this point I'm not sure I'd want to tackle this type of hunt. Back in the 70's and 80's I managed to get up into BC, Alberta and one trip over to Quebec but, never made it up into Alaska.. And always dreamed of it! Thanks you for taking the time to give some details of this type of hunt.
                     Pat

Users currently browsing this topic:

0 Members and 3 Guests are viewing this topic.
 

Contact Us | Trad Gang.com © | User Agreement

Copyright 2003 thru 2024 ~ Trad Gang.com ©