Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska DIY Moose Hunt

The 2-for-2 issue on a float hunt seems to be pretty marginal but it also seems to be asking a lot for two guys to invest in about $6k each and put in for two tags but only allow themselves 1 animal between them. Not to say that isn't reality. But it seems like a bit of a stretch for a lot of guys to commit themselves to effectively 1/2 of a chance of an already fairly low probability of killing their animal. For a lot of us, even a DIY trip in AK is a once per lifetime sort of deal.

So, that said, what about drop-camp hunting - not a float trip but a fly in, drop and stay set up. Not exactly DIY but roughly comparable cost-wise I suspect. Is it more reasonable that 2 might kill 2 animals? There would be less issues with having to cover all the river miles, making and breaking camp every day and no boat-capacity issue for the meat (but there is a plane capacity issue more than likely).

Brent

IMHO, if its a once in a lifetime deal for sure, better off to spend a bit more money and wait a few years, do it guided and be much more assured of success. DIY stuff has low success on moose.. where as guided has really high, but I've even seen guided hunts turn bad with hot weather.

I'd think that if you are spending 6000 for a float trip DIY, for 10 you could probably find a guided one that would produce. 6000 and nothing vs 10,000 and a moose

When you folks quote bone in for saving the meat, do you leave hide on too? Or skin it? If skinned, what would be wrong with a simple single cut to remove the heavy hind leg bone? Shoulder blades are more complicated but things like loins, backstraps and hinds could easily be deboned but left in one large piece, the backstraps could literally go all the way to the head, including all the neck meat in one long strip on each side...

rost495 - a "bit more money" for a guided hunt has two problems. One is that it is a LOT more money - a friend just back from such a trip dropped $15.500k. He did NOT get a moose, though he went with a well regarded guide, had a good trip, worked hard and saw animals - just not "for sure" 50" animals.

Anyway, that is over twice what I think I need to pull off a drop-camp hunt.

Second, some folks don't like hunting with a guide (or anyone for that matter). I am one of those folks. So, a DIY hunt has the potential for spending my days on my own, which I like but, of course, having help in schlepping dead mooses back to the hive.

So, I'd probably rather not go at all then pay that sort of money for a guided hunt AND give up all the stuff that the extra $4-10K would pay for AND have to hunt with someone over my shoulder all the time.

It seems to me (and I may be wrong, hence the question), that hunting from a single base camp might alleviate a lot of the problems with 2-for-2.

For extended roughing it hang times, my preference too is bone in quarters. I've never weighed my components, but from a volume standpoint feel that I nearly triple the trim waste when parts have been boned and kept hanging in the field for an additonal 8 to 10 days.

Any game coming into Oregon from out of state now has to have at least the brains and central nervous stem removed. I let my quarters hang to the last and bone things the final evening. The pain in the ass then is a need to work stuff up as soon as I get home.

I've seen a few folks that go completely through cut and wrap in the field, but that's been when we're well below freezing. I might give that some though on future late season elk outings.

In my book, the more surface area one generates, the greater ones chance of contamination and spoilage. When our party schedules a season, that means all members will be there for the duration regardless of tag fill. I'd be a real worry wort with boned meat hanging out for a couple of weeks.

Regarding boned meat - a boneless hindquarter left in one chunk (as per my preference of cutting through as few muscles as possible) is one awkward lump of flesh. When hung, it slumps into a ball at the bottom of your meat bag. That resulting near-sphere is the least efficient shape possible for cooling a mass through and through. Same with the rest of the boned meat. When you bone the neck and backstraps and flanks and such and pile it in a bag in a bone-in GMU, you have to watch that meat closely to ensure that all of it gets cooled and stays that way, because it too slumps into a ball in the bottom of your game bag when hung. A system of leg bones left in the quarter stretches the meat out into an elongated shape that cools easier when hung in spite of the presence of the bone.

Moose are a different matter in that regard (cooling of boned meat) than just about anything else IME, up to and including elk.

I did a float in 09 with four guys in three boats - my PP, one 14' otter with frame, and one levitator. Two moose were killed, and the other two guys had their chances and we would have had ample boat for that meat too. We floated one entire moose in the PP and one in the Otter with 2 guys' camp gear. The lev doesn't have near the layout area for stuff that the otter has, but it has a thick floor and huge diameter tubes. Seems if you're loading it heavy, you're loading it vertically and as such it's not the big ticket for rowdy water. The otter was a cadillac, and I would not have hesitated to put another moose on it, given enough water. We could have put another big whack of meat in the PP as well, but it starts to draw some water with that thick floor that sticks down 4" below the tubes.

I do know that the PP will do one moose, one guy and his gear, in about the skinniest water you'd want to attempt to hunt. A 14' otter would do the same with two guys and one moose. Always err on the side of a bit too much boat, and don't bring lots of crap you won't use and have to load/unload every time you move. Treat it like a backpack hunt except with a bit bigger tent and maybe a 2-burner coleman propane stove, and you'll enjoy it more. Leave the volumes of heavy car camping crap at home.

We skin. I expect most everyone does too, with few exceptions. I see no advantage to leaving hide on.

We hang hinds with bone on until it's time to head home, then we usually bone everything. That's not so much for weight with horses as it is to be able to put the lid on panniers.

My personal thoughts on boned meat was if I get a moose in that situation, to quarter and hang it to protect it all for a day or so, somewhat at the kill sight(not a float trip) and then once convinced it had chilled to the bone, then bone it before packing it out on my back.

I figured that way I had the best of both worlds. Thats same plan for elk too... quarter and hang and protect in a cool area, maybe take some with us and hike out to take camp out and get the rest of the gang, then debone before the trip back out to save weight...

Is the pic just not showing or does it affect your viewing 24HCF experience?

It's just a picture of a glass of Alaskan Pale Ale.
Does it show here in the post?

That transparency wrecks havoc with focus.

Small problem in Alaska with that -- you have to leave at least one bone in each quarter until it's out of camp and back to civilization. It's the law, and removing bones from the quarters is one action that the Troopers have zero acceptance of.

Dennis

Does a patella qualify?

I suspect they want the bone for purposes of counting unique mooses.

That is the official, and somewhat practical field half. Or most of it.

The other half is political - It reduces the pressure of non-local hunters in areas readily accessible from villages by means other than air to only those physically and mentally fit (or ill?) enough to handle up to 150 lb. pack loads, lessening local vs non-local conflicts. Along the spoilage line, it also reduces the distance from lakes, streams, bush landing strips that hunters of any stripe will push their luck, and potentially over-reach themselves. If they know the law requires a single 150 lb. load for a hind, vs several trips of lesser weights.... well, you get the idea, whether it's moose or caribou. Villagers in my experience seldom pack meat any real distance, shooting it close to boat, ATV, or snow-machine access, or not at all. Of the half dozen or so circumstances of moose taken by Kotzebue residents this year, only mine was packed more than 150 yards or so. The rest were taken from boats along the river, a combination of boat/ATV's back up river beds or (relatively) dry ridges, and several via snow-machine after snowfall and freeze-up (the season for local subsistence users on federally administered lands runs right through the winter)

Mine, for the original poster's benefit, was packed in 7 loads for about a mile, with only the last couple hundred yards being marginal footing through tundra bog tussocks. On a time frame - the moose was killed at 10:30 in the morning, I took my time dressing it out, and bagging it, and managed the four lightest loads into camp by dark (about 9:30 that night. Both hinds, one front shoulder and half the neck meat (overlooked the previous evening) made up the 3 heaviest loads, saved for morning when I was fresher. This being a smallish moose, the hinds weighed out at 95 and 96 lbs respectively, at home, several days later. The front shoulder and half neck together probably were a few pounds heavier.

I slept in for an hour after daylight, but still had the remaining 3 loads packed in, camp broken and the boat loaded by 2 p.m. the day following the kill. Less than a 2 hour ride home, tho the first 7 or 8 miles wasn't on step until I'd burned a couple gallons of gas off stern weight, and hit a stretch of ripple water. After that, I moved right along!

Another thing that is very very important out here in the boondocks is that if you are not going to take all the meat home with you, arrange BEFOREHAND to donate it to a local village. There are usually mechanisms in place to receive and distribute it. If it is well taken care of, they will gladly take it. If it isn't well taken care off, or is "over the hill", they don't want it. Would you?

And that puts a big black mark on non-local hunters as a group, even if it is only one or two who do it. Outfitters, guides, and others who fly meat out of the field have to have a meat transport training course and certificate as of last year or so, and they WILL report poor field-care to protect their own butts.

Also, neither the villages or hub-towns (like Bethel, King Salmon, Kotzebue) have processor/ freezer/cooler facilities that will handle hunting season volumes, so factor that into your meat care time if taking it out with you. And because of the hunting season volume, there may be some delay in just getting it on-board. Passengers and their bags receive priority, then perishable freight in that order. Anchorage or Fairbanks will be your closest such facilities. Freight costs will vary of course, but right now from Kotzebue to Anchorage on Alaska Airlines it's about $1/lb. I'm not sure if other AA destinations cost differently, but I'm guessing additional carriers may tack on additional charges.

I haven't hunted anything in AK lately that I'd need de-boned, but at the last time I did there were times and units that required bone in, and some allowed boning in the field. I'm sure it could have changed and of course I'd read the regs if I draw a tag I"m after and follow the regs to a T, but at one point you could still bone, and IIRC, it also had something to do with dates...

That's true. Some flight services in those areas where you are permitted to de-bone will charge you extra to fly the meat out if you leave the bone in.

I think 40-Mile Air has that policy.

Steve

Lotsa regs in the land of the free, that's for sure.

Wildone and 379Peterbilt know what they speak. Both are seasoned DIY moose hunters and offer good advice.

I did a DIY moose hunt with Wildone that we planned ourselves but you can't go wrong if you use Larry Bartlett at Pristine because he is top notch.

Any contact info for Wildone or Larry Bartlett?

See what I mean? I think that's 'netspeak for "you don't get to see the nectar". Actually, yeah, I can see it alright (thought the quote mechanism sure isn't bringing up your post) and had to insert that slightly very cryptic reminder about booze in some places. Unfortunately, there are those in enforcement who are happy to grab the little, easy cases so it looks like they're doing something, rather than work to get the big fish. (That could mean an out-of-state hunter.)




True, but probably still a lot less than the area involved if it were all separate states, even if Texas was one of them.

So you have a 150lb hindquarter. The bone has to stay in.. Does it say anywhere that you can't take a hacksaw and saw the hindquarter in half but leave the bone in the two halves?