This year, we had a new challenge, a new experience. Took the grand kids with us, on a two week moose hunt. A nice break from covid crazy at the start of school, and their mother was away for months, military training. More people meant more stuff to haul into the woods. Left to right, age 5, 10 and 7. Teeth red with berries.
I cooked up and vac sealed, mac & cheese, Taco meat, carnitas, spaghetti spiced sausage, and other things easier to do at home. Even spaghetti and ziti noodles precooked make nice frozen blocks for the cooler. A river known to support anadromous fish required a Fish Habitat Permit to cross. We got the permit same day with a phone call to Alaska Dept of Fish & game. The river gauge, water flow is enough to stop wheelers and side x sides easy access. We are stoked! Water level was 3/4 up the tire, but no river push. Season has been open for a week and we broke the old trail, all the way in. Nobody but us. The country here is prime! Evening arrives and we find an old campsite and settle in. The evening spot session finds a couple of bulls. One is non typical and very nice, three miles off. Two smaller bulls are butting heads and some cows. Night was clear and cold.
At first light, I see a bull and cow at two miles across the valley, I cant see tines, but have no doubt this is a 50+ bull. The antlers lay out in a wide "W', not straight up like goal posts. The hike is on. Temp is in the 20's. Through bog, mud and elevation gain, I got within 480 yards. The bull was in heavy brush. I scraped and thrashed a bit. No response and he faded away. The next few hours I slowly worked into the "zone" with bull grunts and light scraping. Ended up jumping a cow and calf, at 50', and later found out, by my spotter, the bull also jumped and ran. I never saw him. Later that evening, we could hear motor sounds, long before we saw them. Four buggy trucks, with two persons each, rolled into our camp. The kids were in awe of big rigs.
They shared with us we were in a good spot and they were heading to their spot #2. Few words. Next couple of days no moose were to be seen. Kids had no trouble amusing themselves.
These folks took control of the valley each day, by driving each of their rigs, out to great vantage points, spread across a few miles, and spotting from those trucks. We saw them and no more moose. A couple days of this and we opted for plan "B", packed up camp and rolled out.
Many hours later, we settled into a nice hillside just before dark. That night was clear and cold. All of us spent time outside the tent, enjoying the heavens.
I cooked up and vac sealed, mac & cheese, Taco meat, carnitas, spaghetti spiced sausage, and other things easier to do at home. Even spaghetti and ziti noodles precooked make nice frozen blocks for the cooler. A river known to support anadromous fish required a Fish Habitat Permit to cross. We got the permit same day with a phone call to Alaska Dept of Fish & game. The river gauge, water flow is enough to stop wheelers and side x sides easy access. We are stoked! Water level was 3/4 up the tire, but no river push. Season has been open for a week and we broke the old trail, all the way in. Nobody but us. The country here is prime! Evening arrives and we find an old campsite and settle in. The evening spot session finds a couple of bulls. One is non typical and very nice, three miles off. Two smaller bulls are butting heads and some cows. Night was clear and cold.
At first light, I see a bull and cow at two miles across the valley, I cant see tines, but have no doubt this is a 50+ bull. The antlers lay out in a wide "W', not straight up like goal posts. The hike is on. Temp is in the 20's. Through bog, mud and elevation gain, I got within 480 yards. The bull was in heavy brush. I scraped and thrashed a bit. No response and he faded away. The next few hours I slowly worked into the "zone" with bull grunts and light scraping. Ended up jumping a cow and calf, at 50', and later found out, by my spotter, the bull also jumped and ran. I never saw him. Later that evening, we could hear motor sounds, long before we saw them. Four buggy trucks, with two persons each, rolled into our camp. The kids were in awe of big rigs.
They shared with us we were in a good spot and they were heading to their spot #2. Few words. Next couple of days no moose were to be seen. Kids had no trouble amusing themselves.
These folks took control of the valley each day, by driving each of their rigs, out to great vantage points, spread across a few miles, and spotting from those trucks. We saw them and no more moose. A couple days of this and we opted for plan "B", packed up camp and rolled out.
Many hours later, we settled into a nice hillside just before dark. That night was clear and cold. All of us spent time outside the tent, enjoying the heavens.
