...

[Slate]

Love it

 

[Bambistew]

I missed this one... must have been packing out moose meat.

Great pics, you flubbed on the first bull. I'd have pulled the trigger. Moose are stupid, you cover ground, they don't worry to much about scent when they're stupid in love.

 

[JLS]

Outstanding!

 

[Irrelevant]

Dude, not sure how i missed this one, but gd @wllm1313 you certainly now how to put together adventures. Very jealous of this trip, all my friends and too tame for shit like that.

 

[theat]

Missed it the first time around too. Looks like a great adventure!

 

[COEngineer]

That pic with the color-coded lines is legit. Please, everyone, do this with your landscape pics.

 

[BearFoot]

I missed this one...We came out the 26th.
Good times

 

[fmnjr]

That trip is inspirational, thanks for sharing. If you had a do-over, what would you do-over?

 

[feedback]

Hiked back to camp we were pretty stoked about getting to see that bull and a bear. Just before bed we had another huge bull come right next to camp across the river, but we didn’t have the light to shoot.

That night we were treated to some awesome northern lights.

Next day we decided that we wouldn’t have enough time to pack a bull out from up high and float out so we opted for short stalks from the river and if we didn’t see anything by late evening to just float all the way to the take out.
View attachment 154373

We saw some moose from the river and made a stalk a couple of miles downriver.
View attachment 154375
We had this bull bedded at 200 yards, we didn’t have a great view but both kinda got the sense he wasn’t legal. We tried to get him to stand up, but we wouldn’t no matter what we tried. I even tried to get him to gentle rise by playing some Neil Young on my phone… nothing.
View attachment 154376
We got into 30 yards, saw he wasn’t legal and at that point he charged out of there at full speed.
View attachment 154377
No more moose the rest of the trip and the river got a bit spicy, so I had to put the camera away. Would have been an interesting float out with a bull.

Now before @Bambistew says 1. none of those were legal and 2. you spread your sent around like no ones business...

and @theat says you would have been f-d putting a moose into that forager and floating it down 5 miles of class II + rapids... not to mention fitting the moose plus 3 people and a dog into a subaru forester...

I'm just gonna say, listen I don't need your negativity in my life guys.

Anyway buddy is going out again with a friend with a jet boat so fingers crossed he gets one. I learned a ton this trip and got to see my first G-bear and the northern lights so I'm stoked.

Pro tip- running shoes, gaiters, and gortex socks are the footwear you want for a moose hunt. What ever you have on gets absolutely drenched slogging through the bogs, then it gets ~15 degrees at night and they freeze solid. Unlike a boot you can cram you foot back into a running shoe and they will mostly dry out during the day if your out of the water.

 

[feedback]

Hiked back to camp we were pretty stoked about getting to see that bull and a bear. Just before bed we had another huge bull come right next to camp across the river, but we didn’t have the light to shoot.

That night we were treated to some awesome northern lights.

Next day we decided that we wouldn’t have enough time to pack a bull out from up high and float out so we opted for short stalks from the river and if we didn’t see anything by late evening to just float all the way to the take out.
View attachment 154373

We saw some moose from the river and made a stalk a couple of miles downriver.
View attachment 154375
We had this bull bedded at 200 yards, we didn’t have a great view but both kinda got the sense he wasn’t legal. We tried to get him to stand up, but we wouldn’t no matter what we tried. I even tried to get him to gentle rise by playing some Neil Young on my phone… nothing.
View attachment 154376
We got into 30 yards, saw he wasn’t legal and at that point he charged out of there at full speed.
View attachment 154377
No more moose the rest of the trip and the river got a bit spicy, so I had to put the camera away. Would have been an interesting float out with a bull.

Now before @Bambistew says 1. none of those were legal and 2. you spread your sent around like no ones business...

and @theat says you would have been f-d putting a moose into that forager and floating it down 5 miles of class II + rapids... not to mention fitting the moose plus 3 people and a dog into a subaru forester...

I'm just gonna say, listen I don't need your negativity in my life guys.

Anyway buddy is going out again with a friend with a jet boat so fingers crossed he gets one. I learned a ton this trip and got to see my first G-bear and the northern lights so I'm stoked.

Pro tip- running shoes, gaiters, and gortex socks are the footwear you want for a moose hunt. What ever you have on gets absolutely drenched slogging through the bogs, then it gets ~15 degrees at night and they freeze solid. Unlike a boot you can cram you foot back into a running shoe and they will mostly dry out during the day if your out of the water.

You guys had a great time even if you guys didn’t kill anything. I bet that grizzly got you guys on your toes fast. Thanks for the pictures and continue on your great adventures. God Bless and be safe out there.

 

[publichunter1]

Awesome trip. Congrats!

 

[Big Fin]

Great story. You went the extra mile to provide some cool images and details that make it very appealing. Hope the next time you get to see how much moose meat you can fit in the @AlpackaRaft .

 

[Stone_Ice_1]

Great story. You went the extra mile to provide some cool images and details that make it very appealing. Hope the next time you get to see how much moose meat you can fit in the @AlpackaRaft .

Having floated in these Alpacka Rafts before this is what I wanted to see... a Moose stuffed in one with you and all your gear.

 

[COEngineer]

Having floated in these Alpacka Rafts before this is what I wanted to see... a Moose stuffed in one with you and all your gear.

Or you can do it like Rinella and swim alongside of your overloaded raft.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Or you can do it like Rinella and swim alongside of your overloaded raft.

R

 

[MTLabrador]

Rinella was using an old school raft and not the same brand.

They key feature IMHO of Alpacka Raft pack rafts for hubtingis the cargo fly.

Essentially a big zipper in the tube that allows you to fill the boat with your stuff.


This is a caribou, which is a 1 person boat, the cargo fly zipper is smaller than the forager which is what we had on the moose trip.

This is the gear for 2 people for three days + let’s call it a boned out elk. Pillows compress I know... could have filled sand bags zy you get the point.

View attachment 158994
View attachment 158996
View attachment 158997
View attachment 158998
So essentially just antlers and your corgi are in the boat with you.

This was a bone-in unit so it would have been interesting, to say the very least.

After using the forager do you think it would be an acceptable substitute for a canoe on a Yellowstone-sized river that doesn’t involve rapids? I like the thought of being able to put my dog, some duck decoys, and maybe a deer in a raft that can fit in the back seat of my pickup... It would open up a lot of cool possibilities.

 

[Irrelevant]

After using the forager do you think it would be an acceptable substitute for a canoe on a Yellowstone-sized river that doesn’t involve rapids? I like the thought of being able to put my dog, some duck decoys, and maybe a deer in a raft that can fit in the back seat of my pickup... It would open up a lot of cool possibilities.

functionally maybe. But from a sporting standpoint you cannot replace an old fiberglass canoe.

 

[MTLabrador]

functionally maybe. But from a sporting standpoint you cannot replace an old fiberglass canoe.

I have a large and ancient aluminum canoe, but I just hate hauling it around. I’ve considered getting a small trailer with a nice fishing raft, which would also work nicely.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

After using the forager do you think it would be an acceptable substitute for a canoe on a Yellowstone-sized river that doesn’t involve rapids? I like the thought of being able to put my dog, some duck decoys, and maybe a deer in a raft that can fit in the back seat of my pickup... It would open up a lot of cool possibilities.

Absolutely.

The forager has a very similar feel, in my opinion to a canoe, and is pretty similar as far as dimensions to the canoe I was using I was hunting Montana.

Couple notes... a forager has better clearance than an canoe so you can dip into sloughs easier. They are also way better in white water. I'd take a forager down some class II in late nov with a dog no problem.

All of the rafts have a flat bottom so they don't track as well and if there is an upstream wind, and you don't have another person in the front it's gonna be a long day.

You might also look at the Oryx its a bit longer and a bit narrower, it's Alpack's version of a canoe.

I'm still waffling between the Orxy and Forager for my purchase.

 

[MTLabrador]

Absolutely.

The forager has a very similar feel, in my opinion to a canoe, and is pretty similar as far as dimensions to the canoe I was using I was hunting Montana.

Couple notes... a forager has better clearance than an canoe so you can dip into sloughs easier. They are also way better in white water. I'd take a forager down some class II in late nov with a dog no problem.

All of the rafts have a flat bottom so they don't track as well and if there is an upstream wind, and you don't have another person in the front it's gonna be a long day.

You might also look at the Oryx its a bit longer and a bit narrower, it's Alpack's version of a canoe.

I'm still waffling between the Orxy and Forager for my purchase.

Hmm... Good info, thanks. The stability is another benefit that interests me. My lab will absolutely launch himself out of the boat after a bird.