44hunter45's 2024 backcountry Idaho Moose semi-live hunt thread.

[txco]

Good luck!

 

[44hunter45]

T-6 hours to departure. Treated my tall pacs last night with fresh Obenauf's. Gear is loaded and ready to turn the key.

 

[BackofBeyond]

T-6 hours to departure. Treated my tall pacs last night with fresh Obenauf's. Gear is loaded and ready to turn the key.

Good luck Mark!

 

[westbranch]

Good luck! Looking forward to pictures of that country with snow on it.

 

[BAKPAKR]

Good luck!

 

[noharleyyet]

Blood that purty rifle & feel the adrenalin kick in 44/45...

 

[TheTone]

Good luck. Looks like it could be a very snowy trip

 

[44hunter45]

Rolling. Overnight at the trailhead. Heading into the unit in the morning.

 

[WNC2500]

Rolling. Overnight at the trailhead. Heading into the unit in the morning.

Hope all is well @44hunter45 !!
I have been wondering how the weather, and the moose are............
Good luck. It's been 9 days since you last posted. Hoping the moose is so huge that you have been unable to update us.

 

[44hunter45]

I've stretched this one for all I could get. What I did not get was a moose.

A rough trip. Going in to camp, my truck threw a CV axle. How I was going to get back out the 60+ miles to civilization was burning in my head the whole time I was in camp.
I got sat service long enough one day to talk with my dealer and was told I could drive it out, carefully.

Lost a couple of days confined to my tent with health issues. My tent mate shot a bull on one of those days. A fine double fronted 47".

Once I got back out in the field, we were always a couple of steps behind. We glassed a good bull at about 900 yards. As we were glassing him he bolted at a full run towards us.
We set up an ambush where the guide was confident he would come out. He didn't.

I learned a lot about moose, myself, my health, mule skinning, back country mechanics. Didn't learn how to skin a moose though.

Made it out Wednesday and arrived home late. Took the truck to the dealer Thursday. Recovering since. My knees and back are almost to pre-hunt health. Whatever crud I brought home is still kicking my butt.

I appreciate all the encouragement and advice through this process. Don't consider me ungrateful if I say sometimes there was too much. Many of you became invested in this also.

I've waited to write this wrap-up because I'm contemplating a lot and processing. Maybe I have aged out. Maybe I can get back in this, but with new rules. I don't know. I will be thinking about these things over the winter.

 

[BAKPAKR]

Well, darn. But, look on the bright side — since you didn’t notch a tag, you can put in again after a two year wait.

 

[morley.tyler]

Treated my tall pacs last night with fresh Obenauf's.

Tell me you're from Idaho without saying "I'm from Idaho"

 

[morley.tyler]

On the bright side, sounds like you still have that deer tag in your pocket, and the rut should be in full effect this week, get a big one!

 

[Pucky Freak]

A hunt that pushes you to your limits is a good hunt. Sounds like you gave it all you had. I would take your adventure any day over filling a tag on a gimme hunt

 

[littlebighorn]

Sorry to hear 44hunter45. Coming home empty from any limited entry/long awaited experience usually leaves a pretty sick feeling.
Certainly if you hunt long enough, it's bound to happen to even the best prepared. It has happened to me more than once so I know nothing I say will help.
I do appreciate you letting the rest of us ride along. It was a fine journey and I wish you well going forward.

 

[Brittany Chukarman]

Man, I get it. At 71 I've had to come to that same reckoning. There's hunts I just can't do anymore, namely mountain hunts. The pain is just not worth it and the doubt of being able to pull it off start to finish. I'm getting priced out anyway. But there's some I can do to keep going and will focus on them as long as I can. Hope you can also.

 

[44hunter45]

A hunt that pushes you to your limits is a good hunt. Sounds like you gave it all you had. I would take your adventure any day over filling a tag on a gimme hunt

Man, I get it. At 71 I've had to come to that same reckoning. There's hunts I just can't do anymore, namely mountain hunts. The pain is just not worth it and the doubt of being able to pull it off start to finish. I'm getting priced out anyway. But there's some I can do to keep going and will focus on them as long as I can. Hope you can also.

Still sick as hell and without a reliable rig at the moment. I'm holding a Regular Deer Tag, which means I have to get to the "Real North Idaho" to hunt it.

I will get out before Dec 1st, but still in recovery mode right now. Sitting at home thinking on a Sunday morning, which I suppose is better than sitting at home DRINKING on a Sunday morning. Sometimes I write to riff.

I have a long history of choking big tags. That is what drags on me more than anything about this. I've sunk a lot of time, energy, and money into glory tags over the years and often eaten tag soup. I do not regret any of those adventures and thankfully MRS45 supports them. Still, maybe I need to start thinking of them as adventures with a rifle rather than hunts. When I really examine it, my most fulfilling and successful hunts are close to home.

I spent a lot of time on this trip thinking about how I wished I could get my 90 YO dad out there with me. He is locked in a spousal care situation with my mother. He has convinced himself that he cannot leave her side. Dad was a muleskinner and for him to go on a pack trip would be everything. I spoke with the outfitter about this quite a bit. I have him on speed dial in case anything changes. All I can do is be ready if the circumstances change.

@Big Fin has been trying to pound it into your heads. You will run out of health before you run out of money. For many years I gave every penny I earned to raise a family, then to pay debts. I put saving and investing last and should have given it a higher priority. Consequently, I started investing later. Thankfully not too late. I had to work within the financial comfort zone of my wife, and you do too. Now I am financially able to hunt almost anywhere, but wondering if it is too late health wise. (Don't think I'm despondent about this. I will not go quietly into my dotage.) I want to add my voice to Randy's saying live within your means and have a pro-active plan to finance your adventures AND your retirement. I've pitched to Randy before that this should be an entire course in Outdoor Class. (Who better to teach it than a financially secure, semi-retired accountant whose wife lets him hunt a large portion of the year?)

I strongly encourage you all to have a sit down with your life partners about this stuff. Keep at it until you completely understand each of your priorities about money and adventures. Together make a plan to finance these priorities. If you are like MRS and me, money conversations are the hardest ones. There is no discussion topic in our home more likely to end up in a cold silence from both parties. She wisely reminds me that many of my hunting friends are more affluent than we are. Meaning I need to avoid getting stars in my eyes dreaming about things NOT within our means. I ask her how much is enough. (If you don't know, the answer to this will always be, "Just a little more...")

Next year would be my "odd year" trip to Alaska. I may be spending it rebuilding, recovering, recharging. I will be visiting my SawBones in December. I think I may go the pain clinic route and get a more comprehensive assessment of where my body is and what can be done. Who knows how many more years I can buy?
I will get my AK combo license because of possible last minute fishing trips and draw hunt apps. The odds say I'm due to draw spring bear 2026...

 

[Ben Long]

Strong work, amigo. Sometimes you can earn it and still not go home with meat to show for it. But still, good effort. I didnt see a moose in my two weeks when I drew a tag in 2022.

 

[brymoore]

@44hunter45 I know the feeling of hunting hard on a trophy tag and eating it. I’ve ate a few sheep tags. Most trophy tags don’t have a 100% success rate.

 

[Hunting Wife]

You knew the hunt would be a tough one, yet you went anyway when luck and health conspired against you. If that isn’t flipping the bird to your dotage, I don’t know what is.

Perhaps adaptations need to be made as time marches on but I don’t think getting off the couch and going, whatever that looks like, is ever the wrong choice. Hopefully some medical/PT input can help get you on track for the next one.