Ok ,I know a lot wanted to hear about the trip so I'll post how the hunt went.Didnt get into my pictures yet.
Day 1 way fly in day,and we had to quickly get our gear together from our luggage to head in to the wild.The weather was getting bad with a steady rain and the pilot was waiting;they are NOT patient.We get tour lake after a 45 minute flight and still raining.Its roughly lunchtime.We get all set up and gear in the tents,kick back and cook some steaks for dinner.My partner goes out to the lake and theres a cow and 2 calves out in the lake eating.They hung around till dark
day2-head out to edge of lake and partner lets out some cow calls and out pops a bull immediately.Ilook him over and hes 3 brow tines but real close to 50".Each time I look him over I just cant get 2 full heads on either side and guess him at 46-48".I'm convinced hes not legal all 3x I look him over.We call him as close as 300 yrds,but he knows he should be seeing the cow and finally spooks.No more moose sightings that day besides the cow and calves
day 3-let out calls first thing again and as I'm getting things ready at camp I see a bull looking at me.I look at this one and hes legal with 4+ brows per side but only 40-45" wide.Told my partner he was too small for me and to shoot him if he wants.The bull goes off into the woods as hes getting his gun from the tent.About 2 hours later,I see another bull in a different area looking out at my partners decoy.This one wasn'tlegal and about 40".That was last sighting that day
day 3- no moose
day 4-i paddle boat across the lake and see 5moose in the morning,my partner is hung over sleeping.I get back around 10 and tellhim we pushed the moose to back end of lake and he wants to go look.We get back around lunch and I end up seeing 4 more but no legal bulls.H e sees none over at his area.I walk back to camp since he had the canoe.On my way back,I needed to cross a slough.I found a narrow spot the required one step in water to cross.I probe it with my bipod for depth and looks to be 2' deep.Well, I take my step in and instantly go up passed my waist in water and over my hipboots.I really had to struggle to free myself of the muddy bottom,and finally able to belly slide out the other side while pulling on the marsh grasses.That was a VERY BAD/SCARY situation.I still had over 1/2 mile to camp and am soaked and freezing.I pulled all my lower clothes off to wring themout and continue on.By the time I got to camp I was frozen and feeling hypothermic.I strip down and get dry clothes on and right into my sleeping bag to warm up.He gets back and reminds me how stupid that was
day 5- I didn't hunt morning due to the fact I needed to dry out my hunt clothes and hip boots from my swim the day before.My partner sees nothing.We go across lake in the afternoon and I see a button bull with mom,a 4 point and call out a small 6 point that stares a hole through me looking for the cow.No legal bulls but a lot of cows around soI figure its a matter of time with the rut going strong
day 6-We split up to opposite ends at far end of lake.I see a cow early and just hang out waiting for a bull to show.I hear my partner calling ALOT and know something is up on his side.I wait another hour after he stops his constant calling and figure he must have just seen a small bull.I had to go in canoe to pick him up as planned but now its 2 hours since I've heard any noise from him.As I pull into his area I see a big bull with a cow and they notice me so I slide into the marsh grass with canoe.I can tell this ones legal as soon as I put my binos on him and woinder why hes not shooting.I look over what I can see with my binos for him but hes nowhere to be found.The bull heads into the woods but cow is still eating in the lake.I watch the bull for about 10 minutes raking trees and carrying on but no shooting.Finally I assume he went chasing after one he was calling to 2 hrs before and this legal bull is about to walk off deeper in the woods.Its now or never so I shoot the bull 1/4 away hard at 200 yrds.I must have jerked on the shot and miss lungs and it hits him and breaks his back hip.He runs out in the water with me shooting 2 more times before he gets there.One running shot breaks the backleg,terrible shooting I know.I paddle up to him to push him out of the water for a final kill shot.YOU DO NOT WANT THEM DEAD IN WATER.My partner then pops out of back side of his meadow.I'm out of bullets and need his gun now.I only ever carry 3 bullets,I'm superstitious,lol.I get his gun and finish the bull on dry land.I asked why he didn't kill the bull .Apparently, he was sure it was legal.We go back to camp for tape measure and butchering stuff.Get back to him and hes almost 54".It was close but I studied bull size for 6 months before this hunt.I looked at him good 3x and each time I said tomyself he was legal.But,it is very scary shooting bulls in Ak because the fines are serious.Our area wasn't know for my 4 browtine bulls so I knew I'd have to be able to judge size.We break the bull down together and its now dark.The pilot says he'll be by next day for meat after our phone conversation.
day7-I get upearly and go break the bull down into 100lb sizes and bag everything for pilot;10 bags.My partner is out hunting.I stage everything lakeside for pilot and paddle the mile back to camp.At around lunch I hear a plane and get ready to paddle back over but its not our pilot,its game and fish.I talk with them a little in the rain and they want to see kill site.I paddle across with the following in their float plane.They are satisfied with my meat collection from carcass but told me to get meat back to camp due to the fact no pilots would be flying that day due to weather.He was a little mad I cut out about 10lbs of shot up bloody meat from the one hit in the hip.It would have rotted the whole hind if I left it in and the older officer agreed,but the rookie still gave me a little grief.So in a pouring rain,I had to paddle back 800lbs of meat and antlers to make the younger officer happy.I did that in 3 trips and slept good that night.My partner saw no moose
day,8,9,10-partner goes hunting half heartly it seems but sees no more moose.I say half heartedly because he would start around 10am and hunt about 5 hrs
day 11- we get flown out 3 days early due to big storm coming and pilot saying if we didn't go then we may miss our flights home.We get intomain camp in Galena and other hunters have 15 bulls in camp.We stay the night with 4 other guys that did float hunts and they all scored.They were all diy guys,and were a wealth of imfo for a possible float hunt in my future.Some of them have been doing these hunts close to 10 years.They get flown out and float back to camp.One group was doing 140 river miles but tagged out after 2 days
All in all, a fun time and glad to say I've done a Ak moose hunt.I will help anyone interested in any way I can.I used Joe Shuster out of Galena for my transporter,but he offers guided and drop camps as well.His drop camps do great but run 8k per man and 18k for guided.My hunt was only $3800,plus another $1100 to have meat brought to Pa
Day 1 way fly in day,and we had to quickly get our gear together from our luggage to head in to the wild.The weather was getting bad with a steady rain and the pilot was waiting;they are NOT patient.We get tour lake after a 45 minute flight and still raining.Its roughly lunchtime.We get all set up and gear in the tents,kick back and cook some steaks for dinner.My partner goes out to the lake and theres a cow and 2 calves out in the lake eating.They hung around till dark
day2-head out to edge of lake and partner lets out some cow calls and out pops a bull immediately.Ilook him over and hes 3 brow tines but real close to 50".Each time I look him over I just cant get 2 full heads on either side and guess him at 46-48".I'm convinced hes not legal all 3x I look him over.We call him as close as 300 yrds,but he knows he should be seeing the cow and finally spooks.No more moose sightings that day besides the cow and calves
day 3-let out calls first thing again and as I'm getting things ready at camp I see a bull looking at me.I look at this one and hes legal with 4+ brows per side but only 40-45" wide.Told my partner he was too small for me and to shoot him if he wants.The bull goes off into the woods as hes getting his gun from the tent.About 2 hours later,I see another bull in a different area looking out at my partners decoy.This one wasn'tlegal and about 40".That was last sighting that day
day 3- no moose
day 4-i paddle boat across the lake and see 5moose in the morning,my partner is hung over sleeping.I get back around 10 and tellhim we pushed the moose to back end of lake and he wants to go look.We get back around lunch and I end up seeing 4 more but no legal bulls.H e sees none over at his area.I walk back to camp since he had the canoe.On my way back,I needed to cross a slough.I found a narrow spot the required one step in water to cross.I probe it with my bipod for depth and looks to be 2' deep.Well, I take my step in and instantly go up passed my waist in water and over my hipboots.I really had to struggle to free myself of the muddy bottom,and finally able to belly slide out the other side while pulling on the marsh grasses.That was a VERY BAD/SCARY situation.I still had over 1/2 mile to camp and am soaked and freezing.I pulled all my lower clothes off to wring themout and continue on.By the time I got to camp I was frozen and feeling hypothermic.I strip down and get dry clothes on and right into my sleeping bag to warm up.He gets back and reminds me how stupid that was
day 5- I didn't hunt morning due to the fact I needed to dry out my hunt clothes and hip boots from my swim the day before.My partner sees nothing.We go across lake in the afternoon and I see a button bull with mom,a 4 point and call out a small 6 point that stares a hole through me looking for the cow.No legal bulls but a lot of cows around soI figure its a matter of time with the rut going strong
day 6-We split up to opposite ends at far end of lake.I see a cow early and just hang out waiting for a bull to show.I hear my partner calling ALOT and know something is up on his side.I wait another hour after he stops his constant calling and figure he must have just seen a small bull.I had to go in canoe to pick him up as planned but now its 2 hours since I've heard any noise from him.As I pull into his area I see a big bull with a cow and they notice me so I slide into the marsh grass with canoe.I can tell this ones legal as soon as I put my binos on him and woinder why hes not shooting.I look over what I can see with my binos for him but hes nowhere to be found.The bull heads into the woods but cow is still eating in the lake.I watch the bull for about 10 minutes raking trees and carrying on but no shooting.Finally I assume he went chasing after one he was calling to 2 hrs before and this legal bull is about to walk off deeper in the woods.Its now or never so I shoot the bull 1/4 away hard at 200 yrds.I must have jerked on the shot and miss lungs and it hits him and breaks his back hip.He runs out in the water with me shooting 2 more times before he gets there.One running shot breaks the backleg,terrible shooting I know.I paddle up to him to push him out of the water for a final kill shot.YOU DO NOT WANT THEM DEAD IN WATER.My partner then pops out of back side of his meadow.I'm out of bullets and need his gun now.I only ever carry 3 bullets,I'm superstitious,lol.I get his gun and finish the bull on dry land.I asked why he didn't kill the bull .Apparently, he was sure it was legal.We go back to camp for tape measure and butchering stuff.Get back to him and hes almost 54".It was close but I studied bull size for 6 months before this hunt.I looked at him good 3x and each time I said tomyself he was legal.But,it is very scary shooting bulls in Ak because the fines are serious.Our area wasn't know for my 4 browtine bulls so I knew I'd have to be able to judge size.We break the bull down together and its now dark.The pilot says he'll be by next day for meat after our phone conversation.
day7-I get upearly and go break the bull down into 100lb sizes and bag everything for pilot;10 bags.My partner is out hunting.I stage everything lakeside for pilot and paddle the mile back to camp.At around lunch I hear a plane and get ready to paddle back over but its not our pilot,its game and fish.I talk with them a little in the rain and they want to see kill site.I paddle across with the following in their float plane.They are satisfied with my meat collection from carcass but told me to get meat back to camp due to the fact no pilots would be flying that day due to weather.He was a little mad I cut out about 10lbs of shot up bloody meat from the one hit in the hip.It would have rotted the whole hind if I left it in and the older officer agreed,but the rookie still gave me a little grief.So in a pouring rain,I had to paddle back 800lbs of meat and antlers to make the younger officer happy.I did that in 3 trips and slept good that night.My partner saw no moose
day,8,9,10-partner goes hunting half heartly it seems but sees no more moose.I say half heartedly because he would start around 10am and hunt about 5 hrs
day 11- we get flown out 3 days early due to big storm coming and pilot saying if we didn't go then we may miss our flights home.We get intomain camp in Galena and other hunters have 15 bulls in camp.We stay the night with 4 other guys that did float hunts and they all scored.They were all diy guys,and were a wealth of imfo for a possible float hunt in my future.Some of them have been doing these hunts close to 10 years.They get flown out and float back to camp.One group was doing 140 river miles but tagged out after 2 days
All in all, a fun time and glad to say I've done a Ak moose hunt.I will help anyone interested in any way I can.I used Joe Shuster out of Galena for my transporter,but he offers guided and drop camps as well.His drop camps do great but run 8k per man and 18k for guided.My hunt was only $3800,plus another $1100 to have meat brought to Pa
