Good luck guys ...

[Moosie]

T-bone is heading up to hunt Moose/Bou on a hunt I had to back out of due to a baby in Spet and Tim/Pointer and Gang are heading up for Blacktail.

You guys ready yet ? It's almost upon us. Make sure you take alot of pictures and good luck. Just a month and a few weeks and counting now

What does your AK list look like ?

 

[Nightwolf]

Good luck T- Bone and the rest of you guys. i'm jealous . i hope you guys do well. As always be careful and have fun. T- bone don't forget your moose magnet moose call!! I'll be back to the AK in October i may try to get o POW for bear and deer but we will see how my leave works out. i have to save some for a possible hunt with Ovis in may for brown bear. It's time for me to help him out getting his brownie. Next year however i plan to hit the hunting hard to make up for this year of lost time. When you moving to Ak Moosie?????

 

[noharleyyet]

Man that sounds like a terrific hunt. Good luck guys and be safe.

 

[tnctcb]

our trip is about 6 weeks away.i finally got everything i need(i think), quit smoking, started walking more and taking the tougher route whenever possible.alaska has always been a dream to me and soon it will be a memory.
good luck to everyone else who s headed up.

 

[T Bone]

only six weeks out!

We have a baby due in 9 days, and I'm trying to focus on that without appearing too excited about Alaska....

I've been practicing calling while watching the Love, Thunder Bull videos. The kids think I sound like a moose.

The 338 RUM will break clays (stationary) at 200 yards with regularity off hunting style shooting positions. The gear is put together, but not packed. Its all wool or synthetic. The next step is packing it into bags and making weight for the airline requirments. My main concern is taking too much clothing.....But I'd guess the north side of the artic circle could get a littly nippy in mid-september.

I've settled on not bringing back meat, since I'll have elk and deer in the freezer here.

I'm almost at the level of conditioning I need to be. I can't imagine it'd be as demanding as the sheep hunting of the last 2 years, but maybe I'm wrong. I CAN imagine slogging through ice crusted swamp with a moose quarter on the back may cause me to break a sweat.....I sure hope it does!

My area is a 4 brow tine, 50" minimum. The browtine thing is easy enough, but I'm still real unsure about the 50" field judging. Any advice is appreciated.

 

[Moosie]

T-bone, Leave some of the cloths at home. Warren will keep you warm I've been bugging the crap out of him to Run and Excercise and Although we get him out a couple times a week there are alot of excuses why he doesn't go...... Burry in the BOGS !!!!! HEHEH.

Take lots of pictures, have a great time !!!

 

[guppie9]

Here's my 2 cents for field judging a moose.

Generally speaking, the distance between the eyes of a moose is 10 inches. So when looking at a moose, look at its eyes. If you can double that distance on each side of its eyes, its 50 inches. A little word of advice though. If its close, don't shoot it. MANY people get cited every year for shooting illegal moose. Make sure before you shoot.

Also, I'm curious. You said that you had decided not to bring the meat back. So what are you going to do with it??? You can always bring it by my place near Fairbanks!!!

 

[T Bone]

Guppie9,

Good info on the field judging, thanks. The nearest civilization will be Noatak village. The meat will go the inhabitants there. As bad as it feels to hunt only for horn and the experience, that's what I'm doing. The meat will fill someones belly though...

 

[Moosie]

T-bone, HAve Warren show you the Thumb trick, It works I tell ya

When you flying into town ? You leaving the day you get here ? you bringing a Sat phone ?

PS< I got Warren out tonight for 4 - 0.8 mile laps (.8 miles is a Block) and we did run some of them . I'm fired up for you guys !!!!!

 

[Erik in AK]

T-bone,
As a NR you will have 3 or 4 browtine factor in addition to the 50 inch rule. If a bull meets the browtine minimum width becomes a non-factor.
To piggyback on guppie's advice, the rule of thumb on field judging goes as follows:
if one side of the rack is twice the width of the face its legal.

 

[Moosie]

As a NR you will have 3 or 4 browtine factor in addition to the 50 inch rule.

That's an and/or not in addition I'm sure.

There is a Required video to watch (Actually 2 if I remember) from the fish and Game. Or at least thats what I was told and Made to do. It goes through the browtine and the 50" rule. It shows the double the Head width on the side and the Hump on the Back way to measure. Although a Boring video it has some good points in it.

I started using my Thumb as a Measurer. Line the thumb up with their head and Slide it over to 2 thumb lengths on each side. Sounds funny but it works.

 

[T Bone]

My understanding is that it is 4 browtine OR 50" minimum. Either requirement satisfies the law. You Alaska natives, please advise if I'm mistaken.

I must be missing something obvious with the thumb thing....

The displacement of the thumb depends on the distance of the moose..... What range are you thinking this works at?

 

[Pygmy]

T-Bone...as long as you care for the meat as if you were going to eat it yourself, there is no stigma attached to giving it away...I have given away all ( before I realized how easy it is to bring meat back) or part of my meat on several of my trips, and the people who recieved it were always VERY grateful to get it...That in itself is a rewarding experience... I've been complimented several times regarding what good care I've taken of the meat, too...People don't want to eat dirt, moss, hair and blowfly eggs......

As far as the 50" rule goes, this is my opinion after hunting there 5 times...If he ain't got 4 browtines, he better be a GREAT BIG MF, that you are SURE is legal before you shoot him...A four footer with big palms looks pretty damn big to somone who has not seen a lot of big bull moose...The fishcops in AK take great pleasure in citing non-resident hunters for such things as misjudging a moose rack by a couple of inches or leaving a couple of pounds of neck meat on the carcass...Be sure or hold fire....Don't make the mistake of thinking that because you are in a remote area you won't get checked, either....The AK game Wardens have airplanes and jet boats too, and they can and WILL go anyplace you go...

 

[Moosie]

It's what I would use on the Computer actually. I would put my thumb between me and the Bull and when I got it to fit the bulls eye width I'd slide it over. Vick always made fun of me but it works in real life to. In School we called it a Snog-o-meter. It works on girls butts at any distance. The closer to your nose it is and the further away a girl is the bigger her Butt is........

That being said, use the 10" eye rule and double it, it works the same and you'll understand it better

 

[danr55]

I wish I was hunting Alaska and they weren't hunting Arizona..

Gee, I got half my wish.. Good luck guys.. take lots of neat pictures..

 

[noharleyyet]

ya lost me at the butt thumb-o-meter...but good luck anyway...don't shoot any big butted small racked moose.

 

[Erik in AK]

"As a NR you will have 3 or 4 browtine factor in addition to the 50 inch rule"

Should have been more clear (but that why I used factor instead of requirement)
If a bull has the "target" number of browtines for that GMU then the width of his rack becomes irrelevant, however, if a bull moose has 4 browtines, odds are he's well over 50 inches.

If you superimpose the width of the face against the width of one antler ( do not start at the base--start at the edge of the face and go out to the farthest point)

If one antler is twice as wide as the face he's about 55 inches--shoot him

hope that made better sense

 

[T Bone]

Crystal clear description. Much easier to understand than the Moosiethumbbuttguage.

 

[Moosie]

It's hard to "SUPERIMPOSE" the moose head o nthe Antlers.. Use the Thumb/butt-o-meter !!!! It works !!