Moose Hunting Alaska
- Thread starter mhungerford
- Start date
Beendare
New member
- Joined
- Jan 31, 2015
- Messages
- 13
You can get a couple of cheap pulley at any arborist supply- 2 of those give you amazing pulling power and you won't have the friction of the one at the link.
I have the Kuiu jacket and a HH jacket. The problem with the Kuiu jacket is its cut too short. The real deal is that 3/4 length Helly Hansen- thats what I would use with the hip waders. Best of luck
I have the Kuiu jacket and a HH jacket. The problem with the Kuiu jacket is its cut too short. The real deal is that 3/4 length Helly Hansen- thats what I would use with the hip waders. Best of luck
Gunner46
Well-known member
You need a 458 Win Mag dude. Yep, 458, that sounds about right. . And you're lucky, Cabalas has ammo on sale right now for only $119 a box. Better get 10 or 15 boxes before they're all gone. Think of all the money you'll save !!
mhungerford
Active member
another question. Should I be thinking about bringing a bear fence? Have been tossing the idea around just not sure I need one. Also don't want to end up as someone's snack.
Gunner46
Well-known member
With a 458 you won't need the fence !!
Bambistew
Well-known member
The fence is more about protecting your boat and camp when you're away or sleeping, than protecting you from being attacked. I would talk to the outfitter, some areas have more bears than others.
LopeHunter
Well-known member
Talk to the outfitter to see their opinion of the caliber and bullet weight. I personally would consider something with a larger diameter but if you will be shooting at under 100 yards and have good bullet placement then should be able to double lung the moose. I would prefer to take out the shoulders so no tracking (or jumping out of the way of a charging moose) comes into play.
Will the guide be backing you up in case a second shot is needed? Not sure if that is legal in Alaska on a moose. If a bear is charging then might be good to discuss who makes the call to shoot at all and then to shoot first.
Will the guide be backing you up in case a second shot is needed? Not sure if that is legal in Alaska on a moose. If a bear is charging then might be good to discuss who makes the call to shoot at all and then to shoot first.
Kaitum
Well-known member
What Bambi said. There's something about a rubber / hypalon raft that screams 'chew toy' to a curious bear. The smell of petroleum based products (e.g. rubber) seems to attact their attention. I take a fence more for the piece of mind knowing something isn't messing with my raft / tent while I'm away from camp for the day. Once I harvest something I'll put the meat, food, and raft inside the fence and set up the tent 75 or so yards away. One more precaution, don't leave meat / food inside the raft at night. Its a pain to load / unload the raft every day but its a necessary chore of float hunting.
I have done numerous float trips in Alaska, most of them as a guide. I find that chest waders are way to warm and bulky. I like the hip waders as you may be doing some hiking/hunting in them. Some people advise ankle fit boots but I tried them once but never again, just try and put on or take off those tight suckers with some damp socks from perspiration. Another option that I have used is the River Trekker overshoe made by Neos, they fit over your regular hunting shoe, super light weight, can be rolled up and carried in your daypack. They do look kind of funky but work very well, about $150. Be sure and take a good packframe for packing the meat back to the river if need be.
Bear fence? Whatever just keep your raft clean of blood and no food kept in it over night or in your tent.
Certainly the 6.5 will kill a moose but if you have something a little larger I would suggest it.
Float trips can be a little work but they are fun, every turn in the river is something new.
Enjoy.
Bear fence? Whatever just keep your raft clean of blood and no food kept in it over night or in your tent.
Certainly the 6.5 will kill a moose but if you have something a little larger I would suggest it.
Float trips can be a little work but they are fun, every turn in the river is something new.
Enjoy.
mhungerford
Active member
Thank you guys for the great information. Few more questions. We will be Hunting in early September in SW Alaska. Would a cow decoy be a good idea? Also, will the bulls be responding to calls at this time? thanks again everyone.
Kaitum
Well-known member
Leave the decoy at home. Brush thrashing is your best bet for calling. Cows won't be in estrus yet so long cow moans likely won't elicit much response. Hopefully you get some cool weather.
Booked all my flights today for my moose hunt.Now I have 6 months to wait it out.What are your dates?I go from the 12th till the 28th.About time to start annoying the family with moose calls so they will be happy to see me leave.I'll just be hanging out on a lake hunt so mine isn't anywhere near as tough as yours.The guy who told me about the lake has sent me pictures of his kills on it each time he hunted it.All mid-60's and up.Hard not to get excited to have a chance at one of those guys.I've been doing a bit of practice on line of judging moose which is my biggest concern.I think I'm getting pretty good at judging a legal shooter now.Don't want to have troubles with the fish and game people
B
big28hunter
Guest
Scott, hopefully he has 4 brow tines to take the worry about being 50"s. To this PA boy their all huge. Good huntin'
mhungerford
Active member
We are leaving Denver on the 7 and return on the 23. I just hope to see a 60+" bull. First bull with 4 brow tines on him dies don't care how big he is.
Bambistew
Well-known member
Best of luck!
Make sure you really analyze those 4 points to make sure they are longer than they are wide. This is especially true on younger bulls. People lose their moose ever year even though it has 4 "points". Check out the legally definition of a point.
Float Hunt
Just did one fall of 2014.
Throw my name in the recommendation pile for Wading Pants and Quality Wading shoes. I bought Simms Wading pants and Simms RiverTek Wading shoes with the BOA laces and they were awesome. BOA laces are the cable type and don't freeze. Hiked over 14 Miles 1 day with loads of Caribou on my back and my feet were fine.
Rain gear I brought Kuiu and Impertech Both invaluable. With Wading pants you dont need bottoms since you can double on those.
Bring Camp Shoes. We fought over the 1 pair we had rotating who wore them.
Bring a CHAIR! We woulda paid $1000 for a dang chair after 10 days of hunting.
Bring a Quality Saw or bone saw of some sort for processing. After Cutting up 6 bou and a Moose with a small folding saw it was NOT fun. Next time a cordless sawzaw is in the cards.
Just did one fall of 2014.
Throw my name in the recommendation pile for Wading Pants and Quality Wading shoes. I bought Simms Wading pants and Simms RiverTek Wading shoes with the BOA laces and they were awesome. BOA laces are the cable type and don't freeze. Hiked over 14 Miles 1 day with loads of Caribou on my back and my feet were fine.
Rain gear I brought Kuiu and Impertech Both invaluable. With Wading pants you dont need bottoms since you can double on those.
Bring Camp Shoes. We fought over the 1 pair we had rotating who wore them.
Bring a CHAIR! We woulda paid $1000 for a dang chair after 10 days of hunting.
Bring a Quality Saw or bone saw of some sort for processing. After Cutting up 6 bou and a Moose with a small folding saw it was NOT fun. Next time a cordless sawzaw is in the cards.
I think in the area I'm going,if I wait for4 brow tines I'll be going home empty.The guy told me its just not in their genetics up where I'm going,and to learn to judge size.None of his bulls had 4 brow points but were close to 70".I think he took 4in the upper 60";all with a bow
mdhunter61
Well-known member
- Joined
- Oct 3, 2010
- Messages
- 438
I know Kaitum already responded to this question, and he has a good point - but let me toss out another thought on the cow decoy...
I agree that it will be early for cow calls...however, even if you thrash brush and do bull grunts, some bulls will come in only so close if they can't see something that looks like a moose. A cow decoy, combined with bull grunts and a little brush scraping, could be just the ticket to pull a bull into shooting range. It doesn't weigh very much for the potential benefit that it provides.
And good on you for practicing judging the moose antler spread. I tried to get my buddy a bull last Fall, we saw 11-12 bulls and called in 2-3 from a couple of miles out, but ran out of light before we could be certain they were legal (these weren't 50" wide, we were hoping for 4 brow tines).
The biggest bull we saw was the evening of opening day. We were on opposite sides of a ridge glassing, when my buddy ran to get me as a nice bull was coming by camp on his side of the ridge. By the time I got there the bull was in the timber, and I couldn't see both antlers at once - but he sure looked big. If my buddy had practiced judging antler size himself and hadn't relied on me so much, he might have shot a nice bull the very first night.
Good luck on your hunt, take lots of pics and share your story when you get back. I can't spare three weeks this year, so I'm doing a 6-day caribou hunt in early September. Can't wait!
