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Hunting - other than deer
Catch and release Alaska Moose
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<blockquote data-quote="megalomaniac" data-source="post: 5728055" data-attributes="member: 2805"><p>Day 6. We decided to just call from camp itself, as we had a long valley heading away from the pond we could see fairly well. Nothing until 2pm, when we heard crashing and thrashing in the alders 80 yards away. I got set up ready to shoot, and this borderline bull came out of the alders, walked straight thru camp 22 yards away. My buddy would have shot him with his bow if we were certain he was 50 inches wide or he had 3 brow tines, but alas, only 2 brow tines, and right on the bubble of being 50 inches. We let him walk on by grunting and thrashing bushes and took a ton of pics and video. If dewlaps were the measure of the trophy, he would have made book! But still and incredible experience. Around 5pm, I spotted a shooter bull with a cow 800 away up the valley. He was really nice, prob 58in, but had a huge left paddle with a wrinkle. Right paddle was large but curved up instead of out. I told my friend I would be happy to kill him. We called to him hoping he would push his cow down toward us, but she took him over the saddle and away. We were starving and just about to start supper, but decided we should push after him. Grabbed a couple apples and some beef jerky, then hiked up to the crest of the ridge working toward the saddle they went over. Wind was totally wrong, but too thick to try to loop around. Just as we got to the saddle, the cow came up out of the valley below spooked by our stink (and we WERE stinking by this point) headed away. I quickly moved up to look in the valley below and spotted the bull 150 yards away. Not sure if he smelled us, but he was headed away following the cow. I got set up on the shooting sticks and put the first round into him just behind the last rib quartering away. Bullet hit hard, he lurched a bit, then turned 90 degrees going uphill exposing his other side downhill at a 45 degree angle. Sent another one, but didn't hear that bullet hit. Sent a 3rd round into him at 200 yards just as he was about to go over the rise. Again, bullet hit hard. We high fived, waited a few minutes and started on the track. Had a bit of trouble locating exactly where he went over the rise, but once we found that, there was good blood.... but muscle blood. No lung blood, no gut blood, just muscle blood. Uh oh... we tracked him about 250 yards through the awful thick stuff finding blood here and there, but becoming more spotty. Eventually we hit a patch of open tundra covered with moss and lost the trail right before dark. Being in crazy thick stuff in the middle of grizzly country, I made the call to back out and come back in daylight the following day. LOTS of moose sign, tracks, beds. Sick feeling in my gut.</p><p></p><p>Day 7. Called again from camp at daylight for a couple hours for my buddy, then started back on the track of my bull. We got back to the spot of last blood (about 1200y from camp) and started a grid search. About 250 yards further away, I found a speck of blood on a trail! I called my buddy over and we got back on the track. We followed a combination of track and an occasional speck of blood (still all muscle blood, no lung or gut) for another 500 yards until we came to a high crest with a long vantage. We sat down there glassing and found my bull bedded 1000 yards further away in a small opening. We called to him and he stood up and started walking at a 45angle toward us but disappeared into the alders. He didn't even appear injured. With him being now almost 2 miles from camp, our plan was to lead him back to us with cow calls working back to camp and I would shoot him with my buddys rifle less than a mile from camp. But alas, we never saw him again after that.</p><p></p><p>Day 8. Cow moaning at first light 800y in the opposite direction from where we called. Called from camp all morning long, then hiked to where she was calling from. Nasty thick stuff, lots of beds, tracks and droppings, but no moose. Back to calling at camp for our last full day. Cannibalized wood from a beaver lodge on the lake and built a nice fire.</p><p></p><p>Day 9, last day of season. Called for a few hours that morning, broke camp and buddy got the text he needed to come home as both their kids had gotten a virus and were sick. He was going to have to bow out of the planned fishing trips we had booked for after moose season ended. Pilot picked us up and we made a few circles around where we last saw the bull I shot, but didn't see him. Did see another small bull and a shooter bull about 2 miles from camp in a direction we never went. Got back to the tiny town and sorted gear and got the first shower in 9 days... Man, that felt great! Buddy got his flights rearranged but I decided I wanted to keep the bookings and fish for the next few days.</p><p></p><p>Day 10, back to Anchorage, ate lunch at the Moose's Tooth, then my buddy flew back to the states and I drove down to the Kenai Peninsula and spent the night in Soldotna. Fished the middle Kenai with a guide for the 2nd silver salmon run, and caught 3 (limit). Fishing was slower than I expected but still fun. Was very disappointed with the fights. Perhaps I'm spoiled on redfish, but salmon are total wussies compared to reds. Guide wasn't interested in getting me on some trophy rainbows. Drove down to Homer and checked in the Land's End Hotel (Highly recommend if anyone goes to Homer to fish). Got in the hot tub overlooking the Kachemak Bay and watched sea otters frolicking all around.</p><p></p><p>Day 11, headed out on a 5 pack charter to the Cook inlet for kings and halibut. These were small 'feeder' kings this time of the year, around 8-10lbs each. And don't fight hard either. Picked up our limit of halibut in short order, but no barn doors.</p><p></p><p>Day 12, back on a 6 pack charter for a replay of the day before. Kings were stubborn, but since the seas were glass calm (which never happens), we ran 40 miles across the inlet to a halibut honey hole. We literally caught all our overs in about 30 minutes, caught a few more including a 90lb er we released. Somehow I managed to tail hook my halibut. That was the most miserable experience of my life... reeling up a 45lb halibut tail hooked in 5 knot currents with a 4lb weight to get down to 170 feet. I almost had to pass the rod off to someone else, arms still spent today.</p><p></p><p>Got back to the dock a little before 4p, picked up my fish that were vacuum sealed and frozen and packed from the 2 prior days and drove back to Anchorage. Ate at Spenard's Roadhouse (on recommendation from a TN Deer member)- was fabulous!</p><p></p><p>Day 13, yesterday, got on the plane back to the states at 2am AK time and arrived back in NOLA at 5p. Slept for 9 hours last night, did 4 loads of clothes, sorted gear, mowed lawn, etc today.</p><p></p><p>Absolutely one of the best trips I've ever been on... I'd do it again in a heartbeat!</p><p></p><p>Reflections on what to do differently... I def would want to be there on season opening. Bulls were completely locked down with cows 2nd half of season. Never saw a shooter bull that wasn't with a cow (saw 4 or 5 shooters on the flight out of the bush).</p><p></p><p>Wrong load. I really believe what caused the loss of the animal was bullet failure. I brought my 7mm WSM loaded with 140g accubonds at 3350 fps. I've killed several deer and antelope with it, all DRT, no tracking on any of them (but closest was 300y). I had no reservations about the accubond integrity even at those velocites, but I was a bit concerned when I shot a soft skinned varmit with it at first camp and it completely eviscerated it. I know my first shot was spot on as I touched off the trigger, and I suspect the bullet exploded and didn't penetrate into the vitals. 2nd shot may or may not have hit, but 3rd def was spot on as well. In the 750 yards we trailed the animal, he never bedded once. I brought that rifle and load in the event of a 500y shot, but the 2nd camp was a close encounter kind of place. I'll take that rifle again, but use 160s at 2900 fps instead.</p><p></p><p>Thanks to all you you guys who sent me PMs with advice from gear to techniques, and even places to eat. Hard to come back to the 'real world' after a trip like that!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="megalomaniac, post: 5728055, member: 2805"] Day 6. We decided to just call from camp itself, as we had a long valley heading away from the pond we could see fairly well. Nothing until 2pm, when we heard crashing and thrashing in the alders 80 yards away. I got set up ready to shoot, and this borderline bull came out of the alders, walked straight thru camp 22 yards away. My buddy would have shot him with his bow if we were certain he was 50 inches wide or he had 3 brow tines, but alas, only 2 brow tines, and right on the bubble of being 50 inches. We let him walk on by grunting and thrashing bushes and took a ton of pics and video. If dewlaps were the measure of the trophy, he would have made book! But still and incredible experience. Around 5pm, I spotted a shooter bull with a cow 800 away up the valley. He was really nice, prob 58in, but had a huge left paddle with a wrinkle. Right paddle was large but curved up instead of out. I told my friend I would be happy to kill him. We called to him hoping he would push his cow down toward us, but she took him over the saddle and away. We were starving and just about to start supper, but decided we should push after him. Grabbed a couple apples and some beef jerky, then hiked up to the crest of the ridge working toward the saddle they went over. Wind was totally wrong, but too thick to try to loop around. Just as we got to the saddle, the cow came up out of the valley below spooked by our stink (and we WERE stinking by this point) headed away. I quickly moved up to look in the valley below and spotted the bull 150 yards away. Not sure if he smelled us, but he was headed away following the cow. I got set up on the shooting sticks and put the first round into him just behind the last rib quartering away. Bullet hit hard, he lurched a bit, then turned 90 degrees going uphill exposing his other side downhill at a 45 degree angle. Sent another one, but didn't hear that bullet hit. Sent a 3rd round into him at 200 yards just as he was about to go over the rise. Again, bullet hit hard. We high fived, waited a few minutes and started on the track. Had a bit of trouble locating exactly where he went over the rise, but once we found that, there was good blood.... but muscle blood. No lung blood, no gut blood, just muscle blood. Uh oh... we tracked him about 250 yards through the awful thick stuff finding blood here and there, but becoming more spotty. Eventually we hit a patch of open tundra covered with moss and lost the trail right before dark. Being in crazy thick stuff in the middle of grizzly country, I made the call to back out and come back in daylight the following day. LOTS of moose sign, tracks, beds. Sick feeling in my gut. Day 7. Called again from camp at daylight for a couple hours for my buddy, then started back on the track of my bull. We got back to the spot of last blood (about 1200y from camp) and started a grid search. About 250 yards further away, I found a speck of blood on a trail! I called my buddy over and we got back on the track. We followed a combination of track and an occasional speck of blood (still all muscle blood, no lung or gut) for another 500 yards until we came to a high crest with a long vantage. We sat down there glassing and found my bull bedded 1000 yards further away in a small opening. We called to him and he stood up and started walking at a 45angle toward us but disappeared into the alders. He didn't even appear injured. With him being now almost 2 miles from camp, our plan was to lead him back to us with cow calls working back to camp and I would shoot him with my buddys rifle less than a mile from camp. But alas, we never saw him again after that. Day 8. Cow moaning at first light 800y in the opposite direction from where we called. Called from camp all morning long, then hiked to where she was calling from. Nasty thick stuff, lots of beds, tracks and droppings, but no moose. Back to calling at camp for our last full day. Cannibalized wood from a beaver lodge on the lake and built a nice fire. Day 9, last day of season. Called for a few hours that morning, broke camp and buddy got the text he needed to come home as both their kids had gotten a virus and were sick. He was going to have to bow out of the planned fishing trips we had booked for after moose season ended. Pilot picked us up and we made a few circles around where we last saw the bull I shot, but didn't see him. Did see another small bull and a shooter bull about 2 miles from camp in a direction we never went. Got back to the tiny town and sorted gear and got the first shower in 9 days... Man, that felt great! Buddy got his flights rearranged but I decided I wanted to keep the bookings and fish for the next few days. Day 10, back to Anchorage, ate lunch at the Moose's Tooth, then my buddy flew back to the states and I drove down to the Kenai Peninsula and spent the night in Soldotna. Fished the middle Kenai with a guide for the 2nd silver salmon run, and caught 3 (limit). Fishing was slower than I expected but still fun. Was very disappointed with the fights. Perhaps I'm spoiled on redfish, but salmon are total wussies compared to reds. Guide wasn't interested in getting me on some trophy rainbows. Drove down to Homer and checked in the Land's End Hotel (Highly recommend if anyone goes to Homer to fish). Got in the hot tub overlooking the Kachemak Bay and watched sea otters frolicking all around. Day 11, headed out on a 5 pack charter to the Cook inlet for kings and halibut. These were small 'feeder' kings this time of the year, around 8-10lbs each. And don't fight hard either. Picked up our limit of halibut in short order, but no barn doors. Day 12, back on a 6 pack charter for a replay of the day before. Kings were stubborn, but since the seas were glass calm (which never happens), we ran 40 miles across the inlet to a halibut honey hole. We literally caught all our overs in about 30 minutes, caught a few more including a 90lb er we released. Somehow I managed to tail hook my halibut. That was the most miserable experience of my life... reeling up a 45lb halibut tail hooked in 5 knot currents with a 4lb weight to get down to 170 feet. I almost had to pass the rod off to someone else, arms still spent today. Got back to the dock a little before 4p, picked up my fish that were vacuum sealed and frozen and packed from the 2 prior days and drove back to Anchorage. Ate at Spenard's Roadhouse (on recommendation from a TN Deer member)- was fabulous! Day 13, yesterday, got on the plane back to the states at 2am AK time and arrived back in NOLA at 5p. Slept for 9 hours last night, did 4 loads of clothes, sorted gear, mowed lawn, etc today. Absolutely one of the best trips I've ever been on... I'd do it again in a heartbeat! Reflections on what to do differently... I def would want to be there on season opening. Bulls were completely locked down with cows 2nd half of season. Never saw a shooter bull that wasn't with a cow (saw 4 or 5 shooters on the flight out of the bush). Wrong load. I really believe what caused the loss of the animal was bullet failure. I brought my 7mm WSM loaded with 140g accubonds at 3350 fps. I've killed several deer and antelope with it, all DRT, no tracking on any of them (but closest was 300y). I had no reservations about the accubond integrity even at those velocites, but I was a bit concerned when I shot a soft skinned varmit with it at first camp and it completely eviscerated it. I know my first shot was spot on as I touched off the trigger, and I suspect the bullet exploded and didn't penetrate into the vitals. 2nd shot may or may not have hit, but 3rd def was spot on as well. In the 750 yards we trailed the animal, he never bedded once. I brought that rifle and load in the event of a 500y shot, but the 2nd camp was a close encounter kind of place. I'll take that rifle again, but use 160s at 2900 fps instead. Thanks to all you you guys who sent me PMs with advice from gear to techniques, and even places to eat. Hard to come back to the 'real world' after a trip like that! [/QUOTE]
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