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AndrewJ

Alaska moose hunt

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I spent a couple months preparing for the September general season moose hunt. I was very lucky that my coworker was willing to take me along for the ride, and he took me deep into Indian country- although Indian country was defined away in Alaska under ANCSA, some areas are still deeply tied to the Natives, and the place where we were going outsiders are as rare as they are unwelcome. It was even outside his normal hunting area, but he wanted to see the country where his mother was born, and I was more than willing to go along on the trip. Success is generally high- with hunting nothing is certain, but out here I put it at almost 100%. I was expecting it to take 8 days, but we had prepared for 3 weeks if needed. The weather was really nasty- no sun and lots of rain.

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It was pouring down rain when we camped. I was wishing I brought a tent, but was told not to because of bears. We sleept with our rifles next to us. I got up at night to go to the bathroom and there was a bear at the edge of camp. It ran away, but I couldn't sleep for the rest of the night.

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The next day was cold and windy. No sun, lots of rain.

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Tons of wind and rain. The rain is coming in sideways and stinging the eyes, making it hard to see. We were soaked and had to call it quits for the day, build fire, and dry out. We cooked halibut for dinner and relaxed.

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We passed a group of Native hunters coming the other way. They had a few bulls and were heading home. We stopped and they cooked us heart and kidney in moose fat along the bank. Notice the willows sticking out from under the meat- it keeps the air flowing and helps to stop spoilage.

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They had to go really slow, any faster and they would swamp their boat in the river-

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Beautiful fall colors in a stretch with no rain-

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We stopped and visited with friends at their family's trapping cabin. The cabin is still in use, but the life of the trapper is coming to a slow end. Hardly anyone traps anymore, and none of the kids want to get into it because it's a lot of work for little money. It's crazy to think more people lived out here 100 years ago than today (today it's almost nobody). Farmed fur and PETA killed the fur trade in the bush. There are still a few people doing it, but you can't really make a living like you used to.

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Cow moose was feeding in the water. Saw two bulls nearby but they vanished in the brush.

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We slept in the boat that night. At around 2am we saw the most amazing display of Northern Lights I've ever seen- the whole sky was lit up, and you could see up and down the river. The lights were swirling in and out and were the closest I've ever seen them. They say the lights are the spirits of those who came before you, and I thought it was the spirits of the old trappers who used to live in this area looking down on us.

 

All night long I could hear beavers working against the boat, swimming under it, trying to push it away. The night was cold and wet, and my boots were frozen to the floor in the morning. My scope was all frozen, and even if we saw a moose, I don't think I could have shot it. My hands were ice, and after the morning was over we decided to have a nice meal and relax for the rest of the day.

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As we were cooking lunch the rain started again. We were just about ready to eat when we heard the grunting of a bull nearby. I left the food to burn on the fire, and ran through the bushes to see if I could spot anything. I couldn't see the moose, but I could see his horns sticking out above the willows. He was heading right towards me, grunting every few steps. I got down on the ground and waited for him to come into view and shot him at 20 yards. As soon as you pull the trigger all the fun stops and the work begins. It took about 5 hours to skin him out and quarter him up. Moose quarters are obnoxiously large and heavy. If you have dreams of a once in a lifetime moose hunt, you also need to dream about that once in a lifetime pack out with multiple trips of 200 pounds on your back. Think of an elk, and then tripple it. In this area you have to leave the meat on the bone until you get to your site of processing, so it adds a lot of weight. The Natives leave the meat on the bone regardless, but you do hear of cases where nonresidents fly in, shoot a moose, and then can't pack it out because of all the weight and leave some of the meat to rot.

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Heading home during a short dry spell. On the way home we saw a giant bull- easily 60 inches, just standing on the bank. He didn't care at all we were there and just watched us go by. He was significantly larger than my moose, and I kept thinking good thing we didn't see this one first because that would be a pain to skin and pack out. Around the next corner from the moose I saw something strange on the bank- 6 black dogs?? I was trying to figure out what it was when it dawned on me- it was a pack of wolves!! I tried to get a picture but they ran into the brush. I wonder if they were hunting the big bull.

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Start of day 7. By this point my sleeping bag is 100% soaked. My rifle has also taking quite a beating.

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Rest of day 7 was cold and wet. No sun, just overcast. I was ready to come home and sleep in a warm, dry bed. We got home, unloaded the moose, and I went to bed and had the best sleep of my life. The next 4 days were spent processing the moose. It was more work than I ever imagined.

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Tons of fat on the moose-

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Making portions to store. Each portion needs a handful of fat-

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Ribs on the bone. They get really offended when I tell them we just cut out the meat and move on-

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Working on the head meat-

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Making dry meat over smoke-

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Burning the hair off the nose-

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Nose is ready to cut up-

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Getting ready to burn the hair off the lip-

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Nothing goes to waste. Every piece of the moose is harvested, including all the organs and other things you didn't think you could eat. A little meat is left on the leg bones, and each leg is cut into small bones for soup with meat on the outside and marrow on the inside. The jawbone is baked in the oven and will be cracked for the marrow. The meat from the head is cut into small pieces and mixed with the tongue, nose, lips, and the fat from behind the eyes. It is all mixed together for moose head stew. Next time I visit Arizona I'll bring some moose head with me.

 

Gear review- the boat is rough on everything, and so is the rain. The guns get soaked, rust spots form, and everything gets covered in mud and sand. I had a hard time with it at first, but now I just let it go, it comes with the terrain. You don't buy the gear so it can sit at home and look pretty.

 

Scope- They say this is open sight country, no place for scopes. The whole time I was fighting low light, fog, ice, water, and more fog on the scope lense. It was a challenge. I am going to see if I can mount the scope higher up and use the iron sights below the scope as a backup.

 

Binos- haven't used any since coming up here. Need to get a cheap pair I can beat up in the boat and get covered in mud. I would never take a pair of Swaros out with me.

 

Boots- I wore 1000g Danner Pronghorns. My feet froze every day in the boat. Next time I'll wear my serious Arctic boots.

 

Gloves- All of them were pretty much worthless. My big mittens saved me (mittens are much warmer than gloves). Next time I will bring my beaver mittens.

 

Head- the normal beanie / neck combo didn't work, luckily I brought my marten hat. It got really dirty, but kept my head warm and dry. You can't beat fur in the serious cold.

 

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Great story. Hard to believe places like that still exist. Your blessed to have gottn to visit them. Thanks for sharing with us.

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That is hands down the coolest hunting trip I have heard of in a long time. Very luck man to experience those kind of traditions. I envy you. Nice job on the bull.

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Great write up and pics! You are lucky to have been able to see and hunt that country. Thanks for the warning about the hard work. Still my dream hunt!

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Well, I like being to get back to a cabin or shack each day, or at least a tent. No bear fence? Does that motor have a prop? What bag did you have along?

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Great hunt. Congratulations on a DIY moose hunt. I have done it and you are 100% correct - the weather can be nasty and the work begins after the shot. It is hard to believe how big these bulls can get. Do you know if you were in an area that allowed wolf hunting. Given the opportunity, I think most natives would shoot any wolf they could.

 

Just curious..........why do you guys add fat to each portion before you freeze it? I always try to trim as much fat away from all of my cuts. It seems like fat is the fist thing to go rancid after 6 or 7 months in the freezer.

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This was the prop. It took a beating.

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I took two sleeping bags, one for sleeping and one for an extra blanket: Cabelas Outfitter XL -20 degree and a Coleman Legacy 0 degree Big and Tall bag.

 

I asked some people about the bear fence, they just laughed. I have never seen a bear fence, at least not in the bush. Maybe if you were on a fly-in hunt with a camp you returned to every day you would use one. We had a dog that camped with us. If the bear comes close the dog will bark and wake us up, or the bear will eat the dog and wake us up. The dog is the sacrificial bear fence.

 

For the wolves you can get 10 per year but I was cold, tired, and didn't feel like moving. My gun was on my lap but at that point I just wanted to go home and didn't want to skin something else. Plus they stink really bad. I don't know what it is, but they must pee on themselves or roll in dead stuff because they reek.

 

It's a culture of subsistence and survival. When it's -60 F you need all of the nutrients and protein you can get. You store up and save everything you can get your hands on during the spring, summer, and fall to get through the winter. If you're going through all the trouble to save the moose lip and nose, you're going to save all the fat. The fat treated like gold and also tastes really good. You can cook it with your meat or stew, or render it down in a dutch oven and jar it. Usually by May everyone is out of moose meat anyway, so it doesn't really have a chance to go bad. I had a hard time eating chunks of fat at first (I was a child of the low fat/ no fat craze of the 90's), but now I eat as much of it as I can get. After downing the moose we were cutting off chunks of fat to eat raw. I've eaten strange foods I never would have dreamed of touching- muskrat tongue, brain, and eyes, beaver foot and tail, bear paw, salmon eyes, seal oil. You can pretty much eat everything. Perhaps the concept of game meat being "lean" is only after you cut out and throw away all the fat? It isn't lean up here. I'm not sure what is healthier for you- all fat or no fat, but in any case it's healthier than highly refined carbs and sugars.

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