Alaska moose hunt 2012

[coyote101]

Here is the trip report for my Alaska moose hunt. It's long and rambling but includes some pretty good pictures. I didn't kill a moose this year, but it was a great trip and I wouldn't change a thing. If you ever get the opportunity to hunt Alaska, I highly recommend you take it.

Wednesday Sep 5, 2012
Spent the night in Nashville and woke up at 3:50a.m. for the trip to the airport. I got a text message from Alaska Airlines that my flight from Chicago to Anchorage was cancelled. They had 100 mph winds in Anchorage the day before and flights had been diverted all over the place. I went to the airport, checked my gun and luggage and tried to contact Alaska Air while waiting for my flight. They don’t open till 7:00am Pacific (9:00 Central) so I took the flight to Chicago hoping I wouldn’t get stuck there.
When I got to Chicago, I had to pick up my gun and other luggage because I had no connecting flight info.  I finally got a hold of Alaska Air and was told they were going to try to get me on a United flight. I was in terminal 3 with my bags and United is in terminal 1. So I gathered up my luggage, which weighed about 112 pounds, and headed to terminal 1. O’Hare is a big airport with no tram or moving walkways or even a way to get from one terminal to the next without going outside. So I walked to terminal 1. And I was hot, sweaty and tired when I got there.
As I sat down to rest and wait to find out what United flight I would be on, I got a call back from Alaska Air.  Seems that the United flight didn’t work out and I had been booked on an American flight to Anchorage via Seattle. No big deal except that American was back in terminal 3! Me and my 112 pounds of crap hit the sidewalk again for the long walk back.
I finally made it to Anchorage about six hours late, but not much worse for the wear.

Thursday Sep 6, 2012
Went to the range to make sure the rifle was still zeroed. Did last minute packing and loaded the truck and trailer. Our transportation was a Polaris Ranger 6X6 and 1996 Kawasaki 4X4. Pete had this same 4 wheeler when I hunted with him in 1997. Note the trailer in the bed of the pickup.


Friday Sep 7, 2012
We traveled roughly 350 miles from Eagle River to the trail head about 50 miles south of Tok. We saw a cow moose with a calf, and a young wolf on the drive up. We stopped at the Eureka Lodge for a break and got a couple pictures of some trophies.
That's a black bear on the right and a wolf on the left. The wolves are huge!:

When we got to the trail head, we loaded the machines and hit the trail to camp. Straight line it’s about a nine and a half mile trip into the Mentasta mountains, but there is no straight way to do it.

I hadn’t ridden a 4 wheeler since my last trip to Alaska in 1997 and then not very much.  This was all me, all the time and much rougher terrain.
We got stuck a couple of times and had to winch each other out, but we finally made it after about four hours.


Two others in our party had arrived the day before and had pretty much set up camp.

The frame for the cook tent and the picnic table remain set up on the site year round.  Much of the rest of the equipment, including the roof and walls for the cook tent is left packed in 55 gallons drums, sealed and chained to trees. All Pete and I had to do was set up our tent, off load our personal equipment, and get ready to hunt in the morning.



Saturday Sep 8, 2012
Opening day of moose season. Pete and I headed to an area in the Little Tok River basin where he and another of these guys had each taken a moose last year. On the way, about a mile from camp, a cow moose crossed the trail in front of us about a hundred and twenty five yards away. She didn’t seem to be particularly concerned about us or our machines.


We sat on a piece of high ground and glassed the river basin below us and the mountain side across form us for a couple of hours. We saw two cows on the mountain side about a mile and a half away, but no bulls.  We saw fairly fresh bear and wolf tracks in the mud in the river bed.

That's my size 11 1/2 Muck boot next to a pretty fresh wolf track:

Went by a small trappers’ cabin not far from the river and checked it out to possibly stay at for a night or two.


We saw another cow in a lake we passed by on the way back to camp.

Sunday Sep 9, 2012
We hunted closer to camp near where we saw the cow yesterday morning. We saw one cow at about a hundred and fifty yards late in the evening, no bulls again today. She is barely visible in the center of this picture:

It spit snow pellets off and on all afternoon and then turned to huge snowflakes.

It was snowing pretty heavy as we hit the tent for the night. Wes, the last member of our party, arrived this afternoon.

Monday Sep 10, 2012
The snow continued all night and we awoke to everything covered in a blanket of about two inches of snow.


It was really beautiful.





We hunted the river basin again today and saw no moose.



We went back to the cabin and found that a bear had visited it sometime between Saturday afternoon and today. The door was opened and bear prints were clearly visible on the plexi glass window in the door.


We had eaten cup-o-noodles when we were there on Saturday and thrown the empty cups in the stove without burning or rinsing them. I believe the bear smelled the chicken soup scent in the empty cups and went in to investigate. Some paper was moved around, but no damage done. We will stay here tomorrow night and maybe Wednesday also.

Around 7:00p.m. one of our guys, Scott, shot a small fork horn bull in the river basin.

Pete and I were about a mile away and headed over to help with field dressing and bagging the meat.

We got the job done and made it back to camp a little after 9:30. Got the meat hung on the meat pole, had dinner and hit the sack. The night was clear and cold with the temperature in the low twenties.

Tuesday Sep 11, 2012
We hunted the river basin and the area around the cabin again today. We saw no moose again today. Pete has been calling a lot every day with no results.


We spent the night in the trappers’ cabin.

The cabin is located on state property, so no one can claim ownership, and it has to open to use by anyone.  The place is quite nice and well equipped.

It is about 12X16 with a wood floor and a great wood burning stove.

It has an old propane stove/oven from an RV as well as propane lamps plumbed into a 20lb propane tank. (We brought our own tank so we wouldn’t be using the trapper’s.)

Pots, pans, dishes, table and chairs, bunks and everything needed to stay warm, dry and comfortable.

It was well stocked with cut wood, but we cut and split our own so when we left there was a little more than when we arrived.
There is a bit of a learning curve on the wood stove. I went bed about 10:00 comfortable and woke up about 12:30a.m. cooking. I opened the cabin door for a few minutes to cool things off a bit, damped down the stove a little and went back to bed. About 3:30 I woke up again, cold this time! The logs had burned to ash and a few embers and the stove wasn’t putting off much heat. So, I stoked it back up, loaded it up with wood and closed the damper just to the point where it couldn’t maintain a flame. That kept us warm and comfy till we got up about 7:00.

Wednesday Sep 12, 2012
We hunted the Tok river basin and area around the cabin again.

We tried to follow an old moose buggy trail into another creek drainage, but the trail was very rough, indiscernible in many places, and not worth the effort.  So we made several stands in the area then returned to the cabin.


No moose today.
I decided to try some predator calling, so I hiked about 500 yards from the cabin to a ridge overlooking a small clearing. I called for about 45 minutes hoping for a wolf, but realized that both black and grizzly bears were in the area. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, nothing showed.

We spent another night in the cabin and I had a lot better handle on the stove this time. A bigger load of wood and the damper mostly closed when we hit the sack and we stayed comfortably warm till about 4:30. If I had one more night I might have figured it out. 

Thursday Sep 13, 2012
We headed back toward camp and stopped to visit with another hunter who has a camp a couple of miles from ours.
While we were there an Alaska State Trooper and a wildlife biologist came by on four wheelers.

We talked with them for a half hour or so, the Trooper checked our licenses, tags and harvest tickets and they went on their way. That is the first time in my life that I have been checked by a game warden while hunting or fishing. 

We hunted our way back towards camp


and ended up late in the afternoon back at the spot where we saw the cow late Sunday. About 7:00p.m. we spotted a cow and two young bulls moving through the edge of the woods a couple hundred yards away. The bigger of the bulls was maybe a thirty-five incher, and the smaller I believe was a fork horn. Neither was legal for me, but a fork would have been legal for Pete. Unfortunately, he never really offered a good view of his antlers or presented a clear shot, and couldn’t be lured away from the cow by the call so no moose again today.

Friday Sep 14, 2012
We went back to the high ground from Saturday and called into the river basin and glassed the mountainside for about three hours. We saw about a half a dozen cows and a couple of calves, but no bulls. We moved a couple miles and spent about four hours calling and glassing in the river basin about a half mile from where Scott shot the little bull. We checked out the carcass and gut pile from Scott’s kill and found it had been picked clean by the ravens. Nothing left but the hide, cleanly picked spine and stomach contents.

Saturday Sep 15, 2012
We saw a cow in the big lake as we headed out this morning
We were able to get pretty close by moving when her head was under water, but she eventually saw me(video)

She finally had enough and took off (video)

and a cow with her calf in the water as we headed back in the evening. (video)

No bulls today. It got near 70 degrees this afternoon and the gnats came out in droves.   

Sunday Sep 16, 2012
Scott and Rob loaded up and headed out today. Pete, Wes and I plan to hunt one last day. We helped them pack up


and then rode up on to the mountain side to look around.


We took it easy for a couple of more hours then split up and hunted separately for the rest of the afternoon. No moose today, so that is it for the trip. 
Headed back to camp where Wes cooked a great dinner of potatoes, baked beans, chicken, and fresh grouse.  The best meal of the trip.



Monday Sep 17, 2012
Packed up the camp, loaded the wheelers

and made the grueling three and a half hour trip back to the truck.



We drove to the Mentasta Lodge

for a great burger and a shower, then the 350 mile trip back to Eagle River.

We stopped at the Eureka Lodge for rhubarb apple pie, and passed gun site mountain as we headed back home.
The picture is not too good because it was take through a dirty windshield, but you can see how it got its name:


We made it safely back and spent the next day cleaning up our gear.

I got to visit with some other old friends from our tour in Germany in the mid eighties who also live in the Anchorage area.
That's Pete on the left, me on the right, and the guy in the middle is Bill Swears. We were all Army pilots stationed together in Germany in the eighties. Bill went to the Coast Guard in the late eighties and spent the rest of his career as a CG rescue pilot.
Here is a link to an interesting article about Bill you should read it if you get a chance:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=william%20swears&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&ved=0CDgQFjAB&url=http%3A%2F%2Farchives.starbulletin.com%2F2003%2F11%2F18%2Fnews%2Fstory4.html&ei=EYhiUJTIG4fG0QHXh4GQBw&usg=AFQjCNHH3YZAJtV-Xlud6K3DCMQNsyqX3Q

My return flight went off without a hitch and I got back to Kentucky about noon on Friday Sep 21st.

It was a great trip, I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Pat

[Todd Rahm]

Looks like ya had a lot of fun Pat. I have been in that area a few times, but not this year.

I get checked periodically by Fish and Game. Heck had them land a plane on a remote lake a few years back to check if I had my fishing license to be ice fishing, and to check to make sure I didn't have to many tip-ups out.

Really sorry ya didn't get a moose though.

[kyfuzzyface]

Great !! Love the story's and pictures, sure looks like a good trip, Sorry you didn't get a moose but that's huntin.
I need to add a trip like that to my Bucket List

Thanks for taking us along !!

[KySongDog]

Glad you had a great time, Pat. (I knew you would)   No biggie on the moose.  That just gives you an excuse to go back again!   

[Dave]

Pat, that's a great write-up.  Thanks for taking the time to do it (I know t can be a pain with all the pics, but it really adds to the story).  Looks like you fit about as much as you could into that trip.  The only bad thing about it is that it's over.  Haven't read the article on your buddy, but will in time.

[Hawks Feather]

Pat,

Great pictures and recap of your trip.  I would say that with the exception of the airport experience and the gnats that it would be a trip all of us would enjoy.

Jerry

[Frogman]

Wow!!  Pat, what an adventure!  Thanks for sharing the story and pictures!

Jim

[riverboss]

Awsome  Totaly awsome

[FOsteology]

Thanks for taking us along on your adventures. Thoroughly enjoyed the pictures!

[Carolina Coyote]

Sure is some beautiful scenery there, to bad no Moose but I know you enjoyed the trip. Thanks for sharing. cc

[HaMeR]

Looks like a great time was had by all in a very beautiful place Pat!! I too am happy for you in that you got to make that trip. Better luck next time on the Moose!!

Thanks for sharing your trip with us!!   

i'm hungry. musta been the grouse & taters.    

[iahntr]

Looks like a nice area ! Glad you had a great trip ! 
Thanks a lot for "takin us along" Pat, appreciate it.     

[FinsnFur]

I cant believe you took the time to get all those pics Pat...but I sure am glad you did.
You really peaked my curiosity when you mentioned that cabin, and I was trying to remember in the back of my mind to ask you about it when I was done reading the post. But you went ahead and answered everything later in the post for me.

Thats kinda cool that the place even exists. I'm very impressed that it hasnt been trashed or completely looted though. It seems impossible to share anything publicly anymore without it getting trashed.

[shaddragger]

   Sounds like a trip of a lifetime Pat! Thanks for the story and photos for the rest of us!