Trad Gang
Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: Herdbull on September 30, 2018, 08:14:16 PM
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This year was the first year in 30 years that I would be hunting moose in Alaska with another person in camp with me. My good friend Brian Wessel from Tall Tines Traditional Archery hunted with me this year. Another first would be hunting the same location two years in a row. I’ve killed bull moose in four different mountain ranges in Alaska, so hunting a very familiar spot would be refreshing. Many of the scenes were familiar to Brian as well because, he watched my new “Chasing Solitude” moose hunting film many times before we went, and the final hunt in the film was taken at this location. Mike
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Brian , strapped in and ready to fly high!
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A caribou shed and wolf tracks greeted us after getting out of plane.
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The hot weather melted the snow pack and glacier ice in the mountains, leaving the river high, siltty, and rushing too fast for us to cross. This left us both hunting the same mountain face.
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We felt a little worried for this small caribou calf and its mother separated from the herd.
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Waiting and wanting more
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The hot weather melted the snow pack and glacier ice in the mountains, leaving the river high, siltty, and rushing too fast for us to cross. This left us both hunting the same mountain face.
We felt a little worried for this small caribou calf and its mother separated from the herd.
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I've been looking forward to this Mike. Glad to see the knees held up! :clapper:
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I never saw Alaska with cloudless skies for eight days!
Spruce grouse were available for table fare.
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Two fighter jets not only flew over head on their way west, but also cut down our valley and wrapped around a mountain peak up into a tributary. We could see the bottom of the planes as they flew sideways just a few hundred yards from us. I happened so fast I did not get a chance for photos.
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Brian was impressed with the hunt so far as we called moose nearly every hour of the day.
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Cow and calf in a marsh.
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We called in several bull moose, but none had the 50 inch wide antler spread or three-point brow on a side required to make them legal. We hoped it would be only a matter of time before a big bull came in to our cow-in-heat calling or bull grunts.
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It was exhausting at times as we ventured from camp, but always remembering that taking a moose at a greater distance would require significantly more effort. Energy was regained during brief rests during the day and of course at night.
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One bull was called in from many hundreds of yards using calling, raking and antler flashing techniques.
The bull eventually found its way up the hill to us and walked 15 yards from Brian. We just could not imagine the third brow point required.... he only had two per side.
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Goshawk
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It is a common practice of mine to start calling in the morning at the last place we called at the evening before. On day 8 we finally got our first cloudy day, and calling in the morning brought an immediate response. It was a truly awesome bull that was very wide (clearly over 60 inches) long palms with few points on top, but had very long and heavy brow points. At least 4 brow-points per side. He came down out of the spruce on the far ridge and entered the clearing in the swamp below us.
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We continued our calling and raking in an attempt to work the bulls blood hotter and match how just the sighting of him took the chill out of the air for us. He did respond, and walked hundreds of yards closer, but was still at least 300 yards away and below us. We could hear his grunts and watched him rake his antlers into small willow bushes. I felt we might be able to call him up onto the ridge we were calling from similar to what I had done with a great bull last year.
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Oh man been waiting for this! :campfire:
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So looking forward to this Mike! Welcome back :campfire:
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:campfire:
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After a stalemate, he was not interested in a fight or he was trying to find an easier path up to our ridge, the great bull walked away from us nearly the length of the marsh and entered the spruce tight to our hill. We quietly followed from above trying not to lose sight of him. We caught up to his retreat and found him directly below us. We grunted a couple times to get his attention. We wasn't buying it and walked back out into the open swamp and crossed it. He went back into the spruce from where he came. We followed his course but kept our sight advantage on top of our ridge. After a while he soon broke out back into the open and continued down toward the north end of the grassy swamp where a small pond was visible. We moved down the ridge toward his position. As the bull entered the far end of the pond it hit me, he was going to cross the pond and go up the cut at the ridge saddle. This was the lowest and easiest place to gain elevation and get up on the ridge with us. We hurried along through the dwarf birch on the ridge to get in position before he cleared the top.
As I approached the exact place where I shot my bull last year I could see the moose palms rising up out of the pucker brush. He had crested the ridge and we were to far back. He was about 60 yards away, but the low spot in the ridge saddle swallowed him up. We grunted but got no response. We waited! Then I slowly climbed to the ridge knob to get a better look while Brian help tight in case he turned our way. After a good look and knowing he was not between us, I crested the hill to look into the opposite valley. Its funny how they can just disappear without a trace.
The huge bull graced our presents for over 30 minutes, but his images were captured on film as well as our memories.
We reluctantly went back to the hunt.
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:campfire:
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At midday our calling again induced a response as we heard distant grunting of an approaching bull. We caught visual and realized again we would be blessed with a sub-legal bull. We raked and called and saw if we could get him to commit and climb the hill to us.
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He was not sure about what his instincts were telling him to do. This could have been the first time he ever heard a cow in heat. Nature is wonderful thing!
Brian got in position for a shot.
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Enjoying this one. Definitely a dream hunt for me.
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It was great practice should this have been a legal bull. Brian maintained his undefined form, as I grunted the call in. At less than 30 yards the bull broke into the open and Brian successfully completed his draw! But, he soon let up as we watched the bull run off.
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Then a final look back!
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:thumbsup:
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Above the look-out ridge the mountain face goes way up and then there is shelf or terrace just before timberline where the alder brush and "bear-berries" start before the rocky mountain ridge starts. As we reached our favorite calling spot we heard grunting well above us. Se soon spotted another mature bull coming down through the spruce. He must have been on the shelf and heard our cow calling. He was already committed to us from over 600 yards. His rack would flash us as he never stopped moving down the mountain face toward our familiar marsh at the bottom. He eventually made the wide open park at the bottom and turned toward us. He was a beautiful bull, and right away I recognized his rack. He was the same bull I called in last year. If you have my movie "Chasing Solitude" you too will recognize him as the last bull I called to in the film before taking my big bull. He had nearly full sheets of velvet hanging on the palms, and he had the same this year. He did not increase his rack size that much , in fact this year he only grew two point brows. But most evident and conclusive was the massive vertical scar on his right side.
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Photo From 2017 of this bull with scar that causes exposure of white portion of guard-hairs.
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If you look close you can see the scar on right side from 2018 photo.
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We worked the bull as we did others with cow-in-heat calling, bull grunts and raking. He came in toward us, then like the huge bull he eventually turned and headed back down the marsh and ended up tight to the hill. We were running out of daylight, and I decided to press the issue and try to get him to come up. Unfortunately he had something else in mind as he took out his frustration on the a spruce tree directly below us as we had moved up 150 yards to keep our advantage. This was eating up time on the "light clock". After he was done he walked down about 50 yards then I heard him commit to the climb. He was coming straight up the hill! We moved ahead 30 or 40 yards on our game trail, but alas when the bull finally crested the hill, our shooting light was too limited and we had to hold our breath as we saw the palms of the bull tower above the dwarf birch when he looked in our direction. But, his form all but disappeared when he turned side ways at 50 yards. It was tough to take, as some days the daylight never seems to fade, but on this cloudy evening our hunt was staled by this time-out. The bull was on "gool."
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We called in more young bulls, but our hearts were still broken from the evening prior.
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The weather change we hoped for , and the rain was here upon us.
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Brian looks back at the play ground of a few days earlier that left us flat footed in the dark.
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Bear scat
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Grizzly bear hair on the pine sap of a moose rubbed tree.
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We continued pressing on.
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Twin Kifaru Sawtooth tents.
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After climbing to the shelf and calling our best, we finally ran out of time and ended up with no bulls this year to pack. But we were still smiling till the end. Alaska is one great adventure no matter the out come. Mike
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Great story!
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Great adventure from a couple great guys! Thanks for taking us along!
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Thoroughly enjoyed every moment you shared.
Great hunt...thank you for taking us along.
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What country! And animals to keep it interesting.
Thanks for sharing.
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Seems as though it was a tough year for moose in Alaska all around. Glad you guys made the best of it. Those grouse sure do make Mountain House almost edible.
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Thanks for sharing Mike
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Great story Mike. Was looking forward to this and as usual you didn't disappoint!!
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Good story and great pictures Mike. For sure it was a tough year in Alaska. Unless I've miscalculated, I can account for only ONE dead bull for ten dedicated and experienced bowhunters who were there in September. Good thing there were blueberries galore because we weren't getting fat on tenderloin. :)
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Wonderful adventure Mike & Brian! Thank you for including us :campfire:
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:coffee: :campfire: :clapper: :clapper: Neat stuff.......
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Mike,
Thanks for taking the time and effort to share your adventure with us. Incredible story telling and photos. A great adventure!
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Great story Mike and really enjoy you sharing your adventures with us! Looks like you and Brian had a great time which is really most important! Again-great story and pictures! Thanks.
Kenny :pray: :clapper: :clapper: :clapper:
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Thanks for a fine story and awesome pictures!
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Thanks for sharing Mike. Great story and pics. Your efforts produced a number of encounters to make the hunt fun.
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👍
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Great story and pictures! Thanks for posting!!
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Mike, thanks for sharing your adventure, my friend.
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Thanks for including us Mike. Great story.
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Awesome stuff thanks for sharing. :clapper:
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Great Pictorial! Glad to see the two of you on an epic hunt together....what, in your opinion, made this season more difficult than others? Weather? Pressure? limited access(river was up)?
Overall, thanks for sharing, looks like the hunt of a lifetime.
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That sounds like a really cool adventure all around!!!!!
Bisch
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Two major things, the high river and inability to cross. I had a raft at the hanger, but did not pay for another flight to deliver. We tried to call moose across the river. The first 8 days of 70 degree weather I feel really slowed the moose movement down river looking for cows. Usually I expect new blood in the area and eager ears to call to. We found many rut pits made by the mature bull when he was up on that shelf, but can't say he was the one we called in, but I suspect so. In other words, nearly ever bull we called in was local as we saw many of them more than once. One bull we earlier on and then chasing a cow toward the end of the hunt. There was nearly a two mile difference in locations. You usually only get one and maybe to cracks at mature moose every trip. So we can't complain about that. Ha ha ha ha. Actually we called in every bull we saw. Not bad!
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This was a wonderful string and story! Thank you for taking the time to post it with so many great photos. I am late in life and will probably never make it to Alaska for a moose hunt. Your story gave me a precious glimpse of what it would be like. Thank you.
JMC
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John, I have hunted solo for many years up there, if you would like a better view of my solo hunting, you can checkout my latest moose hunting film, "Chasing Solitude" or I have free reading of some articles you may find of interest on my website www.herdbullproductions.com . I am a TradGang sponsor. Thanks for your comments. Mike
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Great pics and story mike of you and brian thxs for taking us along as always I am sure you will be out there soon enough carrying heavy packs of moose meat and horns
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Good stuff , Bucket list for me...
,,Sam,,
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Awesome Pictures and story Mike and thank you for sharing the photo's with us. Now seeing that Bull Moose you also saw last year is what I call a "GOD WINK" ;)
Now if you go back in that same area in a year or two and get to put your tag on him then that is 100% without a shadow of doubt a double "GOD WINK" ;) ;)
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Well done Mike!...thanks for taking us along on the journey
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Thanks for the write up and pics.
And yeah that one bull especially, what a monster.
All the best.
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Another cool thing that happened I want to tell you about was when I finally got up to the same spot where I killed my bull last year. Brian was out hunting on his own, so I was alone when squatted down and imaged the arrows release. I followed the path the moose took after taking the arrow, and stepped over the fallen tree the moose ran over. I found the dwarf birch bush that the broken arrow shaft fell into. I ran my hands through its branches before continuing on the bull’s flight path. Eventually I got to the exact spot where the bull fell and died. The place was still flat and void of fresh vegetative re-growth. Pieces of rib bone and the skull portion I left behind were clearly evident. I can’t describe how I lived in the moment from a year’s past memories of hunching over the massive bull while cutting meat from bone and placing in game bags.
I was excited to find both jaws in the brush outside the perimeter of the site. I am pretty good at aging deer using comparative wear of teeth since I have collected many dozens of jaw pieces over the years. Moose however, are different since I have not seen that many and moose live much longer than deer, maybe out to 15 to 20 years. I am also not sure the age of maturity and fully mature moose. But I can tell that the moose I killed in 2017 was very much older than the one I killed in 2014. The dentin was much more exposed relative to enamel in the 2017 bull.
2017 bull teeth
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2014 bull teeth
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Great job with the story telling and pics, Mike. Must have been exciting yet frustrating to have a legal bull come in but by then it's too dark to shoot...😢😢
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Yes is was very frustrating. But ethics won out. The bull that came up in fading light was one that I dreamed about all year because I saw him last year, but the other huge bull is a dream bull. You have to click on photos and enlarge and zoom in on its rack. Ha Ha Ha Ha
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Very captivating story that has to be a rush like no other. If only drug addicts could gettem a mess of moose! Thanks for sharing
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Great recap Mike! Meat or no meat it was a dream hunt for just about anyone. Tough years only makes success in the future that much sweeter. I have no doubt you'll be tasting it soon.
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Great story and pictures. The 60" brute was seemed very cautious, like he knew you.
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Thanks for sharing Mike. Looks like some great memories that you and Brian
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Great Story!
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Good stuff as usual Mike.
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another awesome adventure Mike! I have read your book 4 times, always a great read. "Chasing Solitude" is on the Christmas list for sure.
How do you like the Sawtooth shelter? I need a new 4 season shelter, my Trango 2 had some issues and needs replacement.
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Amazing stuff brother!! Thanks for sharing!!
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I like the SawTooth because low weight and durability, but single wall and no floor will cause significant condensation during changes in cold wet weather. I definitely recommend the liner for mounting inside ceiling. For long trips it is nice to stand inside to put cloths on etc. Brian used a small wood stove in his, but I do not use one in mine.
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Such beautiful country........... :thumbsup:
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Thanks for sharing, your pictures of the Alaskan wilderness is stunning!
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Mike,
You had a great adventure, thanks for sharing, it is appreciated.
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I finally had a chance to sit down and read this. Per usual it was excellent. Just like being there without the sore muscles and getting out of breath. :goldtooth: Why do I have the feeling this won't be Brian's last trip there? Good job guys... no.. great job on taking us along. Thanks my friends! BW
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Well done recap of the adventure. Thank you for bringing us along Mike.
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Great adventure Mike! Thanks for sharing. Did you see or have any bear encounters?
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We saw about 8 or ten black bears, but no griz. we saw griz tracks close to camp, but had no issues.
Mike
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There were good moose trails and rut pits in the area.
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WOW..... thank you. The country, the moose were stunning... love the beauty of your arrows....