When I finish drying out some gear and have a chance to upload more images I'll give more details. But for now, here's a photo of the final load going up the ridge to the Super Cub strip.
(http://i603.photobucket.com/albums/tt113/JCHavard/IMG_1335small.jpg)
oh baby, its story time... :coffee:
nice!!!! i love moose stories!!! maybe some day.. but this works for now!!
gaff
Very good John can't wait for the story... You do still have my address to ship the moose steaks to???? :pray:
Very cool! Can't wait to read the story to go along with some more pics!
That's a nice bull right there, nice job :clapper:
Incredible rack. Story it up.
Wow thats a monster :notworthy: :notworthy:
Oh boy.
Can hardly wait.
DAng how come ya killed the dink bull? LOL
Popping corn and waiting.
And come on next year!!!
Mike
great bull John. I dunno if you have the time (or even the room) but there is/was a huge push of caribou up north!!!
And congrats btw!
WOW!!!
:campfire:
Now that is great accompolish, especially with a longbow.
A hunt and trophy like that are things most of us only dream about.
Congrats
John,
We can't hold our breath forever. Give us the details!
Kevin
Awesome!!! that bone makes my back hurt looking at them, hope someday a horse is carrying mine and hope their half as big as that big boy... way to go!!!!!!!!
That's a beaut for sure. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :clapper: :clapper:
I love this forum, Congrats
Congrats on a fine bull be waiting for the story and more pics.
Terry
Awesome! Can't wait to hear the details!
Just got back home from the shop, so a quick summary for now.
Several folks have asked about the rack size. It was 60" or maybe 61" depending on which point you measured from. Certainly not the biggest we saw but a nice one never the less.
The very tired fellow packing that rack is my good friend and hunting buddy Steve Kenesie. The bull was 2 miles and 700 vertical feet below the Cub strip where he fell. Dividing the 600# of boned-out meat into six 50# loads each we hauled meat for 12 miles, walked back for 12 miles, and added another trip for the rack and gear. Total of 14 miles under load and 14 miles returning for load, not counting the 2 miles each day to/from camp. We broke the haul down into three stages which fairly equally divided the days into terrain-based logical sections.
The photo of Steve with the last load (by Alaskan law the rack MUST be the final load) was taken on the 19th. Today on the 24th even my eyelids are still sore from all the carrying. Call me a wimp if you wish, but it was a tough haul.
We saw 40 bulls in 8 days and stopped looking after this one went down. Undoubtedly we would have seen more if we had continued to look. I'd estimate that about 25 of those sightings were of unique bulls and the remainder were duplicate sightings. We had two other close opportunities at two other bulls but neither resulted in meat.
Here's Steve with the bull where he fell:
(http://i603.photobucket.com/albums/tt113/JCHavard/IMG_1312small.jpg)
Here's Steve with the rack and his beloved Pittsburgh Steeler ACS:
(http://i603.photobucket.com/albums/tt113/JCHavard/IMG_1348small.jpg)
Very nice. Thanks for the pics.
Awesome bull congrats on a great hunt! :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Wow!! Too cool John! :notworthy: :notworthy:
Here's what the view from the ridge looked like:
(http://i603.photobucket.com/albums/tt113/JCHavard/IMG_1230Kifaru.jpg)
This is a nice griz that was munching berries up behind our camp. I digiscoped him from a distance of about 3/4 mile:
(http://i603.photobucket.com/albums/tt113/JCHavard/IMG_1264Kifaru.jpg)
This is a digiscoped image of a very large bull we called "Mr. Big". Just about 1 hour after taking this photo of him we got within 35 yards of him but he did not offer Steve anything other than a partially shielded frontal shot, so he got away.
(http://i603.photobucket.com/albums/tt113/JCHavard/IMG_1277Kifaru.jpg)
This is a view of our camp from behind it a bit higher on the ridge:
(http://i603.photobucket.com/albums/tt113/JCHavard/IMG_1287Kifaru.jpg)
One of the nice sunrises we enjoyed:
(http://i603.photobucket.com/albums/tt113/JCHavard/IMG_1297Kifaru.jpg)
John, you show good sound judgement. Doing it the hard way, and hanging w/ a Steelers fan. :thumbsup:
Wow, what a neat neat deal. Great job! That is my dream hunt...someday.
Awesome stuff there, John! Thanks for sharing it!
Great pictures and a super story !!!
I believe that next year I'd go grouse hunting, you can eat 'em on the spot.........
Pat, you have probably killed more pounds of hog than Steve's moose in the past year. You are a regular hog-killing machine. But you're absolutely right about grouse (or ptarmigan in the case of this location) being easier to haul back to camp than a moose!
:campfire: :coffee: Congrats and thanks for sharing your story! I just love stuff like that!!!
Great pics! I remember that Steelers ACS.
John, your right Pat's a hog's worse nightmare :D
what a great picture! congratulations, can't wait for story...ooops, just read story
Now John; there is more too this story then the readers digest version.
Let's here the details.
Mike
Mike, I suppose you're talking about how we actually got within shooting distance?
We had been watching this bull for about an hour from on top of the ridge (a distance of about 1.4 miles as the crow flies) while he was running off two smaller bulls. During this same time I captured almost 15 minutes of digiscoped video of two LARGE bulls fighting. They were at a distance of about 2.5 miles and were really putting on a show.
Anyhow, the key to chasing a bull like this one is to have a good idea about where he will be when you bail off the top of the ridge and cover a mile and a half getting close to him. If it looks like he's going to be moving on then you're wasting your time going after him. He can and will cover a lot of ground in the hour or so it takes you to get close enough to call. The bottom line is we liked our chances with this bull. He had run off two smaller bulls, was surrounded by 4 cows, and looked like he was going to settle down where he was. Off we went.
An hour or so later we're about 150-200 yards from where we last saw him and his cows. Lo and behold, laying on top of the tundra at my feet, is a moose scapula from what looked like a winter kill. I already had one but just out of serendipity I picked up this extra one and put it in my pack. We set up at this location and I raked and grunted. No response but I did see a cow move briefly about 200 yards away, across an open burn area. We picked up and moved closer.
I got within about 75-90 yards of where I previously saw the cow and was busted by one of the 4 cows. I was in complete Optifade camo from Sitka Gear including a balaclava (hope this stuff works!) and crouched down. I raked a willow with my scapula and she immediately relaxed and started feeding. We set up again. I raked and grunted. I moaned like a cow being run around by a bull she didn't like. I used both scapulas together to sound like two bulls sort of lightly sparring. In short, I tried every trick in my moose calling book. Nothing. Then Steve sees the bull and cows walking away. We thought the jig was up but decided to walk over to where they had been (about 90 yards).
Once we arrived there we saw the bull's palms shining. He was laying down about 80 yards from us. I put the binocs on him and actually watched him close his eyes. I raked and grunted and he wouldn't even look my way. The cows were convinced that Steve and I were just another interloper too small to come in and challenge the big guy, so they just went about feeding in a circle around the resting bull.
Finally I got tired of his lack of response and thought to myself - "desperate times call for desperate measures". I took out both scapulas (it must have been fate that led us to the second one), leaned my bow up against a tree and then said to Steve: "nock an arrow, get right on my a**, move when I move and stop when I stop. We're going to walk right up to that SOB and shoot him." We were in the middle of a completely open burn (the area burned in 2002 and is just beginning to recover with scattered willows and berry bushes) and had ZERO cover.
I held each scapula up against the sides of my head and started slowly waving my head side-to-side like a displaying bull. Grunting with each second step I/we started walking directly toward the bull, weaving around blow-downs as necessary. We closed the distance from 80 yards to 40 yards, walking directly between two cows who were looking at us wondering if we were a better bargain than the bull they were with. The larger of the two we walked between was beginning to make me uncomfortable since I thought she was staring at me with "come hither" eyes.
At 40 yards the bull got up, started grunting and raking his antlers on a nearby willow. He moved in our direction. At 30 yards I whispered to Steve "are you ready?". He said "yes". I stepped aside and Steve drilled the bull. After going 75 yards or so he was stone-cold dead.
I'm sure it has been done before, perhaps lots of times. But that's the first time I have ever impersonated a bull and walked directly up to one in order to shoot it. And besides the arduous carry out of the meat, that was that.
Great story and great bull John....congrats. :thumbsup:
Excellent!
That is an awesome story and a toad of a bull!
Love the brows on that bad boy!
Josh
Awesome hunt John!! And congrats Steve :thumbsup:
I still love the old saying, best place to shoot a moose is the middle of the road :campfire:
Awesome John!!! Thanks for taking us along for the ride! I can see you with the scapulas on either side of your head walking right in... Puts a smile on my face, especially since he didn't stomp you two into a grease spot and especially since none of the "girls" got to fresh! ;)
Congrats to you Steve, my wife is a life long Steelers fan too.
Great thread and story! Congrats on a fine hunt. :thumbsup: :clapper:
Thanks for the ride and congrats on an excellent bull.
OUTSTANDING!
Jon congrats!! That is a dream hunt right there. What a Bull!!!
Brave hunt! Way to go!
What a great bull, and a great story to go with him! I can't imagine a more exicting hunt, although I'm not sure I envy you on the packing job!
Congratulations to you both.
AWSOME!!
Great story and photos. I hope to go on a moose hunt someday!
cool.
Did you use a white knife on that one, John? Congratulations, a moose is one of my "wish I could" animals for sure.
That's a great photo, by the way... what a set of hay rakes on that joker! :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:
Hey Ray,
Since returning home yesterday evening I haven't had a chance to send you a note. But yes, I did use the beautiful knife you made for me with the "white" scales on this moose. It served me quite well and as I recall I only had to touch it up three times through the whole thing. Thanks for a super-quality knife!
Thanks for sharin' that INCREDIBLE stalk and shoot sequence with us!
THAT IS AWESOME! (not too mention all of the hard work as well...)
Congratulations all around - a real team effort! Way to be aggressive when necessary!
:~)
Shoot straight, Shinken
Awesome John!! Congrats to Steve and you both!!
That's an outstanding story John!
Congrats to you both on a heck of a hunt!
To use a word already used plenty with this thread: AWESOME!!!
Great pics to go with a fantastic story!! Thanks for sharing.
:clapper: :clapper:
Beautifull pics man,, Congrats on the Bull.
Great team effort. Someday......someday.....
Great job, I hope that is me next year.
Jack
:thumbsup: :thumbsup: Great story and a mighty fine moose ... This is why I love Tradgang. Congrats
I enjoyed seeing your pictures.Thank you so much for sharing :clapper:
Congrats on the awesome bull ... Moose hunting and longbows go hand in hand, I love September in Alaska!
Congrats John!
Moose are my favorite and you did a great job getting in him! That's good moose hunting right there... todd
great hunt john and steve thanks for sharing :campfire:
John - tell Steve congradulations from me. It was a long time comming and I know the frustration of taking a mature bull. Good for him, and I'm sure he appreciates your selflessness as a hunting partner. I couldn't be happier! Mike
Rock solid stuff here John. If I can't go myself, sure glad friends share their stories.
Thanks for the story and pics! And most of all Congrats!
Hey Mike,
Thanks for the kind words and congratulations. As you well know, the work begins after the arrow flies! It truly was a team effort.
We came awfully close to getting another bull several days before this one, so we almost went 2-for-2. Maybe next year.
Magnificent story and bull!
I am jealous. Someday I will have a picture of an exhausting last pack out :notworthy:
Awesome hunt/Story. Congradulations!
Charlie
:clapper: :clapper: :clapper:
John Great story and Photos thank you.Blake
desperate times call for desperate measures". I took out both scapulas (it must have been fate that led us to the second one), leaned my bow up against a tree and then said to Steve: "nock an arrow, get right on my a**, move when I move and stop when I stop. We're going to walk right up to that SOB and shoot him."
:notworthy: :notworthy: Great job to say the least
I still cant get my head around the size of those animals. Well done guys.
Great story John , glad that bull didnt turn you into part of the tundra.
Hey everyone,
I would like to thank you for all the great comments! Exspecially comiming from my peers. I would like to say that even thro I shot the arrow that harvest that bull, this was truly a team effort and that was our bull and not my bull. John, I would also like to say that it is truly an honor to have you as a friend and a hunting partner, I have a fine set of antlers because of you! Thanks to you and everyone on Trad Gang...............Steve
John, you crazy SOB.....I take back my "good sound judgement" comment I made earlier in the thread! :bigsmyl: Congrats to both of you.
A friend asked me to describe the hunting experience, so I'll give that a quick shot.
First of all, for those unlucky enough to have never hunted in remote Alaska, it's difficult to describe how wild and untamed the land is. We were hunting inside what was simply "one" of the interior fires in Alaska in 2002. The amount of acreage allowed to burn in this "one of several" fires in 2002 was more than triple in size to all of the acreage burned in the L48 in that same year. Unless structures or towns are threatened the State just lets nature take its course.
No roads, no trails, no paths, no 4-wheelers, no guides or outfitters, no trucks parked in or near camp - none of that. When that plane leaves you are on your own. You and you alone are responsible for everything from your toothbrush to toilet paper. Food, shelter, clothing, hunting technique, optics, gear, everything. It's a 100% DIY hunt and that's all I have done now for the past 31 years, every year.
It's odd for me to see stories about hunts where trucks are parked beside tents or read about animals falling near trails and then to assign the word "remote" to such hunts. In this location the air taxi operator takes in ONE party of two people each year for a single hunt. That's it. It's about as original and raw and unspoiled as you can find most anywhere on the face of the earth. Perfect!
Each day we'd load up our packs with close to 50# of gear (extra clothing, rain gear, food, water, binoculars, spotting scope and tripod, survival gear, meat bags, tarps, knives, sharpeners, rope, and anything else we might need to hunt, survive, and harvest meat. We would choose a good vantage point, sit down (hopefully out of the ever-present wind), start glassing, and once a bull was spotted we would devise a plan to go after him.
Then we'd bail off of the end of the ridge and go down several hundred vertical steep feet to the valley floor below us and try to work our way in close enough to call to the bull we were chasing. Usually by the time we got off the ridge and closed the distance to the bull (all while he was out of sight) he had chosen to move on. If that happened we'd hunt into the wind and make several setups where we'd attempt to call in a nearby bull. At the end of the day we'd haul outselves and everything we had with us back up to the top of the ridge and back to camp. By the time we got back to camp we were usually so tired we just boiled some water, reconstituted our freeze dried meal, shoveled it down our throats, and went to bed.
Water was about 450'-500' below camp, so every couple of days we'd have to carry our two 2.5 gallon dromedaries down to the stream in our backpacks, fill them and our 4 water bottles, and then haul it back uphill to camp. Nothing too dramatic there, but it was a necessary and unavoidable demand on our time.
It's a physically demanding hunt. Not as difficult as spring brown bear hunting and it didn't require us to cover as much ground or climb as many vertical feet as a typical dall sheep hunt. But it was plenty challenging and demanding. I know my pants fit quite a bit more loosely after the hunt than they did before, and that's a good thing!
Sounds like a fantastic hunt John.. I kind of sit back in awe... At this point I'm not sure I'd want to tackle this type of hunt. Back in the 70's and 80's I managed to get up into BC, Alberta and one trip over to Quebec but, never made it up into Alaska.. And always dreamed of it! Thanks you for taking the time to give some details of this type of hunt.
Pat
what flight servive did you use and may i ask what was the cost of one round flight. and how long, i take it you left from anchorage or the vallley somewhere
Excellent John and Steve. Good news that you saw so many moose in such a low population density area.
Maybe someone is killing a few of those wolves so the numbers can return!
Hi Steve,
Leif told me about two different packs that he and his winter-time hunting partner personally wiped out over the past two winters within a very few miles from this precise location. In fact, last year he said they killed one big male a couple of miles away from our ridge top that was "8' long and weighed between 160# and 180#". That's a big wolf! The aerial hunting has made a year-by-year improvement in the number of bulls seen by Leif's clients, so the improvement is definite and measurable.
According to one of the ADF&G biologists that Leif flies around in the early winter to conduct moose population surveys, the benefits of wolf control on moose population begin to be lost within 3 years after aerial wolf hunting is stopped. I hope the State continues to allow wolf control in this part of the state because it's doing a lot of good.
JR, we flew out of Tok with 40-Mile Air. Their rates are on their website. Not cheap, but for the equivalent of a super-expensive guided hunt you can get exceptional quality hunting with zero disturbance from other hunters.
Congrats!....that's a wild looking bow...but a beaut none the less.
John:
I'll have to send Lief accolades! I think you saw my thread and my small contribution to the "cause", lol!?
Hey Terry. Yep, Steve Kenesie's bow is a one-of-a-kind (thankfully). Actually it's the result of me losing a bet. A few years ago (the year that the Steelers won the Super Bowl) they were sitting with a record of something like 7-5 and they weren't looking too good. Steve Kenesie, a life-long Steelers fan, started talking about how good it would look to have a bow made up in the Steelers motif. I was stupid enough to say "I'll tell you what. If they end up winning the Super Bowl this year I'll make you one." Needless to say, they did so I did. Do you have any idea how many bits Larry had to ruin in the CNC machine cutting out that solid-fiberglass riser? Man! What a bad bet to lose!
Steve H., yes I did. You may remember that I was lucky enough to nail a wolverine with my ACS recurve last year, and they are supposed to be pretty rare with a bow. But getting a wolf with a bow like you did this year is also just about unheard of. It has to rank right up there with the rarest of bow kills. Congratulations again! Do you think we might run into one another in Tok next fall? If so the first one is on me at Fast Eddy's.
John- I heard the original Steelers bow was stolen from Steve in Texas or somewhere along the way, and it looks like you had to again make another one.
I know what you mean about the fiberglass. I put that 0.475 inch riser strip I got from John Girardi down the center of my latest bow, and boy did that eat the blades. Ha!
I took a bear with it in Manitoba a few weeks ago, and two guys who were in camp before me each had 15 yard encounters with wolves. One could not shoot because of bad shot angles, and the other guy said it just got a little too dark to make a confident shot. The outfitter was impressed with the personal ethics of these two members of Montana Bowhunters. Mike
John:
I'm scratching my head on 2010 plans already John, its a possibility I am thinking about. I intend to be in Nashville in March so suspect i will see you then? I definetely remember your wolverine last year. I have heard of 4 traditional wolves and 3 traditional wolverines. Could be more but that's just the ones of which I am aware. Of those 7 critters, at least 4 were taken by TradGangers!
Herd: Try grinding with sanding gear with abrasives versus cutting, I KNOW you will have better luck! Think 24 and 36 grit, Si carbide of zirconium oxide.
I was a stupid trad guy.... In 1995 I was within 20 yards of a wolverine in Alaska. I was hunting moose, but also had a caribou tag. I did not know that I could have tagged the wolverine with the caribou tag and continue to hunt moose with the moose tag. I know, I know, there is no assurance I would have been able to connect on the shot, but I did get him on film! Ha! It was very exciting. I never did go to the caribou area. It pays to read all of the regulations!
What an incredible hunt and a beautiful bull!!! Congrats to both you guys. That is definitely a hunt I dream of doing but I also second guess myself as to whether or not I would be able to handle the meat haul as well as you guys obviously did. I have killed elk before but they are not nearly as big of an animal and I know how hard it can be to pack out even a caribou across that spongy tundra. What a cool way to close the distance on that bull. Definitely a job well done by both of you guys! :thumbsup: :clapper:
Congratulations guys, what a great story and awesome photos!
Thanx for sharing John....very cool!
Jeff, you've been putting some meat on the pole too from what I hear.
The wife and I own a tiny bit of property not far from Asheville. Where's Hickory?