2006 Moose hunt

[Romo]

9/10/06 - Arrived in ANC at 9 p.m. after an unexpected stop during my flight from Lafayette, LA to re-fuel. Checked into the Barratt Inn and was met by Wildone for dinner and a beer.

9/11/06 - Caught a flight at 8 a.m. to Galena on Frontier Flying. Arrived in Galena and was met at the airport by "Brownie". After arriving at Brownie's house, we gathered our gear and departed for DM817. Wildone was on the 1st flight out and then me. Upon arrival, we immediately set up camp and our kitchen. When we landed on the lake, there was a cow feeding about 300 yards from where we set up camp. First thought...we'll have our bulls in a few days.

[Romo]

Our kitchen.

[Romo]

9/12/06 - We saw a good bull about 1 - 1 1/2 miles from camp on the north end of the lake. It was about 10 a.m. We also saw some cows during the day. We decided that we would be patient.

9/13/06 - Woke up in the morning and spotted a cow across the lake about 100 yards from camp (about 7 a.m.). At approximately 10:30 a.m., we spotted a spike fork and cow across the lake about 1/2 mile to 3/4 mile to the north. 6:30 p.m - spotted a shooter on the north end of the lake again. His paddles laid out nice and his brows seemed palmated. We decided it was too late for a stalk and we would be patient.

9/14/06 - While making coffee about 6:30 a.m. we could hear a bull glucking across the lake walking on the edge from south to north in the direction of camp. We both started to study the bull because it was very low light. He started to head into the willows and Wildone gave him a call. A little more studying him over and we determined that he was 57-59" and saw 4 brow tines on his left side. I asked Wildone 3 times if this was a bull that he would take and mount. Each time the answer was yes so, I stood against a spruce about 2 feet from the tipi to steady myself and squeezed off a shot. It was about a 90 yard shot and once I touched it off, the bull dropped immediately. When we paddled the canoe to the other side of the lake to where we saw the bull, this is what we saw...a 55" bull.

[Romo]

Another view

[Romo]

One more view.

[Romo]

We took some photos, gave congrats and went back and had breakfast and coffee. Then, we went to prepare a meat pole and began working at 10 a.m. It took us 12 hours to cape, butcher, haul and hang the meat. We got back to the tipi at 10:30 p.m. and we were exhausted so much so that we slept until 9 a.m. on the 15th.

9/15/06-9/22/06 - Over the course of the rest of the hunt we saw a number of cows, calves and sub-legal bulls but the weather was quite warm. The lowest temp was 40 with the highs usually in the mid to upper 50s. We never saw another legal bull and we were both disappointed.

All in all the hunt was great for me but I had one regret, that is, Wildone did not get a bull. But, let me say this, Wildone is an A-1 guy. Going on a hunt pot luck with someone in the bush is a risk but having him as a hunting partner was a reward (and not in the Brokeback Mountain sense). Dean, if you ever want a hunting partner, don't hesitate to call.

[Romo]

Our accomodations. Note the LSU hat on my bed. (I couldn't get this photo to load earlier).