Unit 15 Moose hunting thoughts

[doeman]

I smell September in the wind and I'm probably annoying my wife with too many ruminations, so it's time to put this to text: observations from a Moose hunter, specifically a Unit 15 B/C hunter.

Outside of a couple moose I've shot on Kalgin Island, I'm primarily a 15C hike-in-hunter. Over the past decade, I've had good fortune, getting a Moose each year in a unit that doesn't have a great "on paper" success rate. Not honking my own horn here, but rather making the point that scouting, both digitally (initially) and on foot (repeatedly) is the best possible strategy a prospective Moose hunter can employ. Understanding how Moose move through a section of forest, where they eat, where they sleep, and where they perform their rut-time rituals is key to success. I don't know a good substitute, save luck, and I'd rather not rely on her if I can.

Historically, I've given myself a 1 mile permitter from where I park to work with. I've been involved with Moose hunts that required packing over a mile from the kill sight and found them disagreeable from the perspective of a solo hunter. However, last year has me thinking. I shot my bull early that season on state land which was great, but after processing the bounty it left me with the rest of month twiddling my thumbs so when a buddy asked me to hunt with him on federal land, I jumped. We took the 'working mans' approach, hunting evenings. On one of those evenings, I told him I'd head off in a different direction and scout for sign to see what I could see. Famous last words. At about 8:30pm, while moving to the area I wanted to check, I heard scraping, and not just any scraping, but repeated, almost robotic scraping noises on low brush. Thinking this was a human, I slowly broke through a line of spruce separating me from the 'rookie' and was presented with a 65-70" bull. My heart skipped a couple beats as he turned and looked at me. 50 yards, broadside. I stared at the bull for a good 5 seconds before slinking back into the trees and hiking towards where my buddy was at. Of course, by the time I found him, and we headed back to the big bull location, he was gone. Three more days of hunting yielded other, sub-legal bulls, but not the giant.

Later, upon reviewing google earth, I realized that the big bull was about 1.5 miles from where we parked our trucks. With two guys, I think it'd be worth the backache. Hunting solo? Not so sure, then again, in the moment? We'll see.

 

[4merguide]

I smell September in the wind and I'm probably annoying my wife with too many ruminations, so it's time to put this to text: observations from a Moose hunter, specifically a Unit 15 B/C hunter.

Outside of a couple moose I've shot on Kalgin Island, I'm primarily a 15C hike-in-hunter. Over the past decade, I've had good fortune, getting a Moose each year in a unit that doesn't have a great "on paper" success rate. Not honking my own horn here, but rather making the point that scouting, both digitally (initially) and on foot (repeatedly) is the best possible strategy a prospective Moose hunter can employ. Understanding how Moose move through a section of forest, where they eat, where they sleep, and where they perform their rut-time rituals is key to success. I don't know a good substitute, save luck, and I'd rather not rely on her if I can.

Historically, I've given myself a 1 mile permitter from where I park to work with. I've been involved with Moose hunts that required packing over a mile from the kill sight and found them disagreeable from the perspective of a solo hunter. However, last year has me thinking. I shot my bull early that season on state land which was great, but after processing the bounty it left me with the rest of month twiddling my thumbs so when a buddy asked me to hunt with him on federal land, I jumped. We took the 'working mans' approach, hunting evenings. On one of those evenings, I told him I'd head off in a different direction and scout for sign to see what I could see. Famous last words. At about 8:30pm, while moving to the area I wanted to check, I heard scraping, and not just any scraping, but repeated, almost robotic scraping noises on low brush. Thinking this was a human, I slowly broke through a line of spruce separating me from the 'rookie' and was presented with a 65-70" bull. My heart skipped a couple beats as he turned and looked at me. 50 yards, broadside. I stared at the bull for a good 5 seconds before slinking back into the trees and hiking towards where my buddy was at. Of course, by the time I found him, and we headed back to the big bull location, he was gone. Three more days of hunting yielded other, sub-legal bulls, but not the giant.

Later, upon reviewing google earth, I realized that the big bull was about 1.5 miles from where we parked our trucks. With two guys, I think it'd be worth the backache. Hunting solo? Not so sure, then again, in the moment? We'll see.

I had a spot in 15c that was two miles from my house. I'm not a big guy, but when I was young I used to pack out a moose solo for 2 miles. Two guys, if you are strong and in shape really shouldn't be a problem. It's a matter of how you do it. I learned many years ago that shuttling meat is the way to go, rather than take an entire heavy load all the way back at one time. I do believe in the "slow and steady wins the race" scenario when it comes to packing meat.

 

[Ken hunts]

what do you use as meat bags when you are packing them out? obviously you dont want blood all over you huntin' clothes. Trash bags are often treated with poisonous chemicals. if you use cloth bags or tow sacks, blood with run through them.

 

[kwackkillncrew]

I use tag bags. Throw them in my pack. I dont care if a little blood gets on my pack or gear. That's what hoses and washing machines are for.

 

[doeman]

I like heavy duty cloth bags, especially on the quarters. Blood does inevitably seep through, but it's part of the game.

 

[Brian M]

what do you use as meat bags when you are packing them out? obviously you dont want blood all over you huntin' clothes. Trash bags are often treated with poisonous chemicals. if you use cloth bags or tow sacks, blood with run through them.

Properly killed and butchered game isn't terribly bloody. Yes, the game bags and your pack will get a trace amount of blood on them, but it's not going to be seeping through onto your clothes or running down your back. I've come to prefer synthetic game bags, but cotton works well also. Definitely not trash bags - the bags need to be permeable to air.

 

[Ken hunts]

I use tag bags. Throw them in my pack. I dont care if a little blood gets on my pack or gear. That's what hoses and washing machines are for.

Have you ever had a bear encounter when you had a back pack full off bloody meat?

 

[kwackkillncrew]

nope, and i have used the same system on kodiak with bears in our area. Never saw the bears, but they moved/buried every carcass we left for them. the meat isnt going to be sopping bloody where your leaving a blood trail everywhere you walk. one of the guys with use didnt want his pack to get a little bloody, so he brought a contractor bag to line his pack with and then put the meat that was in the game bag inside the contractor bag while he hiked it out. you probably have a better chance having an issue with a bear getting at meat while its hung up some where or coming up on the kill site. I would imagine the bears smell the guts prior to smelling any meat, hence why you move the meat away from the gut pile as quick as you can.

 

[4merguide]

....,hence why you move the meat away from the gut pile as quick as you can.

Always the very first thing you should do as soon as you're done dressing out the animal...

 

[MacGyver]

I’ve had a bear cross my path when I was dragging meat back to the boat and went to the kill site instead of following me. I also had a bear smell me over a 1/4 of a miles away and headed straight for me, if it was not for a pot hole lake it would have been on top of me before I knew it.
You can't fault a bear looking for a easy meal.

 

[doeman]

I've downed my last few moose at near dark and came back the next day to retrieve the meat. Given the bear anxiety this inevitably causes, I've started flying a drone in first to look for signs. Helps to calm the nerves.

 

[PRDATR]

I bone out as much as I can and put it in a cloth game bag, pillow case etc. I then put that in a garbage bag leaving the top open and put it into my pack. Meat cools down pretty quick once it has been cut away from the bone. Bears will smell the meat on your hands, even if you wash them after cleaning the animal. Least of my worries.

 

[cdubbin]

I've downed my last few moose at near dark and came back the next day to retrieve the meat. Given the bear anxiety this inevitably causes, I've started flying a drone in first to look for signs. Helps to calm the nerves.

You take drones hunting? That’s risky, mighty risky….

 

[Patsfan54]

You take drones hunting? That’s risky, mighty risky….

5 AAC 92.080. Unlawful methods of taking game; exceptions.
The following methods of taking game are prohibited:
7
(G) any device that has been airborne, controlled remotely, or communicates wirelessly, and is used to spot or locate game with the use of a camera or video device;
(H) any camera or other sensory device that can send messages through wireless communication;
(I) wireless communication to take a specific animal by a person until 3:00 a.m. following the day after the use of the device, except that
(ii) in targeted moose hunts in 5 AAC 85.045, the use of ground-based wireless communication to locate individual animals is allowed;
https://www.akleg.gov/basis/aac.asp#5.92.080

5 AAC 85.045. Hunting seasons and bag limits for moose.
(a) In this section, the phrase "General hunt only" means that there is a general hunt for residents, but no subsistence hunt, during the relevant open season. For those units or portions of units within non-subsistence areas established by the Joint Boards of Fisheries and Game (5 AAC 99.015), there is a general hunt only. Hunting seasons and bag limits for moose are as follows:
and then there is a long section about all the areas that are "General hunt only" https://www.akleg.gov/basis/aac.asp#5.85.045

I don't honestly know what any of that means regarding using a drone for recovering meat and I will review it further to see if I can figure it out because the definition of 'take' comes into play and that can be a wildcard. For what it's worth, them's the laws that I can find about the subject right now. Also it seems on initial review that using a radio for certain moose hunts is allowed, which is news to me...but I could be wrong.

 

[doeman]

You take drones hunting? That’s risky, mighty risky….

It certainly would be if I was hunting, but we're talking the next day after my tag is punched. At that point I'm in the business of sight seeing and looking at/for bears before carrying meat out of the woods. I don't carry a black bear tag while doing so, just to be extra cautious.

 

[MacGyver]

Many years ago I wanted to hunt 5 miles off the road in a nonmotorized area for hunting but not for berry picking or Minning.
MY question to the local F&G cop was. If I walk in and Shot a moose. Walk out, leaving my rifle and hunting license in the truck and came back in to get the meat and Antler using a ATV is that legal? I'm not hunting.......

He said no because getting the meat out is still part of the hunt.

 

[kwackkillncrew]

Many years ago I wanted to hunt 5 miles off the road in a nonmotorized area for hunting but not for berry picking or Minning.
MY question to the local F&G cop was. If I walk in and Shot a moose. Walk out, leaving my rifle and hunting license in the truck and came back in to get the meat and Antler using a ATV is that legal? I'm not hunting.......

He said no because getting the meat out is still part of the hunt.

same reasons we hunted caribou in a area and had to wait until the motorized restrictions were lifted to get our meat out.

 

[doeman]

I get the perspective. That said, I found the following interview with wildlife troopers to be interesting:

https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=908

“If someone is moose hunting and they shoot a moose, once that moose is dead and located, they can use a drone if they are done hunting. The dynamic can get confusing if there are other people in the group still hunting. If others in the group are still hunting, they cannot communicate what is seen with the drone’s camera by way of wildlife or they will be in violation."

Lots of caveats there, but if one is solo, and not trying to scout for others, then things should be fine, at least according to the trooper interviewed.

 

[Ken hunts]

I smell September in the wind and I'm probably annoying my wife with too many ruminations, so it's time to put this to text: observations from a Moose hunter, specifically a Unit 15 B/C hunter.

Outside of a couple moose I've shot on Kalgin Island, I'm primarily a 15C hike-in-hunter. Over the past decade, I've had good fortune, getting a Moose each year in a unit that doesn't have a great "on paper" success rate. Not honking my own horn here, but rather making the point that scouting, both digitally (initially) and on foot (repeatedly) is the best possible strategy a prospective Moose hunter can employ. Understanding how Moose move through a section of forest, where they eat, where they sleep, and where they perform their rut-time rituals is key to success. I don't know a good substitute, save luck, and I'd rather not rely on her if I can.

Historically, I've given myself a 1 mile permitter from where I park to work with. I've been involved with Moose hunts that required packing over a mile from the kill sight and found them disagreeable from the perspective of a solo hunter. However, last year has me thinking. I shot my bull early that season on state land which was great, but after processing the bounty it left me with the rest of month twiddling my thumbs so when a buddy asked me to hunt with him on federal land, I jumped. We took the 'working mans' approach, hunting evenings. On one of those evenings, I told him I'd head off in a different direction and scout for sign to see what I could see. Famous last words. At about 8:30pm, while moving to the area I wanted to check, I heard scraping, and not just any scraping, but repeated, almost robotic scraping noises on low brush. Thinking this was a human, I slowly broke through a line of spruce separating me from the 'rookie' and was presented with a 65-70" bull. My heart skipped a couple beats as he turned and looked at me. 50 yards, broadside. I stared at the bull for a good 5 seconds before slinking back into the trees and hiking towards where my buddy was at. Of course, by the time I found him, and we headed back to the big bull location, he was gone. Three more days of hunting yielded other, sub-legal bulls, but not the giant.

Later, upon reviewing google earth, I realized that the big bull was about 1.5 miles from where we parked our trucks. With two guys, I think it'd be worth the backache. Hunting solo? Not so sure, then again, in the moment? We'll see.

Ha

I get the perspective. That said, I found the following interview with wildlife troopers to be interesting:

https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=908

“If someone is moose hunting and they shoot a moose, once that moose is dead and located, they can use a drone if they are done hunting. The dynamic can get confusing if there are other people in the group still hunting. If others in the group are still hunting, they cannot communicate what is seen with the drone’s camera by way of wildlife or they will be in violation."

Lots of caveats there, but if one is solo, and not trying to scout for others, then things should be fine, at least according to the trooper interviewed.

I wonder if a person needs a four year degree to understand all of Alaska's F&G laws. And even if you had a degree, it seems like there are changes all the time. So you would have to go in for continuing education.

 

[PRDATR]

Using a drone after the hunt seems like a no brainer. I don't understand the confusion.