Me with my first moose back in September 1967.
Of all the animals that we have to hunt in Alaska moose is my least favorite. I harvested my first and last moose back in September 1967. It was my first fly-in hunt. I was a young 23-year-old G.I. up for any hunting adventure and it was truly an adventure. My friend Gary Wadkins and I harvested two moose and three caribou. Lots of packing! At the time it was no big deal but as I grew older, I found out that packing moose quarters in swamp country was the norm and it wasn’t my favorite activity. When I became a hunting guide, packing out moose was nothing but hard work for me and the packers. In addition, hauling out the heavy loads from marginal strips with the “Super Cub” was some of my most dangerous trips. That being said, I wouldn’t have missed being with my grandkids when they took their first moose for anything. Always, fun and excitement! On the family hunt this year my grandson-in-law, Nate Johnson, harvested his first moose. He never hunted growing up so this was a big deal.
This summer was one of the wettest in my 57 years of living in Alaska. As we were getting ready for the family hunt, I was thinking that with all the rain we had, at least the water level would be up for running the Solar’s. I was correct. We started out with the highest water level to date, which made me happy. We were also able to get our number one camping spot again. That’s three years in a row. I love that spot. We got most of the base camp set up before it started raining too hard. Another super camp. Thor had upgraded the wood stove to a bigger and better model and brought in a couple of 8’ dowel rods to set up a drying rack. Sagen had made new tops and precut legs for the center table and storage shelves. We had a great kitchen setup and a table for the card and cribbage players. We were styling!
Thor and Sagen enjoying the newly set up wall tent.
Thor had also bought a new gear tent that could be used as a spotting tent in bad weather, which got a lot of use!
Nate glassing from the new gear tent.
The Solars covered with new snow.
Overall, the weather was the worst that we have had on any of the family hunts. We had four good afternoons and one beautiful full day. It snowed two days and rained several more. During a couple of the bad days the gang went duck hunting. They had a great time and after they returned from their second trip, Thor wrapped the duck breasts in bacon and fried them. It turned out to be a delicious meal.
The gang with their ducks!
On the evening that we arrived at camp, a group of hunters harvested a really nice bull up the valley. We got to see him when they floated out. He looked to be 63-64” in spread. We ended up seeing at least two moose that size.
Nate sitting in the tree stand.
Beautiful fall colors.
One thing we did differently this season was we brought in a tree stand. Sagen and Thor moose called every morning and every evening when we returned to base camp. Sagen felt it was the answer to seeing over the high brush and willow. They put it up and used it on the second evening. We even had a cow decoy set-up a couple hundred yards out in front of the tree stand. Nate was the shooter so he had the honor of sitting in the tree while Sagen did the calling. We didn’t have the moose activity around base camp that we had the previous two years. It was a great asset but no big bulls came around the area.
Glassing on one of the nicer afternoons.
Three days before the season was over, we spotted one of those 62-63” bull moose on the far hillside in the non-motorize area. We had brought in two pack rafts just for that type of a stalk but Nate couldn’t drum up enough interest to go for it. That afternoon we spotted a smaller bull feeding behind us. Thor, Sagen and Nate took off to see if they could make it happen. A couple of us were able to watch the stalk through spotting scopes. Around 5 PM Nate made a one shot kill. We all grabbed and emptied everyone’s packs and strapped them on and headed their way. We met Nate on the way over as he had come to make sure we could find them in the dwarf birch and willows. We all congratulated him and headed for the moose.
Nate with his first moose. Right at 52”.
Everyone gathered around Nate’s moose.
Once we finished the photo shoot, we knew we had to hurry if we were going to make it back to base camp before dark. It was 6:10 PM when we started gutting, skinning and quartering the moose. After a really quick job we loaded and tied everything on the packs for the mile pack back to the boats. With eight packers we were able to make it in just one trip. We were loading the two Solar’s at 8:20 PM and knew we were going to have to make two trips. The base camp was only about three quarters of a mile downstream but it was really going to be close. We were losing light quick! We needed to be off the river by 8:45 or so. We made It! Thank you, Jesus! Fresh moose tenderloin was prepared two ways for dinner. Great meal even if it wasn’t aged.
Thor and me enjoying the weather.
The last couple days were snow weather days. Not much hunting going on so when we caught a break in the weather on the last hunting day, we decided it would save us time if we took two boat loads out that evening. They ended up taking Nate, me and the moose out. That way they would only have four loads going out the next day after they broke down camp. The water level was good going out but it rained really hard all that night and the water came up another four inches which made it even better. So much for all of my worrying.
My first guided moose over 60”. It was a 65 incher, taken the fall of 1983 the first year I started guiding. I was working for Tracy Vrem on the Alaska Peninsula.
It was another great trip but one of the reasons we switched areas was so the young guys could take some big moose, “60-65 inchers”, like we did in the guide business. Previously, we had been hunting in a draw area with any bull being legal. All the kids had taken 40-50” moose so it was time to move up. I have always said, “If I ever shot another moose it would have to be a 65-70 incher.” During my first year of guiding, I guided on a 65” bull and then a few years later a really beautiful 64” in velvet. The largest was a 68 incher that I personally helped guide a client on. Now those are the kind of moose that makes it worth all the hard work.
A 64 incher in velvet. Greg Hedgis harvested this guy with AAA in the Wrangell Mountains.
Dennis Byrne, client Chris Parrack and myself with Chris’ 68 incher. This was the largest moose that I helped guide on. It was taken in our Western Alaska area right behind base camp..
As I stated earlier guiding moose hunters was nothing but hard work. The following photos are a few examples of what I was talking about. None of these were fun!
At my age I will never shoot another moose but I would love to see my grandkids take one of those giants. One thing I do know, my moose hunting days are coming to an end. I won’t miss it like I do the mountain critters, the beautiful sheep and goats, or even those big 10’ brown bears. I still love being out there in the wilds of Alaska. What a great life I have lived! God is good!