Every year since I retired from the guide business, we have tried to go on a family hunt. Our family hunts usually include my son-in-law Sagen, my grandchildren, Sagen’s brother Thor and his children. It’s mainly a moose hunt with caribou thrown in if anyone gets drawn. Sagen and Thor were born in Alaska and grew up doing family moose hunts. Most of you know moose is my least favorite animal to hunt but I have always enjoyed being with my grandkids no matter which animal we were hunting. We have shared so many wonderful memories.
Hunt Gone Bad
The Alaska Peninsula had a large population of big bull moose during the late 60’s and early 70’s. I had been told by an Alaska Department of Fish and Game biologist that that country was marginal moose habitat so the population was very cyclical. I always wanted to go moose hunting in that country because of the big moose but felt it was just too expensive to get the moose meat back to Anchorage. Plus, I enjoyed caribou hunting way more than moose so my buddies and I always chose hunting them. We had three or four successful caribou hunts before I rotated to the Lower 48 the summer of ’74. That fall a couple of airmen who had worked for me went on a moose hunt on the Peninsula. They had a great hunt taking two moose over 65 inches.