So You Want To Hunt Moose? It’s Not Easy

The following appears in the September issue of Alaska Sporting Journal:

BY SCOTT HAUGEN

As I looked through binoculars, I could see steam roll out of the bull’s oversized snout as it tipped skyward. The moose would punish the tundra, toss sod over its back, rest, and do it again. It was about 800 yards away and there was no cover between us.

I was subsistence hunting out of my home at the time, Anaktuvuk Pass on the North Slope of the Brooks Range. A buddy and I had actually set out for caribou … until we spotted this moose. We let out a call just to see what the bull would do. Instantly, it took a step our way, then another. Soon it was on a slow, methodical walk, coming right at us.

When it got within 100 yards the bull’s pace slowed and its massive head swayed from side to side. We’d tucked into some nearby willows along the banks of the Anaktuvuk River. I could have shot it at any time, but I wanted to see how close it would come.

When the bull stopped at 12 yards, lifted its head and flared its nostrils, I raised the gun for an easy shot. The bull fell on the outer edge of the willows on a gravel bar, which made the butchering job simple. We could drive to it with our Argo. That hunt took place nearly 30 years ago. It was my first moose hunt and I was hooked.

MY LAST MOOSE HUNT took place a few years ago. It wasn’t so easy. Buddy Chris Stewart and I hunted with good friend and guide Bruce Hallingstad of Becharof Outfitters (becharof.com).
Bruce is a fan of calling and using

decoys; that’s how we killed my bull. We spotted it right before dark on opening day, set up the decoys and called. The bull covered several hundred yards but would not cross a raging river. It was in a bad place to shoot, so we backed out and hoped to find it in the morning. We did – it was on our side of the river and bedded very near where the decoys had been.

The grass the big bull was bedded in was tall. I needed the moose to stand up to get a clear shot. With the gun resting steady in the tripod, we waited and waited. Eventually, the bull stood. The shot was simple, and for the next 11 hours we packed meat. The next day we rested. “I couldn’t care less if I shoot a bull,” shared Stewart. “I’m getting too old for all this packing.”

All we needed was a day to recover and we felt refreshed. We got to a high point and spotted a massive bull over 1,500 yards away. Bruce called and the bull heard him. It lifted its head, looked our way and started thrashing some alders. There was no way to reach the bull in the swamp it stood in. “We’ll just keep calling and hope it moves closer,” said Bruce, letting out another grunt, then some more.

It took over 30 minutes but the bull moved closer. At just over 600 yards Stewart felt confident with his 7mm Remington Magnum. He was lying prone on the tundra and there was no wind. He was shooting downhill and spined the bull, dropping it on the spot. A follow-up shot finished it. The bull fell near a slough of the main river, making for a simple packing job. Few moose hunts end with such a pack.

MOOSE HUNTING IN ALASKA requires a lot of work and planning. Start by being honest with yourself and others in your party, making certain your outdoor skills are to the level where you can survive in the wild under any conditions and circumstances.

Next, address how good of shape you’re in. Moose hunting can be extremely tough, especially when you get a bull down. Hiking across the tundra, through bogs, over snow and in rivers is the norm. One moose hunt I went on with a buddy found us carrying waders, knee boots and hiking boots in order to efficiently negotiate the variety of mountainous and boggy terrain we’d have to hunt in the western Arctic – and, yes, we used all three pairs of boots.

Once you know you can physically handle a moose hunt, decide on a place to go. Thoroughly research your options and make sure there are moose in the area you plan to hunt. Decide if you’re going on a river hunt or a mountain hunt, or maybe a combination of the two habitats.

On a river hunt, you’ll likely get dropped off by an air charter in one spot and picked up seven to 10 days later at a designated spot downstream. Here, you’ll navigate rivers in a raft, so be certain you’re comfortable doing that with all your gear and 800 pounds of moose meat, cape and antlers.

On a mountain hunt, you’ll probably stay in one camp, hiking and glassing each day. If you get on a big bull, you might spike camp out for a few days. Make sure you can physically handle hiking in the terrain you’ll be hunting, survive with minimal rations and be able to navigate in fog, snow and other conditions that may arise. Once you’re dropped off to hunt, there’s no turning back.

AS FOR GEAR, I regularly see people taking too much on a moose hunt. On my last 10-day outing, I wore the same outer clothes every day and wore some of those on my flight into Alaska on the commercial airline.

I hunted in Dry-Plus waders every day and took a medium-weight rain jacket. A few pairs of socks and underwear, thin gloves and a stocking hat, along with a couple base layers and insulated hoodie rounded out my wardrobe.

Perhaps the best piece of gear you can invest in is a satellite phone. If there’s an emergency, you want to get out. If there’s a storm coming, you may need to relocate. This happened to a buddy and I on a moose hunt, but our plane’s engine blew during our relocation effort to avoid a massive storm. Luckily, we made an emergency landing on a gravel bar that was below us, but our hunt was over. Sometimes, simply surviving a remote hunt in Alaska means the hunt was a success; filling a tag can quickly become secondary.

WHILE MOOSE ARE BIG, they are not difficult to bring down. A well-constructed bullet fired from a .30-06 is perfect. My last bull fell to a pair of 150-grain Nosler Partition bullets fired from a .270 Weatherby – one behind the shoulder and a second to the neck, which dropped it on the spot.

As with any big game, shot placement is the key, and that’s where a solid rest and reliable shooting sticks come in handy for moose. A sturdy tripod serves as a nice walking stick on the tundra as well as a valued shooting rest.

Smart moose hunting comes down to gaining elevation, glassing and then glassing some more. The goal is to spot a shooter bull, then figure out how to get to it. Cover as much ground as possible with your eyes rather than your feet. You can walk several hours a day on tundra and through bogs, which is some of Alaska’s most challenging terrain to negotiate. If you do walk, get from point A to point B, fast, as you want to spend time looking for distant big game critters, not looking at the ground as you walk. If you can set up camp and glass directly from there, that’s ideal.

A spotting scope and good tripod are important tools. Take a stout, lightweight tripod that will hold steady on the tundra in high winds and rain. I like a thick carbon fiber tripod, as it’s sturdy and light. A quality spotting scope is necessary to size up bulls to make sure they’re legal. They can also be used to study the terrain to plan a stalk.

AN OFTEN OVERLOOKED TOOL to have is a moose call. The September rut is a time when a lot of bulls are on the move, and a cow call can help bring bulls out of unnavigable terrain into a shootable position. Get a call and practice with it. It can pull a bull out of an inaccessible area and provide you with a shot opportunity you’d otherwise not have had.

A Montana Decoys Moose II cow decoy can also work great, and teaming it with a Moose Rack decoy is even better. Because bulls are coming out of velvet in early September, tape some white towels or paper towels over the antlers of the Moose Rack decoy to increase its visibility. Decoys and calls are more than worth the effort to pack.

Once you spot a bull, the hard part is figuring out a way to get to it. If you don’t want to call, then you’ve got to figure out a way to get within shooting range; that’s simply impossible sometimes. On my last moose hunt we spotted a giant 70-inch bull, but it was in a deep swamp surrounded by deeper water and tall willows. There was no way to get to that bull with a raft or by wading, and it wasn’t responding to the calls or decoys; such is moose hunting.

A LOT OF HUNTERS think they can float a river in a raft and bulls will be standing around every corner. These hunts do produce, but the number of moose that are standing just out of view is surprising. Spend time glassing these river bottoms from an elevated vantage point and you’ll actually see more moose. Be sure to maximize the visibility of the habitat you’re hunting in order to find more bulls.

For a first-time moose hunter, the most surprising moment comes when they walk up on a downed bull. A big bull moose can stand over 7 feet tall at the shoulders and weigh 1,500 pounds. You’ll get about 700 pounds of boned- out meat off a big bull. If you’re going to have your bull mounted, add at least another 150 pounds for the antlers and cape. They’re a massive animal; and once down they require a lot of work.

Be sure to have the proper tools to handle a downed bull. The same knife you use on deer will work fine, and have a sharpener on hand. If hunting near water, a one-man inflatable raft is a great way to pack out moose meat. If not, make sure your pack frame is a good one.

Start with quartering the animal, then removing the backstraps, rib meat, neck and brisket meat, securing it all in game bags. All shank meat and the tenderloins must be taken. Alaska meat salvage laws are very clear, and there’s no hiding a moose carcass from troopers patrolling from the air. Abide by the regulations and recover all the required meat; that’s why we hunt anyway.

A moose hunt can be one of Alaska’s most rewarding adventures, but it’s far from easy. Moose numbers are doing well, and the last three seasons have seen a good success rate on big bulls in many parts of the Last Frontier. If you’ve ever dreamed of hunting moose in Alaska, now’s the time to make memories. ASJ

Editor’s note: For signed copies of Scott Haugen’s best-selling book, Hunting The Alaskan High Arctic, visit scotthaugen .com. Follow Scott’s adventures on Instagram and Facebook.