**2021 AK Moose Hunt** DIY Float Trip

[Uncle_Milty]

In on this one for sure!

[Brentwalkertx]

Tagged

[RRFishNHunt]

In!

[easeup]

over here just watching too

[Mexico]

In like Flynn

[Gclyde28]

F5

[Paycheck]

Here we go again. Can't wait.

[Briar Friar]

Hooked

[hbuck]

Love this am a fan of rafting and hunting. Thanks for posting

[diamond10x]

**2021 AK Moose Hunt** DIY Float Trip

Day 3

Morning comes and we’re up before day break. Make our protein shakes, grab a meal bar, and make the short walk to the small lake. We bring a wooden paddle to do a little raking while there. It’s still very early in the season but nonetheless you never know. There could be a bull moving through that’s fired up. This trip instead of just one paddle we have two and a shoulder blade from the bull we killed on the last trip. After an uneventful and boring morning we head back to the tipi. We enjoy a lunch consisting of spam patties with a packet of mustard, some fruit leather, and handful of trail mix. Spam is good by itself but when hundreds of miles from anything that added mustard takes it to a new level.

Since it’s early in the season we decide what the heck let’s give this place a little bit of a chance other than just a half hearted evening and one morning. After a nice little siesta we get back to our little spot on the lake. We break a few sticks but don’t do any raking or cow calling. To no surprise it’s another uneventful evening. Enjoy a hot meal back at the tipi for a 10:45 dinner. Which if you’ve ever hunted Alaska, there is no eating dinner earlier than about 10 or so until you get to the end of September.


The lake, with limited area to watch things can get boring

Day 4

Today my dad decides he wants to stay at camp and watch a few sandbars down river while my brother and I sit back over at the lake. We had a very uneventful morning, almost like the woods were dead. No squirrels, no songbirds, no nothin. Just the sounds of the wind blowing through the spruce and few birch. About 11:30am we are joined by a pair of tundra swans. If you’ve never seen or been close to these birds in person they make one heck of an entrance. Imagine a bird a little bigger than a turkey, wingspan probably 7-8’ and feet as big or bigger than your hands. One of these two swans has us laughing to ourselves as his neck looks like a corkscrew. Almost as if he flew straight into a hillside and it never healed up. We watch these swans feed and honk at each other for about 2 hours before we decide to head back to the tent to break up the boredom and monotony.


Boredom has set in



While back at camp I grab the fishing pole in hopes of killing some time catching a char or two. I end up finding a moose shed walking the banks of the river bouncing from hole to hole. I showed my dad and brother then took the shed back to where I found it and hung it in the closest tree as I as I could reach. While hunting I do not take sheds and never will. They are always admired then placed in the nearest tree or bush as high as possible. I knew right then that something would be getting killed or there would at least be a great opportunity and it would be up to me whether the tag is punched or not.

We hunted that evening split up between the lake and watching the river. Nothing eventful happened other than my dad found wolf tracks that seemed to be following moose tracks that were near by. While cool to see it’s not something you want to see unless you’re after wolves specifically. At dinner we decide it’s time to pack up and find some new sign and campsite.

Day 5

We wake up a little late as we’re not in a rush to get on the water as it’s a little rainy. We rake some brush a little bit while we’re packing up just for the heck of it. We get on the water and head down river. We stop at every sand bar we come across that we can see from floating by. We probably look at 8 or 9 sand bars and there is a pattern to all of them. Fairly fresh bull tracks followed by bear tracks, then followed by wolf tracks. Not the best combination of tracks you want to see. Another thing that is really throwing us off is we have yet to see one tree that has been raked by a bull. I mean the rut can run a little late but, for there not to be any signs of raking is just perplexing. Surely the moose numbers for the area aren’t much less than what previous harvest data and biologists have shown.

We find some tracks on a bar with few predator tracks and a large meadow and lake near it. This lake also has a ridge on one side that would be a perfect vantage point for us to see everything from. The opposite side of the river there’s another big meadow but small lake. Seems like a perfect place to set up shop for a few days and see what happens. Maybe we can mix things up here and get a moose on the ground. The area would make a somewhat easy pack out if successful and having our camp on an island between the two banks would keep it well protected from any wind. While dad gets camp set up, my brother and I are working on filtering water and getting a deep cat hole dug that will be big enough to last 3-5 days or so. Next we work on a nice comfy driftwood thrown for the cat hole. When camp is finally put up and the sun is almost gone, we get a visitor. We have a young forky bull come in probably from heading us hammer tent stakes. This gets us pumped up for what we can only imagine could be a good sign of things to come.




The next morning we wake up to a nice frost. We hunt til noon and head back to the tent for lunch and a nap. While in camp to pass time we glass the nearest mountainside, which is about three miles away, for black bears. We don’t find any bears this day and head back over to the lake for the evening. We rake for a couple routines and no luck. My brother and I have almost checked out for the evening as we’re getting cold and thinking of having a fire in the stove and a warm dinner. No sooner I hear a splash across the lake. “Moose!” I tell me brother. Immediately we can tell it’s a cow and she’s curiously looking at the bushes we had raked earlier in the evening. She works her way around the lake fairly quick, constantly looking for this bull she thought she heard. She gets to about 60 yards from us, which is only 20 from where we raked, and starts to whine and moan. She’s looking for a bull to call hers. All the noises she’s making it’s quite entertaining, like some love sick teenager. She finally works her way down looking and calling for this bull she just knew had to be there. She’s moved off enough we can scramble out of our spot and get back to camp to warm up.






Day 6

To be continued…


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[Mtltx]

Sounds like things are heating up. I think we’re getting close here!

[DBLHKUP]

Action is picking up! Keep after em

[ChickenWilly]

Heck yeah man caught up now and can't wait to follow along. Thanks for taking the time to do this !

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[Bubba]

Caught up and waiting for the update

[Mountaineer]

In!


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