An Alaska moose hunt has been on my bucket list for a few years, so I was beyond excited when it was finally becoming a reality for 2017! My hunting partner, Nate, had told me about all the moose he had seen during his sheep hunt the previous year with the same outfitter I had booked with, so I was feeling positive about returning home with a great Alaska moose.
Ready for whatever this adventure was about to throw my way, the end of August rolled around and Nate and I were headed out on a 10-day hunt. The day before the season opened, we were flown to our spike camp. As we glassed that evening from the knob above our camp, I sat in awe of my surroundings. To the west, tundra stretched as far as the eye could see; in the east, timber spread for miles with Denali Peak rising high above; to the north, the lake where the moose would often come to drink; and to the south, mountains the Dall sheep called home. While our primary goal was moose, Nate also had a sheep tag in his pocket. You see, it was the final day of his 2016 hunt when he finally had an opportunity at a legal ram only to miss on a long shot. This spike camp would give us the opportunity to hunt moose, and then once tagged out, hopefully provide Nate with a chance of redemption on a sheep.
Opening morning, our guide, Daniel, Nate, and I were on our glassing knob when at first light we had five bulls in our scope. Too far away to tempt them with cow calls, we decided to head out in the tundra after them. We finally returned to camp at around 5:30 p.m. with no moose, tired, wet, and thoughts of “What have I gotten myself into?” going through my mind. Perhaps, I wasn’t as ready as originally thought. Hiking in the tundra was no joke!
We headed to the knob on day two to try cow calling and see if we could call in some bulls. While there were moose to be seen, the bigger, mature ones were still far out in the tundra. The younger, not quite legal bulls just starting to show interest in the cows were hanging near the lake and knob. We spent the next several days spot and stalk hunting the tundra in the morning, and glassing and cow calling from the knob in the evenings. The evenings not only provided an opportunity for looking for moose, but they also allowed us to glass the mountains to the south for sheep. The reality was that not only were the moose aplenty, but the sheep were too! A couple of times, I offered Nate to go after sheep, but he insisted that my moose was the priority.
After several failed attempts to get on a moose, we finally found ourselves on day seven 360 yards away from the 60"+ moose we had glassed from almost two miles away at first light. Unable to get closer, we set up for a shot. With him bedded at the edge of the timber in a very narrow shooting lane between two bushes, I knew I probably only had one shot. Daniel grunted. The moose stood, and I shot. Just like that, he was gone with no obvious signs of a hit. Having felt good about my shot and wanting to ensure that I wasn’t leaving a wounded moose behind, we spent several hours looking for any signs that he may have been hit. Unfortunately, we found nothing and ended up back at camp at day’s end with me being physically and mentally drained.
Day eight, we started out on the knob and were treated to a band of rams in our scope with a few obvious legal ones in the group. I tried again to talk Nate into giving up on my moose and going after a sheep. He was finally ready to entertain the idea. After some negotiating, we agreed that the next day we would start hunting for moose, and if we had no luck by late morning, he and Daniel would head out for a sheep. While I wanted to be there for Nate’s hunt, I wanted more for him to succeed and feared I would only slow things down, so I would stay back at camp.
With no luck on moose the morning of day nine, Nate and Daniel headed up the mountain for sheep around 11 a.m. With a good idea of the location of the sheep, chances were in their favor that they could get up there, tag a sheep, and make it back to camp by midnight at the latest. We would make one final push for moose on the final morning. While they were out hunting sheep, I made the routine climb to the knob that afternoon to glass in hopes of finding a legal moose and maybe catch a glimpse of the guys. I found moose in the tundra again, but no sheep or the guys. Various scenarios of how their hunt was playing out ran through my mind as I glassed until dark. Midnight came and went, yet the guys did not return.
At first light with still no sign of them, I headed to the knob once again. Admittedly, worry had crept in by now, and this time, I solely glassed with the intent of finding the guys. At approximately 10:40 a.m, just shy of 24 hours from their departure, I finally found them in my spotting scope. After the initial relief washed over me, I immediately started to look for a ram on their backs. Unfortunately, from that distance I couldn’t tell, so I headed to camp to greet them upon their arrival. As camp was tucked in thick timber along a creek, it wasn’t until Nate was standing 20 feet across the creek from me that I was finally rewarded with the sight of a big ram on his back!
Over a breakfast of sheep steaks, the guys recounted their adventure of the past 24 hours. The sheep had moved from the location we had last seen them, but after hiking over six hours, they finally found them and made a stalk to within 400 yards. It would be déjà vu for Nate with the first opportunity for a shot slipping away. Thankfully, this time things were in his favor. As they made their way in the direction the sheep had fled, he found himself with a 120-yard shot on an 11 1/2-year-old double broomed ram and took it. Tagged out at 6 p.m., they made quick work of processing it and were packed up and hiking by 8 p.m. with the thoughts of a final morning of moose hunting on their minds. Coming down a different route proved to be the biggest challenge of the day, though. Cold, wet, and tired from an already full day in the rain, the row after row of alders really slowed them down. With no way to communicate to me and knowing I would be worried, they pushed their way through the night with just the occasional short mountainside nap. After a 14+ hour pack out, they finally arrived back at camp.
While we didn’t have that final morning of moose hunting and I didn’t return home with a moose, I did return home with many amazing memories that will last a lifetime. I also returned home with the great feeling that comes from a shared success of a good friend, one that for me far outweighs a success of my own.
Login