The Hunter's Alaska

by Roy F. Chandler

  Even with our hunt delayed, our ropes cut into pieces, and our hands in about the same shape as the moose's body, we felt really good and glad we did it … even if the bull did not say "Thanks".

  Alaskan moose have been hunted during two seasons—we will assume that remains the case. We commonly refer to them as the early moose season and the post-rut or late season. (October is the serious rutting period.) My experience indicates the early season to be the most enjoyable moose hunting time. The weather is much milder then.

  The late season can be harsh—some years with too bitter cold for top hunting enjoyment. I do find post-rutting season moose more drawn and less tasty than early moose. The rut, with all glands working, leaves the bulls leaned down. Their meat seems spicier to my taste, but admittedly, any properly cared for moose meat is fine eating.

  There are advantages to the late season. Leaves are gone. Undergrowth and bushes are thinned, and polished antlers show more clearly. Meat is easier to care for in the sharper cold, and flies are gone. When it is cold, moose are less often in the ponds or near the water. After about the middle of September the moose move around more. They can often be called (bugled) after about mid-September.

  No doubt, there are more moose available in the first season. It could be that most of the best racks are picked off then. Still, the wise old bulls that have outfoxed hunters over a number of seasons will be out there for the late season hunter.

  23 - Moose Shooting

  More than once I have said, "Shooting a moose is like executing someone's milk cow." Now, that is not exactly a fair comparison, and it puts down one of Alaska's great game animals.

  It is true that most moose hunts involve a lot less huffing and puffing to find the game than do sheep or goat hunts, but moose also do not often stroll up and pose for the shot. A lot of us that get used to high country hunting with hard climbing and fairly long shots at smaller targets get to bad mouthing flat country game animals, much as fly fishermen sneer at salmon snaggers.

  The facts are that a moose on a quiet stroll through the willows can leave a hurrying man far behind, and a moose can walk away with a mighty load of lead in him, although that is not common.

  A moose is a big target, and a hunter should not miss, but I have seen more shots blown on moose than on either goats or sheep. Admittedly, a lot of "non-hunters" who would never consider climbing for the white animals are out blasting at moose, but there is more to it than that.

  Part of the difficulty may be that, unlike goats or sheep, a moose is likely to be blundering around behind brush and trees. A shooter that is not careful can spoil a good opportunity by glancing bullets off branches.

  A note suitable for inclusion here is that over the years the poorest trained hunters that are most likely to rain bullets into brush piles have been armed with high velocity, small bore rifles that are least able to bore through the tangles.

  And that entry demands inclusion of more on the subject of brush bucking.

  As long as I have been hunting (and I am sure long before that) it has been gospel that a heavy, slow moving bullet penetrates brush better than a light fast bullet.

  More recently there have been controlled experiments that attempted to determine exactly what kind of bullets at what velocities DO buck brush most effectively.

  All researchers are quick to point out that no bullet tosses aside big stuff, but in exact opposition to all of our many years of field observation, some of the experiments show a light, skinny bullet getting through brush better than a fat, heavy bullet

  To every brush hunter I know, such results are inexplicable. I cannot accept the figures, nor do any of the "big name" hunters.

  My (our) advice is to stick to large caliber, heavy bullets for big animals in and around brush. They will work for you, as they have for us through all of the decades we know about.

  Hunter Karl Feisl, .338 BAR, Iditarod River,

  This is a huge bull moose. You can bet that the shooting was short in these woody conditions. Incidentally, a way to make a trophy look extra impressive is to have the camera up close and place the hunter well back at the rear end of the animal. Antlers look bigger, and the hunter is small in relation to the game. Bear hunters (almost) always do that

  It seems that the very size of a moose induces sloppy shooting. It is sort of like banging away at a barn side, and it takes a little special attention to place the bullet in a proper location.

  As mentioned earlier, I saw a moose hit in the throat three times with a .375 magnum and begin to walk away. I could see a spray of material as bullets exited, yet the moose appeared uninjured. When the animal was taken, there were six holes in his neck, three in and three out. The bullets had not expanded in the soft tissue, and the exit holes looked little larger than those going in. That is not a condemnation of the most excellent .375; it is a commentary on not hitting a vital spot.

  Thinking of threes, I recall a hunter up from Washington shooting a bull three times in the head with his damnable .243 Winchester woodchuck rifle. The moose shook his head at every hit like a punch-drunk fighter and started away. The Old Guide slid a 180-grain Nosier into his spine, and the bull collapsed as if his legs had been scythed off.

  Hunter Gary Herriman, .338 BAR, 58" bull on Bonanza Creek.

  It is generally conceded that a moose is not a difficult animal to bring down. Even the biggest bulls seem to lack the vitality to fight bullets the way a bear, sheep, or goat might. Often, when hit in the body, a bull moose will merely hump his back and stand immobile until he falls over. In other cases, when hard hit a moose will wander away almost casually, acting as if untouched until he suddenly crumples.

  If a moose is caught in the open, any cartridge .308 Winchester or above will take him. But, it is a rare hunter who can resist taking a shot at the rump of a fine trophy disappearing into heavy cover. Then, the light .30 calibers are not adequate, and 7mms, regardless of their initial velocity, may lack the penetration to slug their way through muscle and wet guts into the boiler room of such a hulking animal.

  A moose seeing a hunter will often turn his rump to the hunter and observe back along his body. The only shots then offered are his rump or his head. Most headshots are avoided because the big bony thing is often moving a little. A hit forward of the eyes will only wound, and, of course, a headshot moose is not a taxidermist's delight

  Shooting a moose in the rump, unless the bullet is placed exactly under the tail, will require a bullet to range forward through many inches of hard muscle and perhaps through some really solid bone. Nothing like a heavy bullet for that job.

  It can be rare to have to take a moose at long range. A browsing moose is easily stalked to within two hundred yards in most open country.

  It is not improbable, however, that a moose moving away from a hunter might be encountered. Then, only a novice tries to catch up. A longer shot will have to be taken, again into the animal's rear. You cannot expect a skinny little bullet to expand beautifully or to break big, heavy bones way out there. And, I assure you, moose bones are very heavy!

  Too often, we get all wrapped up in theoretical ballistics and become overly concerned with flat trajectory. If we expended the same effort practicing range estimation that we do reading factory ballistic tables we would be little concerned about two foot more drop that a big bore might have at four hundred yards. First, we should wisely restrict our shooting to three hundred yards, but if the extreme shot came, we would simply hold properly and let that big pumpkin drop right in.

  Most hunters hold close behind or on the shoulder when shooting moose. Both are fine shots if the animal is considerate enough to pose broadside for the shot Often he does not, and angled shots are necessary.

  As noted, I have never been fond of neck shots, although when executed properly they may produce remarkable results. I have seen too many animals taken that had a hole through their neck or part of their throat shot away. Hydrostatic shock reads nicely, but unless bones are broken in the n
eck, a large animal like a moose may run away.

  The author with an average moose on our meat rack along Granite Creek. Even average means big when talking about moose. Judge the size of those bones—real big, and strong and heavy. Now, how do you get all of that meat out of the wilderness and into your freezer? Backpack? I don't think so. Horses? I'd rather stay home and shoot the horses. Horses are … no need to go into that. Try a tractor like our Bombardier.

  I have written of my favorite, the hump shot, which means striking the juncture of the spine and front shoulder. I rarely use any other shot on moose. I do, of course, use a powerful rifle, and I have hunted enough seasons to be able to locate the right spot from about any angle.

  My .300 Weatherby or .338 Winchester Magnum does the job, but my .375 H&H Magnum really slams them, and the .458 Winchester Magnum is probably a maximum and most effective moose cartridge. When that big 510 grain soft point sledges into a bull, all of his lights go out, and that is the way shooting moose should be. These days, I usually have another round heading down the tube before the first one really takes hold anyway. I do my looking after I know the bull is kaput.

  With the big, slow moving .458 the meat is not bloodshot for a foot all around, but it is extremely rare not to have a very large exit hole, and I approve of bullets that go all the way through.

  The .458 is more than you need, however. It kicks hard and most shooters should use a recoil reducer. I would select the .338 as the more practical moose cartridge.

  This is how you transport dead moose.

  If you look closely, you can see a cable crossing the cab of the tractor. That is the hand-operated winch cable from the front of the tractor. We just cranked the travois and moose into position, secured it with a chain come-along, and drove off. The poles only slowly wore down and were not a problem.

  This photograph was taken on an army tank trail in the big burn on the Delta River flats just north of the Granite Mountains. See the map of the Granite Mountains at the beginning of this book. Since the Army Test Center left Fort Greely a few years ago, these old trails have begun to fade away, but it will take a hundred years to lose them completely—maybe more.

  This is a side view of our tractor transport.

  Will moose charge? My Old Guide always said, "No," but a lot of people tell me moose charging stories, and I saw a cow moose on television that wandered into a town kick to death a human that insisted on crowding her. Tales are hard to investigate. I suppose the consensus is that a moose will attack very, very rarely, and then for sometimes unrecognizable reasons.

  My own rationalization on moose attacks is that there are probably nutty moose, just as there are goofy people, and occasionally there is a charge. Additionally, a cow moose will almost always defend a calf—an instinct present in all living creatures it seems.

  I have seen cow moose fake and bluff a charge many times. If a hunter panicked and let fly before the animal backed off he could believe he had been charged. I suspect this happens regularly. A cow moose may stomp and snort and make short rushes toward a human. Shouting and waving will turn her.

  Bulls in rut are claimed to charge. One year I watched a herd of 23 moose nearly every day from a position on higher ground. At the heart of the rutting season, when I figured the bulls would be most aggressive, I rode into the herd and also tried to walk into it. As they usually do, each moose took a long and studied look at me (usually over a shoulder before heading away) and walked into the brush on which they had been browsing. The bulls were most timid of all. They left first.

  Although I tried to initiate a moose charge, I never succeeded. However, a moose is a wild animal and should be treated with great caution. Observe a pair of bull moose fighting during the rut and visualize how much chance a human would stand in such a melee. An enraged moose would be a devastating fighter.

  When moose hunting, I usually take a location with a great range of land before me. Assuming a comfortable position, I begin glassing with my 7 x 35 binoculars.

  Propped comfortably against his pack, Jack McMillin studies an entire world of moose country. There are lakes and woods, and meadows. You do not see what is out there in a few minutes of looking. If you locate a possible trophy, wouldn't it be nice to drive a few miles closer by tractor?

  For long periods of glassing, I prefer seven power binoculars. I can get away with eight power, but higher than that seems to tire my eyes more quickly. If an animal requires a closer look, I turn to my old B & L spotting scope. I have found 20X magnification to be the best.

  First, I check out all the likeliest spots. This is perhaps not the most efficient procedure. It might be better to scan the entire area methodically from start to finish, but I have never been able to resist that first checking out, in case a big fellow is standing out in the open waiting for me. He rarely is! Thereafter, I begin covering the area left to right and closest to farthest with the greatest patience and care of which I am capable.

  I remember being camped under three large tents in a favored moose pasture when a friend came looking for us. He later claimed he glassed the area thoroughly and never saw our camp. I believe he tried, and I have kept that memory clear in my mind. If a hunter could miss big tents and a tractor with an attached trailer, how easy would it be to pass over a moose lying in the shade of a spruce?

  Glassing an area is a matter of hours, not minutes. It is not a matter of looking, it is a matter of seeing, and there is a great difference.

  A binocular moving slowly can cover a hundred yards of land at a clip when the range is only 500 yards or so. Unless that passing ground is studied with care and patience a moose ear can be easily missed. A bull can raise his head, a cow can take a step that puts her in view, yet unless you are really working you will see nothing. Each area examined must be studied long enough to allow animals to move a little. It is movement that best catches the eye.

  When glassing further distances, such as a mile or two away, even greater care must be exercised. It is in no way unreasonable to spend half a day glassing a large moose pasture. Often, moose are located but are not of the size desired. The "glasser" continues, keeping the located animals in mind and returning to them occasionally. Sometimes, a big fellow, previously hidden, steps into view or one band joins another group until then unnoticed.

  There are hunters who have eyes particularly capable of locating game. These are the fellows who walk along and see rabbits sitting in their beds. They can spot a mountain goat curled into a yellow ball on a distant hillside. They are the ones who spot the mule-like ears of an otherwise hidden moose.

  Jerry Rausch has those kind of eyes. When we share binoculars, he cranks the eye pieces tight together, but boy can he see! I have never located an animal before he did. He has pointed out many moose and caribou that he located with his naked eyes that I still had trouble finding with my binoculars. Seeing in that manner is a wonderful ability. I envy those who have it.

  I have to labor over my spotting. Most will have to do as I do, using all of the tools available and still struggling to see. It is noteworthy, however, that Jerry and the others with super-eyes that I know still sit and glass and glass and glass. There is no other way to regularly find moose.

  On our hunts, we gut our game as soon as we are sure it is dead. The Old Guide always said, "You should have the skin off the animal before it hits the ground." Maybe that was a bit extreme, but it emphasized that the quicker a game animal is dressed out, the better the meat will taste.

  It is mighty rare to take a moose convenient to a tree strong enough to haul him off the ground. That assumes you even have a method of raising an animal weighing over 800 pounds. Moose are regularly cleaned where they fall.

  As we hunt only bulls, the deceased moose's head can be propped nose up on his antlers. That keeps his big old head from flopping around and getting in the way.

  We open the moose from anus to chin (assuming no intention of mounting the head), split open the sternum, cut loose the cords an
d tubes in the neck, and pull all the innards out between the animal's hind legs.

  Viscera is held in place by easily parted tissue, and with one man pulling while the other cuts, everything comes loose and is removed without tainting the meat

  In actuality, it is not much harder to do than to explain, once you have done it a few times. But, you must act while the kill is fresh. If the animal is cooled out, the tissue hardens and the difficulty level leaps. If you do not follow this procedure, gutting a moose can be one of the messiest and clumsiest tasks undertaken by a hunter.

  Moose guts are immense. If you find yourself as deeply involved as these two young men, you are doing it wrong. The knife isn't much either.

  Next, the animal's head is cut off, the carcass skinned as it lays, the legs clipped off at the knees, and the shoulders separated from the body at the natural joints. Each shoulder is a man-sized load.

  The body is then halved by cutting across the spine, and finally quartered by sawing down the backbone.

  Jerry, Cliff, or Art Troup and I can pair up and reduce a moose to eight parts in well less than an hour. Antlers and hide increase a moose from eight carrying loads to ten loads.

  Our meat is thoroughly peppered if the weather is at all warm. Blood is left on the meat to form a hard glaze that helps protect and seal it.

  Although we experimented some with aging our moose, we never found improvement by hanging the meat any longer than a hunt required.

  There is no question that a moose, or any animal, should be cleaned and cooled as quickly as possible. After cooling, meat firms and tastes as tender and delicious as it ever will.

  Until there got to be too many hunters around, our favorite moose camp was along Jarvis and Riley Creeks where they widen after leaving the Granite Mountains.

  After preliminary glassing, we set up camp on a grassy island that lay well out on the half-mile wide gravel bars. For a dozen years we used that spot as a base camp. It had many advantages. For one thing, we were off the tundra and out of the bush. That meant fewer mosquitoes.