# Moose hunt recommendations?



## MIpikeGuy

Well, I probably won't be going on one for a few years, but curious as to peoples experiences with moose hunts. 

Where you went.
Cost. etc

Most guided moose hunts seem ridiculously priced. Especially for Alaskan moose in Alaska or the Yukon.

Anyone do it without a guide? I think Id have a hard time coughing up 15,000-30,000$ for a moose hunt. Although its on my bucket list and I have a lot of years yet. (I hope) :lol:

Although a 10-20 day bush living hunt for brown bear and moose would be one wild adventure.


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## Brownbear

You can do a moose hunt on your own in Alaska for about $5,000 to $6,000 per person including airfare. There are several fellas on the Alaska hunting forum that will rent you all the camping equipment, maps and set you up with a bush pilot to get you into a good area. Some hunters choose to do a float hunt while others choose to hunt out of a drop camp.


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## Damark Marine

I have done a few Alaska hunts for moose and would be happy to share what I know of it. I have never used a guide and have taken some terrific animals. Let me know if you are really looking to do it. It usually takes a little bit of planning to get things going. 

Jeff


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## MIpikeGuy

Thanks for the reply's.

I figured there had to be some people doing it yourself without guides.

All depends on how the future goes, but I definitely will be prepared, as I'm already thinking about it a few years in advance.


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## brushbuster

MIpikeGuy said:


> Thanks for the reply's.
> 
> I figured there had to be some people doing it yourself without guides.
> 
> All depends on how the future goes, but I definitely will be prepared, as I'm already thinking about it a few years in advance.


 I use to live in AK and have done several hunts both in the bush and roadside. Give a shout if you want a few ideas.
Actually im thinking about heading back up there in a few years.


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## tobusyhavinfun

I am going on an Alaskan Moose hunt this year for a $5500 budget...Door to door...

DIY adventure and I have never been to Alaska before so take my advice with a grain of salt. 

Because I am a rookie I used a hunt planner to help with local knowledge and recommendations. His name is Larry Bartlett www.pristineventures.com, I am happy with his services to this point. I called the area biologist for the plan that he suggests and the biologist said "That area is rugged country, never been hunted before that I know of, Gonna be some MONSTER bulls in there, lots of bears as well, should be exciting!!" 

Thats was all I needed to hear....Good Luck!!


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## animalsrdelicious

just out of curiosity how much is it to ship meat and horns home? will you be processing game near camp or having some way to get it out to someone? just a few things i have thought about when researching the same type of hunt.


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## Blaze

Have you given any consideration to Newfoundland for your moose hunt?

In 2005 I hunted moose in Newfoundland....there is a high moose population there and success rates are high. There were four (4) hunters in my group and we shot three (3) bulls. The only hunter who did not kill a bull was very limited with mobility. We hunted northern Newfoundland and was in a fly in area..we had to pack out the moose meat. I know that rates have gone up since then, but we did the entire trip, door to door, for just under 5k. We had one guide per hunter. My son and I hunted together so we could be together when we shot our bulls. We did see caribou, but did not have a tag. We did not see any bear. You can always try for the Newfoundland slam, if your pocket book allows.

If you want more details, or the outfitter we hunted with, just let me know. We had a good experience


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## tobusyhavinfun

animalsrdelicious said:


> just out of curiosity how much is it to ship meat and horns home? will you be processing game near camp or having some way to get it out to someone? just a few things i have thought about when researching the same type of hunt.


You gotta read the Regs for specific meat care requirements. AK does not screw around when it comes to harvest requirements. Gotta do your research...

This is how I plan to work out the AK to lower 48 leg of meat hauling...
http://www.alaskameatexpress.com/


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## MIpikeGuy

Some good info guys, any pics of past moose hunts?


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## Damark Marine

tobusyhavinfun said:


> I am going on an Alaskan Moose hunt this year for a $5500 budget...Door to door...
> 
> DIY adventure and I have never been to Alaska before so take my advice with a grain of salt.
> 
> Because I am a rookie I used a hunt planner to help with local knowledge and recommendations. His name is Larry Bartlett www.pristineventures.com, I am happy with his services to this point. I called the area biologist for the plan that he suggests and the biologist said "That area is rugged country, never been hunted before that I know of, Gonna be some MONSTER bulls in there, lots of bears as well, should be exciting!!"
> 
> Thats was all I needed to hear....Good Luck!!


Small world, Larry & his wife Heather are wonderful people. I consider both of them friends. He will not steer you wrong.


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## MIpikeGuy

Great looking moose, and that background there breathtaking! Thanks for sharing.


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## djweiser

If you are going to do the AK thing let me know. I am not in AK right now but I "might" be there next fall. I "might" know a place or two that you can harvest a moose. Sending the groceries back to the lower 48 might be pricey but Alaska is one beautiful place to hunt. Let me know!


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## MIpikeGuy

djweiser said:


> If you are going to do the AK thing let me know. I am not in AK right now but I "might" be there next fall. I "might" know a place or two that you can harvest a moose. Sending the groceries back to the lower 48 might be pricey but Alaska is one beautiful place to hunt. Let me know!


Thanks Dj, are you from Alaska?

I saw the link to busy posted, and seems like a good deal. 700$ for all the meat to be trucked back including the antlers too!:chillin:


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## djweiser

MIpike,

I am from AK. $700 to ship the groceries souonds pretty reasonable and if you whack a moose there will be lots of groceries.

Did you figure in meat processing to? There are some really good places to take care of that for you and most of them will ship it to. Look into Mat Valley Meats they are in Wasilla and do excellent work.


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## omalson

my dad and i went up to alaska this sept. we have family in fairbanks so it made it alot easier/cheaper. we had 2500 per door to door. my brother in law has jet boats and all the gear to camp in the bush. So our hunt was alot easier then someone going up cold. After the hunt we talked and there are alot of areas that you can hunt if your willing to do the leg work.(packing gear) 5 of us hunted for 9 days in the bush we saw 2 bulls and 5 grizzly. we ended up killing one of each. If we went back up without using my brotherinlaw. we would probably do a fly in drop off hunt no guide. We talked to some hunters who hunted south of fairbanks on a fly in diy. they saw 30 bulls in 4 days. one thing we did do that i would recommend is talk to te fish and game well in advnce. 2 weeks before we left my dad called and we found out the moose densities were lowest in the state and grizzly was the highest. But at 2 weeks out we were not in the position to change the plans so we made do. there are lots of different areas and regulations up there so talk to someone about size restrictions and densities. i will try to post pics


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## MIpikeGuy

Thanks for the input guys. The trip is a few years away (that's the goal atleast) But better over planned.

I say keep the info and pics flowing!


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## Damark Marine

Here is one that is nice looking in velvet


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## tobusyhavinfun

Damark Marine said:


> Small world, Larry & his wife Heather are wonderful people. I consider both of them friends. He will not steer you wrong.


Thats good to hear!! He seems like a straight forward/straight talkin guy and I get the feeling that he will set us straight. 

He picked what I believe to be a spot that meets all of my goals for the hunt...Challenge, Excitement and the chance at a BIG reward  

I am excited as all Hell about the trip...Do you have any rookie advice? 

Also, I have a 25' Cherokee that needs a little glass repair and a new electrical panel....Do you do that kind of stuff?


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## Damark Marine

I am not sure if you mentioned what time you are going but try to hunt as late as possible in the season, after the 15th is best for calling. Like I am sure he told you, if you find cows you should find bulls. Since you are using Larry I am going to assume it is a float hunt, if so float really early or really late if you can as the bulls will be more active during those times. Moose are really not to hard to kill but be sure when you do it is as close as possible to the boat, cold enough outside, and you have someone to help with meat care. Moose are really big and since I hunt solo most of the time I allow myself 4-6 hours to quarter and bag one alone, something to consider if it is late or warm outside. 

One thing you can do in AK is hunt all day and night as they have no shooting hours like we do here. I also find it helpful to listen at night for moose and get up early (like 3-4 in the morn) to call. It is great when a big bull shows up just as you are getting the fire started. Make all the noise you want in camp, it will just bring them into you. Breaking branches, pounding on things are all sounds moose come to. 

Gear selection is a whole topic in itself, but I have it nailed down pretty good. If you want to discuss it just ask away, besides boats AK is one of my favorite topics. 

Oh yea, we do all that boat stuff you mentioned too.


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## limige

TVCJohn said:


> DIY Quebec sounds fun. I did two guided moose hunts there. Got a small bull the first time and skunked the second time. These were flyin hunts. I think it was around $2700 for everything, including plane ride.


I had a shot at a real nice bull but wasn't prepared for the shot presented. So I passed waiting for a better shot and never got it. If I go again it'll be with my bow. It was a long drive but a very doable hunt. We saw some guys from Montreal that brought a pickup camper and hunted on the public land just outside of the zec. We are lucky enough to know someone with a trapping camp up there. Had a lake to ourselves.

One thing about hunting there. You post a sign on the turnoff of the main trail and that area is reserved for your party only. No worries of others tromping about while your hunting. Another thing, road hunting is legal as long as the chambers left empty till the shot


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## TVCJohn

limige said:


> I had a shot at a real nice bull but wasn't prepared for the shot presented. So I passed waiting for a better shot and never got it. If I go again it'll be with my bow. It was a long drive but a very doable hunt. We saw some guys from Montreal that brought a pickup camper and hunted on the public land just outside of the zec. We are lucky enough to know someone with a trapping camp up there. Had a lake to ourselves.
> 
> One thing about hunting there. You post a sign on the turnoff of the main trail and that area is reserved for your party only. No worries of others tromping about while your hunting. Another thing, road hunting is legal as long as the chambers left empty till the shot


Where did you buy your tags at? I thought NR's hunting had to have a guide?


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## limige

No Ontario requires guide Quebec does not.
We hunted the zec restigo just inside of Quebec. They allow cows to be taken every other year.
They do require two hunters per moose tag, some zecs require 3 hunters per tag since there's so much meat ..
We bought our moose permit at the zec office which is a small mobile trailer at the entrance to the area. Bought our zec permit and moose permit all there. So plan on hitting it during daylight hours before driving 20-30 miles into the bush.


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## limige

http://www.zecquebec.com/english/cartes/abitibi.jsp

Hard to find much in English.

Firearm moose opens sometime around the first or second week in October bow in mid September


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## TVCJohn

limige said:


> No Ontario requires guide Quebec does not.
> We hunted the zec restigo just inside of Quebec. They allow cows to be taken every other year.
> They do require two hunters per moose tag, some zecs require 3 hunters per tag since there's so much meat ..
> We bought our moose permit at the zec office which is a small mobile trailer at the entrance to the area. Bought our zec permit and moose permit all there. So plan on hitting it during daylight hours before driving 20-30 miles into the bush.


Thanks for the info. Maybe another moose trip maybe in order. I knew about the every other year for cows/calfs. On the guided trips, only one tag was needed.


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## TVCJohn

It also looks like NR's can DIY bear hunts too.


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## yooperkenny

limige said:


> No Ontario requires guide Quebec does not....


Not exactly...from the Ontario MNR:

..."A non-resident who wishes to hunt moose in Ontario must
have valid hunting accreditation and be a registered guest and
actually accommodated at a tourist establishment. The
outfitter must apply for and receive, on the non-residents
behalf, a validation tag to hunt moose..."​

So no one actually has to accompany you in the field (which is what I think of when I hear "guide"), although you could pay for such a service if that's what you're looking for.​ 
I'll be hunting moose for the first time this coming September north of Thunder Bay so I've been sorta immersed in the literature if you know what I mean. Total cost for a successful hunt should come in just under $2000 per hunter including lodging, licenses/tags, gas and food.​ 
I'll let you all know how it goes...​


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## limige

A guide tends to be anyone that is housing you and showing you an area to hunt. Fully guided trips involve a person coming with you on a trip
To me your paying a middle man to hunt public land in some cases. BS in my book. Gas and license fees are high enough without paying someone. If they gaurentee results that would be different but really who does that.

Most important is hunter success rates. No point in hunting an area with low numbers


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## Damark Marine

omalson said:


> no wasnt us. the guys were running a large old inboard jet and a zodiac. the camped a couple bends downstream from us before they headed up the next day. We talked to them a little. They go as far up as possible with the big boat and fuel then run the zodiac up the rest of the way. they usually run a airboat but they were trying to save on fuel. they usually get there limit of caribou. from what they said. they all made it out ok. the coast guard/troopers found them but they refused help. i am assuming they didnt want to pay for the help out.
> we made it upstream to where the hills started but didnt have enough fuel to go farther. how far from the porcupine is it to the open ground up the sheenjek?


Good to hear it was not any of your group who had trouble up there. Open ground is really above the Koness, not sure how many river miles it is, but the river braids out pretty good with many shallow areas. It is a beautiful river although you need to get above the cut banks to really see it.

I will see if I can find some pictures from the upper area of it.


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## Damark Marine

Here is a moose taken on the Upper Sheenjek a few years back.


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## Damark Marine

Another pic for you of the upper river, this is my cataraft rig. It will haul tons of crap, most of it I leave at home now. I have really leaned out my gear list.

Jeff


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## omalson

That is awesome. Its looking good for another trip this sept.this tine it will be earlier. Focusing on caribou and grizzly.maybe hitting moose season on the drive out. All depends on what the boss says. Did you guys see many grizzly? Did you float all the way down to ft Yukon?

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