Another successful moose hunt thanks to the 170

[alaskan99669]

Flew a buddy to the King Salmon area 270 miles away. From there we picked up our gear and two more friends and began shuttling them and their gear to camp. We had to move camp a few times but were finally successful after spotting a couple of bulls a quarter mile from one lake. We camped near the bulls that night, got up at day break and found them still in the area waiting for us.

[hilltop170]

Congratulation Corey! Good pictures. Looks like your camp was set up correctly too, fire, cooking, and food well away from the sleeping tent. Those Cabela's guide tents are the best. Thanks for sharing. How many shuttle trips did you have to make? I didn't hunt this season, had too many cabin projects that needed to be completed.

[jon s blocker]

Thanks for sharing your hunt with all of us. Those pictures are great. Dreaming of someday......
Jon

[alaskan99669]

How many shuttle trips did you have to make?

The day we shot the two moose, I flew most of the meat out the first day in 6 round trips. I got the rest of the meat and the remaining two guys the next day in 4 trips. We were 33 miles north of town and it was taking 1:10 per round trip and 6 gallons of gas. One of the guys would meet me in town and unload the meat and give me another 6 gallons of gas. I was keeping my water run off a small lake at 1500' with about 250 #'s of meat and / or gear and 8 gallons of gas for the 22 minute flight back to town.
So that was 10 trips in those two days plus numerous other round trips as we moved from lake to lake and made beer and burger runs. I put 24 hours on my tach in those 13 days and burned about $1200 in fuel. Luckily I have some guys to help with the expenses. It was a lot of fun but I'm sure glad to be out of the rain and away from the mosquitoes, white socks, and no-see-ums!

[Bruce Fenstermacher]

Corey,

I'm curious is this hunt purely for sport or normal operations for food? The answer adds some perspective for me. Were you just having fun or is this sort of a necessity? If you were based in PA I wouldn't have to ask the question, it would be for sport cause no one here hunts to put food on the table.

[flat country pilot]

Corey,

That's living the good life

Bill

[N171TD]

If you spend $1200 on fuel have a airplane involved then hunting is for sport. Buying meat at the market is more cost efficent but moose is good table fare. The outdoor experience is also very soul cleansing and packing moose through tundra makes it taste that much better. Oh how I wish I could once again fly in my old stomping grounds. The Alaska penninsula what a sportsman paradise.

[cessna170bdriver]

If you spend $1200 on fuel have a airplane involved then hunting is for sport. Buying meat at the market is more cost efficent but moose is good table fare. The outdoor experience is also very soul cleansing and packing moose through tundra makes it taste that much better. Oh how I wish I could once again fly in my old stomping grounds. The Alaska penninsula what a sportsman paradise.

Hmmm...

"Most" of the meat in 6 trips at 250lb/trip. That's at least 1500 lbs of meat. If you estimate the total cost of operating the airplane at 2x the cost of the fuel, thats $1.60/lb. That's without deducting the value of the outdoor experience. Pretty darn cost efficient. I've never had the pleasure of partaking in moose meat, but if it's as good as venison it's worth a premium.

Looking forward to my next trip to AK,
Miles

PS: Can you buy moose at the market in Alaska?

[alaskan99669]

I'm curious is this hunt purely for sport or normal operations for food? ... in PA I wouldn't have to ask the question, it would be for sport cause no one here hunts to put food on the table.

It is definitely to put food on the table and reduce your grocery bill. Most of my friends up here will take the time during hunting season to drive the back rodes or take their 4-wheelers off road and look for a legal bull. Here on the Kenai it must either be a "Spike / fork" or have a rack at least 50" wide. Game management saves the bulls in between that range as the breeders. Where I fly to, any bull is legal so our odds go way up that we will get one, but so does the cost. My neighbor for example has his own industrial grinder and makes his own moose burger and steaks. I'm guessing his cost is about $0.50 per pound, but he didn't find one this year so that will raise his average cost a bit. This year because of our poor logistics and luck and because we have our meat professionally processed into steaks, roasts, burgers, sausage, pepperoni sticks, and even pastrami, it will cost close to $3 per pound. But last year we got a bigger moose and in a lot less flights and it was $2 per pound by the time it hit the freezer. That was about 300 #'s of meat each of which I still have about 30 #'s left because my kids and I really enjoy it. This year we left a lot of our gear out at the Naknek cabin so we will not have to pay to ship it next year. We also think we have a better strategy to place us closer to the moose next year without having to move camp so much. I see Safeway has ground beef on sale today for $3.29 a pound and New Yorks for $6 a pound (normally $11 per pound).

[alaskan99669]

PS: Can you buy moose at the market in Alaska?

Miles, I'm not positive, but I think the local butcher does sell some moose products. Safeway and Fred Meyer do not.

[hilltop170]

Miles-
Domesticated caribou (reindeer) meat is sold in stores. I have never seen moose meat products for sale, I wish there was. Wild moose cannot be sold because they are considered game animals, not domesticated. I could be wrong but I don't think so, Never heard of any moose ranches.

Moose meat is excellent, I would rather eat it than beef. The only meat that tastes any better is elk in my opinion. That is as long as the animal is not in the rut, sometimes that makes it more gamey tasting, but still good.

[mit]

Can I tag onto your thread?

You shot it, no you shot it............ Too Big! The small ones are so much easier!

[Brad Brady]

WOW cool pics and verbage .....But was it truly sucessfull?......Did Sara spearhead the hunt?.....

[AKGrouch]

Most Alaskan hunters hunt both for sport and to put meat in the freezer. I'll be the first to admit that, while I won't go hungry if I don't shoot a moose and get most of my enjoyment just getting away and out in the boonies, it sure is nice to have the freezer full. If successful, the price per pound works out pretty good. I fish for halibut on the same principal. Summer before last my wife and I put about 200 lbs of halibut in the freezer that,(after gas from Anchorage to Seward and back, two charter tickets, and an overnite stay in a B&B) worked out to a bit under $2.00/lb. It's looking like we will have to go halibut fishing next summer to restock.

[N419A]

And another,


Now the freezer is over full, I'm looking for a bigger one (freezer).

Three loads to haul me, moose and camp home, with a 1 hour turn arounds.
Paul