Kenai, Alaska moose hunt

[riof16]

I am going on my first ever moose hunt next week to the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. Looking for geographic advice from anyone that's been there, and any good words (or websites) that tell me how to find 'em, then techniques on quartering the monster and packing out. I'm confident I can make the kill happen pretty smooth, it's leaving Alaska without getting a shot that worries me. (Not a guided hunt, just staying with a friend that lives there).

Already got some advice from bigbearhunter on another post, just looking for others too.

[meichele]

Well, as with any other high preassure area, if you can get up high and do a lot of glassing...you will probably do ok. I personaly havent hunted the kenai peninsula but I think its about like hunting the Mat-Su valley. I think there is more moose down there though. More hunters as well. Moose like willows and alders as well as spruce and swamps, basicsly, that sums up the kenai. Dont be afraid of looking for bulls in drainages that lead into the mountains at or above tree line, if you can find access such as a trail or landing strip. Quatering a moose is the same as any other big game, but it REALLY helps to bone them out before packing. Pack the meat in big game bags and tie 100#'s or so to a pack frame or pack board. You really need to concider how you will get one packed out if you shoot one and pass if you think you will have trouble. The troopers up here dont take kindly to seeing hunters with horns and little or no meat. Dont forget to leave evidence of gender attached to a big chunck of meat.

Dont worry about leaving AK without a shot. Enjoy the experiance and soak up the views. The harder you work at it and farther you get off the beaten path, the better your experiance as well as all the more moose you will see.

[Buffalobob]

In addtition to the bone saw I would recommend at least one "skinning" knife and maybe two "boning" knives and a good sized sharpening stone.

On backpacking out meat here are my techniques

Very heavy elk game bags and place a rock in each bottom corner wrap that several times with tough nylon twine/rope so the corner of the bag can be attached to a pack frame. Do same to upper corners. Take an external frame pack and throw the bag away. Rube goldberg up a "shelf" at the bottom of the frame with aluminum angle iron or what ever you got handy. Do not plan to try to reuse the elk bags for mutliple trips as they will not be strong enough to survive many trips. Yes, I know they are costly. Temperature will probably be kind to you so you can cut it up one trip at a time or cut and bag the whole thing at once so it cools down. That keeps the flies off the meat.

I have never tried to pack an animal out with an internal frame pack. Maybe there is a way to do it, I just haven't ever done it.

If I remember, tonight I will post a picture of my pack frame. Assuming that if one is killed that the two of you will work together to get it packed out you will need two of these contraptions. Plan on being able to carry about 60# a trip for many trips all day long. Trying to carry 100# wastes time because you have to rest more than carry. This is an endurance test not a strenght test. Take care of the meat first and the head and hide last unless you are really intent on getting a hide on mount of the head.

I would have a comealong in the back of the truck and some really good rope or cable. Some days luck is with you and it is all bad luck so be prepared for the truck to get stuck or the moose to fall into deep water. If you are prepared for bad luck it will usually just keep on moving and find someone who is less preapred.

One unrelated thing is go by auto zone and get two new air filters for your truck. Install one now and put the other under the hood out of the way. About the time you get to Whitehorse the truck will start missing so just pull over and swap in the new fitler. With the road paved now it probably is not so bad any more. Plus electronic ignition systems are much better now days.

My final advice is easy to give and hard to take. Relax, have a good time hunting, and enjoy yourself, do a little fishing. None of us are always successful and what you are undertaking (hunting in unfamiliar terrain for unfamiliar game) is hard to do.

[budlight]

The best advice is shoot one on or near a road! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] I go up to Soldatna every couple of years. I've never personally seen a 60 inch class moose anywhere on the peninsula.

The moose are browsers so they like the new growth and easy walking along the roads. Last year I saw a sign on the main highway down to Homer and 85 moose had been hit by cars and it was just early summer.

[riof16]

All very good advice, fellas! That's the kind of stuff I am looking for - people who have done this before, not just the "book answers". I promise to enjoy the trip, and not hang the success of my first trip to Alaska on whether I get a shot. At the worst, it's a week I'm in God's awesome country, and not at work!

I'll try to post a "debrief" to this after I get back, and maybe pictures.
Thanks.