Moose Hunting in Alaska: What Dreams Are Made Of

Tall alders whipped in the gusting wind, their yellow leaves painting fleeting glimpses of beauty against the dark gray sky. Above the tall grass a massive head and big rack dominated the remote Alaskan scene.

Finally, the bull stood, but it was facing the wrong direction. When a bull moose takes a bullet, it usually moves in the direction it’s facing. I waited, not wanting it to be consumed by the curtain of alders at the tip of its oversized snout.

When the bull turned to cross the skinny meadow, I waited. Three more steps and it would be in the middle of the tall grass. That’s when I fired. The bull humped up, a hole through both lungs. A quick follow-up shot to the neck put the bull down.

“Our fun just ended,” I said in all seriousness to my buddy, Chris Stewart. “Ah, let’s go hammer it out and find another one,” he smiled. It was Stewart’s first moose hunt. He’d killed and packed a lot of bull elk. Never a moose.

Now The Work Begins

Eight hours later we were done. Thankfully camp was near. The bull fell in a good spot but we didn’t know it was surrounded by water. We popped two little rafts trying to float the meat out. Then we resorted to filling our packs and making the trek to camp and back, many times. Our chest waders were invaluable.

“I don’t even care if I shoot one of these damn things,” shared Stewart. We were whipped. The next day we stayed in camp and our fatigued muscles recovered. The following day Stuart killed a monster bull. The breakdown was straightforward. We got all the meat into game bags, packed them a short distance to the river bank and tossed them into the boat.

"Now that’s more like it,” Stewart smiled. “I’d do this again!”

My first moose hunt was the easiest of all. I called an enraged bull across the tundra. It stopped 12 yards from me, nostrils flared, eyes big, steam rolling from it’s gaping mouth. It was a sight I’ll never forget. The bull fell on a gravel bar in the Brooks Range and I drove an Argo right to it. That was in the early 1990s when my wife and I lived a semi-subsistence lifestyle in the Last Frontier. Every moose hunt since, I claim will be my last.

Moose Necessities

Moose hunting is hard work. I get asked a lot about moose hunting by folks wanting to head to Alaska and shoot a big bull.

A moose hunt starts by being honest with yourself, especially if wanting to do it on your own. Of utmost importance are your outdoor skills. They must be at the level where you can survive in the wild under any conditions, through any circumstances. If bears, freezing weather, snow, mosquitos and being out of touch with civilization makes you nervous, then a guided moose hunt might be more to your liking.

Next to address is your level of fitness. Moose hunting can be extremely tough, especially once a bull is down. Hiking across the tundra, through bogs, over snow, and in rivers is the norm. On a moose hunt with a buddy, we carried waders, knee boots and hiking boots in order to efficiently negotiate the variety of mountainous and boggy terrain.

When you know you can physically and mentally handle a moose hunt, research a place to go. Thoroughly weigh your options, making sure there are moose in the area you plan to hunt. Decide if you’re going on a river hunt or a mountain hunt, or maybe a combination of the two.

River or Mountains?

On a DIY river hunt you’ll get dropped off by an air charter in one spot, picked up seven to 10 days later at another spot downstream. You’ll navigate rivers in a raft, so be certain you’re comfortable in doing that with all your gear and 800 pounds of moose meat, cape, and antlers.

On a DIY mountain hunt, you’ll probably stay in one camp, hiking and glassing each day. If you get on a big bull, you may spike camp out for a few days. Make sure you can physically handle hiking in the terrain you’ll be hunting in, survive with minimal rations, and can navigate in fog, snow and other conditions that may materialize; once you’re dropped, there’s no turning back.

While hunting a river one time, three guys in a raft paddled by. “Can you give us a boat ride to town?” they pleaded. The three hunters were crammed into a rubber raft. They were soaking wet following a couple days of intense rain and high winds. It was their first DIY moose hunt and they called it quits, heading to the nearest village. They wanted us to give them a ride in our sled but with the tide changes, we’d lose two days of hunting.

We made sure they were okay and sent them on their way.

Gear Logistics

When packing for a moose hunt, I lay out all the gear I want to take then cut that in half. On my last 10-day moose hunt I wore the same outer clothes every day, and  wore some of those on my flight into Alaska on the commercial airline. I hunted in breathable waders every day and took a medium weight rain jacket. A few pairs of socks and underwear, thin gloves and a stocking hat, along with a couple base layers, and that was it.

If renting camping gear from a bush service, tell them you want to go through it all before it’s loaded on to your plane for the drop. In addition to the wrong raft frame, I’ve heard of rafts with holes in them and tents that failed in high winds.

Some air services will pack all of your food for a hunt. This can be a big time saver when flying out of remote villages with no stores, or very limited, pricey selections. However, make sure the food is what you want and that it’s included in the cost. One time, I spoke with two hunters at the airport who looked terrible. They explained that when they unpacked their camp on the mountain where the bush plane dropped them, their grub boxes were empty. They had no satellite phone. For the next 10 days they ate berries and some fish they caught in a creek they had to hike to. They didn’t see a legal bull, but luckily they had packed a little fishing rod and some lures.

For any moose hunt, invest in a satellite phone. If there’s an emergency, you want to get out. If there’s a storm coming, you may want to relocate. This happened to a buddy and me on a moose hunt, but during our relocation effort to avoid a massive storm, our plane engine blew. Luckily we made an emergency landing on a nearby gravel bar, but our hunt was over. Sometimes, simply surviving a remote hunt in Alaska means the hunt was a success.

Patience and Preparation

No matter where you are, moose hunting generally comes down to gaining elevation, glassing, glassing, and glassing some more. The goal is to spot a shooter bull then figure out how to get to it. Cover as much ground as possible with your eyes rather than your feet. You can walk several hours a day on tundra and through bogs, which is some of Alaska’s most challenging terrain to negotiate. If you do walk, get from point A to point B, fast, as you want to spend time looking for game, not the ground as you walk. If you can set up camp and glass directly from there, that’s ideal.

A spotting scope and good tripod are a must. Take a stout, lightweight tripod that will hold steady on the tundra in high winds and rain. I like a thick carbon fiber tripod. A quality spotting scope is necessary to size-up bulls to make sure they’re legal, and they can also be used to study the terrain to plan a stalk. Glassing 10 hours a day is normal.

Once a bull is spotted the hard part can be getting to it. On my last moose hunt we spotted a giant 70-inch bull, but it was in a swamp surrounded by deep water and tall alders. There was no way to get to that bull with a raft or by wading, and it wasn’t responding to the calls or decoys. Such is moose hunting. Plan on seeing many bulls you simply can’t get to. A call is worth taking.

A lot of hunters think they can float a river in a raft and bulls will be standing at every corner. These hunts can produce, but the number of moose that are standing just out of view, is surprising. Spend time glassing these river bottoms from an elevated vantage point and you’ll see more moose.

Prior to finalizing your moose hunt, make sure you have a plan to get the meat out of the field, all the way home. A couple seasons ago, three buddies filled their moose tags. Several bush plane loads later their meat was out of the field and it took two more loads to get the hunters and their gear. That cost them nearly $6,000 they’d not planned on, and they still had to get the meat and antlers home.

No Better Time Than The Present

In the early 1990s, the cost of a guided moose hunt in the best places of Alaska ran less than $3,000. Today, guided moose hunts in those same areas are going for over $20,000. Some high-end outfits are charging more than $30,000 and are booked out two years in advance.

While the cost of a guided moose hunt can be pricey, know that do-it-yourself moose hunts aren’t necessarily cheap. Most hunters choose to fly out and get dropped off. For an air taxi service to supply your gear, complete with tents, cooking gear and a raft, and haul you in and out of the field, along with your moose, the starting cost is close to $4,000 per person. Before it’s over, reaching the $10K mark is easy to do on a DIY moose hunt. There are multiple transporters in Alaska’s hub villages that can be contacted for options and price quotes.

Guided or unguided, a moose hunt can be one of Alaska’s most rewarding adventures. It’s far from easy, which is what makes it so appealing.

If you’ve ever dreamed of hunting moose in Alaska, the time is now as populations are strong and big bulls abound. I’ve already forgotten what I said about my last moose hunt being my last moose hunt, and have another trip planned for 2025. That’s how addicting moose hunting is.

---