Alaska Moose Hunts Sucess
Alaska Private Guide Service
Smokey Don Duncan,
Master Guide #136
Alaska Moose Hunts Sucess |
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2015 Moose2015 was similar to 2013. Fewer moose and they were not answering and coming to calls. They had been in the area thick during the winter but moved out some time in early spring. The bulls might or might not answer a call, but when they did, they answered and walked away. For the most part they just did not answer even when we knew for a fact they were there. And it was not like the rut had not begun because I heard 2 bulls interacting the 2nd day of the hunt. The moose we did kill was 64 inches and we are not sure if he was coming to the call or just happen to step in front of the boat when the hunters were returning to camp at dark. If he was coming to the call, he was coming in silent. The bull was high and dry when shot, but then took to the water and died in 6 feet of water. Our new Simpson capstan winch drug him to high dry ground in short order. That part was nice. What has always been a big question for us is when we call both sides of the vegetative corridor along the river you have 2 choices. Spend all morning or evening calling from one place. If a bull answers great. If not, then maybe there are moose there but they are slow to come in or are silent. Or maybe not and we are wasting time waiting for a slow silent moose to come in. What I do most of the time, is to call a few times. If a bull is there and answers then we know he is there and we have a chance he will come in. I'll wait for him and work on him. Seldom will I advance on him unless he is aggressively answering and then he should come to us. If we advance on a bull that is not aggressive, most all of the time he just walks away grunting and he may leave the area. I prefer to leave him and check on him in a couple days. I prefer to continue to look for more cooperative bulls that will answer and come to the calls. This year I personally called in 2 cows. They came to bull grunts and raking calls looking for a bull. I also woke up and pissed off 3 brown bears sleeping close to where we parked the boat. Never saw them but we heard them. After the season we heard 2 bulls fighting briefly and another one was grunting up the river near camp. We had 3 big bulls we never could get to cooperate. We have a new plan for all 3 and I expect to only book 2-3 moose and bear combo hunters for 2016 unless I find out where the moose are going in the spring. So we will concentrate more on brown bears in 2016. When you look at the way I have priced the combo hunt, it is plenty fair, with moose on a kill fee basis. Moose 2013-20142013 sucked. No other way to put it. We could not buy a moose. We only saw 1 legal 55" moose. Personally, I never got an answer from a bull or cow. The moose had been in the area all winter. A lot of them. More than in the last 10 years. But sometime in early spring most of them left. We suspected they went out to the west. When the Game Warden stopped by camp this year, 2014, the Warden noted and agreed with our suspicions about 2013. They had moved west and many had not come back. Nobody really knows why. Well, 2014 started out pretty good. I only had 2 moose hunters at K1. We had been seeing lots of cows and 50% of them had calves during the early brown bear hunts. We called out a big bull the first day at 425 yards and he had 3 cows following him. The bull and cows crossed the slough we were watching from the tall timber bedding side to the open willow brush feeding side. He was still answering and we hoped he would come our way once he got back into cover but he didn't. We got back in the boat and used the trolling motor to sneak down to where he crossed. No answers. We went further down the slough and got out. He answered pretty close but darkness was closing in. We went to him and finally got him coming hard and aggressive towards us. Was it really the same bull? This one was coming hard and pissed. I got him to about 30 yards and coming and the client said he could not see anything or good enough to shoot. By the time we could see him he would be well under 10 yards. Now we were too close and we would likely be forced to shoot legal or not. We retreated quietly but fast. We got answers from cows and bulls from day 1. But the bulls weren't really interested too much or coming to the calls. But we got answers almost everywhere we went. As time went by the answers were fewer and further away and maybe less interested. The bulls were actually leaving a cow only call. They would answer a few times and walk away. We chased and they walked away faster. Young bulls? Gay bulls? On Sept 10th we went back and near where we had seen the big bull on Sept. 6th. I was sure that that bull was big but questioned if he was legal because both antlers were very cupped and not generating spread. But maybe there were 2 different bulls. When we got to where I wanted too call, we got an immediate answer close by. A small bull stepped out 30 yards away and walked right up to us (5 yards). Dave, the client, stepped out from behind the willow bush and started taking pictures. Another bull answered further back and soon he was standing 30 yards away. No doubt about this one. Dave shot him and he went down 100 yards from the boat. 60 inches across the front and 80" across the back. One antler was severely cupped and only generated a few inches of spread. If he was flat antlered he would have been in the mid to high 70s. The bull scored 225 making the B&C record book. I don't think he was the same bull as he one we saw Sept.6th. Dave's partner Bugsie got close on some more bulls but never got to pull the trigger. Ironically, he had seen more moose than anyone had seen in 10 years. 2015 should be better. We actually got more answers from more bulls in more places than in the last 10 years. If they were small bulls they will be bigger next year. Moose 2012We got 3 moose. A 53", a 63" and a 68 incher. All were taken from the K1 camp. We got lots of answers from other bulls and cows that we never saw starting Sept. 8. They would answer, then the bulls would try to herd the cows away rather than defend the area. After the season a 70"+ bull came into camp after hearing us snapping firewood and broke and knocked down the antenna pole and began dragging it away, cable, radio and all! The weather was windy and rainy and the river near flood stage most of the season. The good part was the moose were 15 yards from the boat; 30 yards across the gravel bar and 150 yards across a level, open grassy field that we could use the bear cart to pack the moose to the boat! There was a good number of big bulls that were answering that we never saw. The 63" was not the big one there. Sara Hebard got the 63" bull the last morning, Sept. 15th. The night of the 13th about 8 pm, I went scouting by myself. I walked out the trail 200 yards and made 3-4 cow calls and sat under a spruce tree in a drizzling rain. I could hear 2-3 bulls a good distance off moving around grunting. I also heard a cow answering. About 20 minutes later a big crash timber breaking sound erupted about 100 yards away. I grabbed my pack and headed for the river calling on the radio for immediate pick up. The next morning we worked our way in and got some good answers from one bull and a cow. The bull held his ground but was in a bad spot. To get to him we would have had to go up wind and he would not come. The cow kept falling back further away. On the way out we saw bull tracks in our tracks. One had come in behind us and we never saw him. We went back that night and only got answers from the cow which was even further down river. The next morning we went further down river and the high water allowed us to go up a long slough about a mile. We got out of the boat about where I figured the cow had gone assuming the bigger bull was with her. We had not gotten 20 yards from the boat and had not made a call when we heard bull grunts on the other side of the slough. He was fairly close and coming in; then leaving, then coming. I left Jimmie and Sara close to the boat and went 75 yards or more up the slough so the bull would come to me and so he would not step out and see the boat right there. He got to the willows edge and hung up looking directly at me. No doubt he is legal. Jimmie and Sara could see antlers but no body. I thought we were done. But the cow was directly behind me and she cut loose with 2 calls spaced just right. He stepped into the water and got half way across in knee deep water when Sara shot. He died 15 yards from the water. A few days before Sara and Ken were hunting the slough where Brad and Mark had killed the 68 incher. They parked the boat at the upper end of the slough where it met the main river. They got out and started walking when a 53" bull jumped up and ran into the river in front of them. As the bull swam the river, Jimmie got a good look and had time to judge him legal. When the bull stepped out on to the gravel bar, Ken dropped him 30 yards from the river. The first moose was taken by Mark Hedges. Mark and guide Brad, were hunting up river from camp where they had gotten some answers the night before. They started out at the top end of the slough and began working their way down calling likely spots. They started getting answers from one and probably 2 bulls since the grunts were coming so far apart and there was not enough time for the bull to cover that much ground. After working the bull for over an hour with out getting him to commit and come in; the bull went silent for half an hour. When they stood up to leave the bull grunted. Brad told Mark to stay put while he walked away calling. That did the trick. Mark shot the bull at 120 yards. They were 200 yards from the boat across a grassy field. We used the 2 wheel cart to pack the moose out. A bear got on the gut pile and covered it up but it soon got covered by the rising waters. Eventually, we could not even walk to it with hip boots. 2011 Alaska Moose Hunting Results Narrative We had 6 moose and brown bear combination hunters. 4 were 1 guide/ 2 hunters and 2 were 1 guide/ 1 hunter. They came in to camp between Sept. 2 and Sept. 8th. The first 3 came in Sept. 2nd. One came to the K1 camp and the other 2 went to our resident only moose camp where we had a huge bear on a moose kill site which is closer to Dillingham. They had to wait until their gear showed up because Penair left it in Anchorage on purpose, again. Once they got their gear they came on to K1 (and they never saw the bear). Meanwhile Richard, the other Sept. 2 hunter, went to the FC1 camp and took an 8 ˝ foot brown bear the first couple of days right before dark. We moved Richard over to another river to hunt moose. We had seen legal bulls from the cabin porch every year for the last 4 years and at 73 years old and somewhat physically limited we figured that was a good idea. It did not work. We should have left him right where he was. The other 2 hunters hunted from K1. One for bear and one for moose. Each had their own guide even though it was booked as a 1x2 hunt. The bear hunter shot at and missed or wounded 2 bears. We never found blood to follow, so…? The moose hunter and I chased some bulls and had one at 25 yards at dark. Maybe too dark. But I could not get him in position to shoot before the bull busted us. By the first answer he was close, 25 yards, and crossing our down wind. This may have been one of the 2 bulls another hunter and I had called in a couple days earlier. We had other answers but they were too far and too late/dark. Thanks to another airline screw up both hunters left a day early and lost the last moose hunting day which is never good. 2010 Alaska Moose Hunting Results NarrativeWe had 4 moose hunters total. All were combination moose and brown bear hunting. 2 shot moose. The 2 that did not shoot moose did not stay the full season. One hunter left the day before the season opened due to a family emmergency and the other left 7 days early due to business concerns. The biggest bull was a large 59 incher. The other was a 4 brow tine moose. We saw 2 of the biggest moose ever. One was late near pitch dark and the hunter just didn't feel good about taking a shot that he thought was 225 yards but at daylight was really about 125 yards standing in the slough. We worked three different bulls in that area and finally got one right at dark the last night he could hunt. The other monster moose we saw on the way out leaving camp for good. He was sitting on the river bank less than a mile from camp. We passed by at 15 feet with the boat fully loaded wide open and he never hardly even looked up. He was either exhausted from mating or injured and dying from fighting. We defintely saw a great deal more sighn and got more answer than 2009 and over all we were impressed with the number of bulls we encountered/found. I feel certain all the hunters would have taken a moose had they stayed. The 4 brow tine moose terrorized camp one morning and was subsequently shot that evening when we returned to camp. It took the bears about 10 days to find that gut pile because the wind was blowing the wrong way. 2009 Alaska Moose Hunting Results NarrativeWe had 3 moose hunters. 2 non-residents at K 1 and 1 resident in our resident only moose area. By the time moose season opened the weather had settled down. Maybe too much. It was dead calm and dead quiet much of the time. As quiet as I have ever heard that country. One day, we were starting our early morning moose hunt. James Swidryk from N.J. and I were working our way into the woods calling quietly. We were 1/2 mile down river and 400 yards into the woods and I could here guide Don and client Barry talking to each other at he boat landing. James and I hunted that same place a couple evenings later. Walking slowly and quietly and calling as we went. When the moose answered or when we first heard him answer; he was close. Maybe 25-35 yards. We were in an open rut field at the end of our brushed out and flagged trail. By the time we could see him he was turning towards us coming hard, head down and bulldozing brush. I could see one huge antler and figured if he had anything on the other side, he had to be legal. I gave the order to fire and James did.. He was transitioning between kneeling and standing when h fired. Out of the corner of my eye I see him flying backwards with his feet over his head. The recoil from the .375 left a nice crescent moon cut between the eyes. The moose was down about 50 yards away. James was bleeding but happy. But it was the first day he had left the pistol in camp and borrowed Wayne’s rifle. I still do not know if that moose was coming to our wandering calls and we did not hear him until we were close together, or if he was bedded and waited to answer until we were practically on top of him. The other moose hunter Barry Barton went until the last day. The weather had been good and little rain had cut off several of our moose hunting spots. We got just enough rain to raise the back channels about 1 inch. That was enough for the Alweld tunnel jet to get by with out running clean aground. So we started checking all of our back channel rutting spots that had not seen a boat in a week. The fourth one paid off with a answer. It took me about an hour to an hour and a half to work the bull to us. He had been reluctant and tried to leave several times but I was able to coax him in further. We were set up on the other side of a clearing and expected him to cross it when he tried to get down wind of us to check us out. Instead he chose to circle us up wind. Maybe he thought we would scare off if we got his scent or maybe he liked staying in the cover longer. Either way, he was now between us and the boat. Barry saw the bull step out to our right. He was now in the open and Barry had a clear clean shot. He took it and the 61 inch bull went down less than 50 yards from the boat. We called for help on the radio. They arrived about pitch dark. We butchered and packed the moose to the boat and began the long trek down river on the narrow and shallow back channels in the dark with 2 boats arriving at camp with everyone still alive and dry at 1 am. The big disappointment and it was big was that I had my video camera with lots of tapes and battery. And the damn thing would not work! “Moisture. Turn off recorder. Replace tape” I tried everything for an hour or more trying to get it to work short of building a fire which probably would have worked in 3 minutes. But who knew the bull was going to take that long to get there. I had the camera on James’s moose also, but there was no time and the moose was too close from the first answer. It was almost some of the best moose hunting footage ever. Maybe next year. The resident hunter was on a bluff overlooking a small creek being tag teamed by guides Jimmy Davis and Bob Migliore. Jimmy and I took a boat from K1 and made the 60+ mile run down the main river and 35 mile run up the small creek. We had no problems until we smashed the foot open on an unseen bolder in the middle of the only chute available. We had to stop and patch the foot with sheet metal and rivets. We arrived at our camp 1 hour after dark. Bob got stuck in Dillingham during the first 3 days of Sept. when the big blow came thru. He finally got in the evening of the 3rd.and the hunter Wayne Swann arrived the next morning. Even after the rain the creek did not rise much and receded even faster. So the boat was used only if really needed which it was when Wayne got a moose up river. Evidently the bull was proceeding towards Wayne and Bob at a rapid pace. Bob says he was trying to tell Wayne there was another bull coming behind the first one coming. Wayne has taken several 60 inch moose in the past. And the deal was he wanted 60+ and preferable close to 70”. Well it turns out; the faster a bull approaches and the closer he gets; the minimum size decreases on an ever increasing scale. The first shot was at 12 yards and the second shot at 6 yards. The 55 inch bull laid dead close by. Now Wayne says he had to shoot the bull to save Bob, the guide’s, life. Usually it would be the other way around. I asked Wayne if Bob tipped him! I believe it was the same day we killed James’ moose at K1. The rut had finally turned on. 2008 Alaska Moose Hunting Results NarrativeSeptember. This moose registration permit is killing me. Moose Clients are down 80% along the river. Thank fully we have found new areas outside the permit area, some of which you can use jet boats.We bought some new super tundra tires, 35", that is opening new hunting areas for moose. We found new landing and hunting areas only accessable by plane equipped with the big tires. $2600/tire. We just didn't have the hunters to utilize them. We never had a frost in August and it didn't frost until about Sept . 29th. The weather was warm, cloudy, drizzly, rainy and foggy. But thankfully not windy. All the leaves were on trees. It seemed like the cows were in rut before the bulls were. e had all of 4 hunters and they took 3 moose and the one, (no moose), guy could have taken a monster. He has re-booked for 2009 if that tells you something. I won't count the dick head prick from Scotland who hunted less than 5 days, killed a bear and left owing big money. One hunter was in the resident, early season, area and he had a choice of 3 bulls standing side by side in the wide open on the third day. A big one, a medium one and a small one. He shot the medium one (45") so as to not screw up any meat. ( We hunted this area for bear during the later moose season and we saw 10 moose over 60" with some approaching 70. One hunter, Dan Wesen of MT. was in the fly in area where you do not need a moose registration permit. He got on a dandy moose and was preparing the final assault when Fish & Wildlife landed at camp, left a "hello" note and then proceeded to fly directly to the hunters and over the bull. Bull gone. 4 days later; found him again and killed him about 1 1/2 miles from camp. 66 inch spread. We had 2 hunters atthe K1 base camp on the river. We had "answer action" all season. We called and located several bulls. Plus several times we were calling in cows. And when they got close, then you would here the bull grunting and coming. When he reached the cows, you could hear him rough housing them and herding them off. That happened about 5 times to me. We had a bull going hard and at the last minute a cow stepped out at the wrong time when we were exposed and busted us. We only had 10 yards left to get to our set up and shooting spot. On the 14th, after spending most of the morning in this one slough, we gave up after hearing nothing. We fired up the motor and began the run back out to the river when Don spotted a decent moose next to the slough just standing there. We stopped the boat but didn't shoot and the shots opportunities got worse and worse as the wind blew us backwards and managed to keep the one and only 4 foot bush between us and the moose for 150 yards. We polled over to the bank and called a few minutes later. A monster B&C moose was coming. He popped his head and neck out of the brush 30 yards from the boat and 40 yards from us. The hunter didn't shoot as we tried to coax him to take one more step. Of all places; he had to come out right at the boat. He saw it and hung up. Only sometimes does it bother them. Then the monster bull walked along the brush edge and through a clear shot window at 30 yards. The hunter didn't see the window or the shot. We played with him some more but could never get him close enough to get a good shot. We hunted the same spot that night and called in a third bull, to with in 25 yards, but darkness and thick tall brush prevented him from getting shot that night and the last night. We could not get at him with out spooking him. Finally something went right. We weren't doing anything different; nor were we in a new place. We were doing the same calls in the same places when grunting, crashing and slashing headed straight for us from a long ways off. He stopped once or twice to see if we had run away. We told him we were ready for a fight and to proceed sprightly along with haste of which he complied with up to about 50 yards and in sight. Then he began his circled and presented a perfect broad side, one shot kill opportunity. Jerry Dennis of AZ. accepted the offer. And a real dandy it was. 63" with wide and tall palms with long brow tines. The bulls' antlers were more red, like he just cleaned the velvet off. Still somewhat soft and flexible even though his attitude was full blown fighting rut. By 2 pm the moose was butchered, packed out and on the plane for Dillingham. But, I can't help but remember, the other monster bull. He had tall and extra wide palms also. But he had more spread between the palms. I figured close to 70. Never saw or never paid attention to the brow tines. His antlers were at least white but not polished brown. Looking back at what happened: The bulls are suppose to clean the velvet off by Sept 1. Maybe they did. But I don't think the antlers dried out and hardened up at least for the bulls on the river. None were polished up. Maybe soft antlers prevented them from being more aggressive and maybe we could not hear the, soft antlered, brush whacking answers to our calls. I know we left some dandies for 2009. The K1 river hunters had a "blast" hunting waterfowl and fishing before the moose season opened. The Board of Game will rule, by March 15th, on three proposals of mine that would eliminate or soften the permit requirements making it less of a pain to obtain one. It is not a drawing. I have also proposed opening the brown bear season Sept. 1 which will help attract more moose and bear combination hunters. I expect this one to pass. 2007 Alaska Moose Hunting ResultsWe had 9 hunters total in 3 areas. 5 were guided and shot 4 moose averaging 61 inches. 4 hunters were outfitted and unguided. They shot 2 moose, one of which was 62 inches. 2007 Alaska Moose Hunting Results NarrativeIn 2007, all four of the K1 camp guided hunters were moose and bear combination hunters. At the new non-permit moose hunting area we did not have any bear hunters, but they did see some dandies while moose hunting. Of the 4 K1 camp hunters, 3 moose were taken: two 62” and one 59”. All the hunters concentrated one moose first before hunting bear. All of the K1 camp hunters ( 4 guided ) were moose and bear combo hunters. We did not have any bear hunters at the new non-permit moose hunting area but they did see some dandies while moose hunting. At the K1 camp, along the river system where we use the jet boats in the moose permit area; we had 4 hunters take 3 moose. Two - 62" and one 59 incher. All the hunters concentrated on moose first. We had 3 good bulls to pursue opening day. We got soft answers from 2. The evening of the second day, I called in Buck's big bull from from a good ways off. He got to with in 20 yards and hung up in the open except for the brush between us and him. He was aggressive and pissed. Ready for a fight. If I called him through the brush he would be too close. The wind had been shifting back and forth. We opted to run into the clearing beside him, grunting and scraping as we went. We were about 10 yards away from him and he turned, head down to fight. You could see the surprise in his eyes when he realized we weren't another bull. At first glance I could tell he was plenty big enough and gave the legal advice to shoot. He ran into the open and Buck shot him. We got the bull skinned, butchered and hung that night and packed out the rest the next morning. On the 10th, Buck's Son Brad and guides Wayne G and Dave were headed upriver to hunt when they ran into a bull walking along the river bank. They parked the boat and walked around to where they could see him. Brad planted him on the high bank next to the slough. They pulled the boat up and ascended the bank to find Brad's 59 inch moose and a 54" winter kill moose right next to the dead bull. So Brad got 2 sets of moose antlers with one shot! Buck and Brad both shot brown bears. Buck's bear was 9 foot 6 inches with a 26 + inch skull. The big bear had found the 9/6/07 (Buck's) kill site, fought other bears and commanded the moose kill site. On the morning of 9/10 (opening day for for brown bear) Buck, and guides Smokey and Jimmie walked in. 2 smaller bears had followed our moose pack trail back to the boat landing on the river. The big bear track was seen half way in. The final approach had limited sight distance. Buck and Jimmie saw the bear stand up and look from behind a brush line. I heard him. He charged. Tearing up, shaking the ground and flattening the brush. Buck's first shot was at 7 yards. The bear died at 7 yards. The other bear was taken by Buck's son Brad. It was 8 foot with a 24 + inch skull. On opening day of moose hunting we found a bear trail going from a fishing hole on the river to the tundra berries. Brad and guide Wayne G. saw the bear on berries about 2 miles out. They hiked over, (3.4 miles walking) and eventually found the bear walking straight at them at 75 yards. Brad killed it. On the last moose hunting day (Sept 15), the hunter, Jeff Kirkpatrick, along with guides Brad B. and Smokey got an answer from 2 bulls. They would not come to us so we went back to the boat and went around them for a better wind direction. They did not answer at all from there, but we did find rut holes and rubs from 2 bulls, one bull was big. In the evening we went back to where we got the answers in the morning. Nothing happening. We decided to keep going in and calling. About halfway across, Brad offered to go back and run the boat around to the other side and wait for us there. Soon after he left the bulls began to answer aggressively. They began to merge towards each other with us just aside from the middle. One bull, probably a smaller one, shut up and left us as the only challenger. The big bull circled and we had to run twice to cut him off and then eventually charged him to cut him off again and see him. Plenty legal at 62". Jeff shot. The bull went down twice but got up a third time. The last shot was in the neck and dropped him in mid air as he began a leap into a high, steep banked POND! It took us until the 7 am the next morning to butcher and hang the moose and the next day to get it out to camp, so Jeff didn't get to hunt bear except the last night and no bears had hit his or Brad's kill sites. The one unsuccessful hunter, Jerry, got on more moose (moose answered calls) but only got a wolf. Jerry, hunted Buck's moose/bear combo kill site the16th and the morning of the 17th before leaving camp. A huge bear, as big as the 9' 6" bear, was feeding on the bear carcass. We had heard him fighting with other bear/s while we were working on the midnight moose. I think he killed them about 300 yards from the moose/bear kill site. At least the ravens indicated so. We never saw the other big bear. We figured he was nocturnal but it may have been he was on the other kill site and time ran out before we figured it out completely. The night of the 16th, Jerry, got a huge male wolf, blondish with some black, while sitting near the kill site. He has already booked for next year. No one will ever forget the bears roaring that night. In my 32 years in Alaska, I never heard anything like it or as loud. And we were 1.2 miles away! At the new "KK" camp in the no permit needed area; we had 3 hunters. 1 guided hunter and 2 outfitted/unguided hunters all aquainted. This is a fly in and walk to hunt camp. That means, to benefit the most, you should be able to walk at least some distance. Legal moose could have been shot fairly close to camp. Guides and hunters alike were impressed with the number and size of the bulls they saw. Gerry Mumfrey, the guided hunter saw enough legal and just sub legal bulls, and saw the dedication, support, and honesty of the outfitter to recommend this hunt to a friend. Gerry's minimum was 60+". His first encounter was on day 2. He looked good enough on the one side, surely legal, just could not see both sides. Some more run ins did not pan out. On the 14th he saw the one he would shoot but respectfully did not under the circumstances. Him and guide Andy went back the last day, located him, and Gerry bagged him. Long shot.
The general advice from everyone at the KK camp was that, you need to be able to walk to get the most out of this area. Most of the moose were around 1 mile or less from camp and no one walked more than 2 miles out from camp. We have several places/camps to hunt but everyone liked what they saw from the base camp. It is not mountainous, but rather, rolling, low, flat tundra ridges interspersed with open, broken spruce and short willows in the creek drainages. John said he liked the increased sight distance over the average sight distance on the river. And the larger creeks do have some fish, though no one fished them. Probably grayling, rainbows, dollies and some salmon. 2006 Alaska Moose Hunting Results Narrative006 was a bad year. The rut was 2 weeks late. The % success rate for the area as a whole
and pretty much the entire state was down. The permit area where we hunt was less than
13% success at last report. The bulls would answer, but not come to a call. Warm weather
coupled with constant wind and rain blowing sideways 4 of 11 days didn't help. We talked
to more bulls than ever. When we went at them, they faded away. The ones we did call in
close were either too small or not a good bow shot. The good news is, we left plenty of
bulls for 2007, including 3 in the 70 inch range that got away alive. One hunter got a
moose at 7:30 pm the last day and he got a 8 1/2 foot brown bear on the gut pile a couple
days later. 2005 Alaska Moose Hunting Results Narrative7 moose taken in 11 days in 2005 All of these moose pictures anywhere on this page, were moose hunters who contracted with and were guided/outfitted by Smokey Don Duncan's "Alaska Private Guide Service". If you see them on anyone else's web site or brochures they are lying to you! There are lying scum bags out there. 2 bulls from K2 and 2 from K3 In 2005; I had 11 moose hunters. 8 hunters had the river corridor permits. The biggest moose taken was 63-1/2". 8 permittees killed 7 moose. 2 hunters were residents and did not need the permit. They were after 60 inch plus moose. They came close but didn't succeed. They did see legal 50+ inch moose. The last hunter was from Italy and we could only find 1 (maybe a legal bull) outside the 2 mile permit corridor. That was unusual. Plus they killed 5 bears. In 2005, of the 11 moose hunters , 8 had brown bear tags. They killed 5 bears. Plus, a "bear only" hunter got one for a total of 6 bears. At least two of the three "no bear hunters" could have and should have gotten a bear. The biggest was 8 1/2 foot. And 2 hunters got wolves! The new regulations book said wolverine was closed; it was a misprint! 2 hunters had wolverines on the gut piles they could have shot. While we have had many years with a better success rate for moose and bear, you must consider the weather patterns we had during this season. Wind, rain, warm weather ( no frost) late onset of the rut made moose calling and hearing difficult. The high water opened up moose country but shut down the bear feeding areas. I did not here of anyone else anywhere close to us do anywhere near as good as we did. I did hear that several guides and outfitters got no legal moose. -- top 2004 Alaska Moose Hunting ResultsSuccess Rate 13 Hunters took 10 moose in 11 days. 3 hunters ( who have hunted with me
several times) were outfitted and unguided. 2 took moose. 3 hunters were between 63-73
years old. All took moose. The buzz around the departing airports was mainly about
a poor moose season with a late rut. Those that did manage to get a moose did so the last
2-3
days. A small number of guides were lucky to get 50% while most were well below 50%.
And some didn't get 10%. We got 10 moose in 11 days. The biggest was 65". 2003 Alaska Moose Hunting ResultsSuccess Rate - 11 hunters took 10 Moose in 11 days. With 3 moose 68 inches or larger
and 5 between 55"and 63" and two for 2 for bow hunters. 2002 Alaska Moose Hunting ResultsSuccess Rate - 11 Hunters took 10 Moose in 11 days, with three between 63" - 68",
and six between 56" - 60". |
