Seems like I’m always heading out to hunt in the rain. The water was pretty choppy which made for an interesting ride. Thankfully I was able to hunt from a friends cabin this year. I’ve been to this cabin before and it sure beats living out of a small tent for a week. The weather was bad enough that I took a longer route into the camp by going through the slough. It was a little more protected from the wind and it was worth it for the extra gas I burned. I went in by myself so I had to haul all of my gear up the cut-bank into camp. I got a fire going to dry off a bit. A few hours later the rest of the group showed up. One of the most important things you can take moose hunting with you is a friend, or better yet, friends. When you are anticipating moving something that weighs over 1000 lbs out of the field you are probably going to need help. In addition it takes gear to do that. Every time I go out moose hunting I end up adding things to my “moose retrieval” tote that I carry on the boat. Please note that I didn’t take my good camera to camp so all the pictures were taken with my iPhone. Maybe one day I’ll get a moose early in the season and go out just to shoot pictures later.
This is a view back to the river from camp. On the camp side of the slough the water is actually pretty shallow, during the latter part of moose season it is very common for the water to start dropping which means you need to check on your boat a few times during the day so that you don’t get stranded on the mud.
Lots of cows
I saw more cows this year than I ever have. In this short clip I was moving up a small creek and spotted a cow on one bank and her two calves on the other bank. I sat there for quite a while and she finally decided to join her calves. The water temperature according to my depth finder was 47F. It doesn’t seem to bother the moose much. Also they swim quite well. Its pretty common to see them swimming across creeks. I ended up seeing this same cow and calves later in the morning. Lots of the cows I saw this year had two calves at side.
This years moose
I got this moose on Monday morning. I spotted a cow on the bank using the new binoculars Lynn got me. After stopping the boat and watching the cow I decided to call a bit. Every time I called she would look over her shoulder back into the brush. Finally this bull came out facing directly toward me. The front of a moose has a lot of thick bone and muscle and it is likely that the bullet wouldn’t penetrate far enough for a quick kill so I had to wait almost 10 minutes before he turned to allow for a shot. This close to the water I was concerned that he would run into the creek, (I’ve had that happen before and it is a HUGE chore to get them out). Lucky for me he dropped right where I shot him. At least there wasn’t a long pack out this time. I’m no biologist but I figure this was a 4-5 year old bull, not big enough to be legal for an out of state hunter but legal for me on my subsistence permit.
A friend and I field dressed this bull and we headed back to camp to pack up and head in to Galena. The water was still a bit choppy going back but not as bad as it was coming out. Lynn and I spent the rest of the week butchering moose. I worked on it during the day and she would work on it with me when she got back home from work. Guns have been cleaned and most of the equipment has been cleaned and put away. I still have the boat to clean before I put it up for the winter. Probably do that this afternoon if I get the chance. All the meat has been put up in the freezer and our processing equipment has been cleaned and put up for another year. As usual I have identified a few things that will make the job a little easier for next time.
Continuing to prepare for winter
Now that we have a moose in the freezer I have to continue preparing for the winter. I have all the firewood I need stacked up but a lot of it needs to be cut up before the snow starts falling. We got our full propane tank back on the last barge, as usual the one we were running on went dry right after that. No problem though as I have four bottles. Usually takes two to get through the winter so we should be good.
Thats all for now. Stay safe.
Hey Scott, will be coming back to Alaska next spring, would love to get together for a bit.
Absolutely, let me know what your schedule is and we’ll make plans.
Beautiful video! Thanks for sharing with us what’s going on in your world. Has Covid hit Galena yet? We have continued rising cases here. Oren is doing virtual learning this year. I’m glad because his classroom had to shut down for 2 weeks already along with a kindergarten class. and Several local schools had to close for disinfecting and quarantining as well. Our family is very careful and never near others unless from a distance and always with a mask. I cannot get this due to multiple health issues not to mention being old! LOL! Looking forward to your next entry. Take care and be safe!
We only had one Covid case here, this summer a BLM worker came in without testing, (they fly their own planes), had no interaction with the community since they have their own compound. He got sick, was diagnosed with Covid and was quarantined till he flew back out. For the rest of us you have to have a negative test within 72 hours before you can even get on the plane to come to Galena. If you are coming from the lower 48 you also have to have a negative test before coming to Alaska. Once you have your negative test, you are met at the plane by a city official and are required to quarantine for one week, then take another test at the clinic. Once that test comes back negative you are out of quarantine. We are not allowed to even start the process of coming here without our travel coordinators approval. Also, we are not allowed to leave Galena for any reason without approval, this includes medical. We have people guarding the riverbanks to monitor anyone who attempts to come into town without approval via the river. This far I have been tested four times, (all negative).
That’s awesome! I wish our president would have done that when he first knew of the virus and we wouldn’t be in this mess now. I’m glad that you are all ok.