I felt like maybe I was unintentionally hi-jacking the other moose thread so I thought I should start a new one.
I'm going on my first moose hunt with Papa Bear Outfitters out of Bethel AK this September 19-29th. I'll take any advice I can get on preparation (physical and other), hunting methods, gear, and getting meat and antlers home.
It will be a drop camp hunt from a location Papa Bear chooses. From there we are on our own to hunt for 10 days unguided. The Outfitter provides a basic camp (tent,cots,chairs,cookset,boat) and we provide everything else. We have a 100lb/man weight limit for all our gear and food.
A little background: There are 2 of us going on the hunt, myself and the friend I've hunted with since grade school. He will be 41 and I will be 39 when we leave this September. While I could sure stand to drop some weight both of us are active and able to pack elk quarters without issue. I understand moose are a whole different size of critter. I work full time on a family ranch and can't saddle my horse right now without envisioning having to quarter him and pack him out! Ranch work is good for strength but home cooking is bad for my weight.
I usually start actively getting in shape for my western hunts in July because I will spend long hours in a tractor cab then putting up prairie hay and I'm not getting much physical labor in. I alternate T25 cardio, lower body, and full body work-outs with 3 mile hikes through the hills with a pack and try to get in 4-5 days a week of one or the other. T25 days I do step-ups onto a crate with a weighted pack after the work-outs has my legs already tired. As the hunt approaches I up pack weight on my hikes until I'm carrying 80-85lbs. The last couple weeks before the hunt I back it off again to 35lbs to prevent an injury right before I leave.
We are both shooting 300 win mag rifles with 180gr AccuBond handloads.
For waders both of us are buying Simms G3 waders and boots. I am going to end up doing chest waders to get the best fit, and he is going with the G3 pants. I have a short inseam and the chest waders have more fit options. Past that I'm looking at First Lite Aerowool base layers and a SEAK rain jacket from them. Most of my other gear will be a mix of First Lite, Sitka, and Kuiu stuff that is all synthetic and dries quick. I've had people recommend that over wool who have done the hunt in the past which surprised me. They said the wool dries slower and the synthetic performs better except next to skin.
Sleeping bag I'm planning to use my Kifaru 20 degree Slickbag, and maybe take my HPG Serape (poncho/sleeping bag) to use as a blanket over it. I've had some people recommend a 0 degree bag for late September.
Right now we are planning to use the outfitters tent instead of taking our SeekOutside 8 man tipi and stove. He recommends going without fire at camp to avoid spooking moose with a fixed camp so the tipi offers no real advantage. I'm still not 100% sure on this, I'll miss my stove a lot in that wet environment. I also know better than to doubt the expert though, it makes sense.
For a pack right now I'm looking at just using my Exo 3500 with the crib meat hauling attachment to save weight. I can remove the bag and pack meat with just the crib & straps. 100lbs without all of camp sounds like a lot, but food, gun, optics, waders, clothes, everything adds up pretty quick even with good lightweight gear. Also if we get put in an area where a motor for the boat is an asset any fuel we buy from the outfitter counts against our 100lbs. I have a Cabelas Alaskan pack frame I could also bring. The Exo handles the 85lb loads I train with well and is the most comfortable pack with light loads I've ever tried. I understand moose quarters will be the largest things I've ever attached to a pack though.
Anyway, that's a start on giving everyone something to critique. I can tell you the rest of the stuff I'm doing wrong later!
I'm going on my first moose hunt with Papa Bear Outfitters out of Bethel AK this September 19-29th. I'll take any advice I can get on preparation (physical and other), hunting methods, gear, and getting meat and antlers home.
It will be a drop camp hunt from a location Papa Bear chooses. From there we are on our own to hunt for 10 days unguided. The Outfitter provides a basic camp (tent,cots,chairs,cookset,boat) and we provide everything else. We have a 100lb/man weight limit for all our gear and food.
A little background: There are 2 of us going on the hunt, myself and the friend I've hunted with since grade school. He will be 41 and I will be 39 when we leave this September. While I could sure stand to drop some weight both of us are active and able to pack elk quarters without issue. I understand moose are a whole different size of critter. I work full time on a family ranch and can't saddle my horse right now without envisioning having to quarter him and pack him out! Ranch work is good for strength but home cooking is bad for my weight.
I usually start actively getting in shape for my western hunts in July because I will spend long hours in a tractor cab then putting up prairie hay and I'm not getting much physical labor in. I alternate T25 cardio, lower body, and full body work-outs with 3 mile hikes through the hills with a pack and try to get in 4-5 days a week of one or the other. T25 days I do step-ups onto a crate with a weighted pack after the work-outs has my legs already tired. As the hunt approaches I up pack weight on my hikes until I'm carrying 80-85lbs. The last couple weeks before the hunt I back it off again to 35lbs to prevent an injury right before I leave.
We are both shooting 300 win mag rifles with 180gr AccuBond handloads.
For waders both of us are buying Simms G3 waders and boots. I am going to end up doing chest waders to get the best fit, and he is going with the G3 pants. I have a short inseam and the chest waders have more fit options. Past that I'm looking at First Lite Aerowool base layers and a SEAK rain jacket from them. Most of my other gear will be a mix of First Lite, Sitka, and Kuiu stuff that is all synthetic and dries quick. I've had people recommend that over wool who have done the hunt in the past which surprised me. They said the wool dries slower and the synthetic performs better except next to skin.
Sleeping bag I'm planning to use my Kifaru 20 degree Slickbag, and maybe take my HPG Serape (poncho/sleeping bag) to use as a blanket over it. I've had some people recommend a 0 degree bag for late September.
Right now we are planning to use the outfitters tent instead of taking our SeekOutside 8 man tipi and stove. He recommends going without fire at camp to avoid spooking moose with a fixed camp so the tipi offers no real advantage. I'm still not 100% sure on this, I'll miss my stove a lot in that wet environment. I also know better than to doubt the expert though, it makes sense.
For a pack right now I'm looking at just using my Exo 3500 with the crib meat hauling attachment to save weight. I can remove the bag and pack meat with just the crib & straps. 100lbs without all of camp sounds like a lot, but food, gun, optics, waders, clothes, everything adds up pretty quick even with good lightweight gear. Also if we get put in an area where a motor for the boat is an asset any fuel we buy from the outfitter counts against our 100lbs. I have a Cabelas Alaskan pack frame I could also bring. The Exo handles the 85lb loads I train with well and is the most comfortable pack with light loads I've ever tried. I understand moose quarters will be the largest things I've ever attached to a pack though.
Anyway, that's a start on giving everyone something to critique. I can tell you the rest of the stuff I'm doing wrong later!