Appeal of the hunt

Probably some of you have been out moose hunting already and a few of you may have gotten lucky and the meat’s in the freezer as we speak. If that’s you, then I’m glad you found success. The vast majority of hunters in the crowd I tend to run with may have made a quick hunting/scouting trip so far, but won’t get really serious about chasing moose until the last 10 days of the season.

Why wait until the season is nearly over? There are several good reasons. The weather usually has cooled down to where overnight temperatures often are near freezing and the daytime temperatures may not be much above the low 50s. That eliminates the bug problem, which is often a major concern on a remote hunt not only for hunter comfort but also for meat handling considerations. No bugs and well-chilled meat is my idea of a great situation.

A combination of cooler temperatures and shorter days tends to get the bulls moving more and rutting activity really starts to pick up. With more bulls moving over greater territories looking for receptive females, the odds of finding a legal bull increase. Bulls also tend to respond better to calling toward the end of the season, meaning you might not have to move as much looking for a shootable bull.

Another advantage to waiting is better visibility in the woods. Frost, shorter days and our usual fall rainstorms tend to knock most of the leaves off trees and bushes during this time. For as large as they are, moose have a remarkable ability to hide in almost plain sight. Having better visibility in the woods increases your odds of harvesting a moose simply because it’s easier to see one.

Personally, I enjoy the entire month of September as a time to hunt, or should I say, as a time to be in the woods. I’ll chase moose earlier in the month, but I usually also carry a firearm that allows me to harvest grouse, snowshoe hares or ptarmigan if the opportunity presents itself. I’ve not yet taken a moose early, but I have brought home plenty of grouse and the occasional bunny.

As I get older, I find the hunting experience itself is the true trophy prize. Sure, I want to put a moose in the freezer as much as the next guy — a fixed income and increasing grocery prices don’t bode well for the checking account — but the actual killing of the animal has become the frosting on the cake. Perhaps an example or two will make my point.

I had only killed a couple of big game animals in my life when I accompanied my dad on a white-tailed deer hunt in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the mid-1970s. He had moved to Georgia a few years before and I didn’t understand why he so enjoyed sitting on his stand along a game trail on a white birch-covered ridge. He missed the look and the “ecology” of a stand of white birch, which didn’t grow in the Deep South, and used his time during the deer hunt to enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of that ridge. I teased him about passing up shots at bucks just so he wouldn’t have to end his hunt early.

From the look I got after my teasing, I think I may have come closer to the truth than I would have guessed. My father had shot many deer over the course of his lifetime. What I didn’t understand was that my dad has progressed to the stage where the experience of the hunt was more important than bagging an animal.

I received an interesting email awhile back from my friend Dan in Big Lake. He was forwarding an explanation of the humorous events (at my expense, I might add) that happened one evening as we were moose hunting to another friend in Southeast.

Let’s just say my hearing isn’t what it used to be and the cow moose wasn’t the brightest bulb in the neon sign either.

The moose and I managed to startle each other and Dan was sitting at ringside, watching the whole event and enjoying the humorous antics.

Anyway, in his email, Dan said, “I think the best part of hunting is not shooting something, but everything else that goes with it, from listening to trees crash in the forest, to watching hawks fly over, to sitting in the fall colors as the sun sets around you.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Of course, getting ready for the hunt is an enjoyable activity as well. The hunt planning — where to go, how to get there, what gear is required and do I have it already or is it time to visit the local sporting goods store? Do I have the right clothing for the expected conditions, what to eat, how to get the meat out? — and a lot of other considerations have recently kept my hunting partners and I busy. I’ll go into more detail on that aspect of hunting next time.

Howard Delo is a retired fisheries biologist with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. You can leave him a message by emailing sports@frontiersman.com.