AK float hunt recap
Contributors to this thread:Moose
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
I had been trying to put together a fly in moose hunt for a few years and was priced out of most transporters. Through a connection from my brothers Father in law, we got offered a great price on a good float hunt for this past September. Around Christmas of last I was notified that he had overbooked the hunt and I was out of luck. After a sort discussion, the pilot mentioned there was a river he had been trying to get into but access was hard and he had not intel on how the float or hunt would be, but had seen a few big bulls while flying. It was a low density area but thought age class would be great because as far as he new, no one had ever hunted it. The only access would be a lake drop with a 4-7 mile, depending on water levels, raft/camp drag over unknown tundra. The drag was flat and partially forested. I am addicted to adventure bowhunting and this sounded like a wild one. My brother Alapai, and I were in. The pilot made it very clear what we were getting into by exploring a new river and gave us location of drop and pick up points.
First off, I always wanted to do a drop camp instead of a float, but this was on offer and I couldn’t pass it up. I didn’t share about this hunt prior to going on here because of what some have written about float hunting. After doing one, it the only way I would want to go now. It is an unreal way to see a lot of different country. Im not a patient hunter and love running and gunning elk in the rut. I couldn’t stay at one camp and call everyday I hope of one showing up unless I had a lot fo terrain to glass. As far as being wet, I have been way more wet on other hunts since I lived in waders.
Summer was spent dragging a kayak around the yard/hiking/shooting bow. I had scouted the drag to the river and the river system thoroughly on the computer. I could see a few areas of concern on the river that we knew we would have to either portage around or pick through. We had 12 days, knowing it would take a full day or more to get to flowing water. We planned to camp for multiple days in a few different area that looked good on google earth. The plan was to hunt the upper portion and float through the lower rivers on our way to pickup as they may get hunted a bit.
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
The day finally came and everything went smoothly with flights. It was drizzling and foggy on our flight in the valley but just broken enough to fly. On the flight in, the pilot noticed the stretches of river that we had noted on the map that may need to portage around. We had streamlined our gear. To 60# each for our camp/gear/food. Our rafts were 62# each. So we unloaded the plane and got to dragging 125# each at about 11am. The first half mile was ok as we were fired up with the adventure ahead. That excitement fizzled a bit when we hit a 80 yard willow patch. After 3 miles we were feeling it in the legs and shoulders. The next mile, we hit patches of ankle deep water in the tree and our sleds would sort of float and we were able to move a bit easier. It was a high water year and we were very lucky for that. After 4.5 miles, we were spent but could hear the trickle of water starting to sound like a creek. ?
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
We thought we might regret it, but pumped up one raft and loaded everything inside the one and floated in the creek that was barely wider that the raft. We both walked in the water dragging the raft and cutting out the stick/willow jams in the creek. We picked along for a mile like this and the creek opened up to a wider very shallow stream. We dragged for another mile and we started to hit more and more knee deep stretches that we could each jump on on end of the raft and float. By 8pm it was getting cold and we were exhausted but we felt we hit a point we could inflate the rafts and float the next day, so we found a nice gravel bar and made camp for the night.
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
It was a really cold and clear night and I got out of the teepee to relieve myself in the middle of the night and got to see the northern lights for the first time. After the physical day we had, we had agreed to sleep in and get a late start on the day. We woke up at sunrise to the sound of stomping. With my .44 in hand, I unzipped the teepee to see a young bull 40 yards away stomping and staring at us. He was probably not legal, mid 40” bull, which was nice because neither of us were ready with a bow!
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
It was a beautiful sunny day, but cold. We packed camp, ate some food and pumped up our rafts. We still had to float a few miles to reach the main confluence and knew we had some potential shallow areas so we just floated and enjoyed wild Alaska. Once we felt the we had good enough water to float a moose, we started to look closely for sign or areas on the map we wanted to focus. Not long after, Alapai saw a big bull track crossing the stream into a patch of trees. We floated a 1/4 mile down stream and set up camp.
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
The weather was still beautiful and we knew this would probably not last too long so we decided to climb the side hill and call, glass and cut small firewood to put in a contractor bag for our teepee stove while it was dry. After calling for half hour and sawing small deadfall it was 430pm and we started our way back down the hillside and were going to work our way up to where we saw the tracks. Just before we got back down to the river, I saw 2 big paddles coming up the river bank 300 yards away. Instantly I thought mid 60s bull but it was my first time judging the so we were happy to count more than 4 brows too. The bull slowly picked his way up the river, raking and grunting as he came. He decided to take it wide around us probably trying to get our wind. Alapai was videoing behind me and gave him a quick grunt. The bull stopped, listened, then took a slight turn our way and kept coming. Just before he stepped out in the open river, I ranged him at 52 yards then drew back. His head cleared the bushes but then he stopped and drank water. I was debating letting down, but he finally lifted his head and kept walking. I stopped him with a grunt and by the time his head turned my direction, the arrow was already on its way. I hit him low but looked like a heart shot, he jumped in the river and turned quartering away at 64 yards. I sent one more arrow getting him in the lungs this time. Fortunately this arrow made hime jump again and he ran up on the other bank, which was 15 yards behind camp, spun a few times and dropped. We could not believe what just transpired on our first day of hunting. A 67” bull right by camp, beautiful weather and 9 more days with 1 tag!
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
From: Nick Muche
04-Nov-22
Been waiting for this one! Good stuff so far!
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
Better not skip one off his back, might pop my raft!
Better not skip one off his back, might pop my raft!
From: t-roy
04-Nov-22
You sure ain’t dragging this thing out very long! Congrats, and can’t wait for the rest of it!
From: JohnMC
04-Nov-22
Awesome so far! Can't wait for the rest!
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
I had to type most of it our in advance because time is tight right now and I didn't want to let every hang for too many days between post! I am getting an unexpected error uploading photos now, so I will wait a bit and try again.
From: maxracx
04-Nov-22
WOW!!! Congrats, can wait to read more.....
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
Easy to spot animals. This first glimpse gets your heart pumping!
From: ND String Puller
04-Nov-22
Wow, a hell of a start ! Following closely!
From: Altitude Sickness
04-Nov-22
Wow!! Adventure hunt is right. As if drop hunts aren’t enough. You drag your gear 4-5 miles.
Great pictures Your going to be flooded with people wanting those coordinates. Good unmolested moose spots are hard to find. Let’s see that Bull
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
Feel like I'm rushing into it, but its only the second day! The adventure had only just begun!
From: Live2Hunt
04-Nov-22
Wow, great animal. Here I thought I was doing good one year when I shot a buck that ran toward and died on the road I drove in on!!! Can't wait to read more.
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
Everyone talks about the mind blowing size of moose and the work of butchering one, no matter which one of us shot the animal, I was hoping to experience this first hand. It did not disappoint. By sunset, the moose was broken down and cooling on the riverbank. At sunrise, we walked up to where we saw the tracks and did a bit of calling. By 1030am we had the rafts loaded with he moose and camp and floated downstream to get away from the kill site. We floated through a beautiful stretch of river where there was a small pond off in the trees. A gravel bar was tore up from a bull(or two) so we camped just downstream. We spent the next 2 days here calling from a slight rise with no animals spotted. We started to realize the patience moose can take with the calling. Weather was still decent with just small passing showers.
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
Things finally started to slow down and allow us to soak it in. Our bodies were tired after first few physical days we had.
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
Our last view of the beautiful weather and nice gently flowing stream!
Our last view of the beautiful weather and nice gently flowing stream!
Day 5 we floated again until we hit an area of the river with a bluff 20’ high right on the bank and we could see 400 yards up or down stream. To have more patience, we brought our dinner, tea, and toothbrushes up on the bluff to glass/call for the afternoon. At 4pm we started calling every half hour. We were patient and when 830 rolled around, we still had some light so we agreed to wait another 30 minutes til dark. 10 minutes later, we caught a glimpse of a BIG bull. He crossed the river and worked upstream around us, staying out of bow range. He disappeared into so thick trees as we were losing light, and we thought we might have a chance at him the next morning. We slid off the bluff and into our teepee for the night. I turned on my Inreach and had one message from my wife “Do you see the weather coming your way” And one from our pilot “Hunker down, you have a few days of weather coming” We thought the weather was too good to be true. Usually we attract nasty weather. This trip didn’t let us down!
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
The bull came out down stream skirting around us
The bull came out down stream skirting around us
I kept glassing him when he looked our way to judge him and never got a frontal picture of him. We guessed him to be high 60s as well and had 5 or 6 brows on each side
I kept glassing him when he looked our way to judge him and never got a frontal picture of him. We guessed him to be high 60s as well and had 5 or 6 brows on each side
From: Plum lake
04-Nov-22
Love these kinds of adventures. Great story, keep it coming.
From: ahunter76
04-Nov-22
I say you earned that Moose b/4 you got there just dragging your gear. I have done some crazy things in my life like 6 months in a tent in the mountains & 1st 6 weeks alone & 6 weeks in the boundary waters in a tent. I say you topped mine. Good luck & you are on an "adventure" for sure. Be safe... Awesome Moose too.
From: Dollar
04-Nov-22
Great bull Congratulations Can't wait for the rest
From: ND String Puller
04-Nov-22
Just wearing out the refresh button over here! Way to leave us hanging LOL
From: APauls
04-Nov-22
ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!?!?!?!?!?! THAT'S SO AWESOME!!!! There are some times in life when all caps is warranted. Heck ya man!!!!
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
That night, the rain became steady and the wind started to get gusty. By 3am, we had to get up and tie the rafts to the teepee as our stakes were pulling out of the gravel in the wind.At sunrise we got on the rain gear and crossed the river to try and call the bull out of the area he went in the night before. The river had come up a bit and it was almost waist deep crossing now. After attempting to call in the wind and rain for an hour, we figured better idea to wait out this weather in the teepee.
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
Not wanting to get wet anymore that needed, we just laid in our bags, ate food, and read a book. By 6pm there was obviously not going to be a break in the rain, so I put on my gear and got out to stretch the legs and relieve myself. When I unzipped the fly, I couldn’t believe my eyes. My meat catch was almost underwater, the rack was halfway under, our food bags about to float away. The river had come up another foot and now our gravel bar was barely above water and a little channel was flowing behind us turning it into an island. We both suited up and scramble around making sure everything was high and dry.
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
Back in the tent, our situation started to really set in. We are loaded up with meat already, the rain isn’t letting up, and our only way out is many miles down a canyon. Just the day before I was in awe at the beauty floating a pristine crystal clear stream, watching grayling run underneath the raft. Now Im looking at a raging brown river ripping by, knowing we are still upstream from the critical river section that we need to navigate. Being from Hawaii, flash floods are normal and now we are stressing on our camp location. After texting with our pilot, he mentioned it was a 50 year storm and we had another day or two of it, we decided to play it safe and moved camp at 10pm in the rain. There was a willow flat behind camp that gave us another 4 feet in elevation, we cut out some willows and made a flat big enough for our teepee. Once we got camp setup, we were soaked. The bag of sticks we cut when I shot my bull finally came in handy. We made the titanium stove roll and got most our stuff dry.
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
Woke up the next morning and realized we made the right call. The river was still rising. Back into the sleeping bag, read, eat, read, eat. Texted home on the Inreach how its just a little rain and we are dry and warm as we listened to the river roaring. By the end of the day, our bodies were aching from laying in the bags but if the forecast held up, looked like the weather would break in the night.
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
The wind died and the rain got intermittent about 3 am that night. We woke to off and on very light rain with a low cloud ceiling but no wind, we figured we hit the backside of the storm. We were sick of this camp and we needed a change of scene. We had some really good looking moose country down river but still above the critical section, which we definitely didn’t want to paddle yet. We loaded up the rafts and picked our way down stream.
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
had to cut out willows to make camp now.
had to cut out willows to make camp now.
It was only a short critical float to make it the 5 miles we wanted to go. It looked like very moosey in this are but we could only hunt one side of the river and there were no gravel bars. We found a little sub channel and tucked in to another willow camp. We were now only a mile above the critical section and the forecast looked ok so we figured we would camp here for 3 days until it was time to float to the pickup, in hopes of the water levels dropping. I cut hash marks in a willow and stuck it in the mud as my water gauge to watch the water level.
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
My custom water gauge! River levels had come up about 2' and we were praying for at least 6" off drop in the next few days. Forecast was spot on and our pilot was keeping us updated on any weather info he had through Inreach. It is really nice having a pilot that genuinely cares and is giving updates when the weather gets tough.
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
While setting up camp, we noticed lots of torn up willows and knew there had to be some moose close by. Our camps was basically on a big island with an old oxbow behind us but now has a small river channel flowing to it. Once meat and camp was taken care of, we headed into the bush towards the oxbow. There was sign everywhere! Before we reached the oxbow, we heard a some crashing.
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
He was fired up just from hearing us push through the willows
He was fired up just from hearing us push through the willows
A bull was on a steady trot straight at us grunting the entire way. While videoing the bull coming in, we judged him to be low 50’s but too close to call legal and decided he was not a shooter, especially since we didn’t want to add another 600# to our rafts unless it was big. Alapai had to scare the bull before it ran us over and notice it did have 4 brows, but our mind had already been made up to pass. It took a bit of persuading to get the bull to leave us alone.
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
From: APauls
04-Nov-22
OOOoooooooooohhh yeah
From: Zbone
04-Nov-22
Wow, way cool, thanks for sharing, many CONGRATULATIONS!!!
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
We were in some beautiful moose country and we even caught a glimpse of blue sky!
From: Inshart
04-Nov-22
Great read - what a fantastic trip "so far".
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
For the experienced moose hunter, how wide you think?
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
Big bull walking at me grunting at 10 yards
Big bull walking at me grunting at 10 yards
10 minutes later of creeping along, the open willows turned to a dark patch of timber along the beaver dammed oxbow. First thing we entered the forest, I whispered to Alapai that we should try a call setup. Before I could finish the sentence, a bull grunted at us. Alapai slipped forward 10 yards and I gave a soft grunt. Immediately, two big paddles popped into view 80 yards away and started raking. The bull worked downwards raking every bush in sight. He passed broadside of my brother at 10 yards and started raking a bush. With Alapai ahead of me, I couldn’t see his shooting lanes so I just kept videoing. It was a tangled mess and he had no shot. The Bull snorted and slowly turned right at me and began walking slowly. At this point, Im wondering how long do I keep videoing if Alapai has not shot and the bull keeps coming. Less than 10 yards from me, Alapai gets a quartering too shot and squeezes an arrow through a tight lane hitting the bull mid body. The bull jumps and whirls around, trotting to the edge of the oxbow and turns broadside. Alapai is nocked up and sends another arrow hitting the bull a bit more forward. The bull runs out into the 4ft deep water and stands there. We move up to the edge and give him a final well place arrow to finish him off and he stayed put in the middle of the oxbow for his final resting place.
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
From: APauls
04-Nov-22
UN. REAL.
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
We decide to head back to camp and get a raft to retrieve him and also will allow us to drag the meat up the shallow sub channel to the main river tonight just incase the water level drops. The oxbow was deep all the way to one edge so we floated the bull all the way until we were a few feet off the shoreline and he bottomed out. The fun began again, and it started to drizzle! By dark, all the meat and rack was loaded and dragged up shallow channel to the main river and stacked nicely on logs to cool down.
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
From: huntinelk
04-Nov-22
Incredible trip. Congratulations
From: HUNT MAN
04-Nov-22
This is simply amazing!! Thank you for taking the time. Can’t wait for the rest !! Hunt
From: DonVathome
04-Nov-22
I am very very impressed. You took on a big risk, did a lot of homework and pulled it off. You both deserve your moose!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! At first when I read the title I expected a disaster story. Moose floats generally are not a good plan. After your first post I did a 180 and knew you had a great plan and were willing to work for it. Good job!
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
Thanks guy. I figured some of the bowhunters on here needed a break from politics. I have always enjoyed reading the hunt recaps, and have thought about doing some before and never got around to it. I figured this one needed to be shared
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
Now we were loaded heavy, tagged out, and only one thing to focus on, paddling this river! The next two days were spent cleaning up meat/skulls and watching my willow water gauge.
From: DonVathome
04-Nov-22
I have heard very very very many stories in my 23 years researching and following hunting forums. Yours is at the top. Awesome job I seriously cannot say enough about every aspect of your trip from planning to execution. 1 in a million hunters, in their lifetime, earns a trophy like each of you did.
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
We were told a few times what we were taking on. No promises of moose or water levels. We thoroughly understood what it meant to pioneer a river and there were as much nerves as excitement. I was so consumed with panning the adventure I constantly forgot about killing moose. This hunt and even float hunting is not for everyone, but float hunting is epic for the strong hunter who doesn't mind a lot of hard work. I have definitely changed my mind on float hunting after this trip.
From: deerhunter72
04-Nov-22
UNBELIEVEABLE!! You guys are a few cuts above everyone else! This is bordering on insane! Congratulations to you both.
From: stealthycat
04-Nov-22
fantastic adventure !
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
my water gauge showed a 6" drop!
my water gauge showed a 6" drop!
By day 9 the water had dropped 6” and it was time to go as we had at least 15 hours of floating ahead of us. It was a foggy morning and we could only see about 150yards. The rafts were loaded heavy in our protected cove, we studied the river where we needed to pull out to assess the rapid section and paddle into the brown raging river!
From: yooper89
04-Nov-22
This might be one of the best recaps I’ve read on here
From: Dollar
04-Nov-22
WOW Congrats again and great story. Whats on the table for next season???
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
Just before we got in the rafts, I joked that this section we have been worrying about might be tame and we were stressing over nothing, definitely wasn’t the case! Approaching the section of river, the canyon turned into a gorge and you could see what was ahead, so we had to park the rafts, climb the side wall and traverse down stream to peak over the edge. We were greeted with rapids as far as we could see. There was a little slack between the rapid sections we could see, so the plan was for one at a time to go and try to pull out.
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
Looking out into the foggy river had us nervous but 100% focused
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
Looking down the critical stretch in the fog
Looking down the critical stretch in the fog
From: GhostBird
04-Nov-22
Congratulations... simply AWESOME. Good work.
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
This worked and the first section Alapai took first and wasn’t an issue. The second section I took first. Once I got in the rapid, I looked downriver and saw that they got worse at the end. It took everything I had to keep my raft pointed down river. At one point, I hot a rapid and my raft folded. I was looking straight ahead at 400# of meat in the bow of my raft. A couple more waves over the head and down the rain coat, I made it to the side. That section rattled Alapai good too but we made it. After bailing out water for 30 minutes, we continued on. A couple section, we were able to take small overflow channels to avoid the main river. 4 hours later of picking our way through these section, we made it out of the canyon into flat water, soaked, cold, and a broken paddle.
From: brettpsu
04-Nov-22
This is incredible!! One of the best recaps I can ever remember. Congrats to both of you
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
The sun came out and it was the most beautiful weather you could imagine. We pulled out, unloaded everything and laid it out on the gravel to dry while we drained the rafts and ate lunch. It was a wave of stress off of us now that we were out in a slow river. Now the brown moving water was a blessing and helped us cover some miles, floating until 730pm.
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
The weather remained perfect for us, with a beautiful, cold sunrise and we got back on the float. Floating by 4 different bull moose, a few cows and gorgeous Alaska wilderness, we were able to just kick back on the rafts, eating food and taking pictures. By 5pm we reached the designated pickup point. A plane on wheels had been line up since we were late in September this far north, all floats are generally out of the water in case freeze ups. As we were expecting/worrying, there was not a gravel bar big enough to land. After texting back and forth on the Inreach, we were fortunate enough to get a pilot on floats to come got us the next day. We built a big fire on the gravel, broke down the rafts and cleaned up a bit for our pickup. Everything went smooth the next day and by 10pm I walked into a hotel room for a few hot showers and a cold beer! It was an adventure that will be tough to beat. The physical and mental toughness this hunt took, we were blessed with a 67” and 63” bulls, and a bonus whitewater rafting adventure.
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
From: Buffalo1
04-Nov-22
Incredible adventure and beautiful recording. Thanks for sharing. Congrats on some great trophies.
From: Nick Muche
04-Nov-22
Absolutely incredible! Way to think outside the box and take a challenging route to hunt Alaska! Glad you found a truly wild place to smack a few great moose, congrats!!
From: JTreeman
04-Nov-22
That right there is legit. Incredible adventure.
—jim
From: TODDY
04-Nov-22
Wow, great adventure for sure!! Congratulations and a very nice writeup! As others have mentioned already, one of the better adventures ever recorded on BS in my opinion! TODDY
From: Sandbrew
04-Nov-22
From: maxracx
04-Nov-22
808, congrats again on your success. Like many said before, I started to read your story expecting this to be a tale of "learn from my mistakes." What an adventure. I personal don't have the experience or the intestinal fortitude to pull that off. Best recap of the year by far.
From: ND String Puller
04-Nov-22
Legendary! What an epic adventure. This is what Bowsite is all about. You could have easily sold this story to a magazine, but they would never do it justice. Thank you for sharing it. I bet that pilot was on pins and needles watching the weather and wondering... “what did I get these guys into”! Congrats men!
From: Altitude Sickness
04-Nov-22
Man! That second bull is a VERY good bull.
I’m gonna need those coordinates:>))))
From: DonVathome
04-Nov-22
And I did not think it could get better!
From: Altitude Sickness
04-Nov-22
I can’t believe we got that epic story for free.
From: wild1
04-Nov-22
Amazing! Congratulations on an epic, successful moose (x2) hunt! Adventure of a lifetime.
From: keepemsharp
04-Nov-22
WOW
From: sitO
04-Nov-22
I rarely read through the entirety of recaps, but couldn't put this one down. Just incredible, congrats on two hard earned trophies, and thank you for taking us along!
From: yeager
04-Nov-22
What a FANTASTIC hunt and an adventure of a lifetime! Congratulations to the both of you, and thanks for sharing your story.
From: HUNT MAN
04-Nov-22
I am blown away!! Amazing adventure !! That is Livin at its finest!!!! Thank you again!! Hunt
From: Grunter
04-Nov-22
That was a fantastic read! Congrats on getting it done and what a adventure! Did you guys have life jackets for the float? Thank you for all the great pics and recap!
From: JohnMC
04-Nov-22
That is outstanding! You said you did some video. Any chance of posting it?
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
Thank you guys for the kind words. I’m glad you enjoyed. I wanted to write it for a magazine but they always want the short version! Wouldn’t do it justice. And there are some great bow hunters on here that I have been following along with ever since I did my first mainland hunt 12 years ago. Alaska is truely one of a kind and the last frontier. The hunting culture is unique in the sense that people are just hunters. Not bow hunters or gun hunters. I joined Alaskan bow hunters because they seem like they push the love of archery up there. Pilots I have used or buddies up there are always crazy when I say only bows we bringing. The big bull that skirted us, a guy told me “see you could have shot him with a rifle.” I just looked at him and said “but I’m a bow hunter”. If any one wants an archery dall sheep recap, I will set up a go fund me!!
From: Jeff Holchin
04-Nov-22
Most excellent! Thanks for the great recap and pics
From: Bowboy
04-Nov-22
Living the dream right there! Congrats on two great bulls!
From: Altitude Sickness
04-Nov-22
I’ll chip in $8.08
From: 808bowhunter
04-Nov-22
A disclaimer for anyone looking into moose hunting, I’m definitely not saying a float hunt is how you kill bull, just saying for an impatient bow hunter who doesn’t mind a little more work it is an epic way to see Alaska. Success is owed to planning, meeting the right people, and willing to push your physical level farther than most are willing. I take pride in my mental and physical toughness, this hunt definitely rattled my nerves. We did not have life jackets but we both grew up as watermen and still work on the ocean. But we are from the tropics! The air temps and water temps had me nervous if I lost my raft. I strapped a dry bag to my waist with my inreach sleeping bag and dry thermals. It will be an adventure that will be hard to top! Made some great friends and connections and epic memories. I don’t not think I would ever hunt that canyon again unless easier access was found
From: EmptyFreezer
04-Nov-22
You guys just did what i will only dream about. To have a brother as a hunting partner and you are both absolutely nuts, that is awesome. Thank you guys for sharing and u definitely define the word BADASS..
From: bowhunt
04-Nov-22
Thanks for posting!
That sounds like an adventure of a lifetime. The fact the you wouldn’t want to go through that canyon again really makes it sink in how dangerous that probably was.
Sounds like one of those adventures where it could either be the coolest trip in your life, or someone could end up not coming home!
From: Willieboat
04-Nov-22
Thanks for sharing
From: orionsbrother
04-Nov-22
Holy cats!! I’m glad that I didn’t see this thread while at work!!
No way I could’ve taken a break from reading.
Epic adventure. Great recap. Incredible bulls.
Yowza!!
From: hdaman
04-Nov-22
An epic story that most of us only dream of, only a few are capable of, and you two did it! I found myself thoroughly engaged and amazed throughout your journey! Thank you!
From: Glunker
04-Nov-22
Your photography was excellent and every picture helped tell your story. Not many people in the Islands with a big stash of moose meat. Too cool. Congrats.
From: redneck hunter
04-Nov-22
I'm speechless.........I am in awe.........I would like to tell you that I would do that hunt with you, but at 61 years of age, I'm not man enough any more. Epic!!!!!
From: WV Mountaineer
04-Nov-22
Unbelievable. Simply unbelievable. I absolutely love it! That’s as hardcore as it gets. Fantastic indeed.
From: Glunt@work
04-Nov-22
Thanks for sharing your adventure! Great story and well told!
From: pav
04-Nov-22
Amazing Alaskan wilderness adventure! Two great bulls! The rapids recap with all that weight onboard gave me goosebumps! Congrats to you both! Top notch Bowsite classic hunt recap for sure!
From: Paul@thefort
04-Nov-22
WOW x 10. Nicely done, both of you. I do believe that your hunt was 90% preparation and only 10% luck. My best,Paul
From: standswittaknife
05-Nov-22
Insane.. what an amazing story.. congrats!
From: Lewis
05-Nov-22
Congrats on a great hunt but more importantly thanks for taking us for a super ride I’ll be 76 in a few days and this got my motor fired up Good luck Lewis
From: t-roy
05-Nov-22
UN-FREAKIN-BELIEVABLE!! That has to be the most epic thread I’ve ever read on Bowsite!! Everything you posted was incredible, including the terrific photos chronicling all aspects of your hunt. Can’t thank you enough for sharing it with us. Congrats, again on 2 great bulls and the adventure of a lifetime!
From: Bowfinatic
05-Nov-22
Wow what an adventure. Thanks for taking the time to share and congrats on 2 incredibly hard earned trophies
From: tacklebox
05-Nov-22
Couple cool dudes right there! Congratulations on success well earned and thank you for taking the time to share here.
From: Jeff Holchin
05-Nov-22
Ah, I wondered how you guys were so comfortable on the water! If you can find Jay Massey’s excellent book “Bowhunting Alaska’s wild rivers”, he and his buddies pioneered that type of hunting and describes float hunts just like yours, but Jay was a river rat and completely at home on a river.
Can you give us a gear list and say what worked well and what didn’t?
I am amazed at the quality of your pics, including the action photos! Good job.
I am not a moose expert but have killed a few bulls with my bow. For that young bull that came trotting in, I am guessing 46-47” based on his ears?
From: M.Pauls
05-Nov-22
Totally over the top! Congratulations x2. This really brought me back to my brother and I’s first moose adventure. Knowing that photos never do water justice, I’m not sure I would have had the cahonies to point that moose raft into those rollers. Yikes man. You guys are crazy
From: Treeline
05-Nov-22
Outstanding! Love everything about this one! Gotta rank right up there as one of the greatest adventure bowhunts of modern times… Livin’ the dream! Congratulations!
From: Cazador
05-Nov-22
I’m turning in my man card! Wow!
I’ve noticed over the years you guys don’t mess around!
From: deerhunter72
05-Nov-22
Truly incredible!! That’s the best recap ever on BS. Thanks and congratulations!
From: Bowbender
05-Nov-22
I’m trying to find the words because awesome, epic, fantastic…. Just doesn’t seem to do it justice. Thanks for sharing.
From: Mike Ukrainetz
05-Nov-22
Wow! Incredible trip!! And such a well done thread! The amount of planning you must have done to get your gear down to 60 lbs each is amazing! Same with the fitness involved and just dealing with all the unknowns. Thanks so much for the recap, and yes so much better than the politics threads.
(I gotta ask though no life jackets?! I’ve done lots of wilderness canoe and raft trips in Canada and your chance of death if you flipped your raft was very high, never mind losing your load of everything. Your muscles would seize up in that cold water. Why? Weight? Just really curious.)
From: Jeff Holchin
05-Nov-22
Great book about float hunting
Great book about float hunting
From: Dale06
05-Nov-22
Amazing story and hunt. Thanks for taking us along.
From: orionsbrother
05-Nov-22
What MPauls said. I do a decent amount of paddling. That water looks fun… but I’m not sure about a pack raft loaded with moose.
I’ve copied this pic to share with some of my River rat friends who hunt. Ancillary marketing for your thread.
This pic is one that you should blow up and print for both of you.
From: Heat
05-Nov-22
One of the all time greatest adventure threads in the history of Bowsite! Thanks for sharing. Congrats to you and your brother!
From: BillyD
05-Nov-22
Instant Classic Kodi! Appreciate your sharing this adventure. Many fond memories made together - awesome stuff. Congratulations to you/Alapai.
From: BTM
05-Nov-22
Best story/pics I've seen in a long time. Thanks!
From: fastflight
05-Nov-22
Wow. That's incredible!!! What an adventure. Thanks for taking us along for the ride.
From: ki-ke
05-Nov-22
What an adventure! Congrats and holy $hit on an incredible "hunt"!!
What was the process for getting meat/antlers back to Hi.?
Thanks for sharing.
From: Cazador
05-Nov-22
Some similarities!
From: SBH
05-Nov-22
Two brothers on an unreal adventure. Thankyou so much for taking the time to post this. Absolutely unbelievable. Even if you didn’t kill a thing this hunt is absurd. That fact you took two giants??!! Huge congrats to both of you. There are very few who have what it takes to do what you did.
From: nmwapiti
05-Nov-22
Awesome adventure. I totally understand why you probably wouldn't try that again, but it made for one he'll of a story. I flipped a canoe in the dark floating down a river to a deer spot once on a cold Dec morning. Your story gave be a mild flashback.
From: WV Mountaineer
05-Nov-22
I’m with Rick. I’m a river rat. I do a lot of paddling in white water and rough rapids found on the rivers around me. Mostly fishing.
It’s a different concept though. You tie everything down. If you flip, you ride it out and get the boat to the bank. Plus, you aren’t in the middle of no where. And, most importantly it’s WARM!!!!!
The absolute fortitude to do something like this is something I’m just not capable of grasping. I’d never thought of doing this. Never. And, I’m very comfortable in boats on rough water.
Kudos again. You guys are cut from a different mold.
From: Cazador
05-Nov-22
From: Old School
05-Nov-22
What an adventure. Thanks for posting a incredible recap of the journey. Glad I was reading of your whitewater adventure and not living it live and in person - Mercy! That’s insane.
From: Chris S
05-Nov-22
Amazing. I would love to hear this story from all the planning though the flight home as a speaker with a Q&A session. Might be something for a pope and young diner event. Superb story. Thread of the year winner hands down.
From: John in MO / KY
05-Nov-22
Amazing
From: elkster
05-Nov-22
I couldn't put this one down! Tension built up when I saw pic of loaded raft in that hole! Thanks for taking time to write this. Congratulations.
From: 808bowhunter
05-Nov-22
Wow thank you for the kind words. I’m glad everyone enjoyed. It makes it worth taking the time to write. I had mentioned about life jackets when I noticed there were none. I was ok without just thought they came standard with raft. River only waist deep right!
From: 808bowhunter
05-Nov-22
To clear a few things up, I wouldn’t do hunt again only because the gear drag in. It was brutal. Also we aren’t crazy guys that loved the rapids! This hits on the topic someone put up about hitting SOS on the inreach. As most said, you ONLY hit that button when you need it, not want it. We flew the river and before the storm, we had one 50yard stretch that we would pick through or portage around. Add 2 feet of water, it was another story. That storm was typhoon remnants that hit Japan and was a 50-70 year storm. Our pilot had flown that region for 50 years and had only seen those water levels during spring melt. If not for the storm I would have been catching greyling instead of stressing!
From: sticksender
05-Nov-22
What a great adventure, congrats on your success!
From: 808bowhunter
05-Nov-22
We sat for 3 days after the storm knowing winter is approaching any day in late September that far north and if we were making the pickup, we had 2 choices, attempt the river or hit SOS. So really only left me one choice. I definitely had my two young children consuming my mind. So I paddled with everything I had. My daughter made me a card and told me keep it with me hunting. I looked at it a few times and then took a pic with it once I survived the river for her!
From: Groundhunter
05-Nov-22
I am off grid in the UP, by choice. Got service in town. Best thread ever. Thanks for taking me along and sharing.
In my 70s, love your not wasteing.your youth. Keep Charging. I always haved.
From: TD
05-Nov-22
Kodi.... awesome on a stick... congrats on a true epic adventure with 2 stud bulls as the cherry and sprinkles on top. wow.
My understanding.... it's a very rare deal to find float water that was so untouched. The vast majority of float trips are pay for your ticket and get in line to take your turn. You guys did the homework and took the chance.... and risk... to roll the dice on a maybe. Pretty cool.
Congrats again. That was epic. Thanks for taking the time to share, and doing such talented job of doing it. Well done on all counts.
From: caribou77
05-Nov-22
Un fn believable
Amazing adventure
From: Pole Mtn
05-Nov-22
Great recap, great moose. In these crazy modern times it's good to know that adventures like these can still be had. I'm gonna share this with my teenage sons.
From: midwest
05-Nov-22
I'm blown away. The pics, the story, just unreal. Thanks so much for bringing it here. You guys are true studs.
From: Bou’bound
05-Nov-22
this is, bar none, the best non-political thread of the year. Amazing adventure and recap. congrats and thanks so much for sharing.
From: ryanrc
05-Nov-22
Thread of the year. As I was reading I thought I could see myself dragging a raft through the brush to get to Virginia unhunted territory. Totally worth it. Then I saw the rapid pics and knew immediately that I would not have the stones for that part. Congrats on memories made.
From: mrelite
06-Nov-22
Congrats on an amazing adventure and some great bulls! Thanks for sharing!
From: bentshaft
06-Nov-22
WOW, just wow!
From: mathewshooter
06-Nov-22
Great story!! Congrats
From: caribou77
06-Nov-22
Un fn believable
Amazing adventure
From: BOWUNTR
06-Nov-22
Outfrikenstanding... congratulations. I wanna go... Ed F
From: goelk
06-Nov-22
This is why I joined Bowsite. Great adventures and pics and story telling. I felt i was there with you the whole time.
From: cnelk
06-Nov-22
Legendary Recap. Thx!
From: Mike Ukrainetz
06-Nov-22
Again, fantastic adventure! Loved your choice of tent too and the smarts to get some dry wood when you could. I love a floorless tent with a stove in colder, rainy weather when bugs aren’t an issue. I’m so glad you made it back alive to your two young children! Congrats! You’ll remember that hunt forever!!
From: elkmtngear
06-Nov-22
What an incredible adventure! Congrats to you and your Brother!
My first thought: Float hunting for Moose in AK= not for pu$$ies !!
From: Matt
06-Nov-22
Congratulations on such a great and successful adventure.
From: BC
06-Nov-22
Awesome!!! You guys did what so many dream of. The physical ability is off the charts but your mental toughness is truly unbelievable. Great bulls, epic bowhunting adventure.
From: Ron Niziolek
06-Nov-22
You guys certainly went for it and were rewarded. Very few would have attempted that trip and fewer would have completed it. Congrats on an amazing adventure, stud bulls and outstanding write up!
From: Dino
06-Nov-22
Awesome adventure and write up! Thanks for sharing and congratulations!!!
From: TGbow
06-Nov-22
Awsome hunt. Congratulations!
That's some beautiful country.
From: JB
07-Nov-22
Great recap!! Thank you for sharing!!!
From: otcWill
07-Nov-22
One of the best right here. What an adventure! Hat's off to you boys. Thanks for taking the time to post it.
From: GhostBird
08-Nov-22
Congratulations again... truly an epic adventure.
What waders did you guys wear?... and would you recommend them?
From: 808bowhunter
08-Nov-22
As far as gear, for the most part, I used my every year backcountry setup I use for elk. That is about 30 pound without food/water. I went with aquamir drops for water purification, I loved them. I stepped up my sleeping bag to stone glacier 0 degree bag, very glad I did! I had to have everything in dry bags, I went very light with Sea to Summit. They say not for submerging but seemed very waterproof to me. They are much lighter than heavy-duty dry bags and did the job very well. We both wished we brought more meat bags. We each had 8, which made for some heavy bags. Would bring 12 next time. Waders and wading boots from Simms. Freestone. I loved them and glad I returned the 100$ pair I bought on Amazon first! I bought the best waterproof gloves sitka had, they were excellent with fleece liner that can pull out. Easy to dry and can use the outer shell only if you are doing a wet job, not wanting to get inside too wet. I also brought household kitchen/cleaning rubber gloves. These were nice and we both used them for more that we thought we would. Went with freeze dried breakfast to cut down on day snacks to cut weight on food(Jason Harriston sheep hunt food list on YouTube). At a lot less than I do elk hunting, more back breaking work than hiking mountains I guess. Or my nerves suppressed appetite! We also drank a bunch of water before we started our drag to river and barely packed any. We would stop, make water and drink right there then continue on when we got thirsty. The sawtooth Teepee is my go to on every hunt. I set it up at home and gave it a waterproofing spray before we went. Happy I did. I had some moments that I was worried it might fail, it getting old. But it held true like a champ! The 3rd 50 year storm its has kept us warm and dry in past 6 years.
From: TRnCO
08-Nov-22
My best friend and I did a float hunt two years ago, guided, and having been the paddle man on one of the rafts and going through class 3 rapids, I can say that my hat is off to you two boys in them little rafts. After the first day on the water I was about done with it, but after some more instruction, I ended up getting back in the boat and by the end of the trip I finally had the confidence enough that I would've done it again. Best dang recap ever on this site. Congrats to the both of ya.
From: BwanaND
08-Nov-22
An adventure of many lifetimes for sure.
Glad it worked out for you gents as it could have easily gone bad in a hurry.
Thanks so much for "taking us along."
From: WI Shedhead
08-Nov-22
Man what an adventure!!! Congrats to you both
From: Potro
08-Nov-22
Oustanding hunt. Congrats !!!!! Great Adventure!!!!!
From: TODDY
08-Nov-22
808, how many PM's have you received up to this point wanting some intel? ?? I'm guessing 60....
From: Beav
09-Nov-22
Thank you so much for the recap! What an amazing adventure and a couple of great bulls. Congrats to both of you and I'm sure through this you formed a bond with your buddy that will last forever!
From: iceman
09-Nov-22
Holy Cow! This is one of the best hunts, adventures, recaps ever on Bowsite. Thank you for taking the time to put together this recap. Incredible stuff.
Congratulations to you guys!
From: SteveB
09-Nov-22
Unbelievable!! You guys are rock stars! I’m 67 and consider myself adventurous, but truth is I don’t think even in my prime I could have pulled that off. That story needs an hour long TV program with interviews. Incredible!!!
From: JRABQ
09-Nov-22
Holy Krap, that was an adventure!!! Congrats on the spectacular hunt, and thanks for sharing!
From: Been there
10-Nov-22
Epic story. Glad you posted it here.
From: Southern draw
10-Nov-22
Congrats that’s gonna be hard to top.
From: Whocares
10-Nov-22
congrats to you guys for having the grit to do that adventure. Tremendous. And an exciting successful hunt to go along with all of it. You the men! Thanks for sharing the write up with us too.
From: Shuteye
11-Nov-22
Dang, I enjoyed every bit of your adventure. Right here in my lounge chair with a cup of hot coffee. i do look out the window at my ground blind near my garden. Already have all the deer meat I want. You definitely had the hunt of a life time and congratulations to both of you. I am 80 years old so adventures like yours are great for us old timers to read. Made me feel like walking the 50 yards to my ground blind.
From: NY Bowman
18-Nov-22
Epic!
From: Shug
18-Nov-22
Great trip great re cap…..
Then I scrolled to the rapids photo… FDAT
From: Shug
18-Nov-22
Ohhh and congratulations also
From: KHunter
18-Nov-22
holy smokes, what an awesome, challenging adventure. I thought I was ‘out there’ float hunting moose in Idaho this year with just simple day floats, LOL not hardly and still almost bit the farm at one point.
Looking forward to a MUCH milder than the Op’s DIY hunt when I float hunt caribou in AK soon with packrafts.
From: Ambush
20-Nov-22
Just read this one again. Just epic!
You took a big (irreversible) risk and the rewards were equal to or greater than the risk!! Its one thing to go check it out and say "Nah, too much" and quite another to just leap. You've obviously measured yourselves before and proofed up to the challenge.
Just a pleasure to read and view the pics.
You did mention you had the video cam running. Any chance of that being available sometime?
From: 808bowhunter
20-Nov-22
Most the pictures were frame grabs off the video footage. I have put together a video but might submit it to a film tour so haven’t shared it publicly yet. I will post it here as soon as I decide. We all know Mother Nature is in control when we go into the nature. She gave us hell on this trip and we just had to work with the hand we were dealt
From: wildwilderness
21-Nov-22
Nice! Glutton for punishment pays off! Congrats
From: Shiras42
21-Nov-22
Not sure how I missed this thread until now. Holy Moses and Mother of Jesus Mary! This goes right up to the top of the all time great hunts on Bowsite! Just wow! You earned those bulls for sure. Before I got to your later posts the question was burning in my mind as to whether you would do it again and I guess you addressed that. Congrats to you both on an epic journey.
From: BOWNBIRDHNTR
21-Nov-22
WOW, What an epic adventure from start to finish! My son and I spent 10 days alone on Kodiak Island last month on a DIY hunt. Many people back home have accused us of being "Real Men". Compared to your adventure we would be lucky to called cub scouts, you and your brother are truly REAL MEN! Thanks for sharing it on Bowsite!!
From: Treeline
01-Dec-22
Yes, recent but needs to pop back to the top! Such an absolutely stunning adventure.
You absolutely cannot get this kind of adventure bow hunting story anywhere else...
From: Medicinemann
12-Jan-23
Thank you for sharing your adventure. I have enjoyed every float hunt that I have ever attempted....especially when I have gotten back home, warmed up and dried out!! Congratulations on a memory of a lifetime!
From: tradi-doerr
12-Jan-23
Awesome adventure!! Great recap of your Float-hunt and great looking bull!!
From: Stoneman
13-Jan-23
Hard to think of something that hasn’t already been said, what an incredible epic adventure!
Thank you for sharing. The photography was excellent! One of the best recaps ever shared!
From: Stoneman
13-Jan-23
From: Twinetickler
13-Jan-23
Awesome! What an adventure of a lifetime and a couple bulls of a lifetime! Thanks for sharing.
From: Bernie Bjorklund
13-Jan-23
This is definitely the best hunt recap that I have ever read! Totally amazing hunt, and to be able to document it with incredible pictures is awesome!
Congratulations to you and your brother! I hope to read your next adventure!
Bernie
From: longspeak74
13-Jan-23
Crushed it! Excellent recap and congrats!
From: Pat Lefemine
14-Jan-23
Thank you for posting this. Wow!! I’ve done a few floats and they are not easy even when everything goes right. Fantastic adventure. I’m wishing I had a section now for our top 10 hunting stories. This would definitely be at the top. Thanks again.
From: bowhunter24
14-Jan-23
WOW thanks for taking me on the ride of my life can't believe I missed it the 1st time!
From: arlone
14-Jan-23
Guess I had missed this till now? Thanks for taking me along on a great hunt. Like everyone else, great recap, story and photos!
From: Mule Power
14-Jan-23
I’m on here every day unless I’m elk hunting. How in the world did I miss this thread! When I first opened it I thought wow a million posts I’ll just skim through it and check out the pictures. I wonder if they killed anything? After your first few posts I couldn’t stop reading. Every post… every comment. Un freakin real! I have to say I love adventure. Definitely have some balls. But yours make mine look like little marbles!
I’d be PMing you begging for information but at 57 years old I’m not so sure I’d live to tell about it!
Congratulations on the hunt of a lifetime with the ultimate partner. Nothing but respect for you guys.
TRoy and Kevin Dill step aside. You guys just got demoted to numbers 2 & 3 on my list of heroes! Haha! Good Lord what a hunt!
From: Blue Buck
14-Jan-23
So glad I saw this after somehow missing it the first go around. What an epic adventure. Thanks for sharing!!
From: Rgiesey
14-Jan-23
Great write up! Big adventure and congrats for the success! I’ll read it again just relive your trip.
From: BowJangles
05-Feb-23
This thread is what the Bowsite is all about! Thanks for taking us along fellas and congrats on a helluva pair of moose!!!
From: Dirty D
06-Feb-23
I missed this one. Hands down one of the best I’ve seen on Bowsite. You guys are badass!!
From: WV Mountaineer
06-Feb-23
It was a good the 23rd time as it was the first. Just awesome.
From: BIGHORN
06-Feb-23
Best story I have ever read!!! Close to 40 years ago a friend was looking for someone to go on a float trip with him in Alaska. He said that he had everything all checked out so I said I would go with him. Dragging the raft over shallow and narrow water was a lot harder than most will think. We only saw 1 moose but did get 3 caribou. I would have filled my pants going down the rapids loaded with meat the way you did. The rain gives a new meaning to soaked to the skin and shivering. You did a lot of planning and I admire your buddy and you for taking on an adventure like this. All I can say is WOW and thank you for sharing your hunt with us!
From: toritedder8
07-Feb-23
From: Mark Watkins
08-Feb-23
Crazy good!!! Congrats!
Thanks for taking us along!!
Mark
