How spread out to hunt?
Moose
Well, we (2 groups of 2) put in for moose tags with 10% odds last year thinking one group might draw. Of course both groups drew. So now that there are 4 of us do we split up and hunt totally different country 10+ miles apart, or share camp and try to get away from each other every day? The river we will hunt snakes so much you could travel 5 river miles and still only be a mile from camp, so it would take some effort to separate every day. How many shooter bulls can someone realistically expect to be in an area of remote AK?
For starters Alaska is a big place and disclaimer I’ve never been there but I can say to expect to go 4 for 4 especially with archery tackle ANYWHERE moose live you’d have to know that you have an absolutely outstanding moose camp. If you don’t know that for sure, don’t bet on it.
Dropped in there by plane and hunting on foot? How many days?
The odds of 4 guys killing bulls (in a restricted area?) would be on par with a walk-off grand slam in game 7. It could happen. It could also happen that the exact area you're in proves to be very slow for bulls and only one or none gets killed. I've seen that very thing happen in areas that normally have good moose around.
4 guys on foot is not a great formula out of one camp unless you go 2 x 2 and don't split up no matter what. But it's still 4 x everything. Cooking odors, man smell, poop holes.... and pretty soon the smell is all over the region. I would always prefer no more than 2 guys in one camp and the next nearest camp is no closer than 5-6 air miles. Farther apart is even better. A bull will walk that far in an hour or two when searching cows.
Proven area, we have hunted it before and gone 2/3 passing up legal bulls looking for really good ones. Transport is a 16ft flat bottom with a GoDevil motor that we can use daily. But we learned last time the more you motor up and down the river the more likely you are to push the moose off the river into the oxbow lakes. Steep banks, so I think it contains the noise quite a bit but will still spook ‘em if you are doing it too much. We have always just cruised you the river in the mornings and floated down in the evenings. I think we lucked out in the past and are going to put in much more time to calling, but are torn a bit on having 2 separate camps. Probably the way to go though if we want to all kill one!
Well if you've been there I am really surprised as to why you are asking other people what the chances are. No one could possibly know better than you. Look at your past hunts and ask yourself if you could have done it. No more difficult than that.
It has been a number of years and I think we just got really lucky on the last outing. Pretty novice moose hunters with minimal experience besides a few bulls we lucked into on the river banks.
Your original plan was for two guys to be in camp. I’d stick to that. I would NEVER have more than two in camp hunting for moose. I think the more you have the lower the chance of any moose being close to camp. It also forces you to hunt further from camp potentially setting yourselves up for some hellish packing.
Fly into different camps 10 or so miles apart and stay in touch to compare notes via Inreach. In my opinion that would be just as enjoyable as much more productive.
I say take all 4 to the same camp! I would let everyone know I get first shot at a moose and would much rather have 3 guys help pack it out than just 1 helper!
Four guys is fine...two go North, two go South. You get one you'll be damn happy the other guys are there!
I’ve hunted with 4 guys in camp for moose several times. We never tried to kill 4 bulls, but we could have for sure.
Hunt with your friends.
