It's day 10, morning has broken again beautifully. Lot warmer last night and it
has been and there's not been much of a breeze although it's just picked up, but
look over there, see those two white things over there? They are meat bags and
they are full, which means last night about 5:10 uncle Ian pulled it off and downed
a moose. Right up there. It is packing out day, one of Ian's favourites, so I'm hoping he
enjoys it and we're going to be burning, packing pretty much all day. Last night we
got back about 9:30, so it was a late night. We just managed to get tea down our necks before
hitting the sack. We've accomplished what we came to
accomplish, which is absolutely fantastic. Two guys self-guiding out here in the last
frontier. We best crack on and get this moose in bags and getting back here for the plane to pick it up.
I'm not saying this is the right way or the wrong way to sharpen your knife, but
this is the way I do it on a on a stone like this.
Push it five ways
on the blade going one way.
Then turn it round,
push it back the other way.
So I'm doing both sides.
Because Ian shot a lovely moose and we've got to get all that meat and skin off.
Although we've been gazing at this terrain for over a week now, we take time
to carefully plan the most advantageous route to the bull.
it's tough going and we don't want to waste any precious energy.
Once we make it to the river you know the trail is cut ready.
However, it's all uphill from here and there's plenty of roots and branches to claw at your heels.
Once at the top I load my rifle as a precaution.
We know there's a grizzly in this area and there's a chance it could already be feeding on the carcass.
But, with the stage clear Wildey straps on his blades and gets down to business.
Here's the point where I feel like a bit of a spare part.
Steve is a maestro with his knives and it really is a pleasure to watch him work.
Everyday in the field is a learning day and Steve takes time to explain the
butchery process, whilst planning the cuts he'll be loading into each pack.
There are strict rules regarding how meat should be harvested in Alaska.
All meat should be stripped from the bone and extracted, nothing is left to waste.
It's also significantly easier to pack out meat in large joints rather than
smaller cuts. This way the meat doesn't tend to shift around in the packs as you're walking.
The fabric meat bags allow the meat to breathe, but we line
our packs with heavy-duty contractor bags for the trip down the mountain.
This saves me from being covered in blood and stinking like an abattoir and becoming a
mosquito magnet for the remainder of our trip.
Strapping the load as tightly as possible is essential.
If the load shifts unexpectedly whilst on uneven ground
I could go down heavily, potentially breaking a leg baby or worse.
And now I'm on my way this is my time to shine.
while Steve also enjoys the highly rewarding feeling you get from physically carrying out an animal you've
harvested and butchered, he still thinks it's a little strange that I enjoyed this part so much.
But, it is this visceral and emotional connection with
the fallen animal that is so important to me. It's a mark of respect for our
quarry and a recognition of its sacrifice so that others may benefit from the harvest.
The journey down to the river has been tough enough, but now it's uphill all the way back to camp.
My thighs are burning and like gasps for air it's all about putting one foot in front of the other.
So, there's the first load out today. That's last night, so it was two loads
about 50 pound each. Now, today I brought out whole front quarter, that's about 80
pounds. Steve's really good with his knife work managed to get it nice and
tight off the bone. You've got to take everything from the animal down to its
knee bone. Unfortunately, shot it through the neck, so most of that meat is all
blown, but Steve's back up there doing the rest of the knife work, trying to get it
into four even packs, hopefully there'll be about 50 to 60 pounds. It's good to
get this one out the way, it's nice and heavy.
I like it on the packs get lighter as it gets later. It's taking about an hour and
45 minute roundtrip, so with a bit of loading at the top
there it's about two hours. Now, Cole's asked when he's going to come out and
pick the meat up, he wants to do it tonight before it spoils, it has been quite
bright and I said between 6:30 and 7:00. We might get it done sooner all depends
on how Wildey has been doing with his knife work. Ideally if we can both do two
more trips that will break the back of it and go back and get the rack tomorrow.
That's one of the things about moose hunting though particularly when you
shoot one right up there in the mountains you've got to think about how
much work and effort is to get it back. Now, last year when we came out there was
four of us packing and we did the job pretty quickly in less than a day. But,
obviously with just two of us and with Wildey mainly doing the knife work a lot
of the legwork you know lays with me. So, just think
about it before you go out there moose hunting. Squeezing the triggers easy part the hard work comes afterwards
Steve's made great progress by the time I arrived back, having completely
stripped the bull, split the meat into manageable loads and is busy with the final job of cleaning off the skull.
I get loaded up with another pack and get ready to head back to camp to start preparing lunch.
Steve will follow on shortly once he's finished cleaning the skull.
So, there we have it the end of day 10. Pretty epic day, it's been a bit of hard work
today, but well worth it in the end. Very rewarding. So, team awesome rides
again. Of course we got the bull down yesterday, Steve got a couple of packs out for us to
bring down rear quarter. We got up there first thing this morning Steve did
knife work while I brought out front quarter and then it's worked really well.
So, got up there we both bought a pack down, had a bit of lunch and went back up
there for the final pack. There's a great bull, not the biggest it's out there.
We've seen an even bigger one and on the footage we can see just how small this is
in comparison. He's been a bit of work getting them out. It's been hard work,
it's been rewarding work. I know you love moose hunting deep down,
deep down absolutely. I don't see another moose for at least 12 months, but I
absolutely love. All I can say thanks ever so much mate, mate it's been an
honour doing it. This country really does make you work for your animals, not only
spotting them getting, in to take shots as you saw yesterday you know it's
pretty epic stalk in there right up the way across the top of the mountain
through a ravine and through thick elders and willows and the reward is
then to get a shot on this guy and then the realization hits you, bugger all
this work to get it back down again. As soon as you saw him throw his head in the air
I thought that's the next two days of pain, yeah I know, Wildey was down
kind of with his head behind he's enjoying the sunshine. Rains coming in
now so we time this absolutely to perfection.
We think Cole's gonna come in a little bit later and he's gonna pick up the
meat and fly it out so make sure nothing's spoilt and then I'm gonna cook
dinner again. It's been a great day hopefully you've enjoyed it. Yes, been
awesome day, it's been awesome trip really. Can you believe we've done ten
days once in Alaska and not got wet? No, we have been very, very lucky with the
weather. Last year draining all the time, but weather was pretty terrible. This
time we've had it pretty much bang off, but it's been a real pleasure working
with you there's only been two of us, we've been self-guided you're not really sure
what's gonna happen when you're self-guiding, whether you're gonna be able to
make the shots or choose right routes, but appear that we've done okay.
We're not too shabby at this job mate. We've got a caribou down moose down as well. We've
done what we came to do. I best cook dinner, so thanks again mate you're welcome.
It's late in the day by the time Cole arrives to collect the Bull. He's a
workaholic with an insane schedule, ferrying hunters and their trophies across the region.
This is just one of many stops today.
But, his real success lies in getting hunters to the ideal location for their
chosen hunts, whether that be moose caribou, bear or doll sheep.
Of course you must be well prepared, but his clients healthy rate of success speaks for itself.
Whilst I'll be taking home the antlers, I donated the meat from both of my bulls
to a local family in need. Moose meat is a vital source of protein in this region
and I'm glad to be able to do my part to support those who don't have the
opportunity to hunt themselves.
The regulatory system that controls hunting and harvesting a big game here
in Alaska is the most sophisticated I've experienced anywhere in the world.
It delivers a successful sustainable management program that will ensure
thriving populations of game for generations to come.
With that our hunt is nearly at an end.
This is our last night in paradise.