Moose Hunting Needed .

[Pygmy]

In most places in Canada an American citizen is required by law to hire the services of a guide or outfitter to hunt big game.. That limits the ability to do a DIY hunt  there for moose, elk, caribou, sheep ,goats or grizzlies... I think there  are some execptions for deer and black bears in some areas..

In Alaska and most of the lower 48, DIY is legal for most species ( with a few exceptions) and it is a very rewarding way to hunt and generally less expensive than guided or outfitted hunts... However, it takes a lot of planning, research and preparation if you hope to have a fair chance of success... You also need to be in good enough physical condition to get your game from the kill site to a place where a boat, airplane or vehicle can get to it after you have killed it... 

I did a number of DIY hunts in Alaska , New Mexico and Colorado and they are among my fondest memories.. However, that was a few years ago when I was younger and more physically fit...As Harry Callahan once said... " A man has got to know his limitations.."... ...

[Dinsdale]

You can do Caribou and Moose in Quebec doing what outfitters consider semi guided.

Other than a cabin and sometimes depending, a boat, you get to play on your own and bring your own supplies(fly-in drop camp). Moose are a party permit for everyone I have delt with, allocating one Moose per group(2 req'd).

Caribou can be done in fall migration or in wintering grounds. Winter hunt does not typically yield good trophies as the big bulls knock their antlers off when they get south to the tree line in general. Its a long drive.....

I did Caribou semi that included meals; but hunted on my own 4 days, one day with another hunter, and two days with one of the guides that wanted to get out for a few days and scout for incoming hunters that were doing fully guided. Took a nice Bou' out on my own and one when with the guide.

Made a friend with that guide and visit him off season in St. John's most years.

Fun hunts and good eating.

[Doc]

you need an outfitter who is familiar with the area.  They scout,  they have butchers, they have ATV's, they drag it out, they have hotels, etc, etc.

You really think your driving 20 hours up into a strange area, and finding a good location .... and doing that by yourself.

Best of luck.

Actually, back in the mid 80's, we did an Ontario moose bowhunt that was back in so far that we had to show the outfitter where we were going to be. He had never been there. We left his camp and traveled back in about 40 miles on what was little better than log roads. Parked the truck, unloaded the canoes and a small motor boat and traveled the length of a rather large lake. Then we portaged about 150 yards into another lake, and went the length of that lake and built a camp along the shore. By the time we were done, there was absolutely no sign of humans other than ourselves. The only sounds were the moose splashing around in the swamp on the other side of the lake at night, and the occasional tail slap of a beaver that wasn't taking too kindly to our campsite in his turf. In fact I didn't even hear an airplane all the time we were there. The fishing was great and supplemented the dried food that we took in. There was no outfitter doing any scouting or butchering or supplying ATVs or hotels or even feeding us while we were back in there ..... lol. The moose that we got was carried out in chunks along with all of our other gear, and the temperatures were such that we didn't have to worry about meat spoilage. The moose went out the way all our gear went in ....... on our backs.

What the outfitter did for us was to first satisfy a legal requirement. He obtained the legal moose and bear tags for us and provided a Canadian fishing license. He also offered his walk in cooler when we finally got back to his camp with the moose, supplied a warm cabin for a good night's sleep before going home which we were required to rent for the entire week even though we only used it that one night, and oh yeah, he fried up the moose liver for our supper that last night in Canada. He had a bar and restaurant in camp.

As far as scouting, that was done over the previous year with topo maps, and the final butchering was done when we got home. The first day was spent checking the lake edge and the swamp at the end of the lake and the edges of a small inlet river. That first day we had several calling sites located near some pretty good trails with fresh moose tracks. That was it ..... one day of on-the-ground scouting and a bunch of hours back home pouring over some topo maps.

So all in all, I would call that about as do-it-yourself a hunt as the laws up there will allow. It required 4 of us to pull it off. I don't see any way that a single hunter could ever do it. Anybody can do it today if they are fit enough. By the way, back then the whole trip was dirt cheap. I'm sure that aspect of it has changed by now.

Doc

[Pygmy]

Good story, Doc, thanks for sharing....I'll bet that by the time packed out you were glad that you didn't get 3 or 4 moose....

A friend of mine did a moose hunt years ago,somewhere in Canada...

He told me... " We were having a great time, and then some dumb SOB shot a MOOSE.."... ...

I've done 5 DIY hunts in Alaska, 4 drop camps and a float trip...I would LOVE to do it again, but I would need 2 or 3 strong young fellows to do most of the bull work...A friend of mine who loves moose hunting and loves Alaska was going to go with me a few years ago.. We had the hunt pretty well planned, had picked an area and talked to an air taxi provider...

Then we had a soul searching discussion and realized that we were a little too old and fat to attempt it... :-[ ....  Those hunts were ballbusters 20 years ago when I did them, and I was in the best physical condition I had ever been in, and they damn near killed me... .....

A man has GOT to know his limitations.....

[Doc]

No, that was my last hunt of that sort. Too many years have gone by since those days. I'm glad I did it while I could. We were all in great shape back then.

Doc