My Back Yard: Jump Shooting for Moose on the Yukon

Tuesday, October 10, 2023

Jump Shooting for Moose on the Yukon

(photo by Bryan Kirby)

The canoe wobbled a little as I stepped in; I was the middle man of three in a 17 foot Coleman canoe which meant that I got to sit on the center crossbar. Dave was in the back and was alternating canoe strokes with bull moose grunt calls. Bryan was in the front.

It had been a long day of travel on the Yukon River. We had pushed off of the bank at the Yukon River bridge on the Haul Road at 7:00 AM that morning. An hour stop in Galena had us at 12 hours of river running.

After we left Galena we decided to stay at Dave’s cabin. It was only thirty miles further and would break up an otherwise epic boat ride to moose camp. Also, we wouldn’t have to set up camp. “The question is..” Dave had said, “What happens if we see a bull at the cabin?” Bryan said nothing. I was the newbie on this hunt and was trying not to call-the-shots. After a pause, they both turned to me for an answer. I was the only one with a rifle and was somehow designated shooter on this hunt. Bryan and I have moose hunted together many times and neither of us cares who shoots the moose as long as the deed is done.

“Well if you’re asking me I would say that if it’s a small one we pass but I’m going to be honest with you. I have a hard time passing up a nice moose”. This ended the discussion and we made our way down river. Next stop Dave’s cabin.

Dave’s cabin was on an oxbow lake off of the main creek and as we paddled around the corner several ducks swerved in front of us. Dave let out another guttural bull grunt through his fiberglass moose call.

“Did you hear that?” Bryan said” There’s one over there!” A call just like what Dave had produced had me reaching for my rifle. It sounded very near. The paddling had stopped and we slowly glided along the glassy water.

Just then an abrupt commotion with branches breaking, had a rather large bull charging out of the brush onto the bank right in front of us not forty feet away! Dave’s challenge had been answered. He was swaying his antlers back and forth as he stepped towards us. I looked behind me at Dave for any indication of where he stood on the situation...nothing. I turned around to look at Bryan and he was looking at the moose and had his fingers in his ears. Now either Bryan was trying to dig out some late-fall mosquitos that had flown into both of his ears simultaneously, or he was protecting himself from a very loud noise. This was all I needed.

After a brief and intense stare-down, the bull turned his head just enough for me to place a bullet high on his neck. He went down like a sack of potatoes. In recent years I have been a bit more selective in my shooting. When possible, a head or high neck shot is preferred because there is less waste.

Bryan and Dave looked at each other and just shook their heads in disbelief. It was 8:00 PM and the sun was going down. We had several hours of late night work ahead of us but I couldn’t help but feel the excitement of harvesting what would be a big, fat moose that would fill the freezer for the next year!

I was a little leary that my hunting partners might dump me into the creek after shooting this moose so late in the day and/or early in the hunt but in the end they were super gracious and we soon got busy with the job of cutting it up . The process of field dressing the moose would have us done at 12:30 at night but the cabin was only 75 yards away. We paddled to Dave’s cozy cabin under a sky full of bright stars. With a grateful heart and tired body, I crawled into my bunk and went to sleep.