Do - It - Yourself Moose

Hunting the World’s Largest Deer.

- Brad Fenson

The deep, rhythmic thumping noise generated from the spinning propeller on our Beaver aircraft could be felt in my chest as we motored across the lake for takeoff. Perhaps it was my increased heart rate, as we prepared for a week in the northern wilderness looking for giant Alaska/Yukon moose. I watched the wake from the floats turn into a spray that slowly dissipated until we were airborne, headed for adventure in the Yukon.

I had been planning the trip for more than a year with my Yukon buddy Larry Leigh. We had packed all our camping equipment, inflatable boat and food to keep us comfortable at our destination. We had planned carefully, and after talking to several people knowledgeable about the area, we picked a secluded, high alpine lake to hunt for moose.

The flight in was breathtaking, and as we flew down the river valley, I spotted a herd of Stone sheep on a steep break. We were headed into some truly wild country. It would be a half-hour flight to the lake, taking us over several mountain ranges and through river valleys strewn with game trails. Our pilot pointed out a lake nestled between two mountains in the distance and let us know we’d have to pick a drop-off point to set up our camp. We circled the shoreline trying to determine if we could see flat ground for the tents and be able to glass the long shoreline for game. I tried to take mental notes of the habitat below and the willow-choked draws running through the valleys along the lake. The floats of the plane broke the calm surface of the water minutes later, and we motored up on a sandy shoreline to unload the gear.