Possible world record moose

[tikkalover]

Holy Moly! ::wowzers::

 

[Maddog]

I'm still an Alaska resident and have considered going up there to do a DIY trip. The problem is that I don't want to go up by myself and none of my friends have the money needed to get up there and do it right.

you need some new friends . . .

 

[Captain Ahab]

That's incredible!

 

[huffranger]

Lots of big swamp donkeys hit the ground this year.

 

[gone_fishing]

I thought this was maybe these moose but I think it might be a different pair: http://www.outdoornews.com/2017/09/22/two-brothers-melrose-bag-pair-monster-yukon-moose/

 

[johnr]

Should have given it a Another season to grow

 

[martinslanding]

Should have given it a Another season to grow

...and he's back

 

[Big Iron]

I bet all those moose fell victim to the 270 WSM.

 

[Kurtr]

Should have given it a Another season to grow[/QUO

thought the Russians had got you

 

[fj40]

Daddy like.

 

[huffranger]

If you want to simulate a moose hunt, simply go to Lowes buy a pallet of cement.

Not those pussy 60 # bags get the 80 #ers, haul it out to the bottom of Mary college hill. Then take your shitty military frame pack you got off Bisman and begin packing them up the hill. Not down hill, that's for when you want to simulate a Dahl sheep hunt. Airstrips on moose hunts are always uphill and sheep hunts they are down hill.

You can stop when somebody steals whats left of your concrete on the pallet, that simulates when a grizzle bear finds your kill and you no longer can haul any meat.

When your finished you can sit down to rest your sore muscles and be happy you spent $150 on cement not $15,000 on a moose hunt.

 

[guywhofishes]

ha ha ha ha

 

[Vollmer]

Should have given it a Another season to grow

Who's this guy!?::closerlook:::

 

[lunkerslayer]

Should have given it a Another season to grow

NEAT!

 

[johnr]

If moose could talk, I bet they would rather tell you guys about how they don't really like squirrels, than about how much paddle size is exaggerated

 

[5575]

"I was honored tonight to measure what may truly be the most impressive moose ever killed on earth. It has too many extras to approach the B&C WR and no scoring system appreciates the weight and thickness of palms. This will likely be top 5 all time SCI, if my math holds up but numbers don't do it justice other than the weight. It weighs #115!!! A clean moose skull weighs about 15#, that means there is close to 100# of antler on this thing... unprecedented! Those of you that buy and collect moose sheds know that a 30# shed is almost unheard of. This guy has a couple of them in the 40s! It has it all, 80" wide, long and wide palms, and just enough junk. It is a couple inches thick in some areas of the palms! I have been in the same room with #1-3 B&C over the years and none of them come close to impressing like this thing! Thanks Israel for letting me spend some time with it!"


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This week Alaska’s Israel Payton brought home what is believed to be a world record bull moose at 80 inches.

"We tried to stand it up with cow calls, bull rakes, and grunts,” said Payton over the phone. “I guesstimated it was about a 70 inch rack from the field, and finally after 2 hours it stood up and offered a clean kill, harvested it."

Payton tells us he was hunting with a friend, when on day 3 of the hunt he spotted the bull from about 600 yards away.

He says they were able to get within 200 yards providing him with an ethical shot, but then the moose bedded down so the hunters had to wait.

Two hours later the moose stood up, and the rest is record breaking history.

"You always get a big adrenaline rush right before you harvest an animal, anyway I do,” said Payton. “When I got up next to the animal I realized how big and massive it truly was.”

Payton tells us it took a full day to pack the moose out, and with the meat he plans to share with his family, his parents, and probably 3 more families. The moose should feed them until next hunting season.

 

[5575]

Here is a little more about it.

Perhaps the most remarkable Alaska moose story of the year belongs to Israel Payton, 39, who hunted mid-month with a friend somewhere in Southcentral Alaska. He said he wants to tell the story in his words in due time for the right audience, so he isn't giving many details. His neighbor, Tom Anderson, raved on the Facebook page for his radio talk show about Payton's moose as a possible world record.







The post has been shared more than 3,700 times and drew hundreds of comments, some applauding the success and others mourning the giant moose.

The moose was massive, with a rack that spanned 80 inches, Payton confirmed.

Whether it is a record will take time to sort out, if Payton even decides to do so.

Payton, born in the Susitna Valley in a trapper's cabin near the Hayes River and raised in Skwentna on salmon and wild game, said he wasn't looking for a trophy and isn't into records.

He hunts to provide his family with "good, sustainable meat that I know where it came from." But he also hunts for something more.

"It's kind of my heritage, the way I grew up. It's a part of me. I can't separate that from myself, really," he said.

If he didn't go on a couple of hunts a year, he wouldn't be himself and his wife would tell him to get out there, Payton said.

Payton, who now lives in Wasilla and is a member of the Alaska Board of Fisheries, realizes the sensitivity of some to hunting and doesn't want to inflame those feelings.

He told a little of the story: He and his hunting partner each flew themselves to an area in Southcentral. The first morning, on Sept. 15 or so, his partner shot a moose with bow and arrow, a nice one with a 63-inch spread. While they were hunting, a bear shredded the tent. So they ended up with a black bear too.

Two days after the first moose, Payton got his opportunity. He would have taken aim at any moose with a rack of at least 50 inches, he said. The one he got provided his first clear shot.

"It just happened to be big," he said.

He used to guide clients who only wanted a trophy and left the meat behind for locals. There's nothing wrong with that, as long as the meat gets used, he said. But he understands why some find that distasteful.

He hunts his own, moose and caribou, sheep and deer. He rarely buys beef. His family, with a fish wheel at the homestead in Skwentna, never buys salmon.

His moose was divided with his parents, who are sharing with others. A Palmer friend with a meat processing facility made sausages, meat sticks and the like. Payton and his wife freezer-wrapped steaks and roasts.

They also can moose in quart jars, 90 minutes at 10 pounds of pressure in the canner. That produces pulled meat for sloppy Joes. He likes moose grilled medium-rare on the barbecue too. The secret is good fieldwork, he said, keeping the meat cool and clean.

"The biggest mistake people make is cooking it too long," he said.

As to whether that will be a record moose, he's still evaluating whether to get it officially measured for Boone and Crockett Club, a wildlife conservation group that keeps big-game records for North America. Antlers must dry for 60 days to allow for shrinkage. Measurements of various parts of the antlers, including the spread, are taken by a certified individual. The formula factors in antler symmetry as well as size.

The current record Alaska-Yukon moose was killed in 2010 on the Lower Yukon River by Rex J. Nick, according to Boone and Crockett (its website is outdated). It had a spread of 76 inches. Nick didn't pursue the record, but someone who bought the rack did so years later, according to Kyle Lehr, Boone and Crockett assistant director of big-game records.

For Simon, Payton and others, the power of the hunt weaves through them.

"I think it's something biologically in me," Payton said.

After they butchered their moose, Simon's group held hands atop the rise. They prayed for a safe return home. They thanked God for providing.

When moose is for dinner this winter, they'll know its story.

 

[Kickemup]

Good story. One heck of an animal.

 

[BrokenBackJack]

He better hide that rack because if it is in the top 5 someone is going to try and steal it and sell it.

 

[NodakBuckeye]

Wow, what incredible animals and a cool story.

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I'm still an Alaska resident and have considered going up there to do a DIY trip. The problem is that I don't want to go up by myself and none of my friends have the money needed to get up there and do it right.

Hmmmmm....