Forums.NitroExpress.com

Sure...also, here is a link to Alaska's Dept of Fish and Game musk ox info... http://www.adfg.state.ak.us/pubs/notebook/biggame/muskoxen.php

I drew one of around 45 annual permits to hunt bull musk ox on Nunivak Island, off the coast of Western Alaska. The village consists of around 200 Eskimo natives. I hired an Eskimo transporter to take me out on the hunt. A full-fledged guide can be hired for more money, but isn't really necessary. The difference between the two is that the transporter can take you out on snowmachines, but you have to find/select/stalk/skin/butcher/cape your own animal, whereas the guide will assist in all these activities.

I arrived at the transporter's house in the village of Mekoryuk, on Nunivak, in the afternoon of Day 1, with my brother and our hunting partner. They went along for the hunt, though they were only armed with video cameras. We got settled in, discussed our plans, and did some necessary paperwork.

The next morning we started out on snowmachines, towing freight sleds. The temp was about 0 degrees F or a little colder, though the wind chill was probably around -30. The terrain is lunar, flat and snow-white. About 45 miles south of the village, probably a two hour snowmachine ride, the coastline is broken by some smallish snow-covered sand dunes. We spotted some musk ox there, and snowmachined near the dunes to begin our stalk.

The musk ox group up in a circle when threatened, with all of the adults facing outward to fend off threats. We glassed quietly from about 180yds out, so as not to disturb them. It's too difficult to evaluate each individual, if you bunch them up. Plus, there is a real danger of pass-through shots striking another animal if you aren't careful.

We used the dunes to stalk closer, once I selected the oldest bull of the herd. Unfortunately, when we popped up on top of a dune about 50yds away from them, they had milled around enough that I couldn't immediately tell which animal was the one I wanted. While trying to assess them again, we spooked them and they took off. Apparently, they don't always bunch up...

We rode away from them on the machines, and circled wide to get ahead, thinking we'd let them come to us. It's possible to ride them down on the snowmachines, but that wouldn't really be sporting, would it? We prefered to keep a distance from them when on the machine, and use our feet to approach.

Unfortunately, they saw us out on the snowy plain, and turned back into the dunes. I left my machine and walked to them on foot..a long ways in the snow, wearing all my cold weather gear. My brother and our friend stayed behind with the machines, so as not to spook them.

This time, when I finally got near them again (70yds), I laid down so as not to present a large threat, and glassed a bit. They did bunch up some, kind of like they were waiting to see what I was going to do. It was apparent they were on the verge of running again, but I stayed still and waited until I could recognize the bull I wanted. He remained apart from the others a bit, so I got a good angle on him and shot.

The first shot went in behind the shoulder, but high in the top of the lungs..he staggered a bit as the others ran off, and I shot again through his shoulder. This bullet was recovered during skinning, just inside the hide behind the off-shoulder. The other bullet did not exit, but I never found it inside the animal.

It took over an hour with 3 of us working fast to skin/butcher/cape him. We loaded the meat and hide into the freight sleds and returned to the village. In all, we travelled around 100 miles that day on snowmachine.

Musk ox are not the most challenging animal to hunt, as evidenced by the fact that you can be successful in one day...but the whole experience of location/environment, weather, and a unique animal make it a very enjoyable experience.

dave

Post Extras