View of tent camp from hilltop to swamp. 

Having already taken a brown bear in 2016 and a mountain goat in 2020, Alaska has become Gary Howell’s go-to place for big game hunting in recent years.

“Yes, now that I think of it,” said the Tyler hunter who this fall added a moose to his list of trophies from the nation’s 49th state.

Howell’s quest for a moose began in 2022 in Canada’s Yukon, but unusually warm temperatures chased the animals deep into the mountains and hunters back home.

That experience led him back to Alaska and midway down the Alaska Peninsula along the King Salmon River with Bruce Hallingstad of Becharof Lodge.

“I said I was going somewhere there were moose. I knew there were moose there, but it was going to be pretty tough,” Howell said.

Just getting onsite was a chore that required flights from Dallas-Fort Worth to Seattle, then to Anchorage followed by float plane flight to King Salmon and a two-hour boat ride to a tent camp that would be home for the 10-day September hunt.

Scheduled during the rut, the hunt was just off the river on an island that was little more than a giant swamp. Temperatures ranged from the upper 30s to the upper 40s with constant rains.

“That is the environment the moose live in. Per Bruce’s suggestion, I invested in Simms waders, boots, and a Helly Hensen raincoat. I am glad I did as I pretty well lived in waders the entire time I was there. The hunting was basically finding a high vantage point and glassing for hours at a time. I have hunted a lot in a lot of places but nothing quite like this,” Howell said.

The first five days were spent looking at bulls 600 yards away, too far to call.

That changed on the sixth day when the hunt’s packer interrupted breakfast saying he had just seen a good bull 300 to 400 yards from camp.

“We hurried up the hill and, sure enough there was a good bull out there. He was judged to be 350 yards out which I am comfortable with normally,” Howell said.

But there was a problem. In their haste to get a look no one remembered to grab the shooting sticks. Laying prone for a secure shot was not an option because between the party’s position and the moose was nothing but tall grass that mandated a standing shot.

“The guide judged him at 330 yards, so with no alternative I shot standing up using a 4X16 scope on .300 Winchester magnum. At first, the moose did not flinch, and I thought I missed him. I bolted up again and fired and this time he did take off into the swamp. I had one last look just before he got further into the swamp and fired which, as it turned out, hit him in the neck and dropped him instantly,” Howell said.

The bull, with antlers measuring 58 inches wide, was 7 years old. That is considered old in an area where they typically top out at 8 age wise.

Like most outings of this kind the hard work lay ahead.

“The real chore was getting him out as Alaska requires all meat to be harvested,” Howell said.

Fortunately, the moose fell on dry land near a small creek.

“Our strategy was to bring in two inflatable rafts and drag out about 700 pounds of meat. To skin, quarter, and everything else, it took six hours,” he added.

When skinning the moose they found all three of the bullets Howell had shot. None of them had exited the animal.

Getting the meat out from the kill site would have to wait until the next morning. That created concern since it was in wolf and bear country.

“Earlier, I talked to a hunter from the previous year who had waited until the next morning to get the meat and hide out. When he got there, five bears were still feasting and he could only retrieve the antlers, chewed up as they were. That became our worry as well. It rained all night and turned colder. Fortunately, no bears were around the next morning,” Howell said.

The hunter rates the hunt as one of the greatest adventures he has had while hunting around the world.

“You can watch film of moose hunts, but film does not do justice to the thick, nasty, six-foot tall razor edge grass, and walking miles on a tundra surface. I would describe this part of Alaska as something like the Louisiana marsh in a colder, wetter environment. The alders and thorn vegetation is about the thickest, nastiest stuff you can imagine,” Howell said.

He also ranks the meat high in quality.

“As a culinary delight, I would rate moose as the best game meat in North America, even ahead of elk. Very tender and enough marble to make it tasty. In fact, we had a moose roast the next night and it was fabulous,” Howell said.

Howell transported a cooler of meat back to Texas and what he did not keep was given to the 33 Aleuts making up the nearby of village of Egegik.