I had an aquaintance from Wi go on an archery hunt this past winter and he filled his tag. That sounded like quite an animal to hunt. The guard hairs on those beasts are unreal. I'm not sure what part of Alaska he hunted.

And?

I was making a general observation about a very unique and interesting American hunting opportunity. They are quite the creatures. Getting close to an animal as big as a musk ox (within bow range) would be interesting. Google a musk ox (and musk oxe hunting) if you don't know what I'm talking about. Imagine getting 1 with a bow.

Well...they really aren't all that big. Heavy yes but short critters. Just about anything with a bow is an accomplishment and...........they are outstanding to eat.

How's the musk-any value as a canine lure?

The fur is really musky so it should work good. I used some for lynx bait once and the lynx loved it. We have a program now where good sized hides are worth $250.00 so don't use them for bait any more. The fat in the meat is marbled so they are probably better for you. Had some good pictures but cant figure out how to post them.

several things to note...
as white said they arent that big once you take the hide off. The front quarters are similar to a moose, the hind end is like a large caribou. when i took in both hinds on the pelvis to the butcher, they had the back end of a caribou on the scale, and if i recall they were both right around 110lbs....

getting one with a bow or a rifle isn't much different imo. its not like saying one took a dall sheep or a mature billy mountain goat (not a 2yr old billy or nanny) with a bow, which, to me would be a real accomplishment.

Muskrat,
if you are getting $250 for a good sized hide, you are certainly getting ripped off. with a dog brush and a days time and elbow grease you could get 4x's that amount for the qiviut...

and as said, they are very tasty. the meat is marbled with fat, you can actually get a new york cut off of a musk ox. The last one i had made into burger, they didnt add any fat, just ground the trimmed meat as it came off the bone... there was enough fat in it, that i would guess it to be equivalent to a 10-15% grind...

A few years back Alaskan and Top Jimmy came to the NTA shindig in Marshfield, WI
In between shooting the breeze with those 2 boneheads we cooked up some muskox they had brought and it was great!
Prolly the first and last time I will get to try it.

Zim

Hupurust: probably could but shipping is so expensive from here I would probably have a hard time finding any buyers. Better to let the government do all that.

Oh, boy.

Now that was a trip. We had a blast. Still have the T-shirt...... We will have to do that again sometime!

-TJ

Very important to bleed them out ASAP for the best possible meat