Well after killing his first elk in October which just happened to be a great old bull, my son, daughter and I headed up to Spokane to work on filling his youth moose tag. I had heard from many people that this hunt could be as easy or as difficult as we chose to make it and with just the 3 of us and some busy weekends ahead, we chose the easy method. My buddies that were able to help with the elk all had stuff going on and weren't available to make the trip.
We left Friday around noon and headed to the areas that I was tipped off to as sure things. A little driving Friday evening showed no moose but chats with elk hunters made it sound like we shouldn't have too much of a problem finding a cow.
Saturday morning it began to rain and rain and rain and rain... Every elk hunter we talked to had seen a moose but we never saw one until the last 5 minutes of light. Just a small bull, but seeing him was enough to make us itching to get out again in the morning.
Sunday morning started with us being late because of my poor alarm clock skills and the time change... We started up into an area that had some fresh sign the day before and apparently the animals were still around during the night because it was torn up with fresh tracks. After glassing clearcuts from every turn in the road and not seeing anything, we finally spotted a cow moving off a ridge just below us. Lane steadied on the sticks and put the first shot right through her lungs at 100 yards and like i had told him, "if she's still moving, keep shooting". Second shot while she moved off into the trees hit her in the ear and he missed with his third. But neither of those were necessary, she was pumping blood out of the exit wound that I could see through binoculars. She laid down within 25 yards of the first shot and was dead in under a minute.
What a beautiful animal these things are. Standing next one is truly impressive and also a clue to the work ahead! Luckily a dad and his son were nearby and more than willing to help out. We had her quartered and bagged and hauled to the truck in about 3 hours and were on our way home in time to listen to the Seahawks beat the Vikings.
Now the kicker to this trip was that my 11 year old daughter who hasn't shown much of an interest in hunting, decided to tag along and now she wants to take Hunter's Ed and start hunting deer with us! Made me proud to see her take such an interest in what me and the boy already love!
