Hirshey's Moose 2014

[huntinluva]

Great write up on a great adventure.  Your attention to detail during the writing process allows others to visualize the habitat, the animal approaching and the harvest.  Kudos on that.  Congrats again, he's a dandy.

[hirshey]

Haven't had time to read the story, do we know how wide her bull is? stud moose.

After the 60 day drying (and European job) period, I'd guess it'll be just shy of 48. It was 48 from the 4th (or 3rd?) points from the back the day Hoots Taxidermy took off the cape.. I don't know if you have to measure from the points or not, but I think it is wider somewhere else, because it wouldn't fit in a 4' truck bed width-wise... we had to put it carefully on the tailgate (Jeff's truck was loaded with other items that prevented sticking it in the other direction and had a canopy on) and drive it the .5 miles to my car, secured with rope.

[blindluck]

I think the proper way to measure would be to put the side of the rack up against the wall then measure straight out to the furthest point keeping everything square as possible. Love to see it when he is all finnished.

[hirshey]

One more photo (maybe more) because I just can't get enough of him! Dropping him off at the taxidermist's place was sad. I miss him already.   

[hirshey]

Again, a huge thank you to Jeff for taking time off of work and driving 14 hours round trip in around 30 hours.. If you (or your coworkers) ever read this.. I'm so fortunate to have a friend in you! What an awesome human!

[RadSav]

One more photo (maybe more) because I just can't get enough of him! Dropping him off at the taxidermist's place was sad. I miss him already. 

Though the orange vest is easy to spot as a Hirshey post we've been expecting a moose avatar any day

[Bigshooter]

I didn't even know you drew a moose tag. 
Congrats on a beautiful moose.

[Smokepole]

Congrats on a great hunt.  The photography and story is outstanding.  Thanks for sharing!   

[elkboy]

Great hunt, great story, great trophy, and a (very) great amount of meat!  Well done! 

[NOCK NOCK]

Congrats again on the moose, How's the elk hunt going? Do you need to buy another freezer yet?   

[hirshey]

Congrats again on the moose, How's the elk hunt going? Do you need to buy another freezer yet?   

Thank you, sir! My mom knocked down a cow with a great shot... it didn't even go five steps and took the pressure off my father and me. We saw FAR more bulls than cows... if I had a branch antler bull tag I'd have been tagged out thirty times over... I could have shot a yearling bull that came into my call the very first morning I hunted, but decided to just take photos instead. My dad had a 6x7 he says is in the top five he's seen in the state at 20 feet for half an hour... almost all his limbs were asleep by the time the darn thing left! It ran downslope after I called it in to the other side of a small sapling from me and eventually busted me. I called in five... FIVE bulls to one set... three to another, and two to under 10 feet... they would have stepped over me looking for the non-existent cow if I hadn't giggled. Hoping they were dragging a cow with them, but no luck. My last night I had my first miss with a muzzleloader... at about 80 yards, I cut hair off the back of a nice cow (my mom had binos on her and hair flew!) but did not draw blood and she ran off uninjured. Kinda rattled me a little to be honest. Two inches lower and I'd have broken her back, but since I was 9 and lost track of a beautiful buck, I haven't lost another animal and the thought terrifies me. I'm glad it was a miss rather than an injury. I got lots of awesome photos, though, and we had never experienced hunting during that much rut activity... I could get bulls to bugle at 8 AM, noon, 3PM, or dusk... they were actively seeking love. I was too distracted by all the bulls to really feel pressure to have to fill my tag.. I was just enjoying the experience to be honest.

I truly look forward to reading your hard-earned success story here soon.. congrats on a beautiful bear, though!

[hirshey]

Some more photos on the hoof.. haven't edited them all yet.

[hirshey]

[hirshey]

[hirshey]