08 raffle moose tag hunt

[TrkyBob53]

Back at home my contacts are still in touch.  Earlier a friend of a friend called this other guy to see if he would like to take a fella out moose hunting.  He was all over it.  A phone call from me to him and a relationship was built.  This guys name is Andrew.  He loves the woods, the animals,the flora and the flanna.  Trees, flowers, and one of his favorite plants is ceanothus.  I call it buckbrush.  Phone calls to him back and forth, and emails.  My wife, Joy, would ask me who I am talking to on the phone.  I’d say Andrew.  Her next comment, oh right, your talking to your New Best Friend Andrew.  So from here on out I will sometime refer to MNBFA.  We then set a date for me to come up and hunt with him.  Second weekend of modern deer season I think it was.  My youngest son Ron will be coming with me this time.  We arrive at Andrews abode, early evening, say our howdys, a few cocktails, make a plan for the next morning.  MNBFA says he has this mountain that always has moose on it.  I say I am game for about anything.  Andrew says it will be about a 4-5 mile hike.  Lets do it. 

Up early.  Drive about an hour up on top of the mountain.  At least I though we were on top.  Wrong.  On our way up the mountain, we passed a really big camp.  Not in the kind of camp you all think of though.  There was two little dome tents, and probably 7or 8 vehicles.  Vans, cars SUVS.  How come there were so many vehicles and so few tents I don’t know.  We park and start our hunt.  Me looking for a moose, Andrew, looking for a big Mulie, Ron, just an extra set of eyes.  Hike to a big basin.  We all sit down. Start glassing.  Nothing seen.  I give out a grunt.  Moose.  And another,And another.  I think there was 6 or 7 in this basin.  Some bulls but no shooters.  Oh yeah, when I grunted, the moose were running.  AWAY!  Should have practiced more.  Keep on hiking.  Another basin.  This time we spot a moose.  Bull.  About 500yds away.  I ask Andrew if he was big enough.  His response was something like, I have people lined up to come and help you pack your moose out, if you shoot that bull, and they come all the way up here and see how big he isn’t, they will laugh at us and go back home, leaving us to pack it out by ourselves.  Needles to say I didn’t try to get closer for a shot.  We kept on going around the mountain.  Hungry we stop for lunch.  Ron and I have PBJS.  MNBFA has an MRE.  His lunch was hot.  Ours was smashed.  We eat, and then kick back for a nap.  While napping, a16-18” 2point mule deer almost runs over us.  That was exciting to wake up to.  To see Andrew reaching for his rifle as Ron and I are yelling mule deer buck.  He wasn’t legal,  but MNBFA sling was hung up on the log he was resting his head on.  He could have been a 30” and was safe.  We laughed a long time over that one.  Nap was over and on we went.  Around the mountain back towards the truck.  No moose but did run into another hunter.  Asked if he had seen any moose. He said no.  You see any Eulch.  Nope we said.  His unkul and broder on other hill.  Yea we saw them we said and we went our separate ways.  That was a weird exchange.  A few more moose were seen no shooters.  Half a mile from the truck, we stop and I call.  I cow call again.  7-800yds down the hill, moose, coming our way.  Closer and closer they get.  Cow and calf.  Thinking a bull is coming behind, I call again.  Ron says I see something down there.  Moose?  No, hunter.  2, hunters.  The cow and calf were about 75yds in front of them.  They start to sneak up on the cow and calf.  I could use some extra moose points so we watch.  The moose get away unscathed.  The hunters move on down the road out of sight.  Here comes another hunter Ron says.  Then another and another and another.  9 of them in all.  Holy schmolly batman.  At least 7 of them had guns.  Even the little kids.  Didn’t know what to think about this.  We walked back down to the truck, never seeing any of the hunters.  Driving back to Andrews casa, he made the statement that he has never driven this mountain road without seeing a moose in the road.  Until now.  Andrew got hosed. 

Moose count for this day, 2 cows, 2 calves, 8 bulls.  No shooters.

Oh, by the way, I guess Spokane has a really big Laosin population.  Heard they hunt in groups.  End of 1st day with MNBFA

Pics of Andrew and Ron 

[TrkyBob53]

I really am trying to get this done on a timely fashion.

[luvtohnt]

I know who you are now, I went to school with both of your boys.

Brandon

[Slider]

At this rate we are going to see a Pic of the 09 Bull before the 08!!!........................LOL

[TrkyBob53]

 Oh how a few cocktails an age can affect a memeory.  My moose count is right, but that was after four days With Andrew.  The previous post was actually from the second day.  The first day we hunted half way up the mountain.  Parking at a locked gate first thing in the am, Andrew and I walked about 50yds behind a locked gate an saw a moose.  This was a hot spot I thought.  Back to the truck and grab Ron and our packs and off we go.  About a 1 ½  from the truck, MNBFA sees something in the brush.  He has me come over where he and Ron stood.  A moose in the trees.  We look really hard.  It’s a bull.  A pretty good one.  We try and size him up.  Something doesn’t look right.  We let him go.  There was actually two of them.  Didn’t get a good look at the second one.  On down the logging road we go.  About ½ mile down the road,  I look up ahead,  I see something that my brain cant register right.  Andrew is walking beside me, he reaches over, grabs my shoulder, and throws me to the ground.  Meow about  that time my brain says, what is a shed horn doing in the middle of this road this time of the year.  MNBFA does the 50yd dash in about 1.5 seconds, reaches down and picks up something, and says look what I found.  It was a moose horn, but not a shed.  It was a broken left palm of a bull moose.  After looking around the area, we found where two bulls just tore it up not too far away.  That’s what was wrong with the bull in the brush.  We never could see the left side of his set.  That’s because it wasn’t there.  True story except for Andrew throwing me to the ground.  The rest of the day was spent looking and calling with no luck.

Moose count is off, but you know that after 4 days I end up with 12.  Next will be days 3and4 with MNBFA

[Aneoakleaf]

OH I'm lovin this...Good story  good pictures
Next year it's my turn!

[PacificNWhunter]

enjoying the story, can't wait to hear the finish.

[robb92]

Good story!! Keep it coming!

[bucklucky]

Dude, yer killing me.

[TrkyBob53]

Back at Andrews house after day 2 we were trying to make a plan.  He got a call from a friend of his, Tony.  Tony was up looking for a buck and tried a little cow moose call.  He was up on top, and looked down below him, about a mile away, two bulls stepped out.  He didn’t call anymore.  He knew that I was at Andrews, so we made a plan to meet him in the am.  Met up with Tony, said our howdys, and off we all went.  Ron with Andrew, me with Tony.  As we were driving, talking moose, I did notice that we were driving in the direction where I knew a lot of the country.  Off the paved road and up the hill, I finally let Tony know that I knew this area pretty well.  I’ll be darned if he didn’t take me to the same clear cut that I had hunted with Jim a few weeks earlier.  We even walked up to the same spots that Jim and I did.  This must be an omen.  Even though the weather was warm and sunny, I had high hopes, because we ended up sitting and glassing from the exact spot where those two bulls Tony saw, had laid down, and also left a deposit.  Tony cow called several times,  we could hear a bull grunt, but never showed.  By this time it was getting really windy.  Hosed by the weather again.  We decide to go and try another unit.  Drove about 1 ½ .  Do some glassing on a big cut area.  Nothing.  Call a little nothing.  Drive around the corner, a little bull up on the hill.  He must have heard Tony calling, cause this little guy was slobbering something fierce.  We move on to another spot. As Tony and I dive off I see a plume of smoke coming out of MNBFA truck.  Those guys are smoking cigars.  What the heck, we don’t have anything to celebrate.  I found out later that Andrew has a yearn for Al Capone little cigars.  I do find out later that they are actually kind of tasty.  We get to the new spot.  Tony calls.  Bull grunts back.  Calls again.  Grunts back at him.  We see the bull on a hillside across from us. A possible shooter.  He is going downhill but on his way to us.  Tony stays above us calling,  Ron, Andrew and I move below Tony on an old skid road.  The Bull is getting really close.  He is busting brush up and we hear him cross the creek.  Its really thick, but he cant be more that 50yds away.  We hear something else.  What is that we whisper to each other.  Oh crap.  4wheelers.  I really got Hosed this time.  Tuck my tail between my legs and call it a day.  I thought I was going to seal the deal.  Day 4 with Andrew was uneventful.  No moose.  No nothing.  Head for home and get ready to do it again.

Sorry no cool pics

[BLKBEARKLR]

I know a lot of individuals are reading this and I am not thread jacking, just giving some tips on what worked for me in Alaska while calling moose.

I always had a white trash bag in my pack or pocket if I got a response from a moose and he either got held up or would not come out I would pull out the trash bag and while calling wave it around by the trees that I was raking, 9 out of ten times the visual effect would drive them crazy and out they would come most of the time running straight at you.

So just a tip if anyone gets drawn for moose this year.

Joe

[TrkyBob53]

First week of late whitetail season. Nov 1.  Jim, my oldest son Ryan and myself on this trip. Jim and I go early and get camp set up.  Tent and all that.  Ryan gets there later that night. First morning Jim is out scouting on the 4 wheeler.  Ryan and I in the truck. Ryan tells me he is a black cloud.  Whenever he is out big game hunting he is bad luck.  He had that big bull archery tag.  To say that it was hot when he was hunting is an understatement.  He struck out.  We drive out a clear cut, thars a moose I said.  She was standing about 15 yds from the road.  The Ice was broke now I told him.  Your not a black cloud Ryan.  We havnt been out of camp 20min and we already have seen a moose.  I might regret saying that. Saw one more cow that day.  Nov 2.  Not much seen.  Cant remember who saw it but I think it was Jim.  A bull was laying down about 50yds from the road.  He looked really goofy.  He had a bad right horn.  Back for lunch.  Our afternoon hunt was spent drive and call, drive and call.  Heading back to camp, we spot a moose. Ahead of us in a clearcut that was starting to grow up.  He looked to be about 45-50” maybe.  I am starting to let my three brow tine limit go out the window.  The bull walks off, and stops.  Still havnt got a good look.  Then he goes over the hill.  Ryan and I pursue to no avail.  If he just would have stopped for 30sec.  My ears are drooping and my tail between my legs, to camp we go.  A good dinner, nice fire, cocktails, a light snow starting to fall. What more could a guy ask for.  ( Im thinking a BIG BULL MOOSE)  In the tent, stoke the fire, and hoping for a little snow in the AM.  Ive always said, Watch what you ask for.

First one is Jim assuming the cell phone position.
First moose this trip.

[TrkyBob53]

The goofy horned bull

[TrkyBob53]

Did I mention, watch what you ask for?  I did not want this much!!!

[TrkyBob53]

I think I got the actual dates screwed up but oh well.  Next morning.  Snow.  More than I wanted.  Every thing stopped moving.  No deer tracks, moose, not even a squirrel.  Jim goes off on the bike, and Ryan and I in the truck.  We hike up into the clearcut that the two bulls were earlier in the season.  Not a track one.  The high point was we were standing on a little nob, when I catch movement at the tree line.  Deer!  Buck!  Wrong sub species.  14-16” 2point mulie.  He walks right at us.  He actually comes to within spitting distance.  Maybe 5’ away.  I actually thought I would try and touch him.  I changed my mind.  It was cold, but no wind.  We couldn’t believe he kept coming.  I started to laugh.  He could hear me but must not have been able to figure it out.  He then sloooowwwwllllly walked down the hill.  Wanted to take a picture, but didn’t want to spook him.  Speaking of pictures, I carried my camera in my front pocket all the time.  Why is it I forget to take it out and use it.  It really irks me that I didn’t get a pic of that first big bull on my second trip.  He stood there long enough. 

Any Ideas on what the weather did to me a few hours after this pic was taken?  This is Ryan.