Mt Spokane North A Bull Tag Update

[FishBio31]

First and foremost I want to thank those on this site, (NRA4LIFE, DeerThug, Sagerat) who sent out suggestions, let me borrow maps and even drove around with me for a day to show me the area (benhuntin). I'm not the best writer in the world but will try and give a good summary of how things went on this hunt. Prior to the season I had a few goals for the hunt, 1) wanted to hunt away from the truck and 2) shoot a bull with double brow tines 3) try and shoot something close to 40 inch if possible. Drawing the tag was a huge surprise and was in a way tough timing due to my wife and I having our second child in January along with 4 year old at home and a 2 week trip already planned in Colorado for elk during the middle of October. Due to the time constraints and suggestions from others, I opted to set aside the first week of October as my time to hunt moose. I made it over to scout a couple times before the season and was only able to see one bull a couple weeks before season and two cows the day before. We drove a bunch of the IEP to get a feel for the area and tried to find areas we could walk in behind closed gates. I arrived two days before opening day with my uncle, with another friend arriving the night before the opener. We walked in a few spots and drove around a bunch the day we arrived to try and locate some animals but were unable to locate anything.

The next morning we selected an area that had a locked gate and figured we would walk in aways based on some aerial google maps scouting. I'm still unsure how this totally happened but during that scouting trip, this is the day before the season, I somehow dropped my gun off my shoulder as we were walking up a skid road. I was in such disbelief since this had never happened to me before. After examining my gun closely, I began really questioning if the gun was now off. We continued our hike for the day and as we were heading back down to the truck, I told myself I had to put at least one round through the gun just to make sure. So we found a good area with a nice berm and good rest on a stump for me to shoot 70 yards away at a piece of old notebook paper I had in my back. To my shock, at 70 yards I barely touched the edge of the paper.  I was very disheartened at this point thinking can we get this thing sighted back in? Luckily, after a couple more shots and adjustments it became evident that it was shooting to the left but the up and down had not shifted any and was still shooting approximately 1 1/2 high at 70 yards which should be dead on at 200 yards which is where I want it. I went through 9 shots but finally got it lined up center right where I previosly had it. Nerve racking to say the least. That day we hiked approx 5 miles in to a beatiful area where we did notice some sign and big hoove marks from the past couple days but no live moose.

That evening I went back and forth on where to go. Should I drive around and just try and locate some animals given the lack of animals on any scouting trips or should we hike back in to that area we had been in the day before and limit ourselves on the total area we can cover because we are on foot. I really wanted to try and stay away from the truck so back to the area we had been the day before. Like every other hunting and fishing trip, I could hardly sleep. Eventually the alarm clock sounded and my team loaded up into the truck and off we went. We got to the gate about 30 mins before legal shooting light. We started up the road since the first half mile is in the timber. As legal time approached, we looked into the first open basin on the road and began calling in hopes of a response. We spent 20 mins trying to get a response and were unable to see or hear anything. Knowing that we had good areas up the road, we started our walk up the logging road to the next opening.

After walking for another 10 mins or so, we cam to the first bend in the road due to a creek drainage that runs down the hill. There was fairly new clearcut to our left and the road cut on a 90 degree to the right as it follows the creek to the hillside. The creek is heavily timbered, probably 50 yards down the hill and you cant see into it but you can hear water rushing over the rocks. As we make the turn to right to walk along the creek, in between the sound of our boots on the rocks, I swear that I hear a stick snap. So I stop and my turn to my buddy and I ask if he heard that. He also thinks he heard something but wasnt sure either. So we walk over to the edge of the road and look down into the trees and listen. We had seen a heard of elk in the next clearcut up the road the day before so at this point I'm thinking elk or maybe a bear or something of that nature since their was very little moose sign this far down on the logging road. So we listen hard for the next couple minutes and just about the time I'm thinking we are crazy and should move on, we all hear a branch snap down below. Ok, something is down there. So i take my gun off my shoulder and we keep peering down in there and this point the animal is moving around and you can hear him working his way down the creek. My buddy at one point says he can hear antlers rubbing on branches. So now we are all excited and are trying to figure out how we can get a look at this thing since he is in the timber down in this creek drainage. The day before we had walked past this area and on the other side of the creek I remember that their was  another small clearcut. I didnt want this animal to peer out on the other side and dont see him, so my buddy suggested we could walk further up the road and watch the clearcut on the other side incase he popped out over there. So he takes off and my uncle and I keep watching down into the timber and we can hear the animal moving around but cant see him. After my buddy is gone for a couple minutes, we hear a large commotion down below us and now whatever is down there is running down the drainage. I quickly run back down the road to try and catch a glimpse of whatever this animal is and as I see through the timber its a bull moose and he's now runnning out into the clear cut below us. I am scrambling trying to find a place to rest and get a look at him. In my mind I'm praying for him to please stop so I can at least get a look at him. After looking for a place to rest for what felt like eternity, I find a nice little flat spot in between some tree branches that I can lay down and rest my rifle right on these criss crossing branches. I lay my gun down and quickly grab my binoculars to find the moose and as I locate him, he slowly trots to a stop on the edge of the clearing. At this point I lay down and put the cross hairs on him and ask my uncle for a range. The moose is 305 yards broadside and looking in our direction. I can see that he has the double brows I was looking for but probably isnt a 40 inch bull, more like 36-37 inch. So hear I am, on my once in a lifetime WA moose hunt with a bull in my sights and I began to say to myself, is this it. I asked my uncle what he thought and he comments back that its a nice bull but its your hunt, so you decide. I am 40 mins into the season at this point and its decision time. I start to weigh the pro's and cons, positives = he's got the brow tines, I have a dead rest and great shot and I have hunted this animal away from the road the way I wanted. Only downside is hes not as wide as I had hoped for. So after weighing the options in my mind, I tell my uncle I am going to take the shot. This has been a cool hunt and I have a nice moose in front of me and with limited time and my young family at home and a big trip happening next week, my wife will appreciate me coming home early. So I aim right behind his front should about 2/3rds of the way up his side and touch off my 30-06. He makes a big kick and trots forward about 10 yards where there is a large slash pile that he trys to jump, at this point I have another one in the chamber and am ready to punch another one through when he does a quick dog cirlce and down he goes. I watch him through the scope for the next 5 minutes and there is no movement. We head on down the clearcut and see that the shot was perfect, right behind the shoulders and double lung/heart. Thank goodness for checking the gun the day before. We spent the next couple hours bagging him up and made three trips each with moose quarters and pieces on our backs. Probably 3/4's of a mile down to the truck and it was a work out. It was a great hunt and a experience I will never forget. Thanks again to all those that helped.

Better pics on page 2

[mfswallace]

First hour or last, great moose and experience !

[huntnphool]

 

[Pete112288]

Nice write up. And great animal! Contrats

[bowhunterforever]

Nice bull

[X-Force]

Cool hunt of a lifetime!

[benhuntin]

Great story. Horrible picture.


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[boneaddict]

  Congrats

[Widgeondeke]

Nice Bull   
Congrats

[724wd]

awesome!!!

[DOUBLELUNG]

Congrats

[jmscon]

Great write up and bull, congrats!!
 

[Birdguy]

Sounds like a pretty good hunt, nice bull and scoring points with the Mrs. that is getting it ALL done!!!

Well done 

[opdinkslayer]

Congrats on your tag,hunt & bull. I harvested a similar bull on my ‘15 Selkirk tag and even though he wasn’t the giant I dreamed of, the experience with friends & ultimately my son during the harvest make it a true once in a lifetime animal! Wouldn’t trade him or the experience for anything. Congrats to you & all involved!😎👍🏻

[elkoholic1]

    congrats!!!!!