well, i figured id wait out the seasons so i could have the whole board to myself before i put any of this up here! 2019 was a mad dash season for me. Every year i go through the regs, up and down, to see what new possibilities are available. Waiting until mid April for them to show up on paper is like a combination of Christmas and a funeral at he same time. Its where hopes and dreams start, but also where a good majority of them die!! haha. 2019 was no different. Just having the paper copy in hand, its like nothing else. The brain starts analyzing all the mistakes of management the department has made over the last year with tag reductions and or eliminations, at least thats how it appears, but there is always hope. Im ok with that, just give me a fighting chance, heck any chance, and im ok with that. If youre not playing, youll never will anyways. Might as well throw your name in the hate and see what shakes out.
After looking at the 2018 draw odds across the board, i slowly went through and made all my well thought out choices(usually the hardest to draw units and when you dont draw, always blame the system ha). Deer, elk, sheep, moose, goat, second deer, cow elk, doe tags, gotta play them all for just the potential that you draw....a doe tag. In all seriousness, the draw is a 100% backup plan to me. Ive been planning my seasons with Vandeman17 out for years, and wa draws are always on the back burner. Always a thought you might draw, but banking your whole season on it is honestly foolish and the quickest way to become discouraged hunting in this state. Now the applications are sent in, other states applied to, and the loooooonnnngggg wait begins. I remember clear as day, driving in to work the day of the draws. Vandeman17 and i were talking on the phone, trying to guesstimate when the draws would happen. Weve made a pact that if either drew an oil tag, the other would be there regardless of what else was going on. We talked about knowing guys that seem to have all the luck and continually draw tags, happy for them, but also hoping someone we know would be fortunate enough to also enjoy the experience of hunting an oil species.
A few hours later, the excitement on the forum that tags are being drawn is starting the perk up. I told myself that id wait until all the draws were done before id bother looking. There was no point in getting hyped up to be let down yet another year. Started seeing some elk tags pop up, then word that maybe oil tags were going. I was solo that day and thought, ah who cares, might as well look, flood the wdfg site and get it locked out, the normal draw routine. I started going through the results, backdoor of course as they were not officially finished. I came to moose and saw something different. Points gone or something to that affect, and half realized i had drawn a moose tag. It was too early to know what tag i had drawn, but i sent a pic to a few guys and asked if what i was seeing meant i drew. They were all in agreement that that was in fact the case. I HAD DRAWN AN OIL TAG!!!!! Woot woot!! Made a few phone calls and just sat at work in disbelief that i was a fortunate member of the wa oil tag club. As i was sitting there, i was thumbing through the regs to look at the draw numbers across the board for moose. In 2018, there were around 110 total moose tags given out with a total of 57, 750 or so people that had applied for them. Thats just straight up numbers, no pref point added in blah blah blah. Unreal i made it through the gauntlet.
2 hours later, i was looking at the site again and saw that sheep tags were being drawn as well. No way lightning strikes twice, but scrolling through the results, i noticed i had drawn one of the juve ram/ewe tags as well! Wow, it was going to be a busy fall. Double wow was the fact i was able to double down like that in wa! Greatful for both opportunities and sitting on cloud nine for the rest of the day. Sheep story is for a different day though. Back to moose.
Fast forward to July/August, boots on the ground scouting was to commence. Ive never set foot in the unit before. Lots of calls to knowledgeable people, hours upon hours of internet scouting, coming up with a game plan and finally getting a chance to see the country. Wow! It is an amazing area. Vandeman17 and i set out for a weekend of driving roads, learning the terrain. Trying to figure out what looks moosy(never hunted moose before) and finding potential camp spots for that season were all in the weekend program. We spent the majority of our weekend in one area, just getting familiar. I was coming back in a few weeks to do some more scouting, so learning one spot now was great. Lots of dirt miles driven, lots and lots of bugs! yuck. Beautiful country, steep, thick, nasty, it was perfect. Met a new member or two during the scout process as well and traded as much info as we could before season. We were ready.
A month and a half later and we were packed up and headed for moose camp. I had two weeks to do this, but having had knee surgery 5 days before departing, it was questionable what to do( sheep hunt accident for later) We decided to still go for it. Got to our spot we wanted to camp the day before and got all set up. Camp set, gear sorted out. The excitement of what the morning was to bring was almost impossible to sleep with. Have to mention the weather had gotten a bit crazy the days prior to the start. Lots of snow and cold cold weather. The original camp spot was scrapped and out new home, well it worked out pretty darn well.
Opening morning came and we were off, nice with the snow as we were able to cut tracks and see movement fairly easy. Made our job that much easier and locating more localized instead of blind calling. I had a few places in mind i wanted to hit, some were inaccessible due to the snow so on the fly we went. Stopping at varying sets of tracks to call, we were on our way! To say it wasnt exciting would be a tremendous lie. Just getting to hunt in general is exciting, Getting to hunt an oil animal in my home state, i truly wish everyone has the opportunity at this.
Day one, we didnt know what to expect. Was there going to be moose running around stupid, it was the rut afterall. Were we even going to see a moose?!? Was there going to be a lot of other hunter pressure? Its all part of the program when you get out there, having to adapt to whatever gets thrown at you. We drove around, hit a number of spots, stopping to call at each one. Listening, hoping to hear the faint grunt of a bull in the area. As the day went on, more miles covered with no moose sightings, were werent sure what to feel. Having never done it, it was all a new experience and adventure, lets just enjoy it for what it was. A few hours left in the day, we decided to change areas and cover even more ground. We drove around until the snow and debris on the road stopped us. Fortunately we had to turn around but there was a big somewhat cleared hillside behind us we would sit and glass. Low and behold, vandeman17 gets on the glass and theres a moose! First one of the trip and first one we had seen in the unit! (sidenote: dont get discouraged if you dont physically see one before the season, theyre there, but hiding) Upon closer inspection, we realized it was a cow, but 25 yards above her, there was a bull! Not only did we see a moose, but now weve seen a bull and a cow! This was all at around 600 yards. We got to watch the pair of them wander around, the bull never allowing the cow more than 30 yards from him. We looked him over and over again, seriously debating on taking this one, but a few pictures sent to buddies and time made us sit back and just enjoy the show. He was a young bull, single fronts with maybe 3 points per paddle. Better let him get bigger. We spent the rest of the evening just sitting and watching this bull and cow, as they worked closer to us. It was a great experience.
Day 2, many many more miles. After watching tons of youtube, talking to a few experienced moose hunters, and reading as much as i could about moose hunting, consistency is the key to killing a moose. Calling from the same spots daily, checking in and keeping it fresh for anything in the area seemed to be the consensus on how to hunt them. We covered more ground that day, not having seen any moose, we again went back to day one spot to see if maybe a bigger bull had moved in. Same pair was there, again we finished the night watching them.
That night, i made a call to benhunting to talk strategy. He offered to come up in the morning for a few hours and show us around, but more importantly, show us how to talk to them. Huge huge huge benefit to know this.
We met up an hour before dark, made the trek up the mountain and parked in a new area. First thing getting out of the truck, there were grizzly tracks running right down the road. Its a little hairy knowing one of them is running around, but thats the cost of being an outdoorsman. We walked to a spot and we watched benhunting start working. The nasally whine of a cow ripped through the forest followed by some deep rumbling bull grunts. I heard my first bull grunt. He was below us, at least i thought he was below us, and he was moving. If you dont know this, they only grunt when they move. If no grunting, theyre listening for the competition. Another set of hunters was in the same area, as we could distinguish their calls from a real call, stayed for a bit longer then moved on.
Benhunting had to leave, but the invaluable information he left us with, i will be forever great full for him and the time he spent with us. Honestly it was a huge factor in why i was successful a few days later.
Vandeman and i decided to keep moving that day, yes there were moose, but there was a lot of other activity around us and we didnt want to blow the area out. We went down and started covering more ground. As we were driving, we came across another set of fresh tracks. Parked the truck and got out to start calling. Instantly we got a response. These things are very deceiving, he sounded like he was right below us! After an hour of calling back and forth, Vandeman17 went up the road and it opened up into a big bowl. 750 yards across the canyon the moose was on the road! Again, another bull but another young bull. We played with him for a bit but ultimately decided that he was a pass. Another great experience.
Day 3 was more driving, stopping to call, covering as much ground as we could, waiting for the faint reply of a bull to answer us. We were covering new area and working a bunch of finger ridges, cutting some very good sets of tracks. Along the way, we ran into a set of old boys who also had a tag. they told us where they were camped and we talked for a few mins, traded a little bit of info and went our separate ways. We needed to run down to town and get gas, passing where these guys were camped, and we saw another nice bull. Not knowing exactly where we were, we passed on him. Younger bull with lots of points. It wasnt until we got a half mile down the road that we realized our mistake, quickly turning around only to not see him again. It was a quiet truck ride the next few hours.
Day 4, more miles than i want to count driving. Went back to an area we had seen moose, found a nice bull, shooter, but along the way of calling with him, another bull showed up and the two of them started fighting 400 yards below us in the thick nasty trees, not giving us a shot. We spent half the morning there, trying to get him to come out, but he just wouldnt. We checked another spot, came back an hour later, i dropped vandeman17 off to spot while i was going to drive around. He came running back to the truck before i took off, and said big bull! He was standing in the exact spot we had been calling from all morning, just bad timing. We decided to cover more ground, hop in the truck and quarter mile down the road, a cougar ran in front of us! We jumped out and tried to find him again with no luck! dang it! Moving on, we checked out another area given to me by friends that run cams over there. Its miserable rain, fog, snow on top of the green foliage that was exposed 6 days earlier. We walked in about a mile and started looking around. There was a freshly beat up rut pit! Equivalent of a deer scrap. We started calling and again, immediately got a response. Back and forth we go, over an hour. Trying to put on a show to get this bull to come out. Out of nowhere, two other bulls showed up and the three of them start working eachother. Its always tough to compete against the real thing. We sat in the cold miserable rain, listening to our dreams walk away hahaha. Just the way it goes. At least we knew a few spots where there were some good moose though. Day 4 and we had located 7 different bulls so far. Pretty good for a couple of rookies.
That night, Vandeman17 had to leave mid day the next day, we decided to hunt closer to camp. Get him back at a decent time to make the trek home. We came up with a plan to run up the road for a few hours, calling at various spots we had been hitting daily, then getting him back to camp and off to home. Little did we know how it was really going to turn out.
Day 5 we got up as usual. The plan was in place, nothing too fancy. Run around a few hours and then get back, swapping vandeman17 for his dad, not a bad swap haha. Start driving up the hill, stop at the first spot, call, nothing. Staying 20-30 mins at each call spot. Continue on and come to our next spot, it was cold and foggy, little bit of wind. I jumped out to get away from the truck and start a calling sequence( learned from Benhunting) and i could faintly hear the grunt of a bull. I call again and same thing. I get back to the truck and tell vandeman17 i think i hear a grunt, but its very faint. lets go down the road a bit and see if we can cut the gap. 3/4 of a mile later, again i jump out of the truck and walk 40 yards to a landing and call again. Instantly this bull responds and he sounds close! i run back to the truck, my eyes as big as dinner plates(no idea how big this bull was) and yell quietly at vandeman17 to give me the gun! The bull is close! I originally wanted to use a muzzle loader, but had both in the truck. He grabbed the first one, my rifle, and handed it to me. Im yelling again, quietly, to give me bullets! It was a chinese fire drill getting everything going and into position. I ran back to the landing, moose are loud so its ok, and call again. Instant response and this time Vandeman17 is right behind me, listening to it all happen. 5 mins goes by and hes skinny, so he went back to the truck to grab a coat, not knowing how long this encounter might take. Some of our encounters were hours long so you never know. He got 20 yards behind me and 250 yards down this finger ridge i can see the moose and he is coming straight towards up. We call back and forth, hes putting on a show, tearing up small trees, whacking his antlers against the bigger ones showing us his dominance. It was an awesome experience regardless if we were pulling the trigger or not. As he was getting closer, working his way through the trees and brush, it was had to tell if he was a shooter or not. i caught a glimpse of his upper right paddle and turned to vandeman17 saying i dont think hes a shooter. Kind of a let down, but what an awesome experience non the less! Still working this bull, he is now 70 yards from us, sitting at 10 oclock from us down the hill. Thinking he wasnt going to be a shooter was probably the best thing as it allowed my moose fever/nerves to calm down to a steady pace. Still coming at us, off to our left using a finger ridge, he finally came around a tree and all i saw was his whole right side paddle. I knew i was going to take him, no question about it. I softly grunted two more times and he was coming! I now know why people advise you to not shoot them unless they are on the road, but he took two more steps and i couldnt help myself. The rifle barked as if on auto pilot, sending a round between his neck and should, hard quarter as us. He took ten steps and i thought, shoot till hes down! Sent another one, dropping him to his knees, but they are tough critters designed to survive. He started to get up and again, shoot till hes down. Another one through him and he was finally down for good!
What a rush of emotions. One of my best friends and longtime hunting partner was right behind me to experience the whole thing! It was only 60 yards downhill from the truck(bad idea we later realized) but we had done it! A couple of rookie moose hunters were now experienced successful pros! hahahaha. Couple hugs, high fives and a big sigh of relief, I had an additional packer with me and didnt have to do it alone!( had knee surgery 10 days before this) What an exhilarating feeling and sense of accomplishment. There were a lot of highs, some low low lows, but thats hunting. Thats what gets you up in the morning and gets you motivated in the offseason. This is what dreams are made of and turned into realities.
I cant thank Adam and his dad enough for all the help they gave to me. Its a sacrifice to give up ones time during the season to help on a hunt. I will be forever great full for that, and for all the help packing out, id still be there with a fork eating this thing if not for vandeman17 doing so much.
Thank you to Benhunting for all the valuable information you shared with us. You werent phsically there when i pulled the trigger, but the amount of knowledge you left with us in the time frame you were there was very much related to us being successful, thank you.
A few others that helped along the way, you know who you are, thank you as well. No one has to give up information or time on any hunt. It is very much appreciated and i look forward to returning the favor to you guys.
Thank you to my wife for being so encouraging about my passion for the outdoors. Not a lot of women would be ok with their spouse being gone as much as i am, pursuing my dreams. Thank you for taking care of the house, our daughter and the day to day stuff while im running around like jeremiah johnson.
(ill add pics from my phone as i dont know how to resize on my comp. This was long but thanks for reading, i hope you guys enjoy a breakup from whats been going on lately)
God bless
