Mt Spokane Moose Tag Filled

[Suka]

Nice character, like it

[CJ1962]

That's a beut, congrats!

[grundy53]

Great bull! They sure are big when you get them on the ground. Aren't they?

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[elkrack]

I love a success pic in the middle of the off season. Great bull 

[sakoshooter]

Story:

First off I feel very blessed to have drawn the tag after only 23 yrs of applying(LOL) and to have filled it with such a good bull.

Work had my time spoken for and I couldn't see taking any time off so weekends would be it for me. Driving from Puyallup to Spokane after work on a Friday to hunt Sat and Sun morning is tough but it's all I had.

A very good friend of mine that has killed 4 moose, one of which was this tag about 6 yrs ago, accompanied me opening weekend which was spent hiking,glassing, scouting, calling and raking. We did see some sign and marked two good areas. We also spotted two cows but no bulls.

Two weeks later another buddy with an open deer tag went with me. Lots hiking, glassing and a little calling but no sightings.

The game warden(lady) was also very helpful in telling me some spots etc.

Met a few folks in the area and all seemed to want to help. Seemed like everyone up there had seen moose except me. Even the Couple that live at the gate of the Inland Empire Paper Co land near Thompson Cr were great. Mt Spokane S unit.

I also have a good friend(retired Friends of the NRA Chairman)that lives near my hunt unit so he put us up every time I could get over.

Two weeks later work took a change in pace so I called my buddy and I took a Thursday and Friday off to give us a long weekend.

Thursday morning started off in the low 30's and raining with thick fog. We both took different directions from the truck still hunting and after about 3 hrs of sideways rain and wind, I was about as cold as I wanted to be. My partner met me with my truck and I said "slide over, we're gonna take a ride and turn the heat on". Not 20 minutes later we came around a sharp corner and what is that immerging from the fog but a bull moose standing in the road. This area is so steep that when I opened my door to get out, the brush growing out from the cut back only allowed me to barely squeeze out of the cab. Same for getting my rifle out of the back door. I quickly threw a shell in the chamber, flipped the safety and scope covers off but from the back of the truck I couldn't see a thing thru the fogged up scope and the tall brush on the edge of the road other than the bulls head and horns. I ran between the brush and truck on the passenger side to in front of the truck to get a clear shot before he dove off the steep hillside but instead, he turned to face me. I could see enough thru the scope to put the crosshairs at the base of his neck and pulled the trigger. At 65 yds, the 275 gr Swift A-Frame hand load from my .338 Win Mag performed just as it should have. The bull stood straight up on his hind legs and flipped right over backwards. What a sight. He managed to get to all 4's but I was standing right next to him by then with another shell in the gun. He immediately dropped dead so I didn't have to shoot him again. The bullet center punched everything and lodged in his left hind quarter. Damn good penetration.

After some high fives and lots of pics and gutting him out, we set up some rigging to pull him up the cut bank so I could back the trucks tailgate under him. The rain had quit and the fog started to lift so the work was  enjoyable.

We took him to my buddy's place whole and hung him from a chain hoist to skin him. Next day he went to the butcher.

Hell of a thrill. My wife and buddies talked me into having a full shoulder mount done. Not sure where he's gonna go when he's ready but I'll deal with that when the time comes. As for the meat, darn tasty. I also tanned the back half of the hide(hair off) for my sister in Wasilla, AK. She does lots of cool projects with hides both with hair on and off.

[OutHouse]

That’s so cool thanks for giving us the account. Saw a whitetail do that once. Gets hit, rears up, flips back, and basically done for at that point

[sakoshooter]

Yeah, I"ve seen a couple deer do it but to see something as big as a big bull moose do it, darn.

[OutHouse]

Yeah, I"ve seen a couple deer do it but to see something as big as a big bull moose do it, darn.

Right?? It'd be like a thousand pounds of pancake batter hitting the deck! When you get a chance let us know how he tastes. Last time I had moose it was so delicious but it was a pot roast so maybe can't go wrong with that.

[sakoshooter]

It’s eating great

[sakoshooter]

Attempting to post a couple more pics

[sakoshooter]

Two more pics

[sakoshooter]

Only one posted so here's the other one.

[sakoshooter]

Sorry guys for taking so long. Had to do some re sizing and I suck at it.

[Rainier10]

Totally worth the wait.  Great moose, congratulations. 

[hughjorgan]

Sorry guys for taking so long. Had to do some re sizing and I suck at it.

Do you use the Tapatalk app on your phone? It will let you resize your photo on the app and makes posting photos easier…