Selkirk bull moose.

[Turner89]

   Day 3 we were back where Errett saw the Bull on day 1.  Errett and Derek saw 2 cows, but we didn’t see or hear a bull. We hunted up through some cuts and set some cameras to finish the day.
  Saturday morning the 4th, we were all three split up glassing different areas.  I climbed to the top of a cut where I could look down on Sema creek meadows.  As soon as I got to the top, I spotted a bull about a mile away in a beaver pond. I called Derek on the radio, and he flew over to take my spot to keep an eye on the bull while I tried to get down to him. Errett made his way to the other side of the ridge he was on so he could watch from the other side of the bowl.  I was on My bakcou riding down to a gate that would get me close. When I checked in with Derek before going around the gate, he informed me that someone else had just smoked the bull and he was down in the beaver pond.   

[Turner89]

 After the second shot a pack of wolves started howling. They did this for about 45 minutes.  We had never heard wolves howl before, so it was a surreal moment. They seemed very close, but we never saw one.  I went down to the pond to look at what I had missed out on and to see if I could help. I never saw the shooter, he had gone back for help, which was a smart move. That must have been hell getting that bull out of the pond.  Later that day we drove by another gate that led down toward that bull. He had what looked like a lot of help parked at the gate.  I doubt anyone part of that pack out will ever forget it…LOL
  We ended that night down at the Nordman tavern watching the Tigers beat the M's in game 1.

[trophyhunt]

I hunted that area between those gates too, loved it and always saw sign on that road.  Why in the hell would you shoot a bull moose while he was in the middle of a swamp???  Sure hope they had a portable winch!

[Turner89]

  The next day Derek had to go back to work. I decided to ride out behind the gate we were camped on and Errett went looking for the bull we saw on opening day. I didn’t see anything, but a lot of wolf tracks and scatt.  I was shocked at the amount of wolf sign. It was everywhere.  Errett saw a cow, but no bull.  I decided to head home that night to get a shower and some supplies. Errett rented a motel in Newport and watched the seahawks lose to Tampa Bay.
  Monday I woke up in my own bed at home. Somehow, During the night I tweaked my back. I believe from the 6-1/2 hr. drive home. I haven’t had back pain like this in over 20 years.  It improved a bit throughout the day, but I still had to make that brutal 6-1/2 hour drive back to camp that night. Man, I regretted coming home the night before. I made it back over to moose camp at about 10pm.  I could barely get out of the truck. For the next 2 days me and Errett would go out in the morning until about 10am and then I would head back to the tent for the remainder of the day and rest my back.    Errett would continue looking for a bull.
 Thursday night October 9th my nephew Evan and Dylan drove into camp.
 We went over the game plan for the next day. They were going south towards grouse Knob and Errett was going to see if he could find the opening day bull since we hadn’t been there in a while.   My back would determine where I would go in the morning.

[Turner89]

I hunted that area between those gates too, loved it and always saw sign on that road.  Why in the hell would you shoot a bull moose while he was in the middle of a swamp???  Sure hope they had a portable winch!

Yea, that area is pretty sweet. 
   I didn't see that bull get shot myself. I'm not sure., but I believe he ended up in that part of the pond after the first shot.   I never did talk to him, I'd like to hear the story on how they got him out. I bet it's a good one.

[millerwheeler]

After the second shot a pack of wolves started howling. They did this for about 45 minutes.  We had never heard wolves howl before, so it was a surreal moment. They seemed very close, but we never saw one.  I went down to the pond to look at what I had missed out on and to see if I could help. I never saw the shooter, he had gone back for help, which was a smart move. That must have been hell getting that bull out of the pond.  Later that day we drove by another gate that led down toward that bull. He had what looked like a lot of help parked at the gate.  I doubt anyone part of that pack out will ever forget it…LOL
  We ended that night down at the Nordman tavern watching the Tigers beat the M's in game 1.

Those wolves howled for a while but there were 7 of us and we made quick work packing that moose out in one trip and yea it died in the pond the shot was 786 yards

[millerwheeler]

I hunted that area between those gates too, loved it and always saw sign on that road.  Why in the hell would you shoot a bull moose while he was in the middle of a swamp???  Sure hope they had a portable winch!

Chain saw winch and was how it worked out

[MADMAX]

786
That’s a poke

[millerwheeler]

786
That’s a poke

Ya was pretty wild shooter was happy to get a bull I sent him link I don’t  want to distract from  the original post. Hope he shares

[Turner89]

   I decided I would go South with Evan and Dylan.  Of course we were just getting to the top of the pass when we got a text from Errett, “BULL 340YDS”. So I turn around and take off for Petite lake. 55 minutes later I get up to Errett.  I can barely walk due to my awesome back situation. 
 Errett starts cow calling again now that I’m there. (He had to quit calling because the bull was coming right to him and I wasn't there yet.) Instantly we hear a branch breaking below us and a few grunts. Then he comes out of the timber and into a clearing, I can see pretty much his whole body, but not his head, I had the cross hairs right on him but wasn’t sure it was a bull. When He did show his head, he was walking and never stopped. I couldn’t get steady enough to take a shot.
 That missed opportunity stung a little bit. I had the guys here to help get him out and My back didn’t seem to be getting any better.

   I finally decided to drive to priest river and try and see a chiropractor.

 Errett drove to the Tamarack hardware store and bought a sweet gun rest out of disgust.   
 
Dr Kiriaka at Chiropractic plus made room for me at the end of the day.  He did a great job with what he had to work with.     I felt a lot better after seeing him, still sore, but definite improvement. I got better every day after that visit. Thank you, sir.
 
  The next morning, we all took off for our spots that we discussed the night before.  All glassing different areas, but within radio contact of each other. I looked down at a clearing about a ½ mile away and realized that the rock I thought I saw was actually a small bull. I took off down the road on the Bakcou to check it out. I was able to get the cross hairs on him broadside at 40 yards. I almost pulled the trigger, with what I had going on with my back and having the guys there to help get him out, but I just couldn’t do it. I still had a month and half to go. 

[Turner89]

 Sunday 12th was pretty dead. It felt like a great day, but nobody saw anything.  We went down to Elkins to watch the Mariners thump the Bluejays.
Evan had to leave that day unfortunately, and Errett had to leave the next day.  That left me and Dylan until Wednesday the 15th.  I planned on leaving that day and coming back on the 15th of November and staying until the end of the season if necessary. That would give my back some time to recover and maybe get some consistent snow to hunt in.  Tuesday came, and Dylan and I split up, each of us covering some different land. I went South and he went north. 
 Around mid-morning I got a message from Dylan that he had broken down.  He had ended up walking a couple miles before someone picked him up.  We met up back at camp and then went to see if we could start the truck or tow, it to Tamarak. On the way to his truck we saw a 3point whitetail on the other side of Granite creek. Would have been an easy shot for Dylan, but we didn’t know at the time what we were in for with the pickup, so he let him walk.  Thankfully,” the old tap the starter with a hammer trick’’ worked.
 Dylan decided not to take his chances with the starter and would leave for home that night. My back had started feeling better and after a pep talk from my wife decided to stay on by myself until I got one or until Sunday.
    This was the first time in 18 days that I was on my own, and I would be for the next 5 days.  Help was 6-1/2 hours away.

[X-Force]

Appreciate the write up! It’s great. Can’t wait for the conclusion.

[trophyhunt]

I hunted that area between those gates too, loved it and always saw sign on that road.  Why in the hell would you shoot a bull moose while he was in the middle of a swamp???  Sure hope they had a portable winch!

Chain saw winch and was how it worked out

Thank God for the winch!!  hell of a shot!

[Turner89]

   I decided that I was done with driving around and glassing. I was going to implement my game plan that I had made on Labor Day weekend when scouting. My camp was set up at the end of a road next to a gate. Behind the gate was a 6-mile road with all different kinds of moose habitat. Timber, Clearcuts, beaver ponds, and meadows. Nobody had been hunting this area that I was aware of but me, and I hadn't been in there much. I was going to hunt this area thoroughly for the next 5 days.

  Day 15.   The next morning, I woke up feeling better than I had in days.  The 16x20 Davis tent seemed empty and quite with everyone gone. It was clear and cold 29deg, so everything was frozen.    After drinking a couple cups of coffee waiting for it to get a bit lighter out, I took off down the road on the Bakcou.  Within 100 yards of the gate, roughly 200 yards from my tent, I find fresh bull tracks running down the road. This was exactly what I needed to see. LOL I continued down the road slowly following the tracks. About a mile further down the road I see where the tracks met up with some cow tracks and it looked like he was harassing her right there in the middle of the road.   I let out a bull grunt and was immediately answered by a bull back in the brush. I could hear them walking away further into the thick stuff. I grunted a few more times and cow called, but it went silent.  After setting up a camera I continued down the road looking for more tracks and heading toward a meadow along Granite creek that looked pretty good on ONX. 
  The meadow looked pretty good, but not any fresh sign that I could find. I got back up to the bike and continued further down the road. I found fresh wolf tracks following fresh doe tracks. I followed them for about a ½ mile.  They all turned off the road and up the hill. 
   For the evening, I decided I would setup back where I heard The bull and cow. I sat there until dark without any action.  Just getting ready to leave for camp when I heard what I would say was a roar. It was a long way from me, way up in the direction of the clearcuts on timber company land.  In my mind that roar was a Bull moose, but I wasn’t sure about that.  I just know that I’d never heard that before.
 I got back to camp made a mountain house then decided to drive about 15 miles to where I have cell reception and check in.  After I made My calls and answered some texts I googled Bull moose sounds and found out that moose did not make that noise.  I called My new friend Dan Wilson (another tag holder) and his buddy also said that moose don’t roar like that. He said, unfortunately, that Grizzly do roar……  LOL

[Turner89]

   Thursday October 16th    day 16
Got up feeling pretty good. My back was definitely getting better.  My plan was to head for some clearcuts 3 miles back, check the cameras on the way. 
 About 50yards shy of my camera I see what must have been an epic bull fight. The gravel road was frozen, but still gauged up by hooves and there was tuffs of moose hair all over the place. This was right where I’d heard the bull grunt and walk off with a cow the morning before.  I hung there for about 20 minutes rubbing brush with the scapula bone from Derek’s archery Roosevelt 5x5 he’d shot a month earlier.
 I Checked the camera thinking I’d have a bunch of good pics, but unfortunately there wasn’t  anything at all. The camera was about 50yards from the fight and apparently they didn’t walk by it.
 I continued towards the clear cuts.  While glassing the first cut, I heard the wolves howling down the valley somewhere. After about an hour I moved on up the road to the next cut. Everything was really quiet, I didn’t see any deer or anything.  I felt like I was wasting my time and should be back watching that area near the bull  fight, but I hadn’t been all the way back to the last cut here and I figured I’d check that out before going back down and sitting on that stretch of road where the fight was.
   The farther I moved up the road the more moose scat and tracks I found. I parked my bike and decided to walk slowly the rest of the way.  Soon I started finding small trees that were tore up, so as I walked past these trees I would thrash them with the scapula bone. I kept this up as I continued along the road. 
  About halfway through one of the clear cuts was a small creek. When They logged it, they left a strip of timber along the creek that blocked site of the other side of the clear cut.   Before I went into the timber, I really tore into a tree that he had been rubbing with the scapula. Instantly I heard a grunt. He was getting closer with every grunt, so I got setup with my trekking poles right in the middle of the road. The tree line was about 35-40 yards from me and I was expecting him to walk through at any moment. That didn’t happen. Lol
 He decided to be difficult and hang up on the other side of the trees.  I had only one tool in my moose calling toolbox and that was the elk scapula. I decided my cow calling and grunting noises I attempted were horrible. I sucked at it and had no faith in them at all. LOL So I started rubbing the tree again and he started grunting again and getting closer. He was inside the trees now, I could actually hear his paddles sliding through the hemlock branches, but he just wouldn’t come out.  (Man, I wish I would have practiced bull grunting more during the summer.)  I felt like a kid getting ready to shoot my first buck…major adrenaline rush.  The fact that I hadn’t even seen him yet added to the anticipation. 
 This went on for about 20 minutes or so.  I hadn’t rubbed the tree since I heard his paddles sliding though the branches because I figured he was in a spot where he could see through and was looking for the bull messing with his trees. Then I felt the wind hit me in the back, (*censored*).  He went quiet, but I didn’t hear him walk away or anything. I wasn’t sure what to do at that point. I felt like I was blowing this deal big time.
 After another 10 minutes I figured I better do something. I got up and slowly headed toward the timber line. I was expecting to see him at any moment running away. I got through the timber and the creek (they dug out the culverts at all the crick crossings).  I didn’t see him anywhere. I was starting to think I missed a big opportunity. but was still pretty pumped about the cool experience.
  There was another freshly destroyed tree right next to me, so I raked it halfheartedly.  That was instantly answered with a loud crashing of trees and brush down about 70-90 yards in the clear cut.  The adrenalin was back on.  I still hadn’t seen him yet, but what I did see was a little intimidating. I saw a 6’’-8’’ diameter log about 15ft long fly through the air. He had hooked it with his antler and launched it.  Then I saw him finally, he had his head in a brush pile thrashing brush. (I’ll never forget that scene.)   I had My gun up waiting for him to turn broadside. When he did, I hit him twice in the left shoulder and a 3rd in high back rib and the 4th in the left back leg…. He went down.  I started putting another shell in, then he started getting up. Out of the Moose fever that was running rampant in me, I ejected the shell I had just put in the chamber LOL. I pulled another out of my pocket and shot him in the left paddle, I dug another out and I believe I hit him in the ear. He finally quit moving and I finally quit shooting.    Dam!!! LOL

    Turns out that the first shot was all that was needed, but I wasn’t taking any chances. I heard horror stories of bulls being shot and getting away into the thick stuff and not being found until days later or not at all.
  I’ll never forget walking up to him. He was so big! Awesome looking animal.  I just hung out there while checking him out and taking it all in.  The weather was awesome, there was no wind or rain, and it was dead silent.  From the first grunt until that moment was about 50 minutes.  The scene went from loud awesome chaos to dead calm quiet.   
After taking pictures, I sat down on a stump and tried sending a message out to my son Errett back home on the N-reach.  I was wishing that I had been paying closer attention when he ran me through how to use it before he left. On top of that I didn’t have glasses so I could barely see what I was typing. Finally, though I managed to get a message to him. BULL DOWN!  Within 10 minutes he responded that my brother, Jake and Brian were heading my way. That message was sent at 1:15pm.  They had a 6-1/2 hr drive, I wasn’t going to see anyone until late that night.