Sorry for the delay, been busy with school, and now shed hunting!
*Straight out of the hunting journal!*
I’m Feeling Good About Today. . .
October 3rd, 2009
We woke up to a thin, frozen layer of snow blanketing Mt. Spokane. A good sign. It would make it both easier to spot and track them. On the way to the top the three of us (Myself, Brandon, and Jammer) all agreed we were feeling pretty good about what the day would bring.
We took the upper road initially, and weren’t more than a quarter mile or so down it when Brandon had me back up. Down below us, on the lower road, was a moose bedded down. It was an amazing spot through the branches of reprod. We quickly radioed ahead to Dad and Hannah, and by the time they got back to us we were glassing the cow moose, now standing. It being the rut, we decided that we’d bump into a bull. When we got around the corner however, there was nothing but tracks showing where she had hit the brush. Oddly enough it was just her single set of tracks too.
We got back to the trucks and went back down the upper road, all the way to the clearcuts of Fish Creek until we hit the Idaho state line. It didn’t produce.
On the way back out we saw the only other rig we’d seen up there that morning pass us. Jammer put the video camera down, not expecting to see anything now. We started talking about how maybe animals just assume the coast is clear and they can come out when a truck drives by rather than the opposite.
No sooner had we finished that conversation, when we turned the corner to see the truck stopped, and Hannah jumping out of the truck. Brandon yelled that she had her gun out as we looked wide eyed at each other for a split second before we jumped out. As we walked up to Dad, he motioned big bull with his hands. Hannah was already walking up the road looking into the brush above it.
Dad filled us in. Apparently as soon as they had turned the corner a cow darted across the road from below, with a decent bull right behind her. Hannah was so excited there was no way she’d let him walk given the opportunity to take him.
A couple minutes later Hannah was back, and she said she could he him grunting and walking in the brush. We drove up a couple hundred yards and parked the trucks at the entrance to a network of cat trails. We’d walk them and try to get into that bull again. Because of the crunchy snow, we had Hannah walk a good 50-75 yards ahead of us on the trail. We were right on the edge of brushy reprod and the timber.
When we were about where we figured he’d be, Hannah motioned back that she could hear him walking, grunting as he went, away from us paralleling the trail. When she continued walking we continued walking. Eventually she turned the corner ahead and was out of sight. No more than a minute later, BOOM! Brandon and I, now a good 30 yards ahead of Jammer and my Dad, looked for a split second wide eyed and took off at a full sprint down the trail. Another shot rang out, BOOM!
When we rounded the corner, me yelling the whole time not to quit shooting until he was down, Hannah was turned back to us telling the story.
She said the cow had stepped across the cat road into the timber, and a second later the bull stepped out broadside. She shot, and he just stood there before turning and slowly walking down the trail quartered away from her. She shot once more and he went out of sight as the road dropped down a slope.
We went ahead and started up the trail to get on his blood and tracks, but as soon as we crested the bump, we could see him down on the edge of the trail. As we ran up to him he started to try and get up and I had Hannah put a round in his hump, BOOM! And that was that, he toppled over dead.
Jammer and my Dad were now behind us. I don’t know what footage Jammer had gotten of it, but he was getting what mattered the most now. Hannah was shaking with excitement giving hugs left and right. We congratulated her as she gave the run-down.
The excitement didn’t stop for a good 15 minutes, and we finally got him propped up for pictures. After that we got him situated and gutted. I’d forgotten how big they were! The heart was the size of a freaking volleyball, and we saw that the tip of it was blown off. That’s where one of her shots had hit, though we didn’t know if it was the first or second.
Dad went and got the truck, and with a little bit of four wheeling was able to drive right up to the moose, it was perfect!
Getting the bull into the truck really wasn’t bad either. We halved and skinned the hind half, and were able to fit it into two game bags. Hannah was able to convince dad to let her get it mounted, so we took about 2-3 hours to cape the damn thing. Most of the time was trying to sock the front shoulders. It was a real pain in the ass. Dad eventually got frustrated with it and went ahead and cut down the back of the forearms. When that was finally done, we loaded the front half into game backs and into the truck, as well as the head and cape.
With him all loaded and tagged we headed back down the mountain to check out of the lodge and show Sam. They were hosting a wedding that day, so he was a little hard to track down but he was very happy for Hannah.
When we got squared up, we took off. Us back to Moscow, and Dad and Hannah back to Olympia. I got him Charlie’s phone number and he dropped the head and cape off that same night, as well as the meat at the meat shop. It was one heck of a day.
*End of entry*
It was a great hunt, and we all had a blast. If I remember right it was like 32" wide.
Picture 1: Dad and Hannah with her moose.
Picture 2: Myself, Jammer, Hannah, and Brandon with the moose.
Picture 3: Waiting for Dad and the truck. (Can see him backing down the cat trail)
Picture 4: Talking while loading back half into game bags.
Picture 5: Caping him out, gave up on socking the front shoulders.
Picture 6: Ready for the taxidermist.
Picture 7: All loaded and ready to head out.
