Hornseekers Moose adventure

[Hornseeker]

I have a bunch more pics that I cropped and dinked with on another computer that was having a hard time with photobucket...so, tommorrow I will try and get them uploaded... and tell a lot more story...

This was day 2 of season...I took a long walk up to the headwaters of a moosey basin. I spotted a one horned dink bedded in an aspen patch at 9000 feet... Im glad he was small, as the pack out would have been HORRIBLE!!!


I did see these two in that drainage, down lower though. They spooked and ran several miles over a sage brush ridge....

[Hornseeker]

By the way, I had both weapons handy at all times. I had decided early that if I saw a mega bull, I'd shoot him with my trusty ole 30-06 without a single regret. I LOVE killing stuff with my 06'. The bow is a special achievement for sure, but I've never been ashamed of blasting an animal at 100 yards with my 06'!

So, with Doug I passed even taking the bow on the bull posted above...I believe he would of been a fairly easy bull to arrow. I also snuck up with the bow to about 8 yards from a little bullwinkle...

Then, the day Doug left, I spotted a better than average bull about 700 yards across a willow patch..he was feeding on then thrashing a willow bush out in the open. I looked at him quite a bit and knew he wasn't "the one" but I took my bow and my spotting scope and decided to get a better look. After slogging throuhg shin to thigh deep mud and water for about 350 yards, I had a clear view of him. I set the scope up and came up with the same determination as before... I really wasn't that excited about him. But hey...I'd really make the determination if I got closer.

So, I grunted at him, trying to imitate the sweet calls I'd heard Doug doing for a few days. He looked up at me and just watched for a bit, then went back to eating and such... so I tried it again... same story.

I then held my arms up like antlers and and walked out in the open and showed him how big a bull I was...and grunted a few times. He watched, then started walking "sorta" towards me. I withdrew into the brush and watched him through my scope and snapped a pic or two.


He meandered "sorta" my way for a bit, then he turned directly towards me. I thought and thought as I snapped blurry pic after blurry pic of him...what I would do if he came in bow range... it was a tough decision. I was really excited to shoot one with my bow, but I was more excited about killing a big moose with any weapon....

Comin my way...


Closer...


Closer...


SOrry for the horribly blurry pics...low light, almost dark... and I was shaking a little!   He "all of the sudden" was sitting at 40 yards, coming my way.... He walked through the dead willows snapping branched like toothpics of course...


Then, the wind was good... it looked as if he would literally walk right on top of me...30, 25, 20...straight on... I drop the cam and decide if he gives me an ultra close, great shot...I'll take him with the longbow tonight! He stops and stares through me...


Right after that shot, he breaks through a willow line and gets on the fricken downwind side of me! When he got to 7 yards, super hard quartering to me... he hit the wind, wheeled and ran 300 yards out into the meadow...as a smaller bull I hadn't noticed watched from 75 yards away... It was awesome...

[quadrafire]

Nice---I'm on the edge of my seat

[boneaddict]

Thats awesome!  I ask myself again, WHY DID I COME HOME?

[brianb231]

Awesome story so far. I cant wait to hear the rest. I have a Hangman B Moose anlterless permit that I am going on Oct 15th for  and I cant wait. It is only a cow, but I am also going to try and take her with my Bow first.

Bring on the rest of the story!

Brian

[Wea300mag]

This is not a good time for a break Ernie, we are on the edges of our seats here.

[NWWABOWHNTR]

come on Ernie!

[Hornseeker]

So, I was pretty happy with that turn of events... it was a fun deal! Nice bull at 7 yards, nother nice bull at 35 earlier... and a dink at like 9 or 10... Not to mention many other bulls spotted.

Things went pretty well... on Sunday I hiked up in the mountains and saw some elk and heard some bugles and that was good! Saw two dink bulls up there too... 9500 feet! There were places in the spruce forest up there that the ground was just completely covered with moose crap... But, we didn't see jack for fresh sign...and we were about 3 1/2 miles further from the truck than where we'd been seeing most the bulls!

On Monday morn I glassed and glassed from several good points until my eyes burned and my brain hurt. The country looked so good... but a moose wouldn't show himself. After a bit, I told Dad I was going to spend the evening down by the Windmill, grunting. It took that last bull a good 20 minutes to get to me from 300 yards out... well, I was going to play it like whitetail hunting, calling, rattling... I was gonna go find a likely spot and just call and call and see what showed up!

Well, we ended up driving down to a likely looking spot, you could see a pretty wide bottom... and the first thing I saw, about 600 yards away, was a moose. We were "near" the spot I had called the bigger bull into, the one that spooked in the pics above, so I thought maybe it was him. I looked through the binos and said, "well, its a bull" and moved directly to the spotting scope. One second of looking told me it was "him"... I couldn't pass this bull up. It was the last full day of an 8 day hunt... I didn't know how easy it was going to be to get back and for how long I could stay...

I through my 06' over my shoulders, sling across my chest style, no handed... and grabbed my longbow. If I muffed a shot or whatever, this guy was going to die.

Back into the calf to thigh deep water and mudd and muck.... in about 300 yards of slogging I was just about to the opposite willow edge where I'd get a look at him and decide how to go about getting within 20 yards... I stepped into a little opening and two cows and a bull are bedded looking directly at me. The cow jumped up, appeared startled, but didn't run.

I just knew I had blown it...they were between the big guy and me... if I spooked them, they were going to run right through, likely alarming him... and he'd hit the "sea" of willows and could be gone for who knows how long...

I kept my rifle on my back and backed outta there, trying to skirt around the 3 moose so if they jumped, they wouldn't run through him. I made it, the bull spooked from my scent at that point...the two cows had worked far enough north that they didn't get my scent... but they saw the big bull...they moved towards him...he towards them. He was bellering like a dam black angus... if I was a more confident caller...and the 3rd cow, 4th set of eyes and ears for the bunch hadn't been there, I may have kept that longbow in my hand... but I didnt' want this guy to find the cover...not ever again.

Well, he was obscured with willows, mostly dead willows... he was doing all sorts of carnal things to these two cows, while another cow watched... I was a little jealous really... but I wasn't jealous knowing that this was his last bit of action...

I steadied my Brownings forearm on some dead willows and watched him through 6X in the Loop.... It was an  easy shot...I was 90 yards (estimated)... he finally moved into the clear and I wholloped him in the chest, broadside... he just humped up and stood still. He was dead but didn't know it. Well, I decided to hit him again... He just stood there... one more wouldn't hurt right? THis time I pulled forward and put one in the front shoulder. Not "really" sure why I even shot... but...I did. He dropped.

Wow... got my moose. He's not the biggest in the state, but he's plenty big and he's one of those ones that you just cant pass up...even if you really want to!




My Dad made the hunt, saw the whole thing...so That was really cool too!


Couple More...




I love his massive eyeguards!!!


Packin out the cape and head...right at 100 pounds....


Finally back at camp!

[quadrafire]

Saaaaweeeet!!!!
That first pic looks Sureal. (postcard--for sure).

Great to spend it with your dad. Awsome story. Was hoping it was with the "hawk",but you can't pass up those opportunities.

CONGRATS!

PS: you are gonna need a bigger house for all these trophies!

[Wea300mag]

Well done Ernie, that was worth the wait.

[quadrafire]

Were you loaded with TSX in the -06, what grain/powder?

[Machias]

That is fricken awesome, congrats!!!  Couldn't happen to a nicer guy!!!  Great write up and great photos, thanks for sharing!!

[mulehunter]

   Awsome write. Very COOL.....

Mulehunter.   

[JPhelps]

Awesome Hunt and Great Moose!  Your Ol' man being there was icing on the cake.

[boneaddict]

Double thumbs Ernie.   I wish I could have stayed or have been part of the later action.   I'm glad you got your bull! 
I love his beefyness!