Hunting Washington Forum
Big Game Hunting => Other Big Game => Topic started by: Orion on September 28, 2013, 06:12:41 AM
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Can there be too many mosses threads? I really enjoyed reading the past blow by blow threads so we'll give it a try.
The adventure begins! Leaving for camp in 5 min. 10 years of applying, 3 months of anticipation, 3 scouting trips (3800 miles) later and we're finally leaving.
We have 3 main areas to concentrate on so will do truck camps so we can stay mobile. I have 1 bull picked out to Target. We named him FrankenMoose. With velvet and thru 15X binos at 400 yds, I thought he may go 50 inches but with 36X spotting scope, he's about 43-45 with split brow tines. Good enough and the area he's in isn't a bad pack out.
We'll send updates as time and cell reception allows. Hunt starts 1 Oct so they may be limited after that. Urrrgh!
Like Comme
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This will be good! Getter Done! :tup:
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good luck on the hunt... :tup:
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Good luck, take pics...
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Good luck! I did this 12 years ago so I remember the excitement/anticipation.
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Give me a PM if you get in a bind. I will be up with quadcrazy tomorrow evening.
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Give me a PM if you get in a bind. I will be up with quadcrazy tomorrow evening.
Good luck Chris!!!
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Good luck and tag :tup:
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keep us informed and good luck :tup:
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Good luck Orion.
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good luck!
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You'll never forget the feeling when you walk up on your downed moose. And then.....have to gut the thing. :chuckle:
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Glitch numbers 1 and 2. Packer and his wife were rutting last nite and as happens to rutting mammals, they got distracted and made mistakes. The bull forgot his meat pack and the cow forgot to make my zucchini bread. Little Debbie and the Quaker guy will have to join me for b-fast this week and a new pack was a wishlist item anyway.
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best of luck to ya keep us all posted cant wait for pics and story!! :tup: :tup:
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Think up hill
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Good luck on your hunt
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Good luck and enjoy :hunter:
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shot one yet? :chuckle: :tup:
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Glitch 3, 4 and 5, the Coleman stove broke, the pop up canopy didn't have a top and we didn't bring a chain saw and trees are blocking the roads. Fixed all glitches. Time to get serious. And stay dry. And find more bulls.
Checked out a hot lead on a big bull. Didn't see him but saw plenty of sign in the area. It's out of the way and deep enough that a bull could grow old back there. Good back up spot. Didn't see a moose this morning but the fog, rain and wind were factors.
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With the wind we had last night you better run into Chewelah and pick up a chain saw
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Fog cleared off and we had some visibility. Found another shooter bull. More than 45 inches wide, nice palms but single long brows. Looked like an old bull and his face was pretty scared up. Had 2 cows with him.
Saw a bunch of deer but no shooters. I have a multi-season deer tag too.
Wind really needs to settle down and the fog needs to go away.
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find those thick ravines you can call into walk the roads and call , when you get action it's unbelievably fun .
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Checked out a hot lead on a big bull.
They are all big. ;)
Keep that in mind the next time someone tells you they just saw "a big one" over there! I learned that very few on the hunting sites, this one included, actually knew how to score a moose and virtually nobody in the field had a clue.
You will find that "the big one" around the corner is actually only a couple years old, so take their information with a grain of salt and don't put too much faith in it. :twocents:
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FrankenMoose moved. Looked for him Monday am and pm and again this morning. Gone. Moving on to plan b for the afternoon. Will look for Frankie again in a day or two if we haven't tagged out yet. Guess that's why its called hunting. Both men are still in good spirits.
Thanks for the advice guys. We'll git her done.
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good luck and thanks for the updates :hello:
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FrankenMoose moved. Looked for him Monday am and pm and again this morning. Gone. Moving on to plan b for the afternoon. Will look for Frankie again in a day or two if we haven't tagged out yet. Guess that's why its called hunting. Both men are still in good spirits.
Thanks for the advice guys. We'll git her done.
be patient and enjoy every minute of the hunt!!!!
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i have some great intel on a extrememly large bull moose in 117...yeah...yeah...they are all big...got that...but 3 guys i hunt with, including myself have seen this moose several times and all said the same thing...biggest moose we have ever seen, state side ( 2 of us are from Montana and 1 from Colorado). He has 5 points on each eye guard! I have coordinates if you would like...just send me a PM and I can give your my Phone number share intel if you would like.
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i have some great intel on a extrememly large bull moose in 117...yeah...yeah...they are all big...got that...but 3 guys i hunt with, including myself have seen this moose several times and all said the same thing...biggest moose we have ever seen, state side ( 2 of us are from Montana and 1 from Colorado). He has 5 points on each eye guard! I have coordinates if you would like...just send me a PM and I can give your my Phone number share intel if you would like.
Now that there is a must do! :yike:
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i have some great intel on a extrememly large bull moose in 117...yeah...yeah...they are all big...got that...but 3 guys i hunt with, including myself have seen this moose several times and all said the same thing...biggest moose we have ever seen, state side ( 2 of us are from Montana and 1 from Colorado). He has 5 points on each eye guard! I have coordinates if you would like...just send me a PM and I can give your my Phone number share intel if you would like.
Know of any big bulls in the Huckleberry? lol!! I leave friday night for my hunt!! Good on ya for giving intel! Karma! :tup:
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Tues pm passed on 2 bulls. 1 was about 36in wide but I think I really screwed up passing the 2nd. Single brows but good palms and mass, a little over double ears on both sides.
Wed am spent the morning in the fog. Saw 3 cows and no bulls. Odd that cows didn't have bulls around.
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:tup: :tup:
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Odd that cows didn't have bulls around.
Not like elk. Sooner or later there will be a bull around. Remember they rut well into November. Their behavior is not as much like a herd animal as most think for the average deer. Their life in the large open spaces such as the Yukon etc dictates their way of life.
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You did good by passing those up. You'll know a shooter when you see one, wont have to think twice about it, it will be a no brainer as they have that "IT" factor. I passed up 13 last year prior to shooting mine! Enjoy the hunt cause it will be over before you know it! :tup:
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Thurs am, found Moosezilla and missed at 400yds. Shot set up wasn't perfect but good enough to take the shot. Clean miss, searched for a long time, no blood. He was big enough that shoot or no shoot wasn't even a question. Had a bunch of fun calling him. He, or the young bull that was trailing, came in to calls, then moved off. He had 3 cows with him.Today doesn't suck. No fog, great views and moose around. Thurs eve, almost got redemption. Moosezilla had two options after the shot, high or low, we went high. Looked all over and ended up going all around the mountain. In evening went back to the low spot. Saw 2 wolves on the way. Both of my packers thinks they look better thru a camera lens than a rifle scope so that's what we did. No SSS. Caught moosezillas herd after but only saw the trailing bull. After a stare off, went after them but they were too fast. If we didn't stop for the wolves we may have seen him again. Moose seem really stupid when you see them on the road but they are pretty smart when in the woods.
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get it done and don't settle . mooszilla is the one you want !
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get it done and don't settle . mooszilla is the one you want !
:yeah:
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Keep at it. And keep the updates comin.
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:tup:
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Pretty boring couple days. Saw more wolves, again, than moose. Moving areas.
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Pretty boring couple days. Saw more wolves, again, than moose. Moving areas.
What part of 49 are you seeing the wolves in?
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Dealing with wolves in Selkirk also
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Orion PM sent... :tup:
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Awesome thread! Hope you get the big'n!
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47 inches down. Story and pics later. Moose on the ground are huge!
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No kidding. Neck trim is amazing
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This sounds like a ton of fun!!! Congrats!
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Awesome can't wait for the story and Pictures :tup:
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:yeah: hurry up :chuckle:
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It depends on what part of the moose process he was in when he posted up. :chuckle: it might take awhile :)
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we need to see him quick!!!
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Took Quadcrazy and I 8 hours from shot to truck on his bull Thursday.
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WAITING!!!!!!!!!!!!! :camp:
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I will never forget riding the horse up to the first moose I shot in Canada and thinking, am I sure i want to get down next to that monster what if it's not dead :chuckle: I really like seeing all the moose on here and the fortunate hunter's that drew the tags :tup:
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WAITING!!!!!!!!!!!!! :camp:
:yeah:
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Sorry for the wait but back home now, meat is at the butcher and the head is at the taxidermist. So....
We spent a coupled boring days on a mountain in the south of the unit and called in more wolves than moose. Moosezilla had to be on that mountain somewhere but we circled it twice, high and low and couldn't find him again. We also went back and looked for FrankenMoose again but couldn't find him either. I saw him just prior to the opener but he disappeared as soon as season opened. Must have a set of hunting Refs in his head.
Both my sons (Mules) had to leave Sunday morning so I really wanted to get it done before they left. Decided to punt and check a new spot Saturday afternoon and wasn't too impressed. We discussed and decided to go back up high and hunt like we scouted, spot and stalk from road and trail lookouts.
At the very first lookout I saw 2 moose on a far ridge and as we were pulling out the scope 2 other bulls started calling on the closest ridge. Close is good so I dropped in on them. Took a bit to locate and they moved up towards the road (good thing!). I finally saw bull 1 and just saw 1 palm. Decided to pass and move off to bull 2. Bull 1 then moved and I saw the rest of him and he was a shooter.
He moved into the thick stuff and I thought the last chance to fill the tag while my boys were there was over. I got aggressive and moved straight at him and started calling. He came back out with more than a little attitude. His head was down and he looked like he was ready to fight. Shot once straight on and again when we started to walk down hill. He flinch at both but fell a second after the last.
There is nothing that can prepare you for walking up to a bull moose on the ground. They are huge. I am sooooo glad I got him before my mules left. I've bagged and packed several elk solo but a moose is on a whole other level. After smiles, hugs and pics a passing truck and other moose hunters came down to check it out, another good thing as they helped us turn him around. 6 guys grunting and growning just spinning the bull. We can bone an elk in an hour but the moose took us over 4.
The rack makes just turning him over a huge chore. We only had to pack him about 200 yards to the road but even that was difficult. 7 meat loads and the head. Elk are usually 3 bags and the head. Got back to camp and in bed about 230 in the morning. Got up at 630, made the drove back to the wet side, dropped meat and the head off with pros and passed out.
I didn't get FrankenMoose or Moosezilla but exceeded my minimum of 43. He taped at 47 1/4". His palms and point count, 8x7, aren't so good but his fronts are massive and long. I'm very happy with him.
Lots of people to thank, I got alot of advice from HW guys and the the board was the best source of info learning about moose, the unit and areas to hunt. Thanks for all the PMs. Most of all I want to thank my sons. We hunted most of the week miles behind gates (good thing we didn't shoot one there ) and they keep up great spirits thru it all. The help nagging and packing was invaluable as was the extra set of eyes and ears. They both gave up a week of vacation and elk hunting to help me out. Thanks guys.
This was a great hunt and we had a great time. I hope the pics work, 1st time posting them.
[Smg id=12163]
[Smg id=12166]
[Smg id=121167]
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Very Nice bull! Congrats.
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:tup:
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AWESOME!!!!!
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really nice moose! love the unique antlers! :tup:
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I have been watching this all week waiting for your pictures. Nice bull he is beautiful. I put in every year and have 18 points. Congrads on an awesome animal!!!
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Cool looking bull.
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Those are awesome second points. Congrats
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Awesome bull, what a priceless thing to have your boys along on this trip! Congratulations :)
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Great Bull. Love the symmetry.
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Way cool!!! :tup:
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Excellent!
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Excellent!
:yeah:
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Awesome Bull!! Congrats :tup:
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Nice.
Thanks for sharing the hunt and pics.
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Great job on a great looking bull!
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This was a great hunt w/ great guys. Can't wait to sink my teeth into some of that meat.
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Neat bull! Congratulations
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Congrats. 8) :brew:
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200 yds from a road, man I need a WA moose tag. Congrats on the bull!
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:tup: :tup: :tup:
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:tup: Great Moose!
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Nice bull. Hope there are moose still around when I draw.
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:drool: Congrats What a great MOOSE!!!
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:tup: :tup: :tup:
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Nice bull. Congrats
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:tup: