Hunting Washington Forum
Big Game Hunting => Other Big Game => Topic started by: TrkyBob53 on March 11, 2009, 06:47:58 PM
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I wanted to post something about my moose hunt from last fall. I don’t know if I should write the whole thing at once or just bits and pieces. It would be really long if I did it all at once. So I am going to start with this and wait for some feedback.
It was mid Aug.08, and I get a phone call from WDFW, telling me that I was one of the two lucky winners for the moose raffle. I couldn’t believe it. I thought that somebody was screwing with me. I called them back, and sure enough,it was true. I was doing back flips. Then I started doing my research. Biologists, friends, and friends of friends were called. The outlook was good. I studied up on sizing a bull and figured out what I wanted. I told myself I would settle for anything bigger than 36”. Before I left to hunt, the size went to 50”+ and triple browtines. A lot of people told me that was a realistic goal..
Middle of Sept. Pack all my stuff. My hunting partner Jim was going to go with me. I wanted this to be a scouting trip more than hunting. I was prepared to shoot one though. His 4’X8’ trailer was loaded down with coolers and tubs to put meat in and keep it cool if by chance I did score. The weather was supposed to be warm. That was an understatement. It was just plain hot as I remember.
I have been hunting the NE corner for somewhere around 20 years. Having an idea on where I was going to hunt, we had a plan. 6hr drive, and about 300 miles and we are there. First morning, we drive up on a mountain to a place we had seen a lot of moose. Drive into the clearcut, and its all brown. Not for lack of water, but the timber co. had sprayed to kill the underbrush so their little trees could grow. No moose here. Ive been hosed on this spot. Drive around the rest of the day, almost dark, saw a cow and a calf. Day two, Jim myself and a friend named Red went to meet up with a fella name Squirrel. Wasn’t sure what I was in for. Archery elk was open so I figured there would be some people in the woods. Going up the mountain there was a rig stopped in the middle of the road. They pull off the road and let us by. I started talking about what the chances were that we might meet up with the other raffle winner. They said something like fat chance on that. Look how many units there are, and how big of an area each unit has. We get up to where squirrel is camped at. He and his group were camping and hunting elk. We say our hellos and small talk and make a plan. We get in the truck just as the pickup we passed earlier is coming up the road. Squirrel says lets go and get ahead of those guys. Didn’t make it. They stop and get out, walk over to our truck. They ask if we have been seeing any moose. Squirrel says no. One guy says if you do see any to let them know, he points to the other fella and says this is the auction tag holder for moose Squirrel point over at me and says this is a raffle tag winner for moose. Seemed like dead silence. They went there way and we went ours. The rest of the day was spent driving. Moose count for day 2 was 1. Spent the next morning back on the mountain. Nothing. Time to go home. Estimated driving,1000 miles.
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Keep it coming my friend! I can't wait to hear how the rest of the hunt went.
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I am having an issue on sending some pics by themselves. my jpegs are about 2mb. dont know how to downsize them
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E mail them to me I will get them on. briansolomon@comcast.net
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KEEP IT COMING!
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Dang it, I wana see pics :chuckle:
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:yeah:
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Here you go
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Those are what he sent me.
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This is the email he sent me. The # are just the file numbers.
11 is of me loading my stuff. Three is me starting to study up. Its
stupid I know, but what the heck. 37 is it was just plain hot and I am
in the shade.
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:IBCOOL:Enjoying the story! Keep it comming :hello:
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yeah more moose stories, its been too long!!!!!!
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I didn't know there were two raffle tags. I thought it was just one raffle and one auction tag. 8)
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OMFG I need more of this story I keep hitting refresh lol, a good story is like crack to me. :yike:
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He must have read Huntnphools story, lets just leave us hangin :bash:
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A cliff
All of us running up and jumping off.
More story please
Joe
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I will send more story, but I am doing it in word and saving it. I type slow and read even slower. Also I am trying to figur out how to downsize my photos. Am going out to get a photo bucket. Hope it dont have holes in it.
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TrkyBob
If you run into any problems with the pics PM and I can talk you through it.
If you look on your computer under programs and if you have Paint then you can downsize them pretty quick with two pushes of your mouse.
Joe
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:drool: :whoo: :drool: :whoo: Cant wait to hear the rest. Keep it coming man we are all living our hunting dreams through you now.
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Glad to see you are getting the story up here Steve :tup:
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Looking forward to the rest of the story.
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I am trying to do this from memory. Im 55 and I cant remember what the first thing that goes is. But I will think about it. When I started this I should have started In May when all the permit apps were due. Jim and I are partnering on deer and elk. I blew all my elk points a few years back on a very bad choice of a muzzy tag. Jim has a bunch of elk points and I have a bunch of deer points. We put in for what I thought would have been good draws for both. I also put in for Multi-Season deer and elk. I cant remember exactly, but I think about the first of Aug I got a notification that I drew a multiseason deer tag. What to do? Nope not going to buy it, We will be drawn for a special hunt. The next week, I get a letter in the mail that I drew the Multi-season Elk tag. Nope. Not going to buy it. We will get drawn for a really good big bull tag. The drawing results came out. Should have bought that MS deer tag. Should have bought that MS elk tag. We struck out on both draws. Only good thing my oldest son Ryan drew a Big Bull Archery tag. Thats another story. I was bummed out for me and Jim but told Ryan I would help him with his bull. Then Wildlife called with news that made me shake. MOOSE RAFFLE WINNER.
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another moose story...YES! Keep it coming
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This could take a week or more at this pace. :rolleyes:
Congrats on the moose though. :tup:
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shoulnt take more than two or three weeks to tell the whole thing. just having issues on getting my pics from photo bucket to here
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You can just keep emailing them top me and I will post them till you get it figured out. :dunno:
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or forget photobucket and post them the way I showed you the other night :dunno:
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tried to post them that way but my pics are too big. They are all bout 2.1mb. off of my camera. That other one was off the trail cam
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This is a test pic from from my first trip. Hope it works. Its Jim showing me how big one should be.
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Time for round 2. 6 hr drive,300 miles. With all my feelers out have got word that the moose are starting to rut. Good deal. Up on the mountain bright and early. Cant see a lot. Not cause its dark, its soooooo foggy you cant see 50yds. Jim and I walk out a logging road. We stop every 100yds of so and I try my best grunt call. Nothing happens. I think I need to work on it. Another 100yds. I grunt. Nothing. What the heck I’ll try again. Practice makes perfect. Nothing. Try cow calling. Sound like a sick something or other. Nothing. We stand there for a few minutes, decide to keep on walking. Take a few steps and I see something. Holy _ _ _ _. It’s a moose. A Bull. I cow or grunt, cant remember whitch. Still coming. About 60 yds and headed our way. Fog is lifting a little. Oh crap. Hes about 24” wide. We just let him walk off. I was pumped though. I think Jim was also. Keep calling and listening. No go. Tooooo foggy. We got off the mountain and headed down. In the afternoon we decided to go up on the hill that we had seen the cow and calf at daylight. On the first trip up there 2-3 weeks ago, a friend of ours was on the hill the day after we saw the cow and calf and saw a 50” laying next to the road. Hot tip. So up Jim and I go. Its kind of cloudy, but no fog. We walk and call and nothing. Now the wind is starting to blow. Reallllllllly black clouds coming. Its starts to drizzle. Then rain. Then KABOOM!!!!! About ¼ of a mile from the truck I would guess. In the truck we go. FLASH/BANG. That one was close. Time to beat feat off the mountain. It all stopped before we got off the hill. Have some pics of rainbows. No pics of Moose. HOSED AGAIN.
Next morning we leave the far north country and head south. So far I have hunted 3GMUS and saw for moose. Lets try for 4 and 4. Takes us a few hours to get to civilization. Newport that is. Find a motel, check in, dump the trailer, and up another mountain. More driving. Jim drives the most, bless his sole. Jim finds a rutting pit next to a road. Put this in the memory bank for later. Drive, walk, grunt, cow call the rest of the day. Nothing. Should have bought more calling videos. Might not make me call any better, but it would make me feel good. By days end, it was clear, sunny, and warm. No I think it was hot. To the hotel for cocktails, shower. and food. Up early next am. In the area of the rutting pit, we stop and go up the hill. I grunt, and cow call. Maybe an hr. Nothing. Back to the truck. Coffee cup filled, make a plan to go further up the road. About ¼ mile up the road, Jim stops. Moose Moose, get your gun. This isn’t nice, but I said Dude, I am going to look first before I get my gun. I get out, there he is 50yds from the road. 50” id say. Only double brows. I want one with triples. I really give him a hard lookover. 7 on one side 8 on the other. One thing that I really noticed was that his points on the paddles were just bumps. I wanted something with tine length. I grunted at him a few times and he walked off. That was it. No more moose on this trip. Total driving, somewhere around1200. Moose count, 2 bulls. I feel the weather hosed me again Home we go.
These are some pics of before and then after the huge thunder and lightning storm
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Back at home my contacts are still in touch. Earlier a friend of a friend called this other guy to see if he would like to take a fella out moose hunting. He was all over it. A phone call from me to him and a relationship was built. This guys name is Andrew. He loves the woods, the animals,the flora and the flanna. Trees, flowers, and one of his favorite plants is ceanothus. I call it buckbrush. Phone calls to him back and forth, and emails. My wife, Joy, would ask me who I am talking to on the phone. I’d say Andrew. Her next comment, oh right, your talking to your New Best Friend Andrew. So from here on out I will sometime refer to MNBFA. We then set a date for me to come up and hunt with him. Second weekend of modern deer season I think it was. My youngest son Ron will be coming with me this time. We arrive at Andrews abode, early evening, say our howdys, a few cocktails, make a plan for the next morning. MNBFA says he has this mountain that always has moose on it. I say I am game for about anything. Andrew says it will be about a 4-5 mile hike. Lets do it.
Up early. Drive about an hour up on top of the mountain. At least I though we were on top. Wrong. On our way up the mountain, we passed a really big camp. Not in the kind of camp you all think of though. There was two little dome tents, and probably 7or 8 vehicles. Vans, cars SUVS. How come there were so many vehicles and so few tents I don’t know. We park and start our hunt. Me looking for a moose, Andrew, looking for a big Mulie, Ron, just an extra set of eyes. Hike to a big basin. We all sit down. Start glassing. Nothing seen. I give out a grunt. Moose. And another,And another. I think there was 6 or 7 in this basin. Some bulls but no shooters. Oh yeah, when I grunted, the moose were running. AWAY! Should have practiced more. Keep on hiking. Another basin. This time we spot a moose. Bull. About 500yds away. I ask Andrew if he was big enough. His response was something like, I have people lined up to come and help you pack your moose out, if you shoot that bull, and they come all the way up here and see how big he isn’t, they will laugh at us and go back home, leaving us to pack it out by ourselves. Needles to say I didn’t try to get closer for a shot. We kept on going around the mountain. Hungry we stop for lunch. Ron and I have PBJS. MNBFA has an MRE. His lunch was hot. Ours was smashed. We eat, and then kick back for a nap. While napping, a16-18” 2point mule deer almost runs over us. That was exciting to wake up to. To see Andrew reaching for his rifle as Ron and I are yelling mule deer buck. He wasn’t legal, but MNBFA sling was hung up on the log he was resting his head on. He could have been a 30” and was safe. We laughed a long time over that one. Nap was over and on we went. Around the mountain back towards the truck. No moose but did run into another hunter. Asked if he had seen any moose. He said no. You see any Eulch. Nope we said. His unkul and broder on other hill. Yea we saw them we said and we went our separate ways. That was a weird exchange. A few more moose were seen no shooters. Half a mile from the truck, we stop and I call. I cow call again. 7-800yds down the hill, moose, coming our way. Closer and closer they get. Cow and calf. Thinking a bull is coming behind, I call again. Ron says I see something down there. Moose? No, hunter. 2, hunters. The cow and calf were about 75yds in front of them. They start to sneak up on the cow and calf. I could use some extra moose points so we watch. The moose get away unscathed. The hunters move on down the road out of sight. Here comes another hunter Ron says. Then another and another and another. 9 of them in all. Holy schmolly batman. At least 7 of them had guns. Even the little kids. Didn’t know what to think about this. We walked back down to the truck, never seeing any of the hunters. Driving back to Andrews casa, he made the statement that he has never driven this mountain road without seeing a moose in the road. Until now. Andrew got hosed.
Moose count for this day, 2 cows, 2 calves, 8 bulls. No shooters.
Oh, by the way, I guess Spokane has a really big Laosin population. Heard they hunt in groups. End of 1st day with MNBFA
Pics of Andrew and Ron
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I really am trying to get this done on a timely fashion.
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I know who you are now, I went to school with both of your boys.
Brandon
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At this rate we are going to see a Pic of the 09 Bull before the 08!!!........................LOL
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Oh how a few cocktails an age can affect a memeory. My moose count is right, but that was after four days With Andrew. The previous post was actually from the second day. The first day we hunted half way up the mountain. Parking at a locked gate first thing in the am, Andrew and I walked about 50yds behind a locked gate an saw a moose. This was a hot spot I thought. Back to the truck and grab Ron and our packs and off we go. About a 1 ½ from the truck, MNBFA sees something in the brush. He has me come over where he and Ron stood. A moose in the trees. We look really hard. It’s a bull. A pretty good one. We try and size him up. Something doesn’t look right. We let him go. There was actually two of them. Didn’t get a good look at the second one. On down the logging road we go. About ½ mile down the road, I look up ahead, I see something that my brain cant register right. Andrew is walking beside me, he reaches over, grabs my shoulder, and throws me to the ground. Meow about that time my brain says, what is a shed horn doing in the middle of this road this time of the year. MNBFA does the 50yd dash in about 1.5 seconds, reaches down and picks up something, and says look what I found. It was a moose horn, but not a shed. It was a broken left palm of a bull moose. After looking around the area, we found where two bulls just tore it up not too far away. That’s what was wrong with the bull in the brush. We never could see the left side of his set. That’s because it wasn’t there. True story except for Andrew throwing me to the ground. The rest of the day was spent looking and calling with no luck.
Moose count is off, but you know that after 4 days I end up with 12. Next will be days 3and4 with MNBFA
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OH I'm lovin this...Good story :chuckle: good pictures :chuckle:
Next year it's my turn! :chuckle: :chuckle:
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enjoying the story, can't wait to hear the finish.
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Good story!! Keep it coming!
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Dude, yer killing me. :chuckle:
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Back at Andrews house after day 2 we were trying to make a plan. He got a call from a friend of his, Tony. Tony was up looking for a buck and tried a little cow moose call. He was up on top, and looked down below him, about a mile away, two bulls stepped out. He didn’t call anymore. He knew that I was at Andrews, so we made a plan to meet him in the am. Met up with Tony, said our howdys, and off we all went. Ron with Andrew, me with Tony. As we were driving, talking moose, I did notice that we were driving in the direction where I knew a lot of the country. Off the paved road and up the hill, I finally let Tony know that I knew this area pretty well. I’ll be darned if he didn’t take me to the same clear cut that I had hunted with Jim a few weeks earlier. We even walked up to the same spots that Jim and I did. This must be an omen. Even though the weather was warm and sunny, I had high hopes, because we ended up sitting and glassing from the exact spot where those two bulls Tony saw, had laid down, and also left a deposit. Tony cow called several times, we could hear a bull grunt, but never showed. By this time it was getting really windy. Hosed by the weather again. We decide to go and try another unit. Drove about 1 ½ . Do some glassing on a big cut area. Nothing. Call a little nothing. Drive around the corner, a little bull up on the hill. He must have heard Tony calling, cause this little guy was slobbering something fierce. We move on to another spot. As Tony and I dive off I see a plume of smoke coming out of MNBFA truck. Those guys are smoking cigars. What the heck, we don’t have anything to celebrate. I found out later that Andrew has a yearn for Al Capone little cigars. I do find out later that they are actually kind of tasty. We get to the new spot. Tony calls. Bull grunts back. Calls again. Grunts back at him. We see the bull on a hillside across from us. A possible shooter. He is going downhill but on his way to us. Tony stays above us calling, Ron, Andrew and I move below Tony on an old skid road. The Bull is getting really close. He is busting brush up and we hear him cross the creek. Its really thick, but he cant be more that 50yds away. We hear something else. What is that we whisper to each other. Oh crap. 4wheelers. I really got Hosed this time. Tuck my tail between my legs and call it a day. I thought I was going to seal the deal. Day 4 with Andrew was uneventful. No moose. No nothing. Head for home and get ready to do it again.
Sorry no cool pics
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I know a lot of individuals are reading this and I am not thread jacking, just giving some tips on what worked for me in Alaska while calling moose.
I always had a white trash bag in my pack or pocket if I got a response from a moose and he either got held up or would not come out I would pull out the trash bag and while calling wave it around by the trees that I was raking, 9 out of ten times the visual effect would drive them crazy and out they would come most of the time running straight at you.
So just a tip if anyone gets drawn for moose this year.
Joe
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First week of late whitetail season. Nov 1. Jim, my oldest son Ryan and myself on this trip. Jim and I go early and get camp set up. Tent and all that. Ryan gets there later that night. First morning Jim is out scouting on the 4 wheeler. Ryan and I in the truck. Ryan tells me he is a black cloud. Whenever he is out big game hunting he is bad luck. He had that big bull archery tag. To say that it was hot when he was hunting is an understatement. He struck out. We drive out a clear cut, thars a moose I said. She was standing about 15 yds from the road. The Ice was broke now I told him. Your not a black cloud Ryan. We havnt been out of camp 20min and we already have seen a moose. I might regret saying that. Saw one more cow that day. Nov 2. Not much seen. Cant remember who saw it but I think it was Jim. A bull was laying down about 50yds from the road. He looked really goofy. He had a bad right horn. Back for lunch. Our afternoon hunt was spent drive and call, drive and call. Heading back to camp, we spot a moose. Ahead of us in a clearcut that was starting to grow up. He looked to be about 45-50” maybe. I am starting to let my three brow tine limit go out the window. The bull walks off, and stops. Still havnt got a good look. Then he goes over the hill. Ryan and I pursue to no avail. If he just would have stopped for 30sec. My ears are drooping and my tail between my legs, to camp we go. A good dinner, nice fire, cocktails, a light snow starting to fall. What more could a guy ask for. ( Im thinking a BIG BULL MOOSE) In the tent, stoke the fire, and hoping for a little snow in the AM. Ive always said, Watch what you ask for.
First one is Jim assuming the cell phone position.
First moose this trip.
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The goofy horned bull
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Did I mention, watch what you ask for? I did not want this much!!! :bdid:
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I think I got the actual dates screwed up but oh well. Next morning. Snow. More than I wanted. Every thing stopped moving. No deer tracks, moose, not even a squirrel. Jim goes off on the bike, and Ryan and I in the truck. We hike up into the clearcut that the two bulls were earlier in the season. Not a track one. The high point was we were standing on a little nob, when I catch movement at the tree line. Deer! Buck! Wrong sub species. 14-16” 2point mulie. He walks right at us. He actually comes to within spitting distance. Maybe 5’ away. I actually thought I would try and touch him. I changed my mind. It was cold, but no wind. We couldn’t believe he kept coming. I started to laugh. He could hear me but must not have been able to figure it out. He then sloooowwwwllllly walked down the hill. Wanted to take a picture, but didn’t want to spook him. Speaking of pictures, I carried my camera in my front pocket all the time. Why is it I forget to take it out and use it. It really irks me that I didn’t get a pic of that first big bull on my second trip. He stood there long enough.
Any Ideas on what the weather did to me a few hours after this pic was taken? This is Ryan.
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Keep it coming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Should have posted this with the others. Dont know how such a good looking guy can take such a bad photo
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I would pull out the trash bag and while calling wave it around by the trees that I was raking, 9 out of ten times the visual effect would drive them crazy
You should see what happens with a white Canon camera lens :chuckle:
Keep the story coming Steve :tup:
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Just to let anybody that is following this, I really am not trying to drag this out. I am writing this and then posting and trying to get the pics just right. I should be done in the next day or two. Hope that works for everybody
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Just to let anybody that is following this, I really am not trying to drag this out. I am writing this and then posting and trying to get the pics just right. I should be done in the next day or two. Hope that works for everybody
Ya, sure, uh hu, right on, whatever you say. :bash: :chuckle:
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I call Andrew a set up days to hunt with him. We set the days for Nov. 26-Nov. 30. Game on. I get time off of work, and I also go buy some Al Capone cigars for luck. Ron is going with me on this trip. Ron also has his best friend from college join us. Cody. Nov. 25, Andrews casa. We make a plan to go up the mountain where he took Ron and I the last time we hunted together. Up early. An hr drive to get there. Me with Andrew, Cody with Ron. Even though we got up early, we are still on the pavement when it starts getting light. In the northeast I guess it is a big deal if you see elk. Well, Just about where we turn off the main road to go up the mountain, ELK. A bunch of them. In the ditch next to to road, in the road, in the field next to the road. We stop, MNBFA is all aflutter. He gets on his cell phone. Andrew, their just elk. I am on a moose hunt. Lets go! He says you know my buddy has a tree stand way over there and he has been in it for days and he can shoot a cow. I think that’s where the elk are going to go. His buddy wasn’t there. He was at home that day, waiting for some repairman to show up that morning. On we go. Half way up the mountain, we drop off Rons rig. To the top we go. Load our packs, and off we go. This is the same hike Ron, Andrew, and I did on our first hunt together. Got Hosed by the pack of hunters. There is snow, but not too much. We go about ¼ mile from the truck. Do some glassing. Moose. Bull. Not big enough. He is really close to the truck. MNBFA says lets go. 100yds we walk. Cody sees a bull over the bank. Too small. Another 100yds. Deer. Mulies. One keeper. Lets go. Another 200yds. Cow and calf. Now were talking. 4 moose in less than 30 min. from the truck. Outstanding. Meow its time to keep going. 1 ½ miles later, Bull, Bull. Too small. Lets go. Into the basin. Moose. Elk. No shooters. Up to the top. Its gorgeous up here.
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Tried and true way to scarum up :chuckle:
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On top of the mountain
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Time to move on. Back down and around. Moose. Cow. Calf. Cow. Keep going. Hear a calf just bawling its head off. We must have split it away from mama. Now we are on a ridge. Same one MNBFA wouldn’t let me shoot a bull. Eat lunch. Ron,Cody,and I have smashed sammiches. ANDREWWWW, has an MRE. Said he couldn’t pack enough for all of us. While eating lunch, we are glassing a big basin. Keeping warm by the pitch log Andrew started. Realllly smokey at first, but it got better. He is a real fire guy. Up on the hill. Movement. Moose? Nope. Crap, Elk. I don’t want to see any more elk. More movement. Moose. Cow,,,,and a Bull. Too small he says for as far away as we are. I said outloud, “I should have shot that cow or calf down by the truck and I would be done with this. I can still get another moose tag.” Nobody liked the sound of that but me. Lunch over, it was about 5 miles back to the truck. I am getting tired. 3 more miles back to the truck. I am starting to cramp up. BMNFA says I can make it. Moose. Cramps are gone. Cow and calf. OMG I a cramping up. Out of water. Start drinking the other guys water. “ Anybody got a Al Capone? I need something for luck, hoping to make it back to the truck.” I made it, even without the Capone. Drop Ron and Cody off at Rons rig. Going out Andrew says “I always see moose on this road driving. We have driven this road how many times together.? Up and down. 5? 6? Not one moose.” Just then, a COW MOOSE IN THE ROAD.!!!!!!! She was the 23rd moose we saw that day. 11 cows, 4 calves, and 8 bulls. 7 mule deer, and 47 elk. Not bad. I still think I need a Capone. Smoke one at the house. Getting real nervous now. May be I have set my standards too high.
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Nov. 27. TDMH (Thanksgiving Day Moose Hunt) Its here. Today will be a short day. Andrew has never had a deep fried turkey. I probable have done 40. Love it. I said I wanted a short day. Needed time to cook. Andrew said we will stay in the low country, and be back by noon or so. Andrew and I in his truck, Ron and Cody in Rons. We get to the area we are going to hunt, and decide to leave Rons Rig at the bottom. All in one rig. Drive up to where we can see a big hillside. All get out and start glassing. Cody spotted a moose. Even with a spotting scope, we couldn’t get a good look. Too much brush. Load back up, Andrew and I in front, Ron and Cody in the back. That is in the box of Andrews truck sitting on his tool box. It was really cold, so they were wrapped up in all the extra clothes we could give them. We drive around to get closer to the moose we saw. About half way there, the boys in the back start pounding on the cab of the truck yelling, SHOOTER,SHOOTER. Andrew and I were looking forward, the boys backward. They saw him, we didn’t. We get out, I load up, walk about 10yds behind the truck. There he is. No looking at the horns. The boys said SHOOTER, and by golly they couldn’t be wrong. I pull up, cant hold still. Circles I draw with my barrel. No shot anyway. Too much brush. Andrew says shoot. I cant, too much brush. He says you got a hole about this big. (making a motion with his hands.) It was about the size of an orange. The bull walks off. I watch him. Seen where he went. I pursue. I go 200yds down the hill, there he is, standing there. No shot. Behind a tree. He walks off again. I look behind me, and there is Ron. I motion to him that I saw the bull and he went that way. I motioned again for Ron to catch up with me. Off we went. There was a small rise on the hillside. I knew the bull would be down in the bottom of the dip. I get to the top of the rise, look down, no bull. Look up and there he is, 150yds away. I flop to the ground, set up on a stump just the right height, line up, PULL THE TRIGGER. He spun around and was still standing in the same place as when I first shot. By the time he spun around I already had another one in and ready. I sent a second one. My dad hunted moose in Canada in the 60’s and early 70’s, and he told me before I went on this hunt to shoot till they fall. After the second one, he stumbled, churned, and flipped over. As it turned out I did not need the second one. 8AM, Moose hunt is over. Now the work. Not the biggest in the woods, but not a baby either. I have named him HOSER 27. He was the 27th moose seen in 2 days, and I had been Hosed on almost each trip by something. He is 45”.
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Best Al Capone I ever had.
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Pics taken, and a plan was made to get him out. It was bout 250yds up hill to the truck. About 600yds down hill to another road. We will go down hill with him. Andrew has a game cart. Andrew and Cody walk back up the hill to get the truck, go get Rons rig, and drive to the road below. Ron and I do all the messy work. It was not as bad as I thought it would be. Andrew and Cody show up. We strap the bulls head and shoulders to the cart. Andrew and Ron start downhill pulling the cart. Game carts are not meant for moose. We Blew a wheel. Now what? We have some tarps don’t we? Go to plan B. We got the tarps, rolled the bull on them, off we go. The boys took turns pulling. They would go 70-80yds a pull. It was fairly steep, and the grass was frosted. 7 or 8 pulls and we were at the truck.
Getting him stuffed into the back of the truck, we are off to skin him. To a friends house we go. We use a chain hoist to lift him up and skin him. We let him hang a few hours to cool off, back the trailer up to the hanging bull and lower him into Jims trailer. Back to Andrews house. We were all done. Time to get stuff ready for Deep Fried Turkey. Its just 1pm. Best Thanksgiving Day ever.
The only thing that would have made this better, if I could have shot Hoser on the Nov.28th. My 55th birthday.
5 Trips
18 days
Several Thousand Miles
69 moose seen. 38 cows, 8 calves, 23 bulls
THE MEMORIES ARE PRICELESS
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Great story. :)
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Very good story TY for shareing is there more? If not grats on that bad boy.
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Sounds like a great Thanksgiving to me!
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Very, very cool and CONGRATS!
Thanks for taking the time and effort to give us the story to go along with the pics.
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Thanks for the good read and pics! Congrats.
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Nice job!
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nice love the story
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Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!!! Thanks for sharing!!!
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:IBCOOL:Yeah!1 That was a great hunting story!!! Thanks for the pictures too! Congradulations on a fine moose!
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Great write up Steve, congrats on a super hunt and Happy Birthday.
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Great story, thanks for taking the time out and sharing with us all...
Joe
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Great story, thanks for sharing!
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Thanks for the write up, great work and what fun!
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great pictures and story
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excellent story, pics and congrats on a very nice animal.
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Great write up, thanks for putting it on here. Nice looking bull too!
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Very well done, congratulations!!!
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Alltogether a great story and hunt. Congrat's.
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thanks all for the comments. somebody posted that I might have read phools post and thats why I was dragging it out. Not true. I was having a hard time remembering and trouble with the photos.
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Good hunt, good story, very niiiiiice!.......FHT
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Great Job!
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Congrats on the bullwinkle Potter! Great story! :brew:
