Post by: steeleywhopper on October 11, 2021, 08:15:25 AM
Day 1 of the hunt presented us with opportunity at a small little fork horned bull and we both decided this is not what we waited over 20 years for so we moved on.
The next couple days were uneventful with no other daylight opportunities or moose sightings, we were beginning to wonder if there were any damn moose left in the unit.
Day 4 Landerfish connects with a dandy of a bull and the way it unfolded was almost too perfect as it involved calling, raking, and a large ticked off bull. (I’ll let him tell that story and share the photos of the bull)
Day 5 was warm and no sightings, but I think we were starting to get a feel for where we needed to be looking as the fresh sign was getting to be more abundant and we found a area that a bull was using and lots of old and new tracks to be see.
Day 6 We head out early to listen down in a couple drainages to try and hear if anything is calling, it’s rainy and chilly so we figure this might get em up and around. No talking so we move on and head up higher and the rain turns to snow. We were hoping the snow would help to see any critters in the burned area, but it did not give up any secrets.
We continue on to where Landerfish got his bull on day 4 and no luck. We decide to head back to camp and do some chores. As we head back to camp the Warden calls us and asked if we still had an unpunched moose permit as they had a report of a bull with a potentially broken leg. We let him know that I still had an open tag and that I’d be willing to help find it if they needed someone.
An hour later we met the Wardens at the last known spot the bull had been seen and they turned us loose . If this bull had a broken leg he sure wasn’t doing bad for the steepness of the hill he went up. We loaded up the gear and started up the ridge to see if we could find him. We hiked up the steep hill following tracks in the duff and eventually came up to the top of a ridge. We made a few grunts to see if he was around and the darn things stands up about 20 feet in front of me looking ticked off and not happy. It got a bit western for a minute but after getting one in his pump house it was all over. The front leg on this bull was broken about 10 inches above the hoof. It was a clean break,and I mean broken in half with his lower leg and hoof flopping around. There was no infection yet so I’d assume it happened recently.
Thanks to Landerfish for being the great friend and hunting partner that he is and thanks to all of you that helped with the many PM’s and phone calls. A big thank you to Officer Erickson for helping with info about the area and for being a great all around guy, can’t say enough great things about him and his partner. WDFW should be proud to have a guy like him on duty.
This hunt was truly a once in a lifetime hunt and was truly amazing and extremely exciting. We saw a ton of country and it was nice not to just drive on a road and jump out and shoot a moose and thank goodness we did not have to go down in one of those holes to get one!
Here is a photo of the bull I took.
Post by: phildobaggins on October 11, 2021, 08:21:09 AM
Post by: Torrent50 on October 11, 2021, 08:34:22 AM
Post by: Widgeondeke on October 11, 2021, 08:38:51 AM
Post by: trophyhunt on October 11, 2021, 09:05:43 AM
Post by: hunterednate on October 11, 2021, 09:17:26 AM
https://wdfw.wa.gov/about/enforcement/officer-form
Post by: DUGANDEER on October 11, 2021, 11:01:20 AM
Post by: starbailey on October 11, 2021, 12:27:57 PM
Post by: trophyhunt on October 11, 2021, 12:28:50 PM
Wow, that is great!! Awesome bull, and cool that you were able to take that one with the broken leg. You may have done so already, but you can submit a formal commendation for the warden who helped you here::yeah: great idea
https://wdfw.wa.gov/about/enforcement/officer-form
Post by: steeleywhopper on October 11, 2021, 01:39:37 PM
Wow, that is great!! Awesome bull, and cool that you were able to take that one with the broken leg. You may have done so already, but you can submit a formal commendation for the warden who helped you here::yeah: great idea
https://wdfw.wa.gov/about/enforcement/officer-form
Thanks, I will make sure and get that done!
Post by: steeleywhopper on October 11, 2021, 01:48:29 PM
Not sure how the sideways stuff happens but it sucks.
Post by: greenhead_killer on October 11, 2021, 02:11:01 PM
Post by: Rainier10 on October 11, 2021, 02:28:22 PM
Any photos of that broken leg?
Post by: X-Force on October 11, 2021, 03:23:42 PM
Post by: Mfowl on October 11, 2021, 05:10:30 PM
Post by: Threewolves on October 11, 2021, 05:22:57 PM
Post by: RoostrCogburn on October 11, 2021, 05:31:55 PM
Post by: Bob33 on October 11, 2021, 06:57:10 PM
Post by: NOCK NOCK on October 11, 2021, 07:07:57 PM
Congrats.
Any photos of that broken leg?
:yeah: Kind of weird that we have moose pics to drool over, but still curious to see the broken leg.
Post by: BullMagnet76 on October 12, 2021, 07:10:16 PM
Post by: Pathfinder101 on October 12, 2021, 07:15:08 PM
Post by: steeleywhopper on October 13, 2021, 10:58:12 AM
Congrats.
Any photos of that broken leg?
:yeah: Kind of weird that we have moose pics to drool over, but still curious to see the broken leg.
I actually did not take any pictures of it, did not even think about it. I was more interested in getting the guts and hide off that thing and getting it in the cooler.
It does look like you can see it in this photo, passenger side leg right below the knee, there is a weird bend where it was broke. It was completely flopping around and only connected by the hide. I imagine he would have torn that off soon and been walking on bone.
Post by: JakeLand on October 13, 2021, 02:48:27 PM
Post by: steeleywhopper on October 13, 2021, 03:46:45 PM
Good job Jesse , you still missed a good elk camp !!
Just means there is room for a great deer camp! Sorry I had this darn moose permit get in the way, I really missed you guys and wished I could have been there. :chuckle:
Post by: KNOPHISH on October 13, 2021, 08:19:48 PM
Post by: CedarPants on October 13, 2021, 10:44:09 PM
Post by: Bearkiller72 on October 16, 2021, 11:40:30 AM
Post by: pianoman9701 on October 16, 2021, 02:39:24 PM
Post by: Bearkiller72 on November 04, 2021, 05:07:44 PM