Post by: KP-Skagit on September 20, 2023, 08:41:06 PM
The draw day largely went how it always, does hours of doom and gloom and complaining in multiple group texts of friends. None of my friends had drawn anything and my dad stopped checking after the last deer and elk tags were announced. However, about 6 oclock at night my dad called with news. He had drawn not only a bull moose tag but a sheep ewe.
My dad is not a stranger to moose hunting, in the late 80s and into the 90s he went on several moose hunting trips with my great uncle (mom's side) in northern BC and the Yukon. They brought back a moose all but one trip. My entire life has been spent starry eyed listening to those stories, dying to tag along. My dad was in his early 40s on those early trips, my uncle Ed in his 70s. Now my dad is 74, and my Uncle Ed passed away about 10 years ago at 92 but not before giving me his moose gun, a pre 64 model 70 300 H&H.
Upon hearing the news about the moose tag I grabbed the 300 and headed over to my dad's to celebrate (who's my neighbor). We were going moose hunting, and we were bringing Ed with us.
49 Degrees North is a bit of a special unit for us. It's the unit I harvested my first deer in and that same hunt I saw my first moose. By the end of the trip, I had seen a dozen or so moose, including hearing fighting down in the swamp below us.
My dad and I spent this summer getting over to the unit and covering as much ground as possible. Its vast. And the area we used to deer hunt has totally grown up and changed in the 20+ years it has been. As of writing this, we haven't seen a moose in the unit yet, though have found plenty of fresh sign. Not a huge surprise considering it was in the 90s every day we were there.
Post by: KP-Skagit on September 20, 2023, 08:56:39 PM
My dad is a 74 year old disabled veteran, he received permanent lung damage in the service and then spent the rest of his life as a self employed contractor. All things considered he does pretty good and does way more than a lot of people 10 to 20 years younger than him. That said, uneven terrain and long hikes are really a fond memory of his. It seemed to me this hunt would have plenty of both.
Spoilers for anyone who read Huckleberry's ram thread. That was us.
Not knowing any better the opening morning found us and a close family friend on top of the Butte glassing. An hour or so passed, with me getting driven absolutely nuts by chukar before finally I spotted a lone ewe all the way down on the rim of the cliffs leading down to the river. I figured where there was one there would be more, showed her to my dad and we raced back to the truck down to where she was. She was in a very convenient spot for him to get into. We had to walk across about a 3/4 mile flat and we would be on the rim of the canyon. Maybe this wouldn't be as hard as I had feared?
Post by: lewy on September 20, 2023, 09:00:03 PM
Post by: KP-Skagit on September 20, 2023, 09:13:57 PM
Out of the corner of my eye I see two sheep about 200 yards away standing on top of some rocks watching us. They had me and our friend dead to rights, that said, they hadn't seen my dad yet. He snuck up the ridge to some rocks overlooking the sheep closing the distance by almost half. He got a good rest. Boom, sheep ran off, we looked, no blood. I tracked them a bit while my dad continued to the canyon, still wondering what the heck happened.
After feeling adequately satisfied it was a clean miss I came and joined them. It didn't take long to get a shot at another group of sheep, unfortunately again, the bullets didn't go where they were supposed to. Perhaps this would be harder than I thought...
At this point we all knew it was most important to get some confidence in the gun. Morale was rock bottom. I had sighted it in for him weeks earlier and was shooting inch groups at 200 and my dad is a good shot. We grabbed a lead sled from a friend and shot the gun a bit. 12 inch groups at 100 yards.... Ran into town, grabbed two boxes of different ammo. 3/4" groups. The ammo my dad was using was a different box of the same ammo. Clearly some quality control problems at the factory...
We went to bed that night feeling cautiously optimistic.
Post by: KP-Skagit on September 20, 2023, 09:16:36 PM
(http://)
Post by: KP-Skagit on September 20, 2023, 09:17:15 PM
(http://)
Post by: KP-Skagit on September 20, 2023, 09:54:09 PM
We parked and started up the gated road that runs east and west through the unit at first light. Again, I was in front, with our friend close behind and my dad bringing up the rear. We hiked out the ridges, glassed as much country as possible. We made it through the first two canyons and didn't lay eyes on a sheep.
On the road, the rim of the second canyon was about 3 to 4 miles from truck. I paused here and spent some time glassing even further into the area. I found some ewes, right on the rim of the cliffs down to the river. Two canyons further in, and another mile and half maybe more. My dad caught up and I let him know where things stood. He was pretty exhausted, it was about 10, starting to get hot, and those sheep looked about 10 miles away to him. I was also concerned of pushing him too far into the unit to the point it was too far back out in the heat of the day. This was going to be way harder than we thought.
We paused here, he had a sandwich and some water. Chatted with a ram tag holder who came by and watched more ewes on the far ridge. I also watched the first group drop down into the nearer canyon. At that point I asked my dad, if I drop in there and find them, can you make the middle ridge and come down for the shot? The answer was an enthusiastic yes.
I dropped down the center ridge and spent quite a while glassing to no avail. Finally, I made a move that allowed me to see the absolute canyon floor and sure enough, 9 ewes were bedding there. 450 yards... we needed to get closer. Our friend went back to lead my dad in and I found a spot to set up. Fortunately, the canyon allowed us to have a perfect rock outcropping about 225 yards from the ewes offering cover.
I sat waiting and noticed the ewes start to get spooky. I turned to see Huckleberry, the other ram tag holder and an acquaintance of our friend on the hunt sneaking by. I whispered out to him and he was kind enough to come sit down as the stalk unfolded. Not long after, my dad came down, sliding on his butt down the scree and picking his way through the boulders.
We got him set up on the rock, got him on the ewes, including the one I thought it would be best to shoot. He was tired, a bit winded and the day before loomed over him. He took a good while to get settled in on the rifle taking a very aggressive downhill shot. Once he was comfortable we all sat on the glass and waiting for the gun to ring out. I can say now, I have never been more anxious about a rifle shot, my heart pounded, my breathing a mess. After what seemed like hours, the rifle rang out, I watched the bullet hit the ewe, and the celebration began. Backslaps, hugs, laughs and big sighs of relief for all.
At this point my dad really wanted to go see his animal, unfortunately the terrain was not going to allow it. We sent him back up the hill with hiking poles and water and told him we would meet him at the truck. Our friend and I dropped down, cut up the ewe and took her down the canyon to the railroad tracks along the river. The canyon was hardly passable for us, we made the right move.
The road out for my dad was even longer than the road in. He took the shot at 11 oclock, it was 6 PM before he finally got to see his ewe. This hunt was WAY harder than we thought it would be.
I cannot overstate how proud I am of my dad. This was an incredibly challenging hunt for him both physically and mentally. He met that challenge head on, and pushed himself further than most people would in his situation. When the time came, he pulled it together and got the job done.
I feel very lucky that the adventure continues on October 1st!
Post by: KP-Skagit on September 20, 2023, 09:54:55 PM
(http://)
Post by: KP-Skagit on September 20, 2023, 09:58:30 PM
Shout out to these very nice folks who saved us a couple miles of walking the tracks. What a cool experience, grandparents, parents, grandkids. Two of the kids had just gone through hunter ed and were stoked to see the sheep.
(http://)
Post by: Gringo31 on September 21, 2023, 10:01:10 AM
Post by: Pathfinder101 on September 21, 2023, 10:26:58 AM
Post by: JakeLand on September 21, 2023, 12:19:31 PM
Post by: HikerHunter on September 21, 2023, 01:48:00 PM
Post by: bearhunter99 on September 21, 2023, 05:43:16 PM
Looking forward to the next chapter!
Post by: BKMFR on September 21, 2023, 07:43:30 PM
Post by: scotsman on September 21, 2023, 07:44:37 PM
Post by: millerwheeler on September 21, 2023, 08:00:37 PM
Post by: KP-Skagit on September 28, 2023, 01:04:17 PM
(http://)
Post by: KP-Skagit on September 28, 2023, 01:09:35 PM
My dad's first moose, a spike horn, hung from my great uncle's homemade camper outside of McDame Post, BC. There is a long story of my dad, my great uncle and spike horn moose. To put it this way, a spike horn holds a special spot in his heart. I am hoping we don't see one or the hunt will be over...
This one died in the lake and made for an easy packout.
(http://)
Post by: KP-Skagit on September 28, 2023, 01:10:08 PM
(http://)
Post by: hunter399 on September 28, 2023, 01:10:16 PM
There are a few good moose around.
It will be a great hunt.
Can't wait to congrats ya again.
Post by: KP-Skagit on September 28, 2023, 01:12:09 PM
The old man himself with the biggest moose they got up there. Think this one was in Atlin.
(http://)
Post by: hunter399 on September 28, 2023, 01:17:53 PM
They are starting to follow the cows,so if you see a cow.
I'd be looking the area over pretty hard.
This pic was taken in the unit,had a cow all year long on cam.
I went to pull down cams before modern deer.
This guy just showed up,that's why I say look for the cows.
Bull won't be far behind.
I run about half and half on cams, between 121,117.
That's all the help I can give.
Good luck out there.
Post by: KP-Skagit on September 28, 2023, 01:24:33 PM
Weather looks decent for us also, no 70, 80, 90 degree days, hoping that helps daytime activity.
Post by: hunter399 on September 28, 2023, 01:31:29 PM
He'd do! We will definitely be looking for rut activity and trying to call a bit.If I see him on the hoof,I'll pm ya ,see if your still looking.
Weather looks decent for us also, no 70, 80, 90 degree days, hoping that helps daytime activity.
I wish I could just hand out spots. But I'm kind paranoid like that.
Cause I'd hate to give the spot away,then not have him be there.
That's the only pic I got of him. I didn't even know a bull was in the area till about two days ago.
If I see him,I'll pm ya.
Post by: KP-Skagit on September 28, 2023, 01:37:46 PM
And no worries, we know that animals move and don't hold grudges haha.
We will be camping in the unit so I am not counting on service but we will be fueling up with decent frequency.
Post by: pianoman9701 on September 29, 2023, 10:45:54 AM
Post by: hunter399 on September 29, 2023, 11:30:41 AM
But will say ,it's amazing how fast a moose can disappear in the brush.
It will be a great hunt.
I'm never gonna draw,so might as well help another hunter out.
Like said my PM ,Good luck.
Enjoy the hunt.
Keep us posted ,with your success.
Post by: KP-Skagit on September 29, 2023, 12:05:21 PM
I will be keeping folks posted but the unit generally doesn't have great/or any service. Might be a write up when its all said and done.
Post by: hunter399 on September 29, 2023, 12:28:51 PM
Some spots I wouldn't want to pack a moose out of there.
If I had the tag,I'd be road hunting like crazy.
Trying to find something that would match my abilities.
I've ran into a lot of moose hunters in the past,that want the "big one" ,so they just cover as much ground. Glassing,looking,checking drainage,so on.
Just past the ski resort,road to the right,there are some clear-cuts.
Brunt valley Rd.
Immel Rd.
Sand canyon Rd.
Flowery trail Rd.
Pend orlleie wildlife refuge leading to calispel peak.
I'm just naming spots off the top of my head.
There is a lot of ground to cover.
You'll find one.
Post by: KP-Skagit on October 09, 2023, 08:05:15 PM
My dad and I both ran over to the unit Friday the 29th. Just before the season the cousin of a good family friend offered to meet us and show us some areas he had seen bulls in during September. The morning of the 30th he met us at our temporary camp at about 6 oclock and we headed into the spot he made in mind. It was in the southern part of the unit and nowhere we had been into during our scouting. It became immediately clear why he thought it was a good spot to check out, fresh moose sign all over, bulls tracks, rubs, etc. It was a fairly open area with a mixed of reprod, clear cuts and timber. Seemed ideal. We checked out some other areas that afternoon but concluded in the morning we would walk in behind a gate where we had found fresh tracks and try to call one out of the reprod.
That next morning we were up bright and early and headed up the hill. Our friend who had helped us with the sheep hunt also came that morning to muzzleloader hunt and look for moose. Our family friend stayed for the opener, he was an experienced caller and we felt like it might come together. However, after a few sets of calls we didn't hear a peep in response. I hiked up the other grade we were calling off of and found a fresh rub and scrape that clearly had been that evening. He must have been sleeping up there. All the while we heard rigs rumbling on the road below us. With that we pulled out and decided to cover some ground and see if we could find fresh activity. In driving the couple miles of the road system we spoke to 3 other tag holders and saw parked vehicles for another 3 we met later in the hunt. We also saw one rig loaded down with the nice bull headed out. Awful busy for such a huge unit, that said, the abundance of fresh sign was hard to argue with and I was sure that is why everyone was there. The plan that evening was for my dad to head back up to where we called from and try again while I hiked out further behind the gate to see what was what. I didn't find anything promising but that evening as we left after dark I heard two bull grunts in the vicinity of where my dad called from..... Just missed him.
The plan for the next morning could not be clearer, we were going to call that sucker in. However, 30 seconds before we left camp a rig drove by and we followed him all the way to the gate. Asked him his plan and it was to hunt exactly where we were hoping to. This was a different tag holder than we had seen the day before. With that we drove the roads up a road system that took us on top of the reprod the bull had been in. The plan was the same, just a different angle. My dad did several calling sets, found another scrape while I hiked into some other areas. I found where several moose had walked a cat track in the fresh clear cut above the reprod. After a while we drove some more and ran into the hunter who bagged his bull on the opener. He was about my age and said he was 3 miles in where he had gotten his bull and there was another one in there. My dad had severely blistered his feet on the sheep hunt and that was flat out of range for him. Or I should say, he could do it, but he knew if he shot a bull I would do all the packing and that is not the experience he wanted. On the course of our drive we met several other tag holders and for a while I felt like we were in a moose hunting parade, all hoping to have him step out in front of us rather than the next guy. We regrouped at camp and I suggested we try some adjacent areas that we had scouted over the summer and my dad was thrilled to do so. We putted our way over seeing some older moose sign but noted the road was much less traveled. Eventually we tied into a mainline road with several beautiful clear cuts we wanted to glass over.
I took a wrong turn and went the opposite direction of the cuts, when all of the sudden my dad shouted. Moose! Bull! I stopped, he hopped out of the truck, loaded the gun and stepped off the road just in time to watch the moose move off into the dark timber that bordered a swamp below. We pursued him slowly and heard him continue to move off into the depths, away from where we coud continue to chase. All the while we were left wanting just another second. We never got a good luck at his horns, just that he had them, but for my dad that was the goal. We spent the remainder of the day covering those clearcuts and in the process ran into two additional rigs hunting moose.
Post by: KP-Skagit on October 09, 2023, 08:30:04 PM
That evening the bull up in the reprod was starting to bother us again, we still hadn't gotten the chance to repeat the calling my dad had gotten him to respond to and that morning we left EARLY to make sure we beat everyone there. Unfortunately, after several calling sets all we had heard was the sound of rigs driving the roads below us. The area was littered with fresh sign the same as always, including moose that had been flat out running I assume in the night. On the way back to camp we ran into several of the other hunters we had met earlier, no one had seen a moose, even a cow.
Midday we got back to camp and we brainstormed where to go from there. We were both pretty demoralized but the amount of other folks in these areas, more than just the hunters, firewood cutters, UTVs, the area was really busy. We had spent most of our time scouting in the central part of the unit and we said screw it... Let's move camp. There were some areas we had really liked before, might as well check them out, at least we know over half the tag holders in the unit are busy elsewhere. As we packed to leave one of the other cow tag holders dropped by and warned us there was a lot of logging where we were going but our minds were made up, we were moving camp. We packed and headed out, stopping for fuel along the way.
The warning about logging activity proved accurate the second we left the blacktop and in the 12 miles or so we wanted to go in we encountered almost as many loaded down log trucks. The area simply did not look the same as it did just a couple months before. We scouted a few of the spots we wanted to try but all had active logging going on and safety zone signs hung in trees.
Now I have nothing against logging, and I was happy to see the USFS actually doing some of it. That said, I didn't want to moose hunt in these areas and was feeling pretty bad about our decision to move. That said, there was one final area that we wanted to check out from our summer scouting. We drove a little further south and confirmed that this area (which had been logged when we were there in July, had no renewed activity). That evening we covered the road till we lost light and found fresh tracks. Our plan for the next day was to do the same and hike out any promising gate, try to call as we could. Depending on what we saw we might be moving back to where we had came from.
Post by: KP-Skagit on October 09, 2023, 08:43:34 PM
All trip I had been dreaming of being able to call out a bull for my dead. The scenario would run through my head over and over again. What I did some calling, when I drove anywhere.
About a mile and a half from camp that dream became a reality. I caught a huge black shape cutting through the brush on an edge of a cut and I let out MOOSE! As my eyes focused I saw paddles. BULL! It was only about 50 or 60 yards from us. My dad was on it in an instant and repeated the process from a couple days earlier. That said, if the prior bull had given us 10 seconds, this once gave us 11.
The 300 barked and I saw the bull run off.. Completely unharmed. Are you kidding me Dad.... But as I got out of the truck I could hear stationary trashing and knew it was down. I walked behind him past where he had shot as he moved in to intercept the direction it had gone. As we got into the clear cut, I couldn't see the animal. My dad yelled out the same. surveying the land again, I noticed a weird stump about 30 yards in front of me. As I studied it closer, I realized in was a moose nose, the thing had found a hole and died with its paddles wedged in the dirt, its snout straight up in the air. I wish I had gotten and as it laid shot!
At this point the gun was unloaded and the hugs began. He had only gone about 40 yards, I still cannot believe how he was able to absorb that shot.
Post by: KP-Skagit on October 09, 2023, 08:48:52 PM
The first you can see just how happy my dad was. As he has gotten older his goals have changed, his passion has always been bird hunting and a good dog. In terms of big game his last goal in life was a moose in Washington with me there to be a part of it. From the days of a starry eyed kid listening to tall tales of my dad and great uncle I had always wanted to hunt moose with the old man. Today, we both accomplished our goals.
I usually am not a rifle on the rack kind of guy. But today was an exception, a reminder of the third hunting partner who was just out of sight but closer in our hearts.
(http://)
Post by: KP-Skagit on October 09, 2023, 08:51:09 PM
There was a tradition in my Uncle Eds moose camp that on the day of the kill the Jim Beam comes out. Our friend who was muzzleloading had to head home the day before but left us some emergency supplies just in case.
(http://)
Post by: hunter399 on October 09, 2023, 08:54:58 PM
Great adventure for you and your dad together.
Enjoy it to the fullest.👍👏👍
Post by: lewy on October 09, 2023, 08:55:55 PM
Post by: KP-Skagit on October 09, 2023, 08:56:08 PM
That evening we had tenderloin for dinner. There is a phrase among the hunters in Northern BC, perhaps other places as well, "a table moose", basically a good eating moose.
My dad had shot three moose prior to this one, two were table moose, one was not. To my dad, a table moose is the best moose. From where I am sitting right now, all indications are that this was a table moose. Fantastic flavor, very tender (ok it was tenderloin).
My dad could not have been more happy.
(http://)
Post by: KP-Skagit on October 09, 2023, 09:01:06 PM
Anyone who has this tag is welcome to reach out to me and I am happy to share more specifics on areas.
Post by: Boss .300 winmag on October 09, 2023, 09:08:29 PM
Post by: Basket Rack on October 09, 2023, 09:28:19 PM
Post by: Threewolves on October 10, 2023, 05:59:13 AM
Sent from my SM-A426U using Tapatalk
Post by: bearhunter99 on October 10, 2023, 09:49:21 AM
Post by: boneaddict on October 10, 2023, 10:36:13 AM
Post by: pianoman9701 on October 10, 2023, 10:47:01 AM
Post by: Huckleberry on October 10, 2023, 01:16:51 PM
Post by: RB on October 10, 2023, 01:23:17 PM
Post by: 2MANY on October 10, 2023, 02:08:22 PM
Congrats and re-share the experience with pops often.
Post by: Falcon on October 21, 2023, 07:52:04 PM
Post by: KP-Skagit on October 23, 2023, 09:29:13 AM
Saturday morning I saw 7 moose in one swamp, at least 3 were bulls. Two were massive, when you can see palms at over a mile it has to be good... Saw the big bulls fight a bit, saw all the bulls chasing cows.
Sorry for the crap photos, taken through a spotter. The bull pictured had at least 4 brow tines on each side, maybe 5. Hard to say at that distance. I showed my dad the pictures and he was still happier than a clam in mud with his, and so am I.
(http://)
Post by: kellama2001 on October 23, 2023, 09:59:04 AM