2024 Raffle Moose Double - video added ***

[cjensen]

Hi Guys,

This adventure started when the raffle results came out in July.   I've been putting in for raffle tags in this state since 2012 and have never drawn a thing.  Apparently, there must have been some error in the system because I drew three raffle tags this year.  I drew the Westside Elk, Statewide Moose, and the NE Combo, which includes another moose.  I have a normal job and a family, and certainly don't have adequate time to do all of these tags the typical "justice" that most folks talk about.  While the tags were a major blessing, it was incredibly stressful to feel short on time.  I wanted to learn all about moose hunting, hunt them in the rut, target a "good representation" for the species, and make sure to put plenty of moose meat in the freezer.

The state's initial response to me was that I could only harvest 1 moose, so they told me I had to give one tag back.  I was partially relieved by this, but at the same time I pushed for a better answer.   I was told that it was "in the WAC", and that only 1 moose per year could be harvested.  Long story short, it went to the top of the top and they eventually ruled that the raffle tags were exempt from any sort of annual or lifetime harvest restriction.  This is how they are able to offer things like the 3 deer combo raffle tag.

Hunting for me is all about time with family.   My brother and I devised a plan based on our work schedules and took one week off in September for the Westside Elk Hunt, one week back to work, and then two more weeks (September 28th - October 13th) for moose.  My brother flew out from Alabama for a full month, and my brother-in-law, my dad, and another friend came out for a few days here and there.  I started out DIY hunting the Westside raffle elk tag in mid-September (write-up in the Elk category).   

A buddy here hooked me up with a moose guide back in August.   My plan was to do a "guided scouting trip" with him.  He drove me around several units and showed me all sorts of places to start looking.  That's all I had time for, and I was feeling a bit of hope.  I was intent on doing it myself, but the guide ended up calling me the week before the hunt and asked if I minded if he tagged along.   He had found a good bull and wanted to show me.   It ended up being more than him "tagging along"; it was a fully guided hunt.  This turned out to be an incredible time and a great choice on my part.  He brought three awesome friends that were happy to help pack meat, and he brought 20+ years of moose hunting experience.   This all helped us with our DIY success on the 2nd moose.

The very first morning on September 28th, we went out and were able to find this bull in a walk-in area about 1.5 miles from the road.   This was the first bull moose I had ever seen.   It was 1,400 yards away across a big nasty overgrown canyon.   I had started to mentally prepare for a nasty hike, but the guide mentioned that we could probably just call him in.  After hunting elk my whole life, I was pretty doubtful.   We got set up, the guide made some calls, and the moose immediately turned and started heading our way.  Within a matter of minutes, he grunted and crashed his way to within about 200 yards.  These things are nothing like elk.  They are extremely aggressive and territorial.  The guide did all sorts of calls, crashing, and smashing to keep the bull interested and heading our way.  I had my bow and my rifle, but the wind was all wrong for the bow.  I ended up taking the shot at 200 yards and missed my first shot.  The video rewind shows that my bullet took down a big limb about 50 yards in front of the bull.  My second shot still hit a limb but was a heart shot.  No reaction.   My third shot was through the shoulder, and it was all over. 

The size of the animal was incredible, but nothing like a Yukon moose.   I carried out the cape, antlers and whole head (we didnt cape it in the field).  A moose head and cape are unbelievably heavy.  I cannot believe I didn't have any issues, but I think the adrenaline and excitement of the hunt carried me through.   We got three different camera angles on this one and it is an incredible deal to see the guide work the bull and see the moose calling and tearing down trees the whole way.   My brother will have a video for this moose, my elk, and the 2nd moose on his channel.  I also hope to have another elk and some whitetail hunting this year yet. Check out the videos we have from the last several years and subscribe so you'll get notified when the moose videos come out!  ( https://www.youtube.com/@TripleJOutdoorAdventures )

I'll get the second moose story posted here shortly.

[HillHound]

Awesome. Too bad you are going to have to hunt out of state or out of country every year from here on out to ever even come close to this years season, but that sounds like a great problem to have!

[blackveltbowhunter]

Awesome bull!!! Great season man!

[pianoman9701]

Awesome bull and story. Thanks!

[cjensen]

Alright -- the 2nd moose. 

We shot the first moose on the 28th with a guide, but we were intent to show the world that we could do it by ourselves (much like a 3 year old).  My brother-in-law could not show up until the evening on the 29th, so we spent the day of the 29th scouting for moose and deer/elk hunting.  With the exception of a wolf or a mule deer, there was nothing I didn't have a tag for over there that day (whitetail/elk/moose/cougar/bear/bigfoot).   We saw a smaller buck, had a bull moose grunting at us, and saw several cow moose. 

We were sure that we would make short work of killing a bigger moose than the 1st and got started right away on the 30th.   This is when we figured out how hard moose hunting can be.  We didnt see or hear a bull moose for 4 or 5 more days.   We glassed, called, and went all over several different units.  We were in good company since most everybody we ran into hadn't seen much of anything (including the guides).  It was hot, dusty, and the rut seemed to have temporarily toned down. 

Finally, we watched some videos on youtube, figured out we were not waiting nearly long enough at our calling stations and began waiting at least 30 minutes when we called.   There was hardly a setup that we didnt call in a moose after that.  I dont think we had a single moose come in less than 20 minutes to our calls.  One didnt show up for a full hour.   We had several setups where we had multiple bulls coming in from different directions.  Despite our newfound success in calling, we couldnt figure out how to outsmart them.  They 100% of the time circle downwind and they have some incredible noses.  We would try to anticipate this and cut them off, we would call and then run about 100 yards downwind silently.  Nothing seemed to help.  So many blown opportunities and near misses.   One thing was clear, even when we found a moose, they were pretty dinky.   We spent then next 9 days hunting every second of the day before my brother-in-law had to leave and go back to Oregon.

My old man came in from Tennessee with another one of his/our friends the next day.  They are 68 and 70 years old, but very capable.  We went into a walk-in area nearly 2 miles up pretty good hill and they didn't blink or whine.  We ended up calling in and seeing 4 different bulls that morning.   One snuck in silently and winded us (big surprise).  We ended up following him and trying to get a peak.   We finally caught up to him on the other side of the canyon.   I figured he was the dink we had seen earlier, but he ended up looking like some sort of world record to my untrained eyes.  Being 10 days into the trip and now having my dad, my brother, and our long-time friend with us, I decided to fill what may be my last moose tag I'll ever have.  It was about a 100-yard kneeling shot that I thought I had missed.  It didn't react at all except to tumble backwards down the hill about 5 seconds after the shot.   While this bull was not nearly as big as the first it was pretty rewarding to have the crew there and to do it by ourselves.

I checked all the boxes -- family, meat, learning a new animal, hunting the rut, etc.   If you ever get the opportunity to hunt moose, you should absolutely take it!   They are truly incredible animals.   Thanks for reading and please do subscribe to my brother's channel to help him out and to make sure you dont miss the video!   We got great video of everything this year so far.

[Rainier10]

Congrats on an epic season. Thanks for taking us along on all of these hunts.

[bearhunter99]

People talk about needing to buy another freezer after a good season - You are going to need 3 or 4!!

Thanks for taking the time to write about your journey - you have had an unbelievable season and it isn't even over!  Congrats on your success and good luck with the rest of your tags!

[cjensen]

People talk about needing to buy another freezer after a good season - You are going to need 3 or 4!!

Thanks for taking the time to write about your journey - you have had an unbelievable season and it isn't even over!  Congrats on your success and good luck with the rest of your tags!

Yeah.  I did buy two more freezers for a total of 4.  I've given away hundreds of pounds of meat and haven't made a dent.

[highside74]

Magical year bro. Congrats

[mountainman]

Awesome! We head out next week and hopefully have as successful a hunt as you did!

[elkrack]

Magical year bro. Congrats

Yeah that’s a year not many people get to experience! Way to kill it

[Craig]

Awesome. Is half your garage just freezers or what?

[boneaddict]

What a year!

[Pathfinder101]

What an awesome experience!  Thanks for posting your hunt.     Congrats on two great bulls

[GOcougsHunter]

You are going to be so bored in 2025. Amazing to have all this meat in the freezer and not even half way through October.