Got back last weekend from a two trip hunt, but I've been pretty busy, so slow to post. We had success near Tatuk Lake.
I met buddies in Kamloops Friday afternoon and we drove north Saturday, staying at a cabin at Tatuk Lake Resort. Nothing fancy there, but a good base.
We left the highway at Quesnel and drove the Blackwater road to Pelican/Chilako to get to Tatuk. Surprisingly we saw nothing other than two small black bears on the drive in, but as we approached Tatuk we ran across some guys who had just gotten a bull near the road.
Sunday was spent getting the lay of the land. It was very warm, as everyone knows. When's the last time bugs were a problem while October moose hunting? Anyway, Monday afternoon we were working deactivated roads on quads to find moose. I as on one road and my partner was on another. Mine had lots of sign, but at the top rant through 20 year old+ replanting, so not lots of vis. I was coming back down when I heard a huge crash. I stopped the quad, thinking "That's a moose".
I then heard a shot and a really loud bull grunt.
I continued down and ran into my partner ripping up the deactivated road I was on. Bull down! I asked how far the shot was and he said "About 100 yards". Good job.
We went up his road and I surveyed the scene. He was being humble. What happened was that he rolled down a spur to the end, got off the quad, and started walking a bit. He saw sign, and strolled down the ridge a bit. Looking across the cut and through the trees he spied a little pothole lake, and on the other side of the lake a bull. One 7 mm through and through. He held at the top of the bull's back and got him just under the spine. Like I say, he was being humble claiming 100 yds. He's a good shot and held high just the right amount for a shot we later ranged at 340 yds. He was on the ridge across the lake in the picture over my right shoulder.
Like they say, try to get off roads and near water. Every time we bushwhacked across a cut and through trees to water we found sign.
We gutted him and packed out a front and rear quarter on out backs, then found a way to get a quad down there. 450 lbs on the hook at the meat cutters.
One question: the bull had just come out of the water and was a bit wet and muddy. After gutting him both our hands swelled up a bit from what looked like bug bites. Just our hands. Someone mentioned it could be some sort of water borne mites. The moose itself looked healthy as could be. Any ideas?
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Congrats on the bull.
