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Thread: 2018 Season recap

  1. #1
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    Mar 2005
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    2018 Season recap


    A fairly long read. This is a collection of hunts from 2018 to help with the off season doldrum. The hardest part about contributing is finding the time. These reflections have been typed out by thumbs on my iPhone over the last few months while sitting on planes. Here goes!



    I went into 2018 with lower than normal expectations. The big whitetail bucks I had on cam had regressed because of the long winter of 2017 and age was getting to them. Usually there was a bull elk of two to get excited about but this year nothing. Oh well, it will be a year to learn my area better and explore a bit. My oldest son also had a bull moose draw in a pretty good zone so that trip may be the gooder of the year.
    Last edited by Husky7mm; 03-08-2020 at 03:38 PM.

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  3. #2
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    Re: 2018 Season recap

    I was working a ton but managed to get out a few times in the bow season. I had a good calling experience with a bull that hung up in a ravine out of site and bow range. I tried breaking branches and sounding like a few cow elk were moving away from him to pull him from the ravine but he wouldn’t commit to coming up on top with me. I knew it was too far to shoot if I snuck to the edge of the ravine. After some back and fourth challenge bugling he moved off the way he came. It sounded like a young bull so I wasn’t to disappointed. On another outing a had a young 5 point at 10meters, he came in fast, too fast. I heard him rustling through the brush just on the other side of a small ridge and knew I had to draw back and get ready.
    I came to full draw as he crested the little ridge but to my dismay my peep was sideways and he was locked on me the second he crested the hill. He was very nervous and knew something wasnt right.I rolled the sting with my cheek to straighten the peep but that was it for him. He pretty much did a back flip when I moved and was off faster than a race horse from where he came.
    After this I didnt get out much because of the work load but had 5 days in early October booked for my sons first moose hunt. It eludes me now if I got out again for elk but I do remember that there was very little calling. Unfortunately that is common in the area that I hunt.


    Anyways on to the moose hunt.
    I work as a surveyor but in the oil fields, we work for about 3 weeks straight, 12 hrs a day. I am one of the main cutters so it can be pretty demanding work, plus its ugly rough country. I worked up to the day before we left, cutting everyday. I was bagged but tried to keep the spirits up for my son and his first moose hunt. I was very thankful that my hunting partner and his buddy, who also had a moose draw had left to pull camp in and set up. We had a long ride in via atvs to get to camp. They picked a nice spot, it was pretty handy to a great vantage point we have had success from before. We call it the bull hole, its a special valley that the moose seem to like to rut in at the exact time we were there. We have taken some respectable bulls from that valley.
    After unloading at camp we went for a quick ride to see how things where looking this year.
    It felt a lot colder than it really was and I found it hard to stay warm. I was looking forward to relaxing by the fire, having some drinks and getting warm to the core by a wood stove. It was going to snow soon, I have developed the ability to feel it coming.
    The sign this year was pretty good, fresh moose and elk tracks in the mud created by the recent rains. Best of all there were no wolf or grizzly tracks whatsoever. I also found a fresh rutting pit. Looks like we hit the nail on the head again.

  4. #3
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    Re: 2018 Season recap

    On our way back to camp I see a nice bull moose walking our way, he is about 40 inches and has 3 on the brow too. ( not required for this draw) An impressive animal for your first moose. I say, “ there’s your bull right there”
    We get ready, this guy is coming our way grunting and we havent even called yet. My son says “it’s not even the first day really what should I do?”

    The bull leaves the trail and is paralleling us as we walk and discuss shooting him. He is drunk with rut. I say “if you like him take him, he may be the only bull we see , or if you want to chance it we may find a bigger one, we have 5 days”. I am shocked, he decides to pass. I am also happy as I am bagged and need to go and get warm. After a nice evening in the wall tent we split up and hit vantage points and waited for daylight. It was just starting to get light and I just had to let some cow calls rip though the still morning air. They would hear them for miles on a day like today.
    Almost immediately we had a response from the bull hole albeit a long way off. Waaay off in a distant cut block I could just make out a good bull moose in the pre-dawn and he was headed our way grunting. As the sky lightened and the bull got closer We got more excited. The bull would stop and rake on willow and grunt his head off. It was a perfect experience and I was happy to be sharing it with my son. The bull had one more creek and a strip of bush to cross and he would be in range in the cut block we were in.
    Finally after a lot of grunting and raking he steps out. There is a lot of re growth down there and he is headed directly at us, I want to change this for the shot. I race a few hundred yards up the trail and let out some more cow calls and then race back to my son to get him set up solid. The bull is now walking up the cut block to the “cow moose”, he stops broadside at about 270 yards. I say “ if your rest is solid aim right at his ribs and touch off a round”
    BOOM!
    I hear the bullet thump the big chest and the bull runs for the bush. I figure he won’t go far but encourage another shot if he stops again so we don’t have to pull him out of the creek bottom. He stops a mere 15 yards but is on the edge of big bush and in unison we both let him have it. The bull lurches into big bush. We wait for a good 10 mins from our vantage point and watch for movement bellow us. All is quiet. We head down to check out the bull, he only took a few steps into the treeline and piled up. Excellent!





    Oh I forgot to mention my son was really kicking himself at camp for passing on that nice bull earlier and he wanted to go right back the exact spot and redeem himself and take that bull but it turns out he got an even better one. Just shy of 50 and 3 points on a good brow. Nice going!
    We got to butchering and thankfully our buddies showed up with the tetra pod to help us out. We wrestle the atvs in to retrieve the bull.
    My partner says they got a bull while coming to help us.
    I guess we will find out if the tetrapod will hold 2 moose! We made good time on the bulls and they did both fit in the tetrapod after all, always wondered....




    Thank goodness for all the help. We got back to camp in time for much needed nap just as the snow started. We then hauled the bulls out to the trucks, about 45 min ride out. A hell of a day 1.
    It snowed all night and we had over a foot in the morning, and it was still snowing. We looked around and glassed a bunch but everything was hunkered down. The area had only elk and deer in low density so we elected to pull camp and get the bulls into the butcher and then go elk hunting for the rest of the week in spot we could reach from home. The boy goes back to school, my partner’s buddy goes home and we go elk hunting in my elk spot.


    It takes the whole day to find where the elk got to. Its been a few weeks since I was there. We hear a bull bugling from a ridge on our way back to the truck that afternoon. He is signalling “its time to get moving ladies”. We elect not to call. We just pick a few trails to watch and hope we can intercept them on their way to feed. The plan works well but first we almost get stepped on by a spike bull that is lingering around this herd. The bull follows a cow down a trail with just minutes of shooting light left. It looks to have an ok frame but not every large. My partner has a bit of a lane so he lets a round go, the bull freezes. He lets another one go. The elk go every direction. It is getting pretty dark by this time, but it didn’t look like the bull was hit. We look for blood but find none. We will be back first thing in the morning to resume.



    Morning finds us in the same spot. All is quiet. The elk have left the spot. We re-enact the events from the night before, where he shot from and where the bull was standing. I see and few grazed poplars, I flag them in pink. Both bullets had heavy deflections and ended up off course and buried in trees, I am surprised, I have shot though small trees before and hit my target.
    My partner is a stone cold tree killer. The facts are in.


    Work continues to get in the way but the boy and I get out in a week and a 1/2 for another try. The elk are not where they normally are and it takes till midmorning to find some fresh tracks, its a small herd of cows and hopefully a bull. As we get closer to a likely bedding area I can hear bugling. Awesome. We slowly follow the tracks and cow call every now and then. The elk have been slowing moving north east all morning and I expect they should have bedded by now. We close the distance and keep cow calling. The bull finally turns and comes back for us. I see a small 5 point bull making his way to us. My son is in the front. He moves a little bit and takes a head on shot. The bull turns and bolts, it doesnt look good. I spend the next 4 hours looking for blood and then the bull. I walk a bunch of grinds. No blood, no hair, no bull. He must have flinched when he pulled the trigger and missed. Lesson learned, what works for the x box doesn’t work so easy in real life. Lol
    Wait for the broadside shot.
    Whats left of the day is quiet. The elk are not where they normally are.


    We return somewhere about a week to a week and a half later. The snow is fresh, the tracks are reset, perfect.
    Note, you will never pattern anything unless you return repeatedly and mentally note all differences over and over. Keep sharp, the success is paying attention to the details.


    I have both sons with me today, 12 and 13. I take the youngest and the oldest goes with my hunting partner. I am not one to put all the eggs in one basket. Split up, cover all options, hunt like wolves, celebrate later. BTW, I hate wolves!!
    Last edited by Husky7mm; 03-09-2020 at 07:48 AM.

  5. #4
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    Re: 2018 Season recap

    The journey in is long in the dark. We need to atv in a few kms and then walk the last to kilometre.
    The first few checks are a bust. The elk have abandoned those spots. My hunting partner and son message that they have no fresh sign up where they are hunting. I position my son to watch a seismic line for the possibly of the herd moving through and past his shooting lane. It is not long before cows and calves start trailing by most stop for a quick look see up and down the line before continuing. We remain frozen. “The bull will be in the back , get ready” I whisper. He steps out on the line. I think my son is ready. “Shoot, he’s gonna leave.....shoot.... shoot”
    Boom, the bull wheels and is gone. It doesnt look good. But a second later another legal bull steps out on the line. I whisper do you think you were on him good, did you see the cross hairs on the chest when you squeezed the trigger. “I think so”
    We give the other bull a pass. I could have shot that bull but I am not interested in him. Let him grow.


    I let my partner and other son know that it was us shooting and to come and help look for the bull.
    No blood is found, I broaden my search and start walking grids. 3 hours later, nothing, nadda. He must have pulled the shot. He may have been over nervous from the gun which happened to be a 7mm mag. I guess he didn’t t believe me when I said he wouldnt feel it when shooting at an animal.


    The wind that day was pretty strong and as the day went on it got worse. While we were looking for the bull my son shot at, trees were starting to topple over. It was slightly dangerous to be in the woods but we were hunting and that just doesn’t happen enough when you work in the oil patch so we stayed. I did a lot of tree top scanning as we rolled around. We would spend the rest of the afternoon hunting ruffed grouse so the boys could get some shooting action in. We had a good half a dozen and were still searching for more when I spotted a dandy bull way down a cut line. I couldn’t believe my eye actually. Dark antlers with whites tips. One of the better bulls I have seen in the area. Out in broad daylight 2 hours before dark. He didn’t hear the atvs above the wind and he must have been out early due to the crazy wind and trees blowing over periodically. He was just leaving the cut line for the security of the big trees. My hunting partner said “ who’s shooting?” I thought about the 3 prior misses and bull being seconds from disappearing and said with a laugh as I pointed my thumb at myself “me!!”
    400 m and just a bit of a body outline in the aspen but I let here fly.
    We hiked up to the spot I shot at him in and he was standing about 60 m off in the timber looking back at us. He bolted and an off hand shot slowed him to a crawl. He expired in the bottom of a deep draw. We would need to winch him out to be able to cut him up and that is just what did. We did the gutless method on him in the fading daylight and strapped him to the atvs via flashlight. I was pretty happy how it worked out and it was great to have both boys there share it with. I was feeling a rare moment of satisfaction after many years of passing on legal animals in hopes of something better. I should add , I don’t know to this day if I hit him with the first shot, but he died non the less.





    We returned to the area a few weeks later after a few straight weeks of working. We missed intercepting the elk from feed to bed so we decided to follow some tracks instead. The snow was getting deep, it was getting hard to distinguish the direction of travel. It was late November. We followed the direction I thought they might be traveling but found out when we hit some spruce trees with good snow interception that the elk were going the other way. This was very unusual for these elk but it created a perfect opportunity to do a push as they were now stuck between a cut line, a massive swamp and a semi open feeding area. There should be only 1 way to retreat at this time of day, deeper into the big bush but first they have to cross the cutline. I posted my oldest son and hunting partner on the line each facing one direction and hit the woods with the wind at my back. It didn’t take long to see elk, they were getting out of there is quick order and headed towards the shooters. Minutes later I heard a gunshot and then a text from my hunting partner. Bull down!! Nice! Redemption!




    I love it when animals as big as elk or moose take their dirt nap in the mornings. The balance of the morning butchering the elk and getting it hauled out. For once we were home early! Wives and mother relieved.


    The balance of the season was spent mostly working. We got out a few random days and my hunting partner managed to take a nice 3 1/2 year old whitetail with myself and my oldest son present and then a young mule deer buck alone after that.
    A very satisfying season by all parties.

    last photo shows the conditions and bush we hunt.... Ugly!
    Last edited by Husky7mm; 03-08-2020 at 06:59 PM.

  6. #5
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    Re: 2018 Season recap

    Working on Pictures......having photo bucket, imgur issue. Disregard, solved that.
    Last edited by Husky7mm; 03-08-2020 at 07:58 PM.

  7. #6
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    Re: 2018 Season recap

    Great write up and story. What a cool thing to be able to take the boys along with you! Congrats to everyone!

  8. #7
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    Re: 2018 Season recap

    Loved every minute of it, well done !

  9. #8
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    Fort St. John
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    Re: 2018 Season recap

    Thanks for sharing... Nice animals!

  10. #9
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
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    Squamish
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    6,082

    Re: 2018 Season recap

    Great story, thanks for sharing.
    Is Justin Competent, or just incompetent?

  11. #10
    Join Date
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    langley
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    Re: 2018 Season recap

    Thanks for the share, hunting stories to take the mind off Trudeau and coronavirus.

    Well done!
    Finland is a neutral country - but the guns point to the east.

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