Just got back from a trip of a lifetime-- Started out Laborday weekend and our regular camp weekend at Johnson lake above Louis Creek always have fun assisting those with younger hunters that partake in the youth hunt. It was a thrill to be there when a 11 yr old girl got her first deer, a 14 yr old get her 3rd deer and to help with the last year youth hunt of a lad getting his-- truely inspiring to be there.
Then the drive to Prince George with my son "Dutchie" to meet up with 5 others and begin our long drive to Watson Lake in the Yukon Territories. Once there we flew into one of the lakes in Northern BC on Sept 7th.Waiting the full 6 hrs before we could actually start hunting,so we decided to try our luck at fishing-- First fish I caught was a monster lake trout 30 some odd inches in length. Here I am holding the prize.
The weather was not working with us, mid to high 20's so warm we were wading in the glacier fed lake to cool off for most of the first week, a few cows spotted with calfs, but none of the Bulls that we had heard were supposed to frequent this area. Finally the wind shifted to a northerly, the temperature dropped, a little frost in the mornings-- things were looking up.
We, my son Duthchie and myself left early this one morning with "Dead-dog" and his cousin,Jeff. We Dutchie, and myself were pointed to a knoll where some of our party had seen a couple cows with calfs the night before to sit and scan the area while the other two kept walking futher down the valley. No sooner had we set ourselves up Dutchie manning the spotting scope when he says to me-- "HOLY SH#&- its a bull, I'm not bullshitting you!!!" I looked through the scope, an lo and behold this is what I saw
Picture taken through a spotting scope , sorry for the quality, but -Hey- it gives you the idea.
rangefinder said 875 yds, in the bull then proceeded to bed down and we prepared for the stock. ever so carefully we crept down and over to a closer knoll,only to find the range was down to 450 yds, we tried grunting, only to make it stand and face us head on. very carefull movements closer, closer till we had no more cover, save for one lone tree brush crackling under our feet (we were in an burned out area) impossible to walk without breaking twigs. The Bull was keenly interested in the area we were in,however I do not believe it could see us through the brush we were using as cover-- rangfinder now say 275 yds, so I make my way slowly to the last tree between us and him and proceeded to set up(brace) against the tree for a possible shot. It was directly head on to our position, with Dutchie behind me softly saying "wait for it, wait for it" time was passing so fast, My heart was starting to speed up the longer I was waiting, Deep breaths slow the heart down was all I could think about, look away, look back through the scope( my VariX-II 3X9 leupold scope was crystal clear and true on the brisket, as it quartered to the right slightly, I figured this was my opportunity and took the shot. Immediately the bull dug it's front legs in front of it and began snorting, you could see the liquids spraying out of it's nostrils and it just stood there, I waited 5 - 10 seconds lined up and shot again. no change in his actions or snorting, 10 - 15 seconds later it quartered farther right exposing a better kill shot, and with the 3rd shot it dropped straight down in the willows and we could no longer see it. The walkie talkie radio we were carrying lit up with questions about all the noise ( dead-dog and Jeff) were coming back to assist, meanwhile, I proceeded to the animal, while Dutchie went back to retrieve our meat packs and gear, crossing two swamp like creeks and through 6 foot tall willows, I started to panic when I could not find my moose!! Started a grid for searching, radioed Dutchie to get him to let me know if I was close, after 15-20 minutes, I am really not sure of the timing now I radio'ed to all that the moose was found
It turned out that the rack was just shy of 50" measuring 49 1/2 inches to be exact.
Now the work began. Dead-dog showed me the gutless method of de-boning a large animal-- Very slick to say the least,-- as well as the joys of blood diving for the heart, which we ate that night--- Fabulous!!! It was an easy 1 1/2 - 2 km pack out to our boat the 4 of us taking 1 load back to camp, getting the other 3 guys for another 6 packs full plus 1 pack for all the gear, and clothing. 11 packs in all. I find it a shame to have waited till I was 63 to do all this fun stuff, but I also have been called a "Late Bloomer" before
A HUGE thank you to Dead-Dog, Jeff, Ricky,Aussi John,Brad, and Dutchie!!!!
It was special having my son Dutchie there, not hunting, but just accompanying me on this very special outing
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Originally Posted by Gatehouse
