NitwiT
10-25-2013, 02:46 PM
Hey all, some of you know me, most of you don't, but I've had some success road hunting mule deer. Have strived to learn more about tracking/stalking/hunting, however wife and kids prevent me from getting out as much as I'd like. Once again, here's another story of a road hunting adventure, despite my best efforts to hunt on foot.
It all started with the arrival of an LEH Shared Group Hunt for my co-worker Tom and myself. We had won a draw for 7-13, a region just north of Vanderhoof. Knowing absolutely nothing about moose hunting, other than that they were big and liked swamps, I had applied for this region as I had a friend who lived in town and had offered to let us stay with him. (Awesome!)
Originally we had elected to take three weeks off work and head up to the 'hoof for Oct 1st to Oct 20th, and were planning on knocking down a couple deer while searching for our moose. Due to issues at work, we were forced to change our plans, and took off on Oct 14th, planning to stay out till we had meat, or the 30th rolled around.
Oct 14th saw my truck all loaded up, left home at 10am, said goodbye to wife and kids, and departed. I picked up my buddy in Langley, and we began our long fuel-inefficient commute to Vanderhoof.
Around 830 pm, we rolled into town, and in true country fashion, were immediately invited in for Thanksgiving dinner. (Gotta love country ways!)
Next morning, it was out the door 6 am, and we went to explore the Blue Mountain area, as some local knowledge suggested that was our best odds. Things got exciting right off the bat went at around 710 we spotted a moose in a clearing, everytime the moose faced us we saw white. We bailed out of the truck, loaded rifles, and picked a spot only to figure out that the moose had a white face, and white haunch, but was a cow. Excited to have seen a moose already, we jumped into the truck and continued to recon. We rolled our way down the way the moose had headed, and the way she had come, but sign was limited.
http://i1356.photobucket.com/albums/q722/NitwiT83/IMG_2058_zps58b6d537.jpg (http://s1356.photobucket.com/user/NitwiT83/media/IMG_2058_zps58b6d537.jpg.html)
We spent a long day, mostly in the truck, lots of bino use, but saw nothing else that day. The bush was thick with cottonwood, and hard to move into.
End of the day we headed home, and just before the end of shooting light, I killed a grouse with the bumper of the truck. First kill in Vanderhoof!!
Next day we were up early again, and headed back to where we saw the cow. Nothing in sight, we had looked at maps the night before and found a meadow she may have come from, that appeared remote to the dirt roads. Unfortunately, my brand new backroads mapbook, GPS, and google earth were all outdated. We basically drove nearly into that meadow. It had a pile of resident geese on the water, and heavy track around the meadow. We sat for a while, then continued to recon.
End of the day saw us returning, when we saw a cow moose on the side of another big clearing. As we got out of the truck, a calf materialized and vanished as fast as can be. Calf being open, we loaded up and tried to intercept them in the ravine they headed into, however the going was ridiculous, and we sounded like Brontosaurus's in our effort the track them down.
Back to the truck, and down to town, running into a few deer in an alfalfa field with an open gate. There was a two point buck at the far end, 500 yds est??. However not sure on the legalities of that field, we didn't chase him down. It was at this point that I realized my magazine for my Sako A7 was missing. S.O.B. Reflecting on the day, I remembered that after we went after the calf, and returned to the truck, and I put my pack, GPS, binos, and rifle in the cab, and put the mag on my toolbox. That was the last I had seen it.
Headed back to that area in the dark, no sign of the mag any where, bummed about losing three rounds of my 168 gr Barnes TTSX, but even more bummed at having to try find a replacement mag into, yeah right!
Headed back to town when I realized I had even heared it fall off the box as I braked for some puddles, swearing at myself for not getting out to check what that loud clunk was, I jumped out of the truck and checked the back. In between the box, and the cab, on a pile of leaves on the metal support connecting the two, sat the magazine for my Sako A7. So jacked I refused to drive for about 30 minutes.........
Back to town and to bed after more research, and driving my buddy nuts with attempts at cow calls.
Back out at first light, headed straight to the meadow and sat and called for a while. Nothing doing, we drove through the areas we had seen the meese (sp?) with no luck.
Hit town around lunch for lunch, and popped in at Omenica Sports in Vanderhoof. They directed us to the same area we had been in, and mentioned trying Striegler as well as Blue Mountain FSR. We had been focussed on Striegler.
Headed out after lunch, shot a grouse, saw one mule doe just outside of town, but that was it.
Day four arrives, and we had decided to try knock down a mule or two, as the any buck season was ending on the 19th. We headed down to Kenny Dam and Bobtail FSR in regards to some intel and PM's I had received (thanks ) however despite our best efforts we drove 350 km and put 15 km on our boots with little effect. We found one large black bear, however my wife is not a fan of the processing of a bear, and we let it walk. Killed three grouse, and on the way home nearly ran over another cow moose, but we had gone into region 6 at this point, and moose was not open, so we departed with no efforts at chasing.
Day five arrives, and we had no decided to focus only on moose, and to hell with deer, as Vanderhoof didn't have any. We departed at 6am, and drove to Blue Mountain FSR. I had picked out another couple meadow/swamps that ran through the area and were part of the drainage system for several of the lakes up there. We set up shop at the first meadow, approximately 0.8 miles in, and placed ourselves with the wind in our favor. Cow calls and vigilance resulted in nothing, and back to the truck. Lots of moose sign in and out of the area, and seemed promising. Picked a second meadow a little more remote, and required some pushing through swamp and cottonwood to get to. Track on the ground, bark eaten from trees somewhat recently, as well as moose poop had our excitement up. We found a hillside bordering the swamp and set up with a good vantage point and the wind in our face to call. Two hours passed and we headed back empty handed and hungry. We ate while driving, and headed towards a meadow off the Omenica Trail. Pushed into the bush there to a large meadow, however this one was dryer then the last, and where we set up, we could see most of the meadow, but on the way out we noted that there was only a small part in apparent use by meese.
http://i1356.photobucket.com/albums/q722/NitwiT83/IMG_2071_zpsfb9b30f3.jpg (http://s1356.photobucket.com/user/NitwiT83/media/IMG_2071_zpsfb9b30f3.jpg.html)
Back to the truck, it was around 3:25 pm, and we were disappointed at that lack of seeing moose. I chose to drive down to a small lake not to far away, with considerable apparent meadow/swamp around it. We drove down the trail, and just as we rounded a small bend, we saw... as my buddy put it.. "a horse without a cowboy". Logic tells us that must be a moose. We bailed out of the truck, loading my Sako A7 in .300 WM as I exit. Line the rifle up on the moose and see antlers. My heart rate through the roof. I fail to commicate any of this to my buddy, but he has already seen it with his naked eye. Tom calls the range at 150 yards, which for my gun is peanuts, and I went prone and hold steady on the back of the head, trying a shoot over his back to take him clean. Boom gun roars out and Tom takes off running down the hill, loading his .45-70 Marlin on the fly. About 40 yards down the road (hes fast), he realizes the moose is unaffected and yells, "shoot him again", as he does a combat dive off the road. Seeing him well clear, I move left to just make sure, and sit down, using my knees at 90 degrees as rests for my elbows. The moose has turned to us, and I touch one off at the base of his neck, trying to avoid the shoulders. Tom takes off running again, and when he was about 100 yards out, stopped and lined up with his .45-70, touching one off. Immediately after, the moose's rear end collapses, and he looks skyward, as he rolls down onto his back.
Cont.....
It all started with the arrival of an LEH Shared Group Hunt for my co-worker Tom and myself. We had won a draw for 7-13, a region just north of Vanderhoof. Knowing absolutely nothing about moose hunting, other than that they were big and liked swamps, I had applied for this region as I had a friend who lived in town and had offered to let us stay with him. (Awesome!)
Originally we had elected to take three weeks off work and head up to the 'hoof for Oct 1st to Oct 20th, and were planning on knocking down a couple deer while searching for our moose. Due to issues at work, we were forced to change our plans, and took off on Oct 14th, planning to stay out till we had meat, or the 30th rolled around.
Oct 14th saw my truck all loaded up, left home at 10am, said goodbye to wife and kids, and departed. I picked up my buddy in Langley, and we began our long fuel-inefficient commute to Vanderhoof.
Around 830 pm, we rolled into town, and in true country fashion, were immediately invited in for Thanksgiving dinner. (Gotta love country ways!)
Next morning, it was out the door 6 am, and we went to explore the Blue Mountain area, as some local knowledge suggested that was our best odds. Things got exciting right off the bat went at around 710 we spotted a moose in a clearing, everytime the moose faced us we saw white. We bailed out of the truck, loaded rifles, and picked a spot only to figure out that the moose had a white face, and white haunch, but was a cow. Excited to have seen a moose already, we jumped into the truck and continued to recon. We rolled our way down the way the moose had headed, and the way she had come, but sign was limited.
http://i1356.photobucket.com/albums/q722/NitwiT83/IMG_2058_zps58b6d537.jpg (http://s1356.photobucket.com/user/NitwiT83/media/IMG_2058_zps58b6d537.jpg.html)
We spent a long day, mostly in the truck, lots of bino use, but saw nothing else that day. The bush was thick with cottonwood, and hard to move into.
End of the day we headed home, and just before the end of shooting light, I killed a grouse with the bumper of the truck. First kill in Vanderhoof!!
Next day we were up early again, and headed back to where we saw the cow. Nothing in sight, we had looked at maps the night before and found a meadow she may have come from, that appeared remote to the dirt roads. Unfortunately, my brand new backroads mapbook, GPS, and google earth were all outdated. We basically drove nearly into that meadow. It had a pile of resident geese on the water, and heavy track around the meadow. We sat for a while, then continued to recon.
End of the day saw us returning, when we saw a cow moose on the side of another big clearing. As we got out of the truck, a calf materialized and vanished as fast as can be. Calf being open, we loaded up and tried to intercept them in the ravine they headed into, however the going was ridiculous, and we sounded like Brontosaurus's in our effort the track them down.
Back to the truck, and down to town, running into a few deer in an alfalfa field with an open gate. There was a two point buck at the far end, 500 yds est??. However not sure on the legalities of that field, we didn't chase him down. It was at this point that I realized my magazine for my Sako A7 was missing. S.O.B. Reflecting on the day, I remembered that after we went after the calf, and returned to the truck, and I put my pack, GPS, binos, and rifle in the cab, and put the mag on my toolbox. That was the last I had seen it.
Headed back to that area in the dark, no sign of the mag any where, bummed about losing three rounds of my 168 gr Barnes TTSX, but even more bummed at having to try find a replacement mag into, yeah right!
Headed back to town when I realized I had even heared it fall off the box as I braked for some puddles, swearing at myself for not getting out to check what that loud clunk was, I jumped out of the truck and checked the back. In between the box, and the cab, on a pile of leaves on the metal support connecting the two, sat the magazine for my Sako A7. So jacked I refused to drive for about 30 minutes.........
Back to town and to bed after more research, and driving my buddy nuts with attempts at cow calls.
Back out at first light, headed straight to the meadow and sat and called for a while. Nothing doing, we drove through the areas we had seen the meese (sp?) with no luck.
Hit town around lunch for lunch, and popped in at Omenica Sports in Vanderhoof. They directed us to the same area we had been in, and mentioned trying Striegler as well as Blue Mountain FSR. We had been focussed on Striegler.
Headed out after lunch, shot a grouse, saw one mule doe just outside of town, but that was it.
Day four arrives, and we had decided to try knock down a mule or two, as the any buck season was ending on the 19th. We headed down to Kenny Dam and Bobtail FSR in regards to some intel and PM's I had received (thanks ) however despite our best efforts we drove 350 km and put 15 km on our boots with little effect. We found one large black bear, however my wife is not a fan of the processing of a bear, and we let it walk. Killed three grouse, and on the way home nearly ran over another cow moose, but we had gone into region 6 at this point, and moose was not open, so we departed with no efforts at chasing.
Day five arrives, and we had no decided to focus only on moose, and to hell with deer, as Vanderhoof didn't have any. We departed at 6am, and drove to Blue Mountain FSR. I had picked out another couple meadow/swamps that ran through the area and were part of the drainage system for several of the lakes up there. We set up shop at the first meadow, approximately 0.8 miles in, and placed ourselves with the wind in our favor. Cow calls and vigilance resulted in nothing, and back to the truck. Lots of moose sign in and out of the area, and seemed promising. Picked a second meadow a little more remote, and required some pushing through swamp and cottonwood to get to. Track on the ground, bark eaten from trees somewhat recently, as well as moose poop had our excitement up. We found a hillside bordering the swamp and set up with a good vantage point and the wind in our face to call. Two hours passed and we headed back empty handed and hungry. We ate while driving, and headed towards a meadow off the Omenica Trail. Pushed into the bush there to a large meadow, however this one was dryer then the last, and where we set up, we could see most of the meadow, but on the way out we noted that there was only a small part in apparent use by meese.
http://i1356.photobucket.com/albums/q722/NitwiT83/IMG_2071_zpsfb9b30f3.jpg (http://s1356.photobucket.com/user/NitwiT83/media/IMG_2071_zpsfb9b30f3.jpg.html)
Back to the truck, it was around 3:25 pm, and we were disappointed at that lack of seeing moose. I chose to drive down to a small lake not to far away, with considerable apparent meadow/swamp around it. We drove down the trail, and just as we rounded a small bend, we saw... as my buddy put it.. "a horse without a cowboy". Logic tells us that must be a moose. We bailed out of the truck, loading my Sako A7 in .300 WM as I exit. Line the rifle up on the moose and see antlers. My heart rate through the roof. I fail to commicate any of this to my buddy, but he has already seen it with his naked eye. Tom calls the range at 150 yards, which for my gun is peanuts, and I went prone and hold steady on the back of the head, trying a shoot over his back to take him clean. Boom gun roars out and Tom takes off running down the hill, loading his .45-70 Marlin on the fly. About 40 yards down the road (hes fast), he realizes the moose is unaffected and yells, "shoot him again", as he does a combat dive off the road. Seeing him well clear, I move left to just make sure, and sit down, using my knees at 90 degrees as rests for my elbows. The moose has turned to us, and I touch one off at the base of his neck, trying to avoid the shoulders. Tom takes off running again, and when he was about 100 yards out, stopped and lined up with his .45-70, touching one off. Immediately after, the moose's rear end collapses, and he looks skyward, as he rolls down onto his back.
Cont.....