luckofthedraw
10-08-2015, 04:12 PM
Drew a shared moose tag with a couple of Uncle's of mine.
Sept 29th, loaded up and extremely anxious too get underway. I pulled my daughter from school for a couple days, and took her along for 2 days of scouting. Many miles on the quad looking for sign and doing some calling. I knew the area well from years past, so I had a good place to start. After 2 days of not seeing much, I set up a couple of trail cameras and I took Kaitlyn home and back to school; leaving camp and my gear with my uncles. I had to crank out a few shifts of work before retuning to my hunt.
When I got back into camp late in the evening a few days later; I discovered they hadn't seen any moose and very little sign. They had seen a buck that my one uncle took a crack at. He was a 2 point, up hill and looking over his shoulder. Uncle had aimed at the head as he had very little to shoot at, and put it over him.
The next day I took a morning hunt with them. Saw a few moose tracks, a doe and a fawn. Trail cam pics returned no reward, didn't even have an animal on them. I pulled the cams, because I wasn't particularly fond of the area anymore.
In the evening, I decided we should split up. We had 2 quads and 3 guys, and could cover a lot more ground if we split. They didn't seem to keen on the idea, as hunting for them is a good bonding experience with their nephew who no longer lives in Abbotsford. However, I could tell in this particular area if we were going to be successful we needed to split up. I set out for a hunt about an hour from camp, in the high country.
Doing the slow quad ride into the new spot for me, I immediately jumped a real nice fresh set of bull tracks on the muddy road. I quickly threw the quad in park, and hopped off. Loaded up the riffle and back pack and started to cut his tracks. I followed him about 100 yards down the muddy road and saw he carried on off the road, down the hill, and into the timber. I decided to stand on the edge of the cut and do some calling. I'm fairly new to doing a cow call, and not certain I have what it takes, but it was worth a shot in this instance. Immediately after I called, a bull emerged from the timber, and stood directly behind a thick pine tree. From where I stood, 50 yards away all I could see was a large, half a paddle. I dropped to my knee and through the gun up. My scope was set to full, and at this range I had to bring it right back to minimal power. Through my hat on backwards and waited. I couldn't see any portion of the moose, just this large piece of one paddle behind the tree that would move every so often. No snout, no fur, no legs or body. I stayed put, trying to wait him out. 3 minutes went by without either of us moving or making a sound. My heart was just pounding. This was my first encounter with a moose up close, and I wasn't exactly certain how to play this one out. I remember thinking to myself. "come on bud, calm down. Think logical, you got this". Trying to settle my heart rate while having this moose in my scope waiting for him to present a shot.
After the 3 minutes I decided to make a move. I gave a soft subtle cow call, hoping to coax him out. He didn't budge. I waited another minute. Nothing. I gave 1 single grunt (which I also don't know if I do proper or not). He responded by raking the pine in front of him. My heart rate doubled in what was already a rapid rate. I was thinking, "oh man, it's on". This guy is going to step right out from this pine 50 yards away...but nothing happened. He stayed right where he was. So I waited another minute. Nothing. By this time, I was tiring from my couched position. Looked around at my options. No brush for cover, or thrashing. No rest. Some logs to my left that looked like a decent spot to sit, and create a rest for myself. Heart still pounding I decided to relocate. As I stood and started walking slowly to the logs, I gave four consecutive grunts. Wha, wha, wha, wha. Got to the logs; looked at the pine and he was gone. Vanished. Moose ninja, nowhere to be found.
I continued to hunt the rest of daylight hunkering down quietly giving the occasional cow call trying to bring him back out. But nothing happened.
Sept 29th, loaded up and extremely anxious too get underway. I pulled my daughter from school for a couple days, and took her along for 2 days of scouting. Many miles on the quad looking for sign and doing some calling. I knew the area well from years past, so I had a good place to start. After 2 days of not seeing much, I set up a couple of trail cameras and I took Kaitlyn home and back to school; leaving camp and my gear with my uncles. I had to crank out a few shifts of work before retuning to my hunt.
When I got back into camp late in the evening a few days later; I discovered they hadn't seen any moose and very little sign. They had seen a buck that my one uncle took a crack at. He was a 2 point, up hill and looking over his shoulder. Uncle had aimed at the head as he had very little to shoot at, and put it over him.
The next day I took a morning hunt with them. Saw a few moose tracks, a doe and a fawn. Trail cam pics returned no reward, didn't even have an animal on them. I pulled the cams, because I wasn't particularly fond of the area anymore.
In the evening, I decided we should split up. We had 2 quads and 3 guys, and could cover a lot more ground if we split. They didn't seem to keen on the idea, as hunting for them is a good bonding experience with their nephew who no longer lives in Abbotsford. However, I could tell in this particular area if we were going to be successful we needed to split up. I set out for a hunt about an hour from camp, in the high country.
Doing the slow quad ride into the new spot for me, I immediately jumped a real nice fresh set of bull tracks on the muddy road. I quickly threw the quad in park, and hopped off. Loaded up the riffle and back pack and started to cut his tracks. I followed him about 100 yards down the muddy road and saw he carried on off the road, down the hill, and into the timber. I decided to stand on the edge of the cut and do some calling. I'm fairly new to doing a cow call, and not certain I have what it takes, but it was worth a shot in this instance. Immediately after I called, a bull emerged from the timber, and stood directly behind a thick pine tree. From where I stood, 50 yards away all I could see was a large, half a paddle. I dropped to my knee and through the gun up. My scope was set to full, and at this range I had to bring it right back to minimal power. Through my hat on backwards and waited. I couldn't see any portion of the moose, just this large piece of one paddle behind the tree that would move every so often. No snout, no fur, no legs or body. I stayed put, trying to wait him out. 3 minutes went by without either of us moving or making a sound. My heart was just pounding. This was my first encounter with a moose up close, and I wasn't exactly certain how to play this one out. I remember thinking to myself. "come on bud, calm down. Think logical, you got this". Trying to settle my heart rate while having this moose in my scope waiting for him to present a shot.
After the 3 minutes I decided to make a move. I gave a soft subtle cow call, hoping to coax him out. He didn't budge. I waited another minute. Nothing. I gave 1 single grunt (which I also don't know if I do proper or not). He responded by raking the pine in front of him. My heart rate doubled in what was already a rapid rate. I was thinking, "oh man, it's on". This guy is going to step right out from this pine 50 yards away...but nothing happened. He stayed right where he was. So I waited another minute. Nothing. By this time, I was tiring from my couched position. Looked around at my options. No brush for cover, or thrashing. No rest. Some logs to my left that looked like a decent spot to sit, and create a rest for myself. Heart still pounding I decided to relocate. As I stood and started walking slowly to the logs, I gave four consecutive grunts. Wha, wha, wha, wha. Got to the logs; looked at the pine and he was gone. Vanished. Moose ninja, nowhere to be found.
I continued to hunt the rest of daylight hunkering down quietly giving the occasional cow call trying to bring him back out. But nothing happened.