Brambles helps an old guy.

[Brambles]

The old guy in question was a co-worker, and one of my mentors at work. One of the best firefighters a guy could hope to have on the hoseline with you. He retired this year at 54 ish.

As a retirement treat he asked if he could apply with me for LEH moose, it wasn't a hard decision as this would be the third successful draw for LEH moose we've had together.

Unfortunatly he's got a black cloud that hovers overtop of his head and game disappears when he's around, and on the previous group hunts he never connected on a moose.

This year He, My wife and I put in together and were drawn for 2 local moose tags. Not a huge moose population but close to home ment we could pound it hard...

[Brambles]

Our first day out was Sept 11th, go into a spot I seen a moose sleeping in November last year....

we hike in, and set up....I throw out some cow calls and grunts....

couple minutes later....we hear a bull start grunting......you've gotta be kidding me....we have to reposition to keep the wind in our favor....and within 10 minutes the bull passes by my buddy at 30 yards but no shot in the pines presents itself.....a few minutes later he passes by me at 35 yards, but still offers no good shot at his vitals....

the little fella gets wise and takes off....

good first day...

[Brambles]

Sept 13th we go after a big bull I heard was in a certain area last year....we spend the morning and afternoon but decide to leave after 6 hours of listening to brush cutters with chainsaws working all day.....we kill my elk that evening, but that's a different thread...

[RiverOtter]

Hurry up, I gotta hit the rack soon.....:mrgreen:

[Brambles]

For the next couple weeks we cover a lot of country and see lots of sign but no moose.

i go back to the Sept 11th spot solo and have a close encounter but again at 40 yards no shot...

[Brambles]

Couple days ago buddy and I were covering country and I seen a cutblock and I say " I got a good feeling about that old overgrown block"

Yesterday we go back to that overgrown block and Buddy goes and watches another spot and I head into the thick crap...get into a spot where there are some shooting lanes...

let out some calls and I hear some rustling in the distance...but unsure what it was.....I call a bit more and a few minutes I hear like something shaking some bushes....but I can't hear the hollow sound of big palms so I'm guessing smaller bull.

at what I guess is 60-80 yards he starts grunting......

he gets to what I figure is 40 yards...I can't see him, my shooting lane is 32 yards....and he stops...

i throw out some soft grunts...try and move for a shot...wind swirls and he's gone......

damn, but I hike more and get a good look at the block and get a game plan for the next morning....today...

[Brambles]

So today we arrive nice and early, it's drizzling and foggy...

from the day before I could see some good openings when I was at the top edge of the block....we make our way towards those....

we get set up and I position buddy in a couple shooting lanes.....for now I'm laying off the bull grunts....only cow calls.....the smaller bulls seem to come in very cautious anytime they hear another bull.

a few minutes later we hear him grunting...I tuck back into a small pocket and do some more cow calling..

[Brambles]

Now a lot of the media I watched and read suggest calling lots when they are far away but stop almost completely when they get close......well that hadn't worked the last 3 encounters.

when I stopped calling, he'd stop grunting and advancing about 30 seconds to 1 minute later. So I'd lay on some more sugar, and he ate it up....

I now caught a visual of him and could predict which shooting lane he would likely use, so I got buddies attention and gestured him over to the next shooting lane, our rangefinders wouldn't work in the fog so the closer the better.

As he was coming in he was making a large variety of sounds that I've never heard before.....and he loved what I had to say.

[spear]

keep er comin, this is good

[Brambles]

The moose is now 25 yards from me and danger close to buddy.....I can't call any more..

im thinking, what is wrong, why hasn't he shot, surely he's got an angle.....then the moose goes from looking in my direction, to looking in buddies direction.

At that moment I hear THWACK....and then the arrow ricochet....the moose jolts forward 25 yards and stops....right in front of me. I move to clip onto my string and he now see's me and bolts...

I let out a gaggle of cow calls....as the bull is running full steam downhill......he breaks left....then right...and just before He leaves sight I hear him cough....ohhh I like that....

[Stone Sheep Steve]

You think 54 is old?? Punk!!!:p

[Brambles]

Buddies vibrating.....like he should be....we take a note of the time and look for the arrow, after 5 minutes it seemed futile and with the possible ensuing rain I wanted to find some blood....we search....and follow his trail to the last time I seen him and still....no blood...

not or wanting to pressure him this early We headed out of the block to go get the truck closer......but instead of walking to the truck I wanted to check a possible trail he might have come down if he made it to the road......sure enough we see his tracks hit the road.....still no blood...and we've gone .100-150 yards

Ah crap, if he goes on the low side of the road, with no blood trail it's gonna be a crappy job and hard recovery.

[Brambles]

His tracks down the road are fairly easy to see, but he's clipping into the grass and the tracks are getting harder and harder to see...

im looking over the bank to see if I can see where he bailed over, I got buddy flagging the last track I see...

As we follow the tracks, now 75 yards from where he hit the road, we come around a slight bend in the road....son of a biatch....there he is, stone cold dead on the side of the road.....lol....

[HarryToolips]

Nice congrats! You've had a hell of a season so far...lets see the pics..

[Brambles]

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v437/Brambles77/image_zpsqtc6au9p.jpeg (http://smg.photobucket.com/user/Brambles77/media/image_zpsqtc6au9p.jpeg.html)

My good friend with his first archery kill, and his second ever kill

[Spy]

Awesome :-) Congrats guys :-)

[MB_Boy]

Outstanding!!

[Salty]

Beauty !

[Brambles]

For those interested, the shot was 10 yards, broadside.....if I was being picky, I'd say a bit high and a bit back....but upon examination of the lungs, there were both center punched, double lung....so you can't ask for more than that......the bull started blowing out blood and lung chunks about 25 yards from the end...

[Spy]

Any pics on entry hole , lungs? What broad heads, thanks for sharing.

[Rattler]

Nice work Jeff, surprised he didn't leak much for blood on a double lung shot.

Looks like some great eats...

Gotta love him dying right on the road!!

[guest]

Nice work Jeff, surprised he didn't leak much for blood on a double lung shot.

Looks like some great eats...

Gotta love him dying right on the road!!

Just HATE when this happens .... specially to me : )) Hey hey, congrats to you guys !

CT

[kevan]

You think 54 is old?? Punk!!!:p

Too funny !
I'm 70 so that makes me a fossil ??

[Brambles]

Too funny !
I'm 70 so that makes me a fossil ??

nah, just ribbing a friend....you are only as old as you feel, I know I feel 15 years younger than I am.....most days...and I'm only 39

[Brambles]

Any pics on entry hole , lungs? What broad heads, thanks for sharing.

I didn't take any pics of the lungs, the thought had crossed my mind a couple hours afterwards but too late now. Your typical 1" 3 blade star pattern. The shot was between the ribs in and out...

not sure what broad head he's shooting....kinda looks like a G5 montec but a bit lighter construction...

[Spy]

I didn't take any pics of the lungs, the thought had crossed my mind a couple hours afterwards but too late now. Your typical 1" 3 blade star pattern. The shot was between the ribs in and out...

not sure what broad head he's shooting....kinda looks like a G5 montec but a bit lighter construction...
Thanks :-)

[landphil]

Nice! Congrats to the "old guy" and yourself, too bad he didn't climb in your truck too, eh?

[The Hermit]

I'm jealous on the archery kill! Beauty! Congrats to both of you!

[Leaseman]

Nicely done and told!!

Can only remember two being easy like that! The first one was 41 years ago, my first moose....the second? A "give me" after two weeks of hitting it!!

A great experience for the "young guy"!!!:-P

[markathome]

Great story and nice moose! Congrats!

[35 Whelen]

Good on ya Jeff.....Congratulations Gord...excellent job both of you

[Xenomorph]

Awesome weather there too. Good job guys.

[Salty]

Too funny !
I'm 70 so that makes me a fossil ??

That just makes you a 50 year old with 20 years experience kevan ;)

Congrats again Brambles great hunt nice Kootenay moose there and a 10 yard shot?! Pretty cool..

[rocksteady]

SERIOUSLY??? 54 is an old guy????????

Snot nosed whipper snapper, I will show you that it is not that old (once I have my nap, take my meds, find my bifocals, put on my depends).... but you will be in for it then :)

[markt308]

Woo hoo! Great hunt. Congrats fellas

[Brambles]

The kicker is, we had 1700 ft of rope with us just in case.....lol...5 snatch blocks, webbing, prussiks, chainsaw...etc etc...

we used about 20 ft of rope to tie him to the truck and skid him to the landing 30 ft away where we could then try and slide him in the back.....he was heavy enough that we needed to use a 3:1 mechanical advantage to get him to slide.

[Whonnock Boy]

Great ending to a persistent effort. Thanks for the share.

[panhead]

Great gesture ... I got handed a toy train in an unopened box at a funeral from my ex-employer. Offering to take your bud hunting is pure class. Congrats on both of you ...
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Once you've tasted turkey, you ain't likely to settle for tripe.

[Fella]

Great hunt! Thanks for bringing us along!

[Philcott]

Thanks for the story. I could almost hear his heart pounding as I read along.

[kennyj]

Great archery bull!! Congratulations to you both.
kenny

[tomahawk]

Great stuff, persistence pays off with a great bull moose

[Dash]

Congratulations! Loved the story and the bull looks amazing!

[wideopenthrottle]

great work....sounds like you have the ROCO training for rope rescue...nice to have rope and mechanical advantage when you need it (even if you didn't need it this time)

[Brambles]

great work....sounds like you have the ROCO training for rope rescue...nice to have rope and mechanical advantage when you need it (even if you didn't need it this time)

Although Im not a member of the high angle rescue team, I am good with ropes and knots and train and run evolutions with them. And it's a wonderful thing that rescue rope has a 5 year service life span....and has a 9000 lb breaking strength...

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Right on! Congrats! Thanks for taking time to post up!

But I must say I was expecting to see two bull moose loaded whole in the back of your truck. Lol

SSS

[J_T]

Congratulations man. Moose is a good archery hunt. Well done. Am I wrong, doesn't look like the pack out was too tough.

[Keta1969]

Nice, lots of good eating there. Great with a bow.

[steepNdeep]

Nice work Jeff! Whole lotta YUM right there...

[Brambles]

Right on! Congrats! Thanks for taking time to post up!

But I must say I was expecting to see two bull moose loaded whole in the back of your truck. Lol

SSS

Lol...i was soooo tempted to throw out some more calls and try for a double....but with my record, there was a good chance of it happening....and with archery and rain.....i decided to take the gift and run....

Tracking a bull with no blood is just about as much fun as I can handle...

[Sitkaspruce]

Awesome bull Jeff!! Congrats to your buddy!!!

Thanks for sharing!!

And 54 is NOT that old.....but to retire at that age......

Cheers

SS