Enough with the elk! It's moose story time.

[pg83]

Thanks to Ourea, Rattler, and Brambles for the elk stories. You three have inspired me to bust out another of this years adventures.



https://i.imgur.com/VcgxB6u.jpg?1

Our moose hunting group had a new member(and new hunter) this year and we were successful in getting a group draw near our cabin in the Chilcotin. As the summer came and went we were getting excited for the rut, October 1st couldn't come quick enough. We met up at the cabin on September 30th and loaded the wall tent along with the rest of the gear in our trucks and set off. Camp was all set by the afternoon and we enjoyed an evening filled with beers and lies.


https://i.imgur.com/ShJh5DX.jpg?2


I pulled a fast one on the boys by bringing some Stone Sheep backstrap from my August trip with Rhyno for dinner that night. Sure had them drooling.

That story can be found here:http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?140147-Rhyno-and-pg83-Sheep-Hunt


We went to bed with full bellies, ready for some moose rut action.

https://i.imgur.com/8gqT2ZK.jpg?1


In keeping with the theme of these recent threads I am going to let it sit for now while I get the kids ready for bed. More to come!

[pg83]

We awoke to a bit of frost the first morning and headed out after a quick bite and cup of coffee. I was seated on a hillside overlooking a long meadow and small lake. I let a sexy cow call rip as soon as it was light enough to see across the meadow. No response. Fifteen minutes later and it was time to try again. This time I heard grunting from half way down the lake. A cat and mouse game ensued over the next two hours, but the bull never strayed from his patch of timber. The wind was no good to make a stalk over to him so I patiently kept calling until my stomach told me it was time to head to camp for some lunch. I shared my mornings adventure with the guys and we were all excited for the evening. It turned out to be quite uneventful with no moose seen or heard. I hiked back to the pick up spot on the main road and as I was waiting for my taxi I heard a bull grunt somewhere in the distance. It was well past shooting light at this point, but there was at least one other bull roaming the woods.

[pg83]

https://i.imgur.com/S0izYuh.jpg?1

[pg83]

https://i.imgur.com/21ElVfb.jpg?1

[srupp]

Yeeeeeeee" Haaaaaaaw"..great start..have my popcorn. .and ice water. .waiting for more..PLEASE...love the photos. .
Steven

[pg83]

I headed back to my spot the next morning well before light and got settled in. Just as I was about to let my first cow moan out I spotted a dark shape on the far edge of the meadow about 600 yards away, it was heading away from me. I put up the binos and while I couldn't see any antlers I could make out a bell hanging from the neck. I called right away and was barely finished the sequence when the moose turned towards me and broke into a trot. I had a snap decision to make. Stay put or bomb down the hill to the open meadow. I wouldn't have many options for a shot from where I was sitting so I grabbed the gun and made a bee line downhill. Just as I broke from timber I spotted the bull. He had pinned me at the same time and we both froze staring at each other from 60 yards. I had no shot on him as there were two pine trees providing just enough cover. I had to move laterally 10-15 yards still to get a shot. I cycled the action on my 300WM and started to move. He turned to run as soon as I started moving, but a quick cow moan stopped him while I hastily brought the gun up. I shot, but hit him a bit far back. He started to run again, but another call forced his attention back on me(by this point I was pretty impressed with my own calling) and he froze once more. I sent a second bullet at him and this one was too much for him to take. He managed to do a 180 on the spot before he tipped over.




https://i.imgur.com/ZP8h0D0.jpg?1




The rest of the group was close enough to hear my shots and we were soon packing moose. We took our time showing our new hunter the ropes. We didn't leave much for the scavengers.




https://i.imgur.com/CAYmpIX.jpg?1

[albravo2]

Love this! You did not leave much for the buzzards.

[srupp]

Hope you picked up that bloodied knife..lol..well done indeed..
Srupp

[deer nut]

Nice one! Things can happen fast. Great hunt story -fun when you have to get aggressive like that!

[pg83]

No knives were lost during the hunt! More to come soon!

[pg83]

By the time we had the moose back at the truck the temperature was heating up. It's only 45 minutes to drive to the cabin from where we were hunting and we decided it would be best to hang the moose there instead of at camp. I took our rookie hunter with me and we made quick work of the job. Just as we were leaving I grabbed the "backstrap" bag for dinner that night. We had a casual road hunt on our way back and I was hoping for a buck to jump across the road, but no such luck. We made it back to camp just as light was fading and got the fire ready for a feast. As I reached in to the meat bag I discovered I had grabbed the wrong one. What I ended up pulling out was a fantastic hunk of neck meat. After taking a bunch of heat from the boys we grilled it up anyways. The flavour was all there, but it was just a tad more chewy than backstrap would have been! The insults kept coming my way until bed time, much deserved I might add.

[pg83]

We decided to check out a new spot the following day and came across some nice rubs.


https://i.imgur.com/jwSSENv.jpg?1



There was moose sign all around us as we crept towards a beaver pond. Calling proved fruitless over the next two days as the weather stayed hot. We took that time to explore new territory, but hunting was as slow as it gets.


https://i.imgur.com/jh2MFMy.jpg?1

[TexasWalker]

Hope you picked up that bloodied knife..lol..well done indeed..
Srupp

I left my knife at a kill site once in the dark.
Hiked back out there in the morning and the gutpile and everything was gone and there was my knife licked clean just laying there lol

[pg83]

We finally heard a moose grunt on the night of the 4th. It cooled way down overnight and we were excited for the next day. When we awoke the following morning I was feeling like a bag of crap. I decided to campsit while the guys went out. By 11am I was going stir crazy and decided to go find the guys. There were only two locations they might be at if they stuck to plans and I ended up finding the truck parked near our previously mentioned beaver pond. I got out of the truck and heard a yelp that could only come from my brother. I hollered back and was promptly told to grab a round of beers and head in their direction!

I found the guys standing around another downed moose. "Who shot him?" were the first words to come out of my mouth.
It was the rookie! His first big game animal! I passed a beer to each guy as they launched into the story.

He had snuck into the area around 9am and let out a cow call. Two separate bulls responded to him from different directions. He headed towards the closer sounding bull, but ended up spooking(winding) him. He made the quick decision to back out and get reinforcements. The three of them got back in there about 45 minutes later and moved in silently. They split up a bit and my brother let out a call. In the same instant he heard a shot from his right. Silence followed so he moved towards the shot. He found rookie standing there shaking like a leaf. The moose had been standing broadside at around 100 yards. There was a willow bush a few feet in front of him hiding most of his vitals, but not enough. The guys waited fifteen minutes and then began tracking. Standing in the bulls tracks when the shot went off it took another fifteen minutes before they found there first sign. A small tuft of hair. They slowly worked the areas in ever increasing semi circles before eventually spotting the bull a mere 40 yards away. I ended up pulling in just as they had decided to get to work.

https://i.imgur.com/AA5m9Vy.jpg?1


The four of us made short work of the bull and headed for camp. We made the decision to pack up and head for the cabin. We celebrated well into the night eating real moose backstraps this time around.



https://i.imgur.com/mnKphpq.jpg?1



There were two pregnant wives and two more who were taking care of a couple kids a piece so we were thrilled to be bringing home half a moose each. It was a short hunt, but we had a heck of a time.


https://i.imgur.com/v45Ge8v.jpg?1

[Rattler]

Great pictures and story. Lots of excellent meat there for the families.

Thanks for sharing.

[HarryToolips]

Awesome pics and good writeup, congrats to you and your partners on the two bulls...

[bang flop]

Very nice. Double down!

Thanks for sharing

[Citori54]

Awesome pictures and story....congratulations.

[Sabre2]

Great pictures and story. Thanks for sharing

[Sitkaspruce]

Another great hunting story!!! And moose to boot!!

Thanks for sharing and bringing us along!!

Nice to see!!

Cheers

SS

[pg83]

Thanks all for checking it out! Hope to go North next year and share a big ol bull with you.

[Salty]

Classic moose hunt love it! I'll hold you to that pg83 lookin forward to next year's adventures :)

[kennyj]

Way to go!! Nice bulls.
kenny

[Ourea]

Great share PG, thanks for taking us along!

[Seeker]

Great work PG. An awesome season. One to remember.

[OceanMon]

Thanks for sharing!

[LuckyIfYouGetOne]

Nice bulls and write up!