4385 days to cut a moose tag, and he's HUGE

[todbartell]

It’s been 12 years since I last shot a moose. I have had a couple LEH draws in the Parsnip that resulted in tag soup, and a few 3pt bulls over the years got the heart pumping, but no shots fired. Luck was with me this fall when I drew a LEH shared hunt with a few friends. In the first 6 days of season I was seeing moose almost every trip out, but no bulls, yet. After work on Saturday I went home and headed out with the wife and my 3 year old son to get in a quick evening hunt. Overcast and rain, but I won’t kill one sitting on the couch.

A half hour before dark I spotted a moose from the truck. It was a cow, I got out, loaded my 280 Ackley, and snuck down the road a little ways. I could see two cows, and finally got to where I could see better and spotted the bull, standing broadside at the edge of the timber. I was going to try an offhand shot from 150y or so, but the bull was in no rush and I was a little shaky. I crouched down and was able to get closer undetected, when a nice clear shot presented itself at 120 yards. I took a knee, the crosshairs settled and I hit him behind the shoulder. He trotted forward and disappeared behind a brush pile and was out of sight. One of the cows was standing right there and she was staring his way. Seconds later he came out to where he was standing when I shot the first time and stopped broadside. He looked drunk but I gave him another one and that sent him into some slow egg beaters until he fell over.

I walked up and had a nice little 3x2 bull for the freezer. Cut my tag and went back to the truck. My son was pretty excited, as we walked up to the bull he kept telling me how huge it was. :mrgreen: He tells me next time we will get a mama moose

https://i.imgur.com/SVLB7Id.jpg

[albravo2]

Nice! Good for you. Love the enthusiasm on your son's face.

[Grumpa Joe]

Congratulations Mark! Way to get it done. Your son's expression is priceless.

[Dash]

Congrats!!! Your son is adorable lol

[Asco]

Moose down! I love hunting with my kids too.
Congrats

[Thunderstix]

Nicely done Mark!!!

[Harvest the Land]

Awesome - the hunting gods were on your side that day. Thanks for sharing and congrats - boy will he be tasty!

[gcreek]

Starting them right, good on you!

[Ride]

Congrats! A great family hunt. Funny i almost have the same story. Its been twelve years since i last killed a moose and it happened on Saturday as well. Definitely some bulls on the ground this year.

[Arctic Lake]

Been about that long for me as well LOL ! There won't be any this year either as we did not get the draw . But hey that's a great eating moose you have there ! Way to go ! !
Arctic Lake

[Bugle M In]

I bet he is huge!!!
congrats!

[Liveforthehunt]

Right on man! Great story and congrats on some very good table fair!!!

[guest]

Great Share.....
And congrats. Terrific eater there.

[moosinaround]

Nice work Bartell! So that ole 280 gets it done again! Best tasting grub in the bush right there! Way to be Todbartell family!! Moosin

[Piperdown]

Awesome good to get the little guy out. One thing though a Leafs hat would have made the picture even better :)

[rocksteady]

Congrats Mark

[Tim Tam Slam]

Guess you don’t need the luck of the draw! Way to put one on your table before the wolves got em!

congrats sir

[tachi]

Congrats! How proud in front of your lovely son!

[Red_Mist]

Tasty looking moose, congrats!

[325]

Good job!!!!

[rageous]

Awesome! what kind of boolits were ya using?

[nature girl]

Very nice to get a moose after 12 years and to have your son with you to enjoy the excitement with you.

[todbartell]

thanks guys/gals


Awesome! what kind of boolits were ya using?

Berger 195gr EOL @ 2675 fps. Both shots landed behind the shoulder. The heart took the brunt of one, was able to salvage a lot of it though (dinner last night). First shot entered left side, second shot went in the right side. One entry hole centered a rib and made a decent hole. We are butchering him in a couple days, will post up any interesting things I find.

[tomahawk]

Love the family involvement with the son and his reaction, He's Huge!! Congrats to all of you!!

[mooseknuckler]

Good stuff Mr Bartell!

[kennyj]

Nice bull to get with the family!
kenny

[Sitkaspruce]

Congrats Mark!!

Good eats!! And a happy, excited son! Way to intorduce him to where his food comes from!

Cheers

SS

[fuzzybiscuit]

Way to get it done Mark! Your son will be hooked now. Congrats.

[Cyrus]

Any bull moose is a special hunt and that will taste great!Congrats!!

[HarryToolips]

Nice meat bull, way to go, that's great that the family is coming with you...your son will probably think hunting is always that easy lol...

[buckdynasty]

Well done!

[REMINGTON JIM]

Excellent ! Great your Son was with you :wink:- My first deer hunt with my Dad was when i was 5 and we got a Spike Muley . :wink: RJ

[todbartell]

Well the tenderloins weren't too bad :mrgreen:

https://i.imgur.com/hFsgdXX.jpg

[chola]

Hey congrats Mark..i just love it when the kids are involved, just made my day

[tigrr]

Hunting with family and getting a moose too-- priceless.

[Jelvis]

Nice the whole thing, you and the boy and seeing having so much fun with dad, you guys will never forget this all life long.
-- perfect size moose also everything was heaven sent, Momma Nature watchin out.
Jelly -- the steaks look awesome butt a lil rare for me Hahahahaha

[Knute]

Terriffic family hunt, congrats.

[Timbow]

Congratulations on your long awaited moose. Great to see the ignition of a passion and the start of many family filled memories, just doesn’t get any better.

A Winnipeg Jet fan? Haha

[Grumpa Joe]

I must have missed the invite.:sad: Looks delicious!

[tomahawk]

Nice work, cooked to perfection!! The potatoes with the 2 cheese (?) toppings look just about as tasty!!



Well the tenderloins weren't too bad :mrgreen:

https://scontent-sea1-1.cdninstagram.com/vp/1d1cca6ed20be4a6ec603b7a403f25dc/5C3169DE/t51.2885-15/e35/41726443_140866226856586_8653733196891568457_n.jpg ?se=7&ig_cache_key=MTg3MDgwNTM4ODIzMzA3MDE5OA%3D%3D.2

[BRvalley]

Congrats! Really great pics, in the field and dinner plate, we need another food thread going on here lol...cool to see the connection to the table and how everybody cooks up their game

[j270wsm]

Nice work, cooked to perfection!! The potatoes with the 2 cheese (?) toppings look just about as tasty!!


I was thinking the potatoes were taking up valuable space for more tenderloin.

[TARCHER]

Nice Mark. Glad your boy was there. The future of our sport, can't emphasize that enough. Nice eats. Kinda thinking our presence at the shop on the way thru brought you good karma....

[tuffcityhunter]

well done sir!

[ncurrie]

That’s awesome congrats on some good eating there!!

[ryanonthevedder]

Great moment to share with the family and the boy especially. Congrats!

[todbartell]

Nice Mark. Glad your boy was there. The future of our sport, can't emphasize that enough. Nice eats. Kinda thinking our presence at the shop on the way thru brought you good karma....

hah! Maybe it was the $50 bill you accidentally dropped that brought me good luck :D

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Excellent all round, TB!!

Congrats on a great family experience on filling the freezer.

It's been 18 years for me since I cut my one and only moose tag.

SSS

[todbartell]

About 180lbs of moose meat hit the freezer tonight!

https://scontent-sea1-1.cdninstagram.com/vp/d610d2708254d71d2258bd125a022298/5C2615F7/t51.2885-15/sh0.08/e35/s750x750/41358719_763243020757849_2861725731739126655_n.jpg ?ig_cache_key=MTg3MjMwODA0NTY5MTExNzE1OQ%3D%3D.2

[BStrachan]

Awesome congrats Mark.

[The Hermit]

Its 4:37 am and I just got hungry!! Way to go!

[Boner]

Nice one Mark!

[Bunner]

That's awesome! All ways nice to have the kids involved. The look on your boys face says it all. Congrats on the moose

[pnbrock]

very nice !! i also waited for long time for moose draw in your area only too shoot a huge moose {inmature}lol cute kid you have another nice job.

[untilthelastbeat]

Great experience for you and your boy. So cool

[ElliotMoose]

Awesome.. They don't get much tastier than that!!