Darksith
10-15-2018, 08:49 AM
Well our family is still on reduced odds for Moose, but that didn't stop my best friend and his dad from pulling a shared group hunt in my back yard! I just realized that I didn't finish the story of our last successful LEH season. I will have to do that as the Moose that I took was a beauty and it will be fun to relive that a bit through finishing it. Here is the link
http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?131425-DarkSiths-2016!&highlight=moose
That being said, this years hunt is in my back yard, in my moose hole and one of my favorite places to hunt. The last time we were lucky enough to be part of the LEH draw for this area we struck gold you might say haha. It was an amazing time, an amazing hunt and we were super excited to go back to this spot again and do it all over. Here is last times story
http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?99290-The-Adventures-of-one-Dark-Sith!!/page2&highlight=moose
OK, now for the goods. Opening day was a monday, so my family decided to come early, hunt a bit for a 4 point muley or white tail buck and do a bit of scouting. We went in on friday with the Dyck family arriving the day before the opener. What a crazy week of weather it was, and from what I can see, we weren't the only people experiencing some odd patterns. Not much for deer on the weekend, just a bunch of does, and then on sunday, before the opener it started to snow, and snow, and snow!
http://i64.tinypic.com/imtctd.jpg
http://i68.tinypic.com/2e5o18z.jpg
http://i64.tinypic.com/35jwjra.jpg
We couldn't believe our luck. When it started to snow I figured it might just tease us but be gone by the morning, but nope, it snowed while we slept and it stayed for the entire hunt!
I should back up a minute first. In our eagerness to "get out there" we forgot a few items. They weren't going to be that big a deal, but we forgot the metal poles for our interior frame for the tent. Thank goodness we were only an hour away from home. I was able to find cell service and make a call to the gf. She happily traded staying the night for bringing us our forgotten gear. Generally we don't allow the women to come, not that any of them want to, but my new lady is all over this type of stuff, so she wasn't too happy when I told her there wasn't an open invite for her. Maybe next year haha.
Anyway, back to the story. So we wake up opening day. We wake up early, really early simply because we are excited. There were a few other camps in the area, but I know this country better than anyone (no joke) and I knew where we would have the best chances to find our first bull. Be first I told the camp as I loaded the old guys (the 2 Opa's) into the truck and we headed out. We drove out in the dark and it was magical. We were about 30 minutes ahead of shooting light, and the cut blocks were basically glowing with the fresh snow. Theres one. I stop the truck, yup. And there's another one behind it. 2 moose, but it was just a bit to dark to tell if they were bulls, neither had massive paddles. As dawn came I could tell one was a cow and one was a bull. With him looking right at us at 250 yards, it was hard to see his antlers, but he finally turned his head to see what his cow was doing and I could see he was a 6 point with some small paddles. Its a shooter I whispered. We had agreed in camp to try and maximize our meat by not shooting an immy. So out came the rifles, we had all the time in the world. I kept my voice calm, talked the tag holder through the shot placement, the distance and just reminded him to slowly squeeze when he was comfortable. Boom, his rifle rang out. Nope I said, you missed. Thats ok, reload, he isn't going anywhere. Take your time, squeeze the trigger. Boom his rifle cried out again, and we got a report of a serious WACK! reporting back. Yup that was a good shot I said as I watched the bull through my binos. Reload but don't shoot, lets see what happens. I was sure he had lunged the moose, the wack was the front shoulder. The moose just stood there, then the cow decided she was done with this situation and started to move off up the block. The bull turned, and I whispered for the shooter to wait as it wasn't a clear broadside shot. The bull took 2 steps and turned a bit more to follow the cow. I gave a grunt and he stopped. Theres your shot again I whispered. Another shot rang out, but I think it was a miss again. The bull walked into some small trees and disappeared. Its ok, he can't leave the trees without us seeing him. A few minutes later he stepped out and I gave another grunt. The last shot rang out and the moose dropped out of sight again. Finally it was time for a hoot and a holler, some hugs and high fives. Opening morning success. I sent the old guys up the hill to claim their prize, and I jumped in the truck to go get the young guys to help pack the moose out.
http://i64.tinypic.com/2aiowtk.jpg
to be continued
http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?131425-DarkSiths-2016!&highlight=moose
That being said, this years hunt is in my back yard, in my moose hole and one of my favorite places to hunt. The last time we were lucky enough to be part of the LEH draw for this area we struck gold you might say haha. It was an amazing time, an amazing hunt and we were super excited to go back to this spot again and do it all over. Here is last times story
http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?99290-The-Adventures-of-one-Dark-Sith!!/page2&highlight=moose
OK, now for the goods. Opening day was a monday, so my family decided to come early, hunt a bit for a 4 point muley or white tail buck and do a bit of scouting. We went in on friday with the Dyck family arriving the day before the opener. What a crazy week of weather it was, and from what I can see, we weren't the only people experiencing some odd patterns. Not much for deer on the weekend, just a bunch of does, and then on sunday, before the opener it started to snow, and snow, and snow!
http://i64.tinypic.com/imtctd.jpg
http://i68.tinypic.com/2e5o18z.jpg
http://i64.tinypic.com/35jwjra.jpg
We couldn't believe our luck. When it started to snow I figured it might just tease us but be gone by the morning, but nope, it snowed while we slept and it stayed for the entire hunt!
I should back up a minute first. In our eagerness to "get out there" we forgot a few items. They weren't going to be that big a deal, but we forgot the metal poles for our interior frame for the tent. Thank goodness we were only an hour away from home. I was able to find cell service and make a call to the gf. She happily traded staying the night for bringing us our forgotten gear. Generally we don't allow the women to come, not that any of them want to, but my new lady is all over this type of stuff, so she wasn't too happy when I told her there wasn't an open invite for her. Maybe next year haha.
Anyway, back to the story. So we wake up opening day. We wake up early, really early simply because we are excited. There were a few other camps in the area, but I know this country better than anyone (no joke) and I knew where we would have the best chances to find our first bull. Be first I told the camp as I loaded the old guys (the 2 Opa's) into the truck and we headed out. We drove out in the dark and it was magical. We were about 30 minutes ahead of shooting light, and the cut blocks were basically glowing with the fresh snow. Theres one. I stop the truck, yup. And there's another one behind it. 2 moose, but it was just a bit to dark to tell if they were bulls, neither had massive paddles. As dawn came I could tell one was a cow and one was a bull. With him looking right at us at 250 yards, it was hard to see his antlers, but he finally turned his head to see what his cow was doing and I could see he was a 6 point with some small paddles. Its a shooter I whispered. We had agreed in camp to try and maximize our meat by not shooting an immy. So out came the rifles, we had all the time in the world. I kept my voice calm, talked the tag holder through the shot placement, the distance and just reminded him to slowly squeeze when he was comfortable. Boom, his rifle rang out. Nope I said, you missed. Thats ok, reload, he isn't going anywhere. Take your time, squeeze the trigger. Boom his rifle cried out again, and we got a report of a serious WACK! reporting back. Yup that was a good shot I said as I watched the bull through my binos. Reload but don't shoot, lets see what happens. I was sure he had lunged the moose, the wack was the front shoulder. The moose just stood there, then the cow decided she was done with this situation and started to move off up the block. The bull turned, and I whispered for the shooter to wait as it wasn't a clear broadside shot. The bull took 2 steps and turned a bit more to follow the cow. I gave a grunt and he stopped. Theres your shot again I whispered. Another shot rang out, but I think it was a miss again. The bull walked into some small trees and disappeared. Its ok, he can't leave the trees without us seeing him. A few minutes later he stepped out and I gave another grunt. The last shot rang out and the moose dropped out of sight again. Finally it was time for a hoot and a holler, some hugs and high fives. Opening morning success. I sent the old guys up the hill to claim their prize, and I jumped in the truck to go get the young guys to help pack the moose out.
http://i64.tinypic.com/2aiowtk.jpg
to be continued