diharv
10-08-2007, 01:11 AM
Hi everyone , new member here . Thought I would share details from this year's moose hunt and maybe get some insight from some of you regarding our experience up there .
Last Dec I planned a hunt with a friend and colleague of mine . He has a Cessna 185 on floats and for the last ten years or so has been getting bull moose draws and flying into a lake in the southern part of Spatsizi Park.Usually goes the first week in October when the rut is on and has had fabulous success . I've heard his stories and seen the pictures . They usually see ALOT of moose around the lake and even in camp and most of their success came from calling in the bulls ,some even being shot within sight of the camp . So we planned this hunt all year and flew up the last day of Sept for a 4-5 day hunt . On landing there was fresh snow and tracks right on the beach and some where our camp was going to be . Day one passed with no sightings and on day two my partner saw a big bull but he was in a slide area way up the hill and on the move.So far we had not heard a sound from anything.The third day Wed we decided to take the inflatable boat up the lake in the morning .As we approached the end of the lake I saw a cow and two calves walking along the edge so we moved in to investigate . We put in at a point that was obscured from the sight of the moose . I would walk around the bend on the beach and he would go over the hill in a direct line to the moose. As I got around the bend I could see the cow and a calf making their ways up the hill toward the treeline .Below them I saw what looked like another adult standing in the willows standing bradside and looking in the direction where my partner would be coming . I could not see antlers but through the glasses I could see a couple of spikes so I got off the beach and laid in the grass . He was approx 150-200 yards away . He took a step and I let fly with a 180gr NP high energy load from my 30-06 .He looked like he shrugged or shuddered with his shoulders and then ran towards me and then turned left and stopped broadside again same side . He didn't go down so I shot again .He did not go down so I shot a third time and then he went legs up.As I approached him my partner came out from the brush from in front of him . He was about 100 yards directly in front of the moose and said he saw the second and third shots blow clean through the moose like steam geysers ,something he had never seen before . So the moose was a one by two , the smallest antlers I had ever seen for a moose that size .I don't know if he was 1 1/2 or 2 1/2 years old . So we got him gutted and halved and back to camp where we quartered him and flew back home to Quesnel Thursday.Turns out all three shots were within a ten inch circle behind the right shoulder .Probably should have just waited after the first shot but you never know. We brought the quarters back complete (amazing little plane that 185)and he weighed 378lbs hanging in the cooler.Should be a good meat bull.
My questions are in such an isolated place why did we see so little? There is an outfitter at a nearby lake and my partner suspects that he hunted the hell out of the area because he knows my partner comes up every year at the same time . Or was the rut not on or was there nothing within earshot of our calls ? The surface of the lake is at 4000ft elevation so the winters are harsh but are there reports of a severe winter kill last year ?I'm happy with the result and should be good eatin but my dream 48" bull will have to wait another year. Thanks all for letting me share my story.
Harvey
Last Dec I planned a hunt with a friend and colleague of mine . He has a Cessna 185 on floats and for the last ten years or so has been getting bull moose draws and flying into a lake in the southern part of Spatsizi Park.Usually goes the first week in October when the rut is on and has had fabulous success . I've heard his stories and seen the pictures . They usually see ALOT of moose around the lake and even in camp and most of their success came from calling in the bulls ,some even being shot within sight of the camp . So we planned this hunt all year and flew up the last day of Sept for a 4-5 day hunt . On landing there was fresh snow and tracks right on the beach and some where our camp was going to be . Day one passed with no sightings and on day two my partner saw a big bull but he was in a slide area way up the hill and on the move.So far we had not heard a sound from anything.The third day Wed we decided to take the inflatable boat up the lake in the morning .As we approached the end of the lake I saw a cow and two calves walking along the edge so we moved in to investigate . We put in at a point that was obscured from the sight of the moose . I would walk around the bend on the beach and he would go over the hill in a direct line to the moose. As I got around the bend I could see the cow and a calf making their ways up the hill toward the treeline .Below them I saw what looked like another adult standing in the willows standing bradside and looking in the direction where my partner would be coming . I could not see antlers but through the glasses I could see a couple of spikes so I got off the beach and laid in the grass . He was approx 150-200 yards away . He took a step and I let fly with a 180gr NP high energy load from my 30-06 .He looked like he shrugged or shuddered with his shoulders and then ran towards me and then turned left and stopped broadside again same side . He didn't go down so I shot again .He did not go down so I shot a third time and then he went legs up.As I approached him my partner came out from the brush from in front of him . He was about 100 yards directly in front of the moose and said he saw the second and third shots blow clean through the moose like steam geysers ,something he had never seen before . So the moose was a one by two , the smallest antlers I had ever seen for a moose that size .I don't know if he was 1 1/2 or 2 1/2 years old . So we got him gutted and halved and back to camp where we quartered him and flew back home to Quesnel Thursday.Turns out all three shots were within a ten inch circle behind the right shoulder .Probably should have just waited after the first shot but you never know. We brought the quarters back complete (amazing little plane that 185)and he weighed 378lbs hanging in the cooler.Should be a good meat bull.
My questions are in such an isolated place why did we see so little? There is an outfitter at a nearby lake and my partner suspects that he hunted the hell out of the area because he knows my partner comes up every year at the same time . Or was the rut not on or was there nothing within earshot of our calls ? The surface of the lake is at 4000ft elevation so the winters are harsh but are there reports of a severe winter kill last year ?I'm happy with the result and should be good eatin but my dream 48" bull will have to wait another year. Thanks all for letting me share my story.
Harvey