First LEH tagged out

[SLIK]

It was so cool. First moose too. I've spent about 10 days in that area and finally saw one that was takeable.
Went out yesterday morning. First cutblock was pretty good but all we saw was a coyote.
Next cutbock was good too but made a stupid decision and decided to take a shortcut through the bush back to the truck. Crazy forest, super thick and wet. Got cut off by a few marshes and didn't have a GPS. Ended up missing the road. Took an extra hour and a half to get back. If it wasn't for radios and the trucks horn I'd still be out there. Note to self: buy GPS!
So last block of the day. Soaked from my earlier excursion, I just went for a walk. At the end of the block, about 3 kms from the truck, found a hill to sit on (same hill in back of photos). Chilled out with binos for awhile. Looked to my left and noticed these really weird two huge white boulders, then looked to the right of the boulders and I'm like 'holy shit moose'.
He was about 500-600 yds. away upwind. Crept up to about 350 yds. Then he started to notice something in my direction. I set myself on this big ass stump and figured what the hell, there wasn't enough cover to get any closer so I might as well try to call him in (been watching alot of youtube moose hunts).
Gave a cow call and a couple grunts and he kinda looked at me and away. Did it again a little quieter, and he started to walk straight at me. Let out one small grunt and he started really coming at me. At about a hundred yards he turned to go downwind from me. He stopped and I nailed him broadside in the shoulder, kinda sucky but the 300 mag was able to go through and puncture the lungs. Tried to hit him again after he went 20 feet, but got some harsh buckshot fever and missed. Didn't matter he dropped after another 10 feet.
Shot him right before dusk at about 5 didn't get back to the house till 1. Man it is a hell of alot of work gettting a moose outta the bush. We didn't have a quad so we packed him out with the pack frames. Luckily we found another road that put teh truck only a km away from the animal. Awesome experience though.
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee142/SLIK80/Moose2007014.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee142/SLIK80/Moose2007013.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee142/SLIK80/Moose2007005.jpg
http://i234.photobucket.com/albums/ee142/SLIK80/Moose2007004.jpg
Pictures turned out pretty good, but wish I had more. Had a ton of sun when I hit him, but opted to run back to the truck for the packframes before taking pictures. So I didn't have much light or time for pictures after.

[Allen50]

nice moose, now the work starts,, good hunting.

[porcupine]

Congratulations on your first moose! Nice drop tine on the antlers too. which area were you hunting?
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[Tarp Man]

Nicely done! That dropper on the one side is cool! Why is it that moose like to get shot at dusk? Both my moose have meant hitting the sack once the work is done at 1-2am or sleeping in the freshly skinned hide!

[SLIK]

7-16a. I don't know if I'll apply there again. Real tough country to hunt. Lots of thick aspen forests. There's moose there but they're tough to find.

[todbartell]

congrats on your first moose :D

[RMG]

Beautiful moose, love that drop tine too. May the huntin gods shine on all your future hunts too.

[Steeleco]

Nice going, interesting drop tine.

[BCJunior]

Nice bull, it has a pretty cool tine on it. Congratz on the tag out.

[eddie ho]

i get a same size at 7-28 and mount the head for $1600 in three weeks ago

[Mik]

Love the drop tine, congrats.

[fozzy]

Congratulations on the first Moose! Well done :) And like others have said,I like that drop tine, gives it some neat character.

[hunter1947]

Great for you congratulations on a fine big game animal http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon14.gif.

[Wildman]

Cool Moose! Ive never seen one myself with a drop tine like that....mind you I haven't hunted Moose much.

[Will]

Congrats on a Great Bull ! :smile:

[Marc]

Glad to see you connect, lots haven't been so fortunate. Nice first moose, hell that would be a nice second moose :D

[WHITE HUNTERX]

Congrats man, cool drop tine on him to eh!

[SLIK]

Thanks everybody.
Like I said it was a real cool experience. At the beginning of the season my dad actually brought his jet boat up for a week. We busted our butts but no luck. Then I tried to get my car in there a few times, but all access to the area I wanted at was either washed out or de-activated. Finally i got a ride with a couple buddies on different occassions in their trucks. I think in total, we calculated, I probably did about 75 kms worth of hiking. It was a real hunting trip. I'm so glad I didn't see him from a truck. It's funny by the time I saw him, I was past the frustrated point and really all I was doing was enjoying nature.
Watching youtube videos and reading hunting posts, I've seen different people describe hunting as an agressive sport.
It wasn't really like that for me. I mean as soon as I saw the moose I went all Elmer Fudd. But before and after the kill I had a real peaceful nature vibe going down.

[Sharkey]

Great story - and good lookin' moose too. Sounds like you had a thoroughly enjoyable time. Really good to hear!
~D

[pupper]

good for you on your 1st moose!
nice drop tine. what general area were u in???

[SLIK]

Tacheeda lakes area. I think that's how you spell it.

[Paulyman]

The smile on your face says it all, Congratulations on a fine looking moose

[pitdog]

Great pics I hope your going to keep that weird looking rack.