fuzzybiscuit
10-10-2021, 08:11 AM
I don’t think many on here read the out of province hunts much anymore so due to lack of feedback I’ve not been posting many of them. Since Spy challenged me to post up a hunting story in another thread saying he would do the same if I shared one I figured I better accept.
I had high hopes for the 2021 Alberta moose season with a good buddy and my Nephew both having early season draw tags north and east of Fort McMurray. Add in a undersubscribed late season antlered moose tag for myself that I could use in either November or the one week bow season in August and I had plans on having to buy another freezer. Well, like they say, don’t count your moose until it’s dead on the ground. With the lack of water up here in the local smaller rivers it has been proving to be a tough season getting around, or at least the way I had planned to.
Bow season was a bust. I chose to hunt the Firebag river but it was so low I only succeeded in beating my inflatable up and the trip was cut short when the original aluminum intake on my 25/20hp jet cracked in two. It had taken a beating but hit one rock too many. Luckily I was only 7km down river at the time. 5+ hours of dragging it through the shallows/rapids with a bit of running it slightly faster than the current in the deep stuff and I was back at camp. A friend and his son were also out with me in their new Solar inflatable with a 40/30hp jet on it. Their luck ran out their first morning out with the boat when they cracked their intake and put a hole in the pump. Crappy deal with only 5 hours on a new motor. Before wrecking the intake I did manage to call in a decent sized lone male Wolf on day 2 so I guess it wasn’t a total bust.
https://i.postimg.cc/L5GpJ8ZK/1777-B8-E0-7-D1-D-4598-870-B-74-F7-FA80-E0-A4.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
I ended up getting a new polyurethane intake out of NR Motors in Prince George and was back at it my next days off with my buddy and his rifle draw. Water was about the same and despite hitting dozens of rocks the new intake held up well over a couple days of hunting. We did see 4 cows and a small bull that we couldn’t seal the deal on so things were looking up. I did end up shooting my second wolf of the season though. I was back at the boat waiting for my buddy after a hike into a swamp when it came around the bend in the river a couple hundred yards downstream. It was a pretty young pup but little wolves turn into big ones so it had to go. There was also a bit more traffic of the two legged variety but people were limited to canoes and punts as the big jet boats would have a tough time in the low water.
https://i.postimg.cc/XJJKJjbg/0-CC400-E4-15-A7-4-C4-C-B78-A-A74728374172.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
The next weekend off we had planned to camp out for 5 days and hit it hard. Water was up maybe 6 inches in the deep sections but it was enough to make running any rapids doable with an inch or two more water over the previous two trips. My boat can make it over wet rocks but it takes its toll. Lots of people out drifting the river so I’m sure they were not happy seeing us run it when they probably thought it too shallow for a jet boat. One guy left early from the only launch in the area rowing up stream. He was pretty ticked we just ran past him. I guess he thought first person on the river had it to himself. Well, here are my my thoughts. If you were walking down a dead-end road that only went the distance you could reasonably walk and I drove up on you, I’d turn around and let you have it. I’d look at that as being the considerate thing to do. If I drove up on you walking a mainline logging road that went for miles upon miles then I’d drive past you without thinking about it. The river is much the same. In 20 minutes I could be out of the boat hunting a swamp that a guy rowing or paddling upstream couldn’t get to in a day.
By day 3 we hadn’t seen a lot considering the effort we had put in. We had plans to hike into a swamp that was close to where I shot a wolf in August. It had a lot of sign so we figured that to be a good place to try. On the way there we rounded a corner and there was what we thought was a cow standing on the side of the river right at tree line. We slowed down pulling right up to it and watched it for quite a while before we realized it was a small 2x3 bull when it turned its head to walk in the timber. We followed it in and tried calling to get it out of the thick stuff but despite it being young it wasn’t falling for it. That would have been an easy one because it had stood around long enough that I’m sure we could have pulled over and got out of the boat when we first rounded the corner without it leaving the river bank.
An hour later and we were in the swamp we had originally planned to hunt. We still hunted our way in but there wasn’t anything out and about. I let out a couple cow calls and 20 minutes into my calling we heard the first grunt of a bull. From there he came in like he was on a string grunting the whole way. He reached the opposite side of the pond we were on so we waited while he crossed it. When he climbed out on our side my partner rattled one off his noggin. It was a bang flop at only 60 yards. It was the perfect hunt calling him in like that and the only mistake we made was not letting him take a half dozen more steps before dropping him. When We got up to him he was flopped on his side but his legs were moving like he was still walking so he finished him off with another one. High fives were had then the work started. With the boat loaded up we were unable to get back up on step and we were 60km from our camp so we hung 2 quarters high in a tree and came back for them the next day with no issues. That’s the one downside to these small jet inflatables. They can get you in to spots the big jet boats won’t go but you are limited to half a moose when coming out if there are two of you in the boat. They just don’t quite have enough to get up on step and pulling a couple quarters out means the difference of going 8km/hr or 30.
Ok Spy, now it’s your turn…
https://i.postimg.cc/rFNxgF32/1461-A2-A9-0-A12-41-A6-9901-330-CE033262-C.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
https://i.postimg.cc/ht4xYRRz/EFE20407-0062-4770-B612-D34-B197-E071-D.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
https://i.postimg.cc/7ZB78tqB/FF783448-8171-40-D8-A4-B2-01-DD758-C835-C.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
I had high hopes for the 2021 Alberta moose season with a good buddy and my Nephew both having early season draw tags north and east of Fort McMurray. Add in a undersubscribed late season antlered moose tag for myself that I could use in either November or the one week bow season in August and I had plans on having to buy another freezer. Well, like they say, don’t count your moose until it’s dead on the ground. With the lack of water up here in the local smaller rivers it has been proving to be a tough season getting around, or at least the way I had planned to.
Bow season was a bust. I chose to hunt the Firebag river but it was so low I only succeeded in beating my inflatable up and the trip was cut short when the original aluminum intake on my 25/20hp jet cracked in two. It had taken a beating but hit one rock too many. Luckily I was only 7km down river at the time. 5+ hours of dragging it through the shallows/rapids with a bit of running it slightly faster than the current in the deep stuff and I was back at camp. A friend and his son were also out with me in their new Solar inflatable with a 40/30hp jet on it. Their luck ran out their first morning out with the boat when they cracked their intake and put a hole in the pump. Crappy deal with only 5 hours on a new motor. Before wrecking the intake I did manage to call in a decent sized lone male Wolf on day 2 so I guess it wasn’t a total bust.
https://i.postimg.cc/L5GpJ8ZK/1777-B8-E0-7-D1-D-4598-870-B-74-F7-FA80-E0-A4.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
I ended up getting a new polyurethane intake out of NR Motors in Prince George and was back at it my next days off with my buddy and his rifle draw. Water was about the same and despite hitting dozens of rocks the new intake held up well over a couple days of hunting. We did see 4 cows and a small bull that we couldn’t seal the deal on so things were looking up. I did end up shooting my second wolf of the season though. I was back at the boat waiting for my buddy after a hike into a swamp when it came around the bend in the river a couple hundred yards downstream. It was a pretty young pup but little wolves turn into big ones so it had to go. There was also a bit more traffic of the two legged variety but people were limited to canoes and punts as the big jet boats would have a tough time in the low water.
https://i.postimg.cc/XJJKJjbg/0-CC400-E4-15-A7-4-C4-C-B78-A-A74728374172.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
The next weekend off we had planned to camp out for 5 days and hit it hard. Water was up maybe 6 inches in the deep sections but it was enough to make running any rapids doable with an inch or two more water over the previous two trips. My boat can make it over wet rocks but it takes its toll. Lots of people out drifting the river so I’m sure they were not happy seeing us run it when they probably thought it too shallow for a jet boat. One guy left early from the only launch in the area rowing up stream. He was pretty ticked we just ran past him. I guess he thought first person on the river had it to himself. Well, here are my my thoughts. If you were walking down a dead-end road that only went the distance you could reasonably walk and I drove up on you, I’d turn around and let you have it. I’d look at that as being the considerate thing to do. If I drove up on you walking a mainline logging road that went for miles upon miles then I’d drive past you without thinking about it. The river is much the same. In 20 minutes I could be out of the boat hunting a swamp that a guy rowing or paddling upstream couldn’t get to in a day.
By day 3 we hadn’t seen a lot considering the effort we had put in. We had plans to hike into a swamp that was close to where I shot a wolf in August. It had a lot of sign so we figured that to be a good place to try. On the way there we rounded a corner and there was what we thought was a cow standing on the side of the river right at tree line. We slowed down pulling right up to it and watched it for quite a while before we realized it was a small 2x3 bull when it turned its head to walk in the timber. We followed it in and tried calling to get it out of the thick stuff but despite it being young it wasn’t falling for it. That would have been an easy one because it had stood around long enough that I’m sure we could have pulled over and got out of the boat when we first rounded the corner without it leaving the river bank.
An hour later and we were in the swamp we had originally planned to hunt. We still hunted our way in but there wasn’t anything out and about. I let out a couple cow calls and 20 minutes into my calling we heard the first grunt of a bull. From there he came in like he was on a string grunting the whole way. He reached the opposite side of the pond we were on so we waited while he crossed it. When he climbed out on our side my partner rattled one off his noggin. It was a bang flop at only 60 yards. It was the perfect hunt calling him in like that and the only mistake we made was not letting him take a half dozen more steps before dropping him. When We got up to him he was flopped on his side but his legs were moving like he was still walking so he finished him off with another one. High fives were had then the work started. With the boat loaded up we were unable to get back up on step and we were 60km from our camp so we hung 2 quarters high in a tree and came back for them the next day with no issues. That’s the one downside to these small jet inflatables. They can get you in to spots the big jet boats won’t go but you are limited to half a moose when coming out if there are two of you in the boat. They just don’t quite have enough to get up on step and pulling a couple quarters out means the difference of going 8km/hr or 30.
Ok Spy, now it’s your turn…
https://i.postimg.cc/rFNxgF32/1461-A2-A9-0-A12-41-A6-9901-330-CE033262-C.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
https://i.postimg.cc/ht4xYRRz/EFE20407-0062-4770-B612-D34-B197-E071-D.jpg (https://postimages.org/)
https://i.postimg.cc/7ZB78tqB/FF783448-8171-40-D8-A4-B2-01-DD758-C835-C.jpg (https://postimages.org/)