The King has fallen - a Moose saga

[ElliotMoose]

This story starts in November 2018, nearly 5 years ago. My brother and I were going up to hunt whitetail in an area in region 3 about an hour outside of Kamloops that my Dad has hunted moose in since the 70’s. It is an area all of us kids have earned our stripes hunting and fishing and we hold it very close to us.

Moose were at an all time low then and wolves were at their peak in this particular area. We had my sister along for her first hunting experience and while cruising into one of our spots we bumped into a healthy young bull moose. We hadn’t seen one in this patch of bush for a few years now so we sat and admired for him for a bit and he played model for the camera.


https://i.postimg.cc/Ffwg8pS5/1-C1723-A9-07-F5-4-C35-A904-7-B6693-FFDBAE.jpg (https://postimg.cc/Ffwg8pS5)


https://i.postimg.cc/Yj6fD1qZ/5-AE4-C60-A-CACF-492-E-A9-F2-50-EA7-C02-AEAD.jpg (https://postimg.cc/Yj6fD1qZ)


Since that year, the moose have made a substantial comeback. That bull has bred many cows in the area and we’ve harvested both an LEH bull and two spike forks from this drainage over the past couple years and seen many more bulls on our trail cameras. We have had glimpses of the big one at least once a year in the bush and I had him on a trail camera three years ago and then once again in June of 2022. It’s easy to tell him apart from the others just by the size of his body.


https://i.postimg.cc/MM75BLPZ/0-A906-C14-9281-45-B3-9228-F9182905-C515.jpg (https://postimg.cc/MM75BLPZ)



https://i.postimg.cc/mPPSjkX5/E1276-ACB-B65-F-4-A0-E-9302-3-A1-B67705-DA2.jpg (https://postimg.cc/mPPSjkX5)


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[ElliotMoose]

This year for the first time ever in our family, my sister drew the October tag for our region. I stopped putting in for October years ago because the odds have gotten so brutal. Needless to say we were excited. We got her set up with a 7mm-08 and headed out in July to start setting cams in the area to see what was around. End of September came fast and we were eager to get out into the bush and check some cameras.


We had 7 trail cameras set up in the area the big guy was in and hoped to catch a glimpse of him. My brother in law shot a spike fork that was standing beside him in November 2022 and he said he looked like a postcard moose. Beautifully symmetrical, big fronts and big palms.


September 29 we headed up to check cams before the season opened and we were a little disappointed to be honest. There were a few small bulls on the cameras but no sign of “The King.” I had also shot a small paddle bull standing next to him for my 2021 LEH so we figured he possibly moved deeper into the bush after seeing two bulls shot beside him or that maybe the wolves had got him over the past winter.


https://i.postimg.cc/3kbKG8W1/075-F6264-3749-4-B3-A-9-F1-E-9677083-A24-F6.jpg (https://postimg.cc/3kbKG8W1)


https://i.postimg.cc/WDBT95GJ/552-BA4-D3-3-EF0-4142-89-A2-020-F022-A3-BD5.jpg (https://postimg.cc/WDBT95GJ)


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[ElliotMoose]

October 1st came and the flood gates opened. We were into moose every day. My buddies and brother had 2 tags for an adjacent unit and we had both bulls hanging by October 4th. Both came in charging and grunting to the call. I’ll make a separate post on that hunt later.


My sister was set to arrive October 7th so we waited in anticipation for her arrival. She had to delay an extra day and of course that morning we come around a corner and see this little guy standing in the middle of the road.


https://i.postimg.cc/ykgnKncN/816-F360-A-882-A-48-F0-814-B-99655-A806-BB3.jpg (https://postimg.cc/ykgnKncN)


He did everything but hop in the truck for us. He stood broadside for an entire 30 seconds before sauntering into the bush. My sister arrived that night and was excited to hear of all the moose activity.
With still no sign of the big guy, we made a plan for the morning to hike deep into the timber and chain of beaver ponds just behind the area we normally see him in.

[Spy]

Sounds good keep her coming:-)

[Roboduck]

Looking forward to this one

[ElliotMoose]

After a restless night we were up well before first light and walking in to our spot with headlamps on. There’s an old horse trail that hasn’t been cut out in years and it travels through the beaver ponds which is what we would loosely follow. At first light we arrived at the spot that I had always envisioned calling in a big bull moose. It is a poplar stand just above a beaver pond where we have seen several cow moose in past years.


https://i.postimg.cc/Ty3hgNRj/D37302-D7-22-E7-4571-9-D1-E-C9647-CF23692.jpg (https://postimg.cc/Ty3hgNRj)


I let out a sequence of cow calls at about 1/2 volume in case there’s a bull close. 15 minutes later after hearing nothing I crank the volume to 10 and let a super slutty one rip. This is my sisters first moose hunt so she’s not really sure what she’s listening for but I could have sworn I heard a bull grunt far off in the distance seconds after my call. I notion this to my brother and he looks at me like I’m crazy. Another 2 minutes go by. “Wuh, wuh, wuh” - my brother and I look at each other wide eyed. It’s on baby. We can tell he is walking along the shoreline of the beaver pond below the poplar stand we are overlooking and we call back and forth for nearly 30 minutes but he just won’t come out. We make the decision for my sister and I to go at him while my brother stays put and calls. We get about 100 yards closer and all of a sudden we hear the grunt, much closer this time. I get my sister set up on her shooting sticks and we wait. You can hear twigs snapping as the bull gets closer, and closer. Suddenly he pops up from a rise and just stands there, in all is glory, steam coming from his nostrils, big tall rack and massive fronts. My sister didn’t see him at first and when she does her eyes go wide as saucers and she says “holy sh!t that is a huge moose!”

[Brew]

This is getting good

[ElliotMoose]

Now, though we are in a fairly inaccessible patch of bush, this general area is hunted pretty heavily as there is such a high road density since the pine beetle went through and they logged the piss out of it years ago. Even though there is a good number of moose, not many really make it to a true mature age very often. This has to be the bull we are after. We begin a stare off that lasts what seems like minutes, though I’m sure it was only seconds. The only shot is a frontal shot at 100 yards and being the first time she is looking at an animal in the scope that was just not the shot to encourage her to take. I move in an attempt to adjust her position for if he turns broadside and I snap a twig. Just like that he was gone. All we saw was ass and antlers as our dreams hightailed it away into the thick brush. We continued down the horse trail through the poplars and peaked into the beaver pond but after not seeing him there we backed out in hopes we didn’t blow him out of the area. The King was alive and well.


https://i.postimg.cc/dLGTctJL/349-E29-F9-A286-4-DC3-BDFE-66-F082076-ABD.jpg (https://postimg.cc/dLGTctJL)


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[ekul246]

We’re waiting!!!!!!

[mikeman20]

Good thread so far

[ElliotMoose]

We decided to give him some time before we went back in. The weather turned on us and we had wind, rain, even 21 degree weather over the next 4 or 5 days. Still, we gave it our all and hit every spot I knew. We were in the bush at dark and came out at dark every day eating freeze dried meals as we covered endless miles on our boots travelling the old moose and horse trails that intertwined through the country like spider webs.


https://i.postimg.cc/XGTgNjXX/07-DD5-B87-E701-4-B3-B-8-CAC-1-B6-B7276-C179.jpg (https://postimg.cc/XGTgNjXX)

https://i.postimg.cc/tZPBxZKF/E4-AC259-B-AC1-B-46-E6-885-A-2-C883-A06-DFD3.jpg (https://postimg.cc/tZPBxZKF)


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[Husky7mm]

Sweet looking bush there Elliot, pretty cool to have so much history with this moose. Great story so far.

[ElliotMoose]

Despite the tough conditions we saw moose every day. Throughout the week we would get a chance at 3 more bulls in the thick timber but each time either the wind swirled or a good shot never presented itself. One bull came in to just over 30 yards before we heard him as it was so windy. He had us pinned down when the wind swirled and he took off through the high willow. He wasn’t as big as the one we saw first day but a good bull nonetheless. As we pushed through the bush after he busted us we found some of his rubs.

https://i.postimg.cc/4mv1ZTGN/2-AD6-B1-AA-3-C35-419-B-83-C4-576039536-A86.jpg (https://postimg.cc/4mv1ZTGN)


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[ElliotMoose]

All of a sudden it was Thursday evening and we were planning our last two full days of hunting. The weather looked best for Saturday, our last full day, so that was the day we decided we would go back in for the big one. Friday was still productive as we saw 3 cows and then a cow calf in an area we had bumped a bull earlier in the week. This happened to be the same area the big guy used to hang out and there is a couple small paddle bulls running around there on our cameras. We had a pretty cool encounter as we pushed through a trail I cut this summer through some deadfall and popped out downwind from a cow moose feeding at 40 yards with no idea that we were there. Sorry for the quality of picture as I snapped it from a video, but it was pretty cool for my sister to experience.

https://i.postimg.cc/zbzCkqGP/DEEB7-A91-59-F6-4-A62-90-EB-5-F3-B6934-BCFB.jpg (https://postimg.cc/zbzCkqGP)


As we watched the sun set overlooking one of my favourite moose spots it really didn’t even feel like we were hunting that evening. All I could think about was the next morning.


https://i.postimg.cc/svz1bTr5/FEC018-C2-91-D8-4-BB6-BF59-D201-F3216316.jpg (https://postimg.cc/svz1bTr5)

[ElliotMoose]

The 5:15 alarm hit but I was already wide awake. Coffee made, a bowl of Raisin Bran and we were off. We had sandwiches, mountain house meals, instant coffee and even a couple telescopic fishing rods for the small hidden lake we usually pass around lunchtime on the 10 hour hike to our pick up spot on the other side. We were prepared for another full day in the bush. My sisters husband dropped us off at the start of the old horse trail in the dark and we started making our way by the light of our headlamps.

We hadn’t had a bull respond in a few days now so I elected to not cow call thinking the big bull may possibly be wary of our call since he busted us just one week prior. We got to the spot at the top of the poplars where I normally call and we just sat and listened as the bush gathered light and first shooting light appeared.

We didn’t hear or see anything for the first 45 minutes so I decided we would continue on the horse trail to the beaver pond and we would have some coffee and sit. Along the way I checked a trail cam and there was a large moose on there from two days before. You could see his pecker but unfortunately the camera only caught from his hump to his back.

About two minutes after checking the camera, my brother in law texted us these pictures from his trail cam of a nice wide young bull right on a cows ass the night before and he was grunting in the video. We have never had service back there and literally just had enough to get those pictures and as we moved down the trail service was gone again. I was starting to debate the idea of cow calling.

https://i.postimg.cc/2q9z0NHr/82-E81-DEC-4-F73-417-A-B6-B8-813-D6-A7-F49-CD.jpg (https://postimg.cc/2q9z0NHr)


https://i.postimg.cc/Fd2hQg56/EEA03296-2-A8-D-40-A2-93-DF-BD3543011-D5-B.jpg (https://postimg.cc/Fd2hQg56)

https://i.postimg.cc/ykfgwtpp/272-A7525-BE59-4807-9-B8-F-545-B5-E538496.jpg (https://postimg.cc/ykfgwtpp)

[ElliotMoose]

We made it to the beaver pond and sat silent for 10 minutes. It sure was a moosey morning. Wind was good and it was so quiet you could hear a mouse fart. We actually army crawled under some deadfall along the horse trail a hundred or so yards before at a spot we usually go around via the bush just so we could be quieter coming in. Though we had only ever seen cows in this meadow/beaver pond, I just always pictured a big bull moose on the shore. It’s a classic moose swamp.

https://i.postimg.cc/y37ydQGG/E09-FD1-E6-5-CED-4944-B459-5-DCCF9-A002-FB.jpg (https://postimg.cc/y37ydQGG)


After not hearing or seeing anything I decide to hell with it, I’m going to call. I give a sequence of cow calls and we sit and wait 10 minutes. My sister is standing about 15 yards from me. All of a sudden I hear a noise that sounds like a grunt. I look at my sister and she says “that was my stomach!” I ask if she’s hungry. She nods yes so I bust out the pocket stove and a peak refuel breakfast scramble (these are unreal!) We had also brought along mini tortillas and shredded cheese to make breakfast burritos.


https://i.postimg.cc/PLGqD2sf/9-AEA395-E-3620-4-D0-C-A3-A5-92-A94-C66-C2-C5.jpg (https://postimg.cc/PLGqD2sf)

[Ajsawden]

This kind of story that made me excited to join huntingbc all those years ago. Been a sad lack of it lately. Thankyou for sharing.

[bcsteve]

I Hope Arctic Lake is taking notes….:razz:

[ElliotMoose]

I fire up the pocket stove to start boiling some water. It couldn’t have been 30 seconds later that I hear a noise again. My sister turns around, looks at me like she’s seen a ghost and whispers loudly “that wasn’t me!” You can hear the excitement in her voice. I let a cow call go. “Wuh, Wuh, Wuh.” No mistaking that sound this time, it’s a bull and he’s coming in on a rope. I scramble to shut the stove off and get her set up. The wind is perfect, he's hot and grunting non stop. I look at my sister and say “we are going to kill this bull. Get ready to shoot.”

As he gets closer we start to hear cracking in the bush as he works his way through the moose trails over the deadfall towards the swamp . I turn around and cow call behind me to the far side of the pond in hopes it will pull him along the far shoreline looking for the cow which would put him broadside at 100 yards. The bull plays along and does exactly what he’s supposed to and appears on the far side of the pond 120 yards away. As he works his way up the shoreline I look at my sister as if to ask if she’s ready. She understands instantly and nods. I bull grunt. He stops perfectly broadside and I give the thumbs up.

Bang.

The bull just stands there. I look through my binos and can see one right in the boiler room but not having much experience with her calibre I tell her to shoot again.

Bang.

Another one lands where it should. He stands for 10 seconds or so as we stand in awe, then he tips. The King has fallen.

[Arctic Lake]

LOL ! I’m following along in anticipation . I’m not as good an author though .
Arctic Lake
I Hope Arctic Lake is taking notes….:razz:

[ElliotMoose]

The rush of excitement was unreal. I’ve killed bigger bulls up north and helped friends/family kill bigger bulls but sharing this experience with my sister being there for her first moose kill made it my most memorable moose hunt yet. The fact that we have a history with this bull together makes it even more special. We shared a few hugs then sent for reinforcements on the InReach and started making our way over to him.

As he lay …

https://i.postimg.cc/4YrGbLYS/D3-FBE669-8670-4576-8-FA8-CC71-C3-DF3-BA5.jpg (https://postimg.cc/4YrGbLYS)

[ElliotMoose]

After just staring at him and taking in the moment for a bit we got him propped up and took some photos. You really couldn’t ask for a nicer spot to take a moose out of.

https://i.postimg.cc/MM0trTdQ/6-D29-CD08-D808-4-FB9-AF24-C0-F15-CD9-D2-E4.jpg (https://postimg.cc/MM0trTdQ)

https://i.postimg.cc/HVk3BT5r/028-A6581-05-ED-480-A-95-DA-76-E4099-D4-B44.jpg (https://postimg.cc/HVk3BT5r)


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[LBM]

great bull and family memories
what caliber was your sister using you mentioned you were not sure about it after first shot.

[Arctic Lake]

Your hard work and diligence paid off . Congratulations to your sister and too you !
Arctic Lake

[ElliotMoose]

She was using a 7mm-08. Pretty cool little rifle and definitely did the trick. It is super light to pack feels like 1/2 the weight of my 300

https://i.postimg.cc/GHWkyDFx/4-ADA4-F41-818-B-4-EC0-94-A2-E32-CA77303-A5.jpg (https://postimg.cc/GHWkyDFx)

[Knute]

Great story and bull. Good shooting by your sister, fine culmination of history with this area and bull.

[ElliotMoose]

Once my brother and my brother in law showed up we had a celebratory beverage as we re told the story, took some pictures and finally got around to making that breakfast before it was time to get to work. He was a 3km pack to the truck and boy was he heavy. Brother in law and myself made 3 separate trips while my brother and sister stayed with the animal and cut him up into packable pieces. Trigger was pulled at 8:45AM and we got the last load to the truck at 9pm.


https://i.postimg.cc/YjkgMkpb/9-F9-FEC1-C-BA88-4-EFD-B68-A-0687812081-E2.jpg (https://postimg.cc/YjkgMkpb)


https://i.postimg.cc/NKy2pj4f/A14743-CA-4-CAB-4-F99-80-A0-89-B890-F0-ADE2.jpg (https://postimg.cc/NKy2pj4f)


https://i.postimg.cc/gnt6VZ3T/E6589798-9532-4569-8-E5-C-49-CDAA4992-FD.jpg (https://postimg.cc/gnt6VZ3T)


https://i.postimg.cc/87qJ3gKd/E7915118-FB5-F-4461-AFBB-A88328574-A81.jpg (https://postimg.cc/87qJ3gKd)

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[IronNoggin]

Hell of a Fine Hunt!
Hell of a fine Bull!
And one hell of a Fine Write-up & pix!!

Awesome! https://www.tnof.ca/styles/default/xenforo/smilies/Pozitive.gif
Many Thanks & Congrats Sir!!

Cheers,
Nog

[Getbent]

Thanks for the share. Awesome story and a great bull.

[ElliotMoose]

It has always been the rule that whoever shoots it packs out the head. I of course said I would pack out the head but she refused and she packed that thing 3km over deadfall, through creeks and all the way to the truck. One tough chick I tell ya!

https://i.postimg.cc/Y2JjgpBP/7-B2-A9-FA6-0-B3-B-4917-B7-B3-5-C929-AE269-F9.jpg (https://postimg.cc/Jt51CCn3)



https://i.postimg.cc/zGkf9KHm/0-A1-EBA84-98-FD-481-E-8017-3-B3-FDF5-E9-AFF.jpg (https://postimg.cc/qNz0KtGQ)

https://i.postimg.cc/fRsL2BLj/F24-C33-D6-D324-4-BF2-9-DED-02482-D4476-BE.jpg (https://postimg.cc/jL8tC6yL)


This hunt will be a tough one to top. Can’t wait to see it on the wall and re live it every time I go to visit.

Thanks for reading! I joined HBC nearly 15 years ago and there was stories like this almost daily during hunting season. It was a great way to pass time during the week while eagerly awaiting the next chance you’d get to hunt. Hopefully this will encourage at least a couple people to post stories of their hunts this year.

Cheers

[bottles]

Great story and bull. Thanks for posting it up.

[LBM]

She was using a 7mm-08. Pretty cool little rifle and definitely did the trick. It is super light to pack feels like 1/2 the weight of my 300


https://i.postimg.cc/GHWkyDFx/4-ADA4-F41-818-B-4-EC0-94-A2-E32-CA77303-A5.jpg (https://postimg.cc/GHWkyDFx)

Yes a great caliber, congrats again to your sister and family on a beautiful bull.

[bcsteve]

Great bull and awesome story. Congrats to you and your sister!

[Spy]

Congratulations,great pic’s awesome write up.

[Gateholio]

What a great story! Thanks for sharing and congrats!

[HarryToolips]

Wow, great writeup and what an awesome bull, congrats to all!

[Husky7mm]

Thanks for taking the time to share a great adventure and a bunch of nice photos. Congratulations to you and your sister.

My wife shoots a light little 7-08 in a model 7. It feels like carrying a .22, so light. Seems to kill though, she shot it 4 times, a mulie, a whitetail, and bull elk…. Moose is next.

[TheObserver]

So cool, congrats to you and your sister and everybody else involved!! As mentioned from almost everybody already, great story. Very nice Bull!!

Thanks for taking the time to share! Nice way to spend some time post kill fire and a bevy with friends and family.

[TheObserver]

Oh yeah and nice shot

[wallz]

Great story, and great pics.

[Farmer]

Awesome . Thanks for sharing with us.

[montec assassin]

Now that’s how a moose tale is written. I can’t picture a more classic and picturesque backdrop to tip over a monarch. Congrats to you and your sister. Looks like a couple of well placed shots for sure. Awesome!
Montec

[ekul246]

Great story and great moose! These are also the stories that made me join the site 10 years ago.

[RICKADY]

Awesome story and pic's, one the best i've read on here.
Congrat's on a beauty Bull Moose.
Good looking brother and sister creating lasting memories.
Enjoy
Rickady

[CDN offroader]

Great write up and congrats on a great hunt.

[ElliotMoose]

Thanks all. It was a pretty special hunt. Maybe I’ll do up a post for the first week of October as well. Finally learned how to post pictures without having to go through 3 or 4 steps

[Arctic Lake]

What was the width on that rack Elliot ?
Arctic Lake
Thanks all. It was a pretty special hunt. Maybe I’ll do up a post for the first week of October as well. Finally learned how to post pictures without having to go through 3 or 4 steps

[vincentcui]

Great story, congrats to you and your sister harvesting this bull. I have seen your post on FB; nice to read about your journey here as it is a lot more detailed.

[180grainer]

Awesome pictures and story. Congrats.

[high horse Hal]

Thanks for taking us along on the adventure, thats some prime moose country no wonder you go back
congrats and yeah she must be tough, those complete heads are heavy

[Squamch]

Outstanding!

[sparkes3]

Excellent end to a awesome hunt
congratulations to all involved.

[Bigdoggdon]

Wow, That is an absolute Beast. Well done, congratz.

[ElliotMoose]

Wow, That is an absolute Beast. Well done, congratz.


Can’t ask for much better out of region 3!

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Glad I waited to read this epic hunt in chronological order with your other moose hunts.

Beauty bull!
Huge congrats to your sister, you and your crew.

Top shelf

SSS

[kennyj]

Awesome moose and great family time!
Thanks for sharing your adventure.
kenny

[ElliotMoose]

Glad I waited to read this epic hunt in chronological order with your other moose hunts.

Beauty bull!
Huge congrats to your sister, you and your crew.

Top shelf

SSS


Thanks SSS. Always loved reading your stories and adventures on here. Hopefully we can get back to that as I can’t stand the Facebook page Dick measuring competitions. Make HBC great again!