Son gets a double header moose & caribou

[Dad and son]

We headed up to 7b for some moose hunting before school begins at the end of August. We saw this very large moose by the lake. My son's first shot at 260 yds had the animal stumble, for some reason the animal turned and looked straight at us. I was steadying the barrell for my 13 year old son as we had no rest nearby. When his second shot sounded the moose was facing us directly and my son told me later he aimed for the chest. Anyways immediatly after the second shot the animal fell and never moved. He was shooting a Tika 3 in a 300 win with 180 grain bullets. Last year he shot his moose at 75 yds with his 243. I was glad he was using his brother's gun this year. We had one more goal after we got this monster (about 52 x 37) to camp and that was to find a caribou for my son. I had never hunted them before and had not seen them except on the highway so I was at a loss as to where to find them. I found a good FSR or so I thought near the Yukon border. We drove 50 km down this road. I knew after about 10-15 kms we were not in the right area, but kept going as there was a lake at the end that I had promised my son would hold a few fish for him. We then quadded for 10-15 minutes to get to the lake. I was surprised to get to what I thot would be a very isolated lake only to find 2 other fishing parties there. My son did catch a fish but most importantly one of the fisherman was a local and gave me directions about 2-3 hours away to where I should find caribou. The next day we were heading down this road very early in the morning. At the first river crossing we came across a guide outfitter who had lost his 5th wheel horse trailer in the crossing and could not get it out. He was reluctant to let me try my winch, thinking it would not work. Fortunately for him in about 15-20 minutes his trailer was almost on dry ground. The good thing for me as he asked what I was hunting for and when he found out my son wanted a caribou, he gave us exact directions on where we would find them. He was correct. Exactly where he said in fact we found a herd of 7-8 animals and the bull had bedded down. This should be easy I thot. Unfortunately they must have winded us as they started walking down the river before we could shoot. I had never hunted caribou before but unlike deer and moose they never stop moving. We followed them down the river for about 1 mile. They were never far ahead of us but the river was very wide maybe 500-700 m and so my son could never get a good rest and feel comfortable shooting at 3-400 yards. He wanted me to shoot but I refused. I wanted him to get the animal. Interestingly enough the animals stopped about a mile down the river and headed back to where they started. We followed on a well worn game trail on the river bank. They moved fast enough and we were far enought away that we were walking very quickly and sometimes jogging just to keep up. Amazingly they came right back to where they started from, so one hour later and lots of exercise later my son got off a shot within 200 m of where we first saw them. After his bull dropped he said dad there is another bull and sure enough there was a smaller bull standing there, that we had not noticed earlier, so I got a caribou as well. Of note my son a few days earlier had lost his magazine for his rifle so it is a good thing we had a spare rifle along.

[One Shot]

Congrats on his succesful hunt. Thats a good size moose. You and your wife better start packing as he is going to have to have the master bedroom now in order to hang his mounts. :p

[kgs]

Awesome moose and caribou. Now thats a hunting trip congrats...

[hunter1947]

Good trip you had your son and you ,you don't get it any better then that ,congrats to the both of you http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/images/icons/icon14.gif.

[Deaddog]

now thats what it is all about, congrats on getting your son out into the outdoors and what a trip to boot!! ... he should be hooked now!

[mark]

Awesome moose! Them bous look a bit small... is there no point restriction????

[springpin]

nice work. Looks like you have a lot of meat in the freezer. Congrats

Springpin

[TIKA 300]

Me thinks either the Brick or sears might be getting a visit paid to them for a new freezer :-P :-P.

Thats great,congrats...... MMMMM CARIBOU

[Deadshot]

Cracker moose!
Them young 'bous are mighty fine eating.
Good to hear the outfitter returned the favor.

[Blainer]

That will be some great memories.
Good on ya dad!
Mark,looks like there is a bull season for bou in region 7-b.

[Dirty]

great job !

[Viking]

Congrat on a successful hunt

[Avalanche123]

Well done. Sounds like quite the trip. Congrats on a very full freezer!

[guest]

Congrats on your success, good to hear young people getting into our great sport.
C/T

[Mtnhunter]

Congrats to you and your son! Well done!!!

[ryanb]

Awesome moose! Them bous look a bit small... is there no point restriction????

Aug 20-31, any bull in 7B.

[Dad and son]

Thanks for all your nice replies. Yes there is no antler restriction where we hunted. I think memories hunting and in the outdoors are the best kind of memories to share with your kids. My son was lucky to get the bison draw again for the second time in his life (only 13) and the under 19 any elk draw around FSJ so he should have some more great memories coming up. I guess we could have hunted for larger antlers but I was not sure if I would like the meat or not so a big part of the thrill for my son was simply getting a new animal he had never shot before.

[Caveman]

Great Job Guys. The caribou is good meat....at least mine was that I took in the Yukon. Some say if you get them early before the rut they're fine but late your dog won't touch them but I find that hard to swallow. What the H*ll you going to do with all that meat if he fills his LEH's as well.

[1/2 slam]

Congratulations...:razz:

[Wildman]

Excellent job fellas!

[Tikka7mm]

that's a lot of meat alright...congrats on a succesful hunt.

[Derp]

Congrats on the great hunt Glen, wish I was there!

[44inchStone]

It's really nice to see a dad out teaching his kids what's best in life. They will always remember this moment. It looks like you two are in Moose / caribou heaven.

[Dad and son]

Little update, we have had a chance to sample both the moose and caribou. Both taste delicous. I was worried the moose would be tough being so large but the steaks are soft and tender very, very similar to the spike fork we got last year. The caribou steaks tonight were delicous and make me very motivated to get caribou again next year. Today was my first day eating caribou and I was pleasantly surprised after hearing many negative comments about the meat. Several of you have asked what I plan to do with the meat. Well, I know several low income families who work for charities helping the disadvantaged or teenagers etc and so I will give them some of my meat.