bridger
02-03-2009, 04:24 PM
Big Bull and a Bad Bear
It was late September, and a mixture of rain and snow continued to fall as our pack string of 15 horses labored heavily up the steep hillside. Nearly a mile from top to bottom, the north facing hillside was laced with muskeg; a real challenge in wet weather. Finally reaching the top, I pulled up to give the horses a chance to blow and regroup.
Turning, I could see my friends, the late Jerry Secrist, his son Joel, Dave Kellestine, and Jon Johnson, checking packs and making sure the diamonds were tight. Still two hours from camp, we were wet, cold, and tired. It was late in the day and knowing that dark would come early because of the weather, we were anxious to get to our campsite, unpack, and get set up.
Heading down the trail, we entered a long valley that had been burned in years past, making it prime moose and elk habitat. Primarily hunting elk, we had agreed because of the nine hour pack to the trailhead, we would only shoot real big bull moose.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/rich_petersen_023.jpg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=12661&limit=recent)
I was thinking of that decision as I rode along, my head buried in the hood of my rain coat in a futile attempt to avoid the pelting rain and snow. Topping a small rise, I saw a young bull moose with a cow off to my right about 60 yards away. They were paying us no mind. Their attention was focused further to the right. I stopped, turned in my saddle, and looked right into the face of a big bull moose.
And what a bull he was!! With antlers at least 55--maybe even 60 inches wide--with good palms and lots points, he was certainly an above average bull moose. “Hey, anybody want to shoot a big bull moose?” I asked, looking over my shoulder. The bull, in full rut, had gathered a harem of six or seven cows and was giving them his full attention, completely ignoring us. Suddenly smaller bull appeared from behind some trees, causing the big bull to take a few steps toward the intruder and display his antlers. That and a grunt were all it took to convince the smaller bull that he should forget about the cows and leave the country.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/rich_petersen_010.jpg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=12663&limit=recent)
We were admiring the big bull standing less than 100 yards away. His attention riveted on his harem, he would, from time to time, turn his head, stare at us, and then turn his attention back to his cows. Cold and wet and still two hours away from camp, as incredible as it seems, we decided to leave this bull for another day.
“I can’t believe you guys,” Joel said. “Nobody is going to shoot this bull????,” he exclaimed, exasperated.
“Don’t worry, we’ll find him tomorrow; he won’t go far with all those cows around,” Jon R. said, nonchalantly. “Let’s get to camp,” he continued, turning his horse down the trail.
Three hours later our horses were unpacked, hobbled, and turned out for the night; the 12 x14 wall tent was up, and a fire was burning in the stove.
“I still think we’re going to regret not shooting that big bull,” Joel said, as we sat around the stove after dinner; sundowners in hand.
‘Maybe,” I said, “but we would still be out there in the snow and rain, dressing him out, instead of in this nice warm tent.”
“You boys are definitely in your golden years,” he went on shaking his head and throwing another stick in the fire. “A few years ago all of you would have been trying to get the first shot in; now you just sit on your horses hoping no one will shoot,” he went on. We knew he was just giving his dad and his older friends some friendly ribbing, but as I sat warming up by the fire, I was glad we had passed on the bull.
“Comes with age, when you are young and inexperienced, dressing a big bull out in the dark and getting back to camp at one o’clock in the morning, tired and soaked to the skin, seems like fun. As you become more experienced, you come to appreciate a more relaxed approach,” I said refilling my glass.
“Does experience mean older and lazier,” Joel said laughter in his voice.
“Probably,” I said laughing, “but don’t worry, we’ll find that bull in a day or two.”
the pass was interrupted several times as we stopped to glass several different bulls, none of which compared to the big one we had seen earlier. Two hours later we reached a vantage point that would allow us to glass the general area in which we had seen the bull. Half an hour later, I spotted a large bull across the valley along with a bunch of cows.
“Have a look in that draw straight across from us. There’s a big bull standing in the spruce trees and there’s a bunch of cows below him in the burn,” I said to Dave and Joel.
“That’s a big bull all right,” Dave said, “but I can’t get a good look at his antlers.”
“Let’s go take a closer look,” I said.
Twenty minutes later we on a small knob and could see the cows below us in the burn but couldn’t see the bull anywhere. “He has to be around here somewhere,” I said. “Let’s spread out and work our way down the hillside.” We tied our horses and proceeded walking slowly down the hill. Moving downhill as quietly as possible, I noticed a cow looking at something in front of me. I sat down and began carefully glassing the burn. Slightly to my left about 200 yards I could see the outline of a moose in some willows and blow down. I set up my spotting scope for a better look and could see that it was a large tri- palm bull. I couldn’t tell for certain if he were the bull we had seen previously, but he was too good to pass up.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/rich_and_moose.jpeg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=12660&limit=recent)
At the sound of my shot, moose began running in several directions, including three other large bulls. The bulls were out of sight before I could get a look at them, but I was pretty sure the big bull we were after was one of them.
“If that was the big bull,” I thought to myself, “how big is the one I just shot?” I worked my way over to the bull just as Dave and Joel got there.
“He’s a dandy bull,” Dave said, “but he isn’t the one we saw the other day.”
“Well, anytime you can get a bull like this you can’t feel too bad,” I said.
“We’ll just have to keep looking for the other one, and if we get him I can make two trips to the trail head; we have lots of time,” Joel said. (I a little long winded on this one part 2 coming up)
It was late September, and a mixture of rain and snow continued to fall as our pack string of 15 horses labored heavily up the steep hillside. Nearly a mile from top to bottom, the north facing hillside was laced with muskeg; a real challenge in wet weather. Finally reaching the top, I pulled up to give the horses a chance to blow and regroup.
Turning, I could see my friends, the late Jerry Secrist, his son Joel, Dave Kellestine, and Jon Johnson, checking packs and making sure the diamonds were tight. Still two hours from camp, we were wet, cold, and tired. It was late in the day and knowing that dark would come early because of the weather, we were anxious to get to our campsite, unpack, and get set up.
Heading down the trail, we entered a long valley that had been burned in years past, making it prime moose and elk habitat. Primarily hunting elk, we had agreed because of the nine hour pack to the trailhead, we would only shoot real big bull moose.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/rich_petersen_023.jpg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=12661&limit=recent)
I was thinking of that decision as I rode along, my head buried in the hood of my rain coat in a futile attempt to avoid the pelting rain and snow. Topping a small rise, I saw a young bull moose with a cow off to my right about 60 yards away. They were paying us no mind. Their attention was focused further to the right. I stopped, turned in my saddle, and looked right into the face of a big bull moose.
And what a bull he was!! With antlers at least 55--maybe even 60 inches wide--with good palms and lots points, he was certainly an above average bull moose. “Hey, anybody want to shoot a big bull moose?” I asked, looking over my shoulder. The bull, in full rut, had gathered a harem of six or seven cows and was giving them his full attention, completely ignoring us. Suddenly smaller bull appeared from behind some trees, causing the big bull to take a few steps toward the intruder and display his antlers. That and a grunt were all it took to convince the smaller bull that he should forget about the cows and leave the country.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/rich_petersen_010.jpg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=12663&limit=recent)
We were admiring the big bull standing less than 100 yards away. His attention riveted on his harem, he would, from time to time, turn his head, stare at us, and then turn his attention back to his cows. Cold and wet and still two hours away from camp, as incredible as it seems, we decided to leave this bull for another day.
“I can’t believe you guys,” Joel said. “Nobody is going to shoot this bull????,” he exclaimed, exasperated.
“Don’t worry, we’ll find him tomorrow; he won’t go far with all those cows around,” Jon R. said, nonchalantly. “Let’s get to camp,” he continued, turning his horse down the trail.
Three hours later our horses were unpacked, hobbled, and turned out for the night; the 12 x14 wall tent was up, and a fire was burning in the stove.
“I still think we’re going to regret not shooting that big bull,” Joel said, as we sat around the stove after dinner; sundowners in hand.
‘Maybe,” I said, “but we would still be out there in the snow and rain, dressing him out, instead of in this nice warm tent.”
“You boys are definitely in your golden years,” he went on shaking his head and throwing another stick in the fire. “A few years ago all of you would have been trying to get the first shot in; now you just sit on your horses hoping no one will shoot,” he went on. We knew he was just giving his dad and his older friends some friendly ribbing, but as I sat warming up by the fire, I was glad we had passed on the bull.
“Comes with age, when you are young and inexperienced, dressing a big bull out in the dark and getting back to camp at one o’clock in the morning, tired and soaked to the skin, seems like fun. As you become more experienced, you come to appreciate a more relaxed approach,” I said refilling my glass.
“Does experience mean older and lazier,” Joel said laughter in his voice.
“Probably,” I said laughing, “but don’t worry, we’ll find that bull in a day or two.”
the pass was interrupted several times as we stopped to glass several different bulls, none of which compared to the big one we had seen earlier. Two hours later we reached a vantage point that would allow us to glass the general area in which we had seen the bull. Half an hour later, I spotted a large bull across the valley along with a bunch of cows.
“Have a look in that draw straight across from us. There’s a big bull standing in the spruce trees and there’s a bunch of cows below him in the burn,” I said to Dave and Joel.
“That’s a big bull all right,” Dave said, “but I can’t get a good look at his antlers.”
“Let’s go take a closer look,” I said.
Twenty minutes later we on a small knob and could see the cows below us in the burn but couldn’t see the bull anywhere. “He has to be around here somewhere,” I said. “Let’s spread out and work our way down the hillside.” We tied our horses and proceeded walking slowly down the hill. Moving downhill as quietly as possible, I noticed a cow looking at something in front of me. I sat down and began carefully glassing the burn. Slightly to my left about 200 yards I could see the outline of a moose in some willows and blow down. I set up my spotting scope for a better look and could see that it was a large tri- palm bull. I couldn’t tell for certain if he were the bull we had seen previously, but he was too good to pass up.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/rich_and_moose.jpeg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=12660&limit=recent)
At the sound of my shot, moose began running in several directions, including three other large bulls. The bulls were out of sight before I could get a look at them, but I was pretty sure the big bull we were after was one of them.
“If that was the big bull,” I thought to myself, “how big is the one I just shot?” I worked my way over to the bull just as Dave and Joel got there.
“He’s a dandy bull,” Dave said, “but he isn’t the one we saw the other day.”
“Well, anytime you can get a bull like this you can’t feel too bad,” I said.
“We’ll just have to keep looking for the other one, and if we get him I can make two trips to the trail head; we have lots of time,” Joel said. (I a little long winded on this one part 2 coming up)