westcoastkenny
09-15-2009, 10:41 PM
After 3 years of pondering the validity of my existance I was finally able to tag my first moose!
Thanks to the General, Shooter 1 and my Spotter for with out them my day of enlightenment would not be possible.
I would also like to thank TJ for selling me his trusty old A-bolt, tried, tested and still fires true( about 200-250 yards according to the General )
And everyone on this site whose stories inspired me get out and get some!
I flew up to PG on Tuesday afternoon...it is a weird feeling walking through the airport with luggage and rifle case. Not so weird for the desk clerk who courteously gave me a form to fill out before checking my luggage and sending me to the security agent.
The Agent checked my rifle and sent it to the luggage rack.
An hour later the land of moose and trout!
We left early Wednesday morning and spotted the moose on the other side of the pond just after sunrise! After wathcing it for a while and seeing 2 points we made an appointment for Thursday Sept. 10 at dawn!
The rest of the squad had been bear hunting and fishing since Saturday.
Lots of fish but no bear..........Until today!
We saw one about 10 meters off the road but it walked away as we came back around.
We proceeded to a lake where in 20 minutes of hittin the water we caught our quota! Holy hungry fish Batman one after another not very big about a pound or so but wow! As quickly as we could get the hooks in we were pullin em up.......THATS FISHIN'
Anyways after lunch fresh trout with salt and lemon we proceeded or scouting patrol and came upon a 4-5 year old Black bear that became the gateway to Shooter 1's enlightened path. It was his first big game tag!
The skies opened up and it started pouring! We set up a canopy to shield us from the rain but The General and The Spotter made short work of gutting and skinning the bear.
Thursday Sept 10th 2009.......Openning day! We woke up before dawn to keep the appointment with our moose. We got to the pond just as the sun went up and the fog was lifting. We waited until the sun was fully up and starting to get hot but Mr. Moose was a no show.
We continued with our patrol and found some other prospective ponds but would have to wait till tommorrow.:sad:
The General said we probably missed the moose because the sun was bright by the time we got there, and we would have to be there earlier if we were to keep our appointment.
Sure thing I'm in! We were up at 4 and this time just Spotter and I were dropped off at Mr. 2 points pond. We got there before first light and scanned the pond as before we went to our look out spot. Spotter spots him peeking out of the tree line but he tucks back in before we get a good look at him..............
Dang will he miss his appointment again? The General and Shooter 1 are off to the other swamp so we just mosey off to our look out log and chill for a bit when....There he is says Spotter , Eagle Eyes should be he named, sure is munching on swamp grass on the other side of the pond.
The fog is so we can't make out how many points he be.
Dang so close.. not really he is on the other side of the pond knee deep in marsh water.
We watched him for about an eternity, I moved up out of the tree line to a fallen log for an excellent shooting lane, but could still not see for he is facing the wrong way with his head down. We keep watching him and then as the fog lifts Spotter says yup its him Mr. 2 point....Yes I can see him too....positive id thats our man. Mr. moose then steps shore better pop him before he gets ghost!
Line him up , safety off , pull the trigger the report of the 30 odd six fills my ears and I am temporarily blinded as the recoil blurs my sight.
I hear Spotter say you got him he is down, I look thorugh my scope and see that he sure is!
Hallelluja! I hope I got him good and he died a quick and adrelinaneless death.
As we walk the shore to get to our moose the terrain gets softer and less stable as beneath us it turns from grass to rotting dead fall.
We get to the moose relieved to see that looks like I got him in the heart Bonjovi style!
Cheer turns to fear as I think how are we gonna gut this thing, we arent even on solid land.
Spotter asures me " Generals says kill it first worry later! If its dead we can get it!" 30 years of hunting experince and military training ! I love it.
So we get back to the road to wait for the General and Shooter 1 contemplating the recovery mission.
Yesterday I asked the general should we take the boat off the truck? It was noisey and he was concerned it would scare away the bears, he replied " No we might need it to get the moose ".....no wonder god loves the infantry.
After nearly 2 hours of untangling the moose from the deadfall we towed the moose accross the pond on to solid ground where we gutted and skinned it! After lunch of course!
What an experience! I learned a lot that day, The early hunter gets the moose, A good hunting party is like a Nascar team a Crew chief, tire changers, jackman, fuel man, driver....if they all work together and everything goes right they just might win a race or bag a moose!
I FEEL LIKE I WON THE DAYTONA 500!
Thanks to the General, Shooter 1 and my Spotter for with out them my day of enlightenment would not be possible.
I would also like to thank TJ for selling me his trusty old A-bolt, tried, tested and still fires true( about 200-250 yards according to the General )
And everyone on this site whose stories inspired me get out and get some!
I flew up to PG on Tuesday afternoon...it is a weird feeling walking through the airport with luggage and rifle case. Not so weird for the desk clerk who courteously gave me a form to fill out before checking my luggage and sending me to the security agent.
The Agent checked my rifle and sent it to the luggage rack.
An hour later the land of moose and trout!
We left early Wednesday morning and spotted the moose on the other side of the pond just after sunrise! After wathcing it for a while and seeing 2 points we made an appointment for Thursday Sept. 10 at dawn!
The rest of the squad had been bear hunting and fishing since Saturday.
Lots of fish but no bear..........Until today!
We saw one about 10 meters off the road but it walked away as we came back around.
We proceeded to a lake where in 20 minutes of hittin the water we caught our quota! Holy hungry fish Batman one after another not very big about a pound or so but wow! As quickly as we could get the hooks in we were pullin em up.......THATS FISHIN'
Anyways after lunch fresh trout with salt and lemon we proceeded or scouting patrol and came upon a 4-5 year old Black bear that became the gateway to Shooter 1's enlightened path. It was his first big game tag!
The skies opened up and it started pouring! We set up a canopy to shield us from the rain but The General and The Spotter made short work of gutting and skinning the bear.
Thursday Sept 10th 2009.......Openning day! We woke up before dawn to keep the appointment with our moose. We got to the pond just as the sun went up and the fog was lifting. We waited until the sun was fully up and starting to get hot but Mr. Moose was a no show.
We continued with our patrol and found some other prospective ponds but would have to wait till tommorrow.:sad:
The General said we probably missed the moose because the sun was bright by the time we got there, and we would have to be there earlier if we were to keep our appointment.
Sure thing I'm in! We were up at 4 and this time just Spotter and I were dropped off at Mr. 2 points pond. We got there before first light and scanned the pond as before we went to our look out spot. Spotter spots him peeking out of the tree line but he tucks back in before we get a good look at him..............
Dang will he miss his appointment again? The General and Shooter 1 are off to the other swamp so we just mosey off to our look out log and chill for a bit when....There he is says Spotter , Eagle Eyes should be he named, sure is munching on swamp grass on the other side of the pond.
The fog is so we can't make out how many points he be.
Dang so close.. not really he is on the other side of the pond knee deep in marsh water.
We watched him for about an eternity, I moved up out of the tree line to a fallen log for an excellent shooting lane, but could still not see for he is facing the wrong way with his head down. We keep watching him and then as the fog lifts Spotter says yup its him Mr. 2 point....Yes I can see him too....positive id thats our man. Mr. moose then steps shore better pop him before he gets ghost!
Line him up , safety off , pull the trigger the report of the 30 odd six fills my ears and I am temporarily blinded as the recoil blurs my sight.
I hear Spotter say you got him he is down, I look thorugh my scope and see that he sure is!
Hallelluja! I hope I got him good and he died a quick and adrelinaneless death.
As we walk the shore to get to our moose the terrain gets softer and less stable as beneath us it turns from grass to rotting dead fall.
We get to the moose relieved to see that looks like I got him in the heart Bonjovi style!
Cheer turns to fear as I think how are we gonna gut this thing, we arent even on solid land.
Spotter asures me " Generals says kill it first worry later! If its dead we can get it!" 30 years of hunting experince and military training ! I love it.
So we get back to the road to wait for the General and Shooter 1 contemplating the recovery mission.
Yesterday I asked the general should we take the boat off the truck? It was noisey and he was concerned it would scare away the bears, he replied " No we might need it to get the moose ".....no wonder god loves the infantry.
After nearly 2 hours of untangling the moose from the deadfall we towed the moose accross the pond on to solid ground where we gutted and skinned it! After lunch of course!
What an experience! I learned a lot that day, The early hunter gets the moose, A good hunting party is like a Nascar team a Crew chief, tire changers, jackman, fuel man, driver....if they all work together and everything goes right they just might win a race or bag a moose!
I FEEL LIKE I WON THE DAYTONA 500!