4-32b moose hunt

[mgnm300]

well,,after spending a total of 19 days moose hunting with one stretch being 10 days straight in pingston creek valley, we have bin defeated.
we covered an area that was approximately 35 km long and 10km wide.
out of those 19 days of hunting we managed to spot 6 whiteys,one of those was a 2 pt,a cow and calf, and one ass end of a bear, and one bull.
this had to be one of the toughest hunts i've ever done. i sure didn't expect the lack of animal sightings since i've always bin able to catch a few on film. but not to even get one pic was heartbreaking. there was a fair bit of sign around that the animals are there. my partner did manage to talk to the only bull he saw the day before. so he set up the next day, but he would not show even tho we even had a cow decoy to help in our aid to get one close enuf to get with the bow.
i tried calling in several spots where i thought they would be but never got a single responce. now as far as we knew we were hunting right in the rut (oct 2- 11). but we sure didn't see or hear any evidence that there was one. the whole week we kept finding single tracks wether they were cow or bull untill our last day when we both found a set of both in two different spots. we even ended up having tempetures drop to -16 for a couple mornings and waking up to a skiff of snow one day plus frost every single morning.
there were 5 days where we had the whole valley to ourselves not seeing another hunter so as far as pressure there was none. i did run into a couple of retired local guys one day and told me that they had a moose draw last year. they spent the entire season out there and finally managed to get one on the second last day of the season. he also told me that he knew of only 5 bulls taken in that same year. now out of 26 leh tags given out, those are really bad odds of being succesful. one couldn't help but think that there was something wrong with the system.
don't get me wrong, i'm not upset that we were not succesful in at least getting one tag out of two that we had, but why would they give out that many tags when the moose numbers are not even there. i thought the whole point of the leh was so that your chances were better than average since they are only a limited number of hunters to hunt.
oh well, here are a few pics i managed to get
moon over mt odin
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/DSC4540006.jpg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=15644&size=big&cat=500&ppuser=1052)
lone fisherman on corsair lake
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/DSC4547007.jpg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=15645&size=big&cat=500&ppuser=1052)
sunset
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/DSC4553013.jpg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=15646&size=big&cat=500&ppuser=1052)
our camp(awesome set-up)
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/DSC4541001.jpg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=15647&size=big&cat=500&ppuser=1052)
nothing to do but sit and drink lol
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/DSC4587018.jpg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=15648&size=big&cat=500&ppuser=1052)
ok,,had to throw the honda's in
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/DSC4595005.jpg (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=15649&size=big&cat=500&ppuser=1052)

i'm not sure if we will go back for rifle season. but i have to say the kooteneys is an amazing part of our province to see.

[mcrae]

Don't feel bad I have the LEH draw for 4-16 and I am a local. I can't find the damn things either!!!

I am heading out for two more weeks on Wed with the boomstick.

[boatdoc]

Ya it sure is frustrating to see lots of tags for an area only to find out that the animals don't even use that zone during the LEH season. Happens here in Sechelt for the elk draws, i have elk on my property until the season opens then the bulls take the cows away only to return after some of the draws are over.

[mgnm300]

it's one thing to find out if the animals have moved out but i know they didn't. what was frustrating was that it seemed they were strictly nocturnal and saw evidence from the fresh tracks the next morning.
there wasn't a single shot heard the whole time even tho it was open for deer and immys. what was also really strange was we didn't see a single muley and yet it was perfect muley country as far as i was concerned.
also the countless hours of glassing didn't produce a single sighting and i found that to be really odd

[Triggerman]

Thanks for the info on this thread 300. I thought the area looked great when I was there too and Zip except a Whitey running away and one calf moose. I'm leaving tommorow for a week there and hope to see something!!!!!! If you're around, I'm in a White Dodge with a Toyhauler.

Good luck to you.

:grin:

[The Hermit]

Just curious, are you hunting from the quads? Or on foot, or from a canoe?

[Triggerman]

ATVs, on foot, glassing. I have officially given up canoeing through cut blocks. :-D

[ratherbefishin]

spectacular country-did you see any other game?Tough on the LEH draw-I think the average is only once in five years to even get a moose draw-even in low odds areas and for shared hunts

[Triggerman]

Another 5 days at 4.32B and NOTHING!!!!!

Saw three grouse, on Whitetail doe and NOTHING ELSE!!!

That area is now dead to me!!! :icon_frow