okanagan
10-19-2009, 09:31 AM
Hi fellow hunters,
My wife , dad and myself where lucky enough to be successful on our hunt this year and thought I would share the story with you all ,
We rolled into 7-7 and where fortunate enough to find space at one of the forest district camp sites after setting up camp the decision was made to do some exploring as none of us had ever been their and we had a lot of ground to cover. After checking out some spots that friends had pointed out and recommend we concentrate on. We decided that the cut blocks where all to grown up and our chances of success in these areas was bleak to say the least. We turned to the GPS and found a small lake not to far from where we where my wife decided that she was going to nap while dad and I hiked in to the lake. Remember this was just a bit of recon in our minds trying to find a good spot to stake out the next morning.Well we get down to the lake and you probably guessed it a cow was feeding on the far shore line so after studying her for a bit the decision was made to give it a go. The range finder was in the truck but I figured that the shot was around the 250 yard mark and rested my gun squeezed one off and nothing .The cow did not even look up .Crap I thought my scope must be off ?? So dad did the same as I watched I could see his round hit the lake . OK this is a hell of a lot farther than I first thought.At this time the cow decided to walk back into the thick bush that lined the shore. Well I would not be able to sleep at night with the thought that maybe my round hit her so off around the lake I went after stumbling around the shore line I finally got to the spot no blood only tracks. My wife who herd the shots was down at the lake now as well and managed to get my attention. Pointing out that a cow and calf where swimming across the lake ( MY first time seeing moose swim) up on to shore they went directly across from me but well out of range for my partners to get a shot at . So I took aim at the calf let one loose she jumped into the lake than claimed back on shore and into the bush . Back around the lake for me again as i was approaching the spot where the calf last stood out came the cow maybe 20 yards away . Would have been a perfect shot but I figured that my tag was cut with the calf so I let her pass, found the calf not more than 10 feet in the bush field dressed it in the dark and stumbled out to the truck. We returned the next morning and carried the calf out approx 1.5 km to the truck.
We discovered that the first shots we made where at 450 yards ( looked so much closer over open water) the shot that harvested the calf was at 320 yards , and 5 hours of hard work packing out the animal. This was all over thanksgiving weekend. and in -15 weather. We discovered that the lake was called spruce lake. This was my first moose hopefully not my last. I do have a photo unfortunately it is of the calf on her back field dressed and may be a bit to gore to post.
My wife , dad and myself where lucky enough to be successful on our hunt this year and thought I would share the story with you all ,
We rolled into 7-7 and where fortunate enough to find space at one of the forest district camp sites after setting up camp the decision was made to do some exploring as none of us had ever been their and we had a lot of ground to cover. After checking out some spots that friends had pointed out and recommend we concentrate on. We decided that the cut blocks where all to grown up and our chances of success in these areas was bleak to say the least. We turned to the GPS and found a small lake not to far from where we where my wife decided that she was going to nap while dad and I hiked in to the lake. Remember this was just a bit of recon in our minds trying to find a good spot to stake out the next morning.Well we get down to the lake and you probably guessed it a cow was feeding on the far shore line so after studying her for a bit the decision was made to give it a go. The range finder was in the truck but I figured that the shot was around the 250 yard mark and rested my gun squeezed one off and nothing .The cow did not even look up .Crap I thought my scope must be off ?? So dad did the same as I watched I could see his round hit the lake . OK this is a hell of a lot farther than I first thought.At this time the cow decided to walk back into the thick bush that lined the shore. Well I would not be able to sleep at night with the thought that maybe my round hit her so off around the lake I went after stumbling around the shore line I finally got to the spot no blood only tracks. My wife who herd the shots was down at the lake now as well and managed to get my attention. Pointing out that a cow and calf where swimming across the lake ( MY first time seeing moose swim) up on to shore they went directly across from me but well out of range for my partners to get a shot at . So I took aim at the calf let one loose she jumped into the lake than claimed back on shore and into the bush . Back around the lake for me again as i was approaching the spot where the calf last stood out came the cow maybe 20 yards away . Would have been a perfect shot but I figured that my tag was cut with the calf so I let her pass, found the calf not more than 10 feet in the bush field dressed it in the dark and stumbled out to the truck. We returned the next morning and carried the calf out approx 1.5 km to the truck.
We discovered that the first shots we made where at 450 yards ( looked so much closer over open water) the shot that harvested the calf was at 320 yards , and 5 hours of hard work packing out the animal. This was all over thanksgiving weekend. and in -15 weather. We discovered that the lake was called spruce lake. This was my first moose hopefully not my last. I do have a photo unfortunately it is of the calf on her back field dressed and may be a bit to gore to post.