Ambush
01-04-2010, 11:43 AM
I posted a few pics of this moose during the season, but left out the story 'cause there's always plenty of good reads at that time.
But now it's January and the hunting threads has given way to the regular day drama of bored people. Good thing for the wolf trapping and ice fishing posts. I have today off, so I'll tell my moose story.
I didn't get a moose LEH this year, but I'm getting used to that, and I had to attend a few out of province family events during the season. I don't moose hunt much anymore either. They're too heavy. But when the weather cooled right down at the beginning of October, it seemed like a good time to take a few days in the bush. So I loaded up the camper and hit the road.
I find that though moose still rut in hot weather, they don't do it with as much passion and I was hoping that the chill in the air would increase their ardour enough that I could call one within bow range. I drove to a spot I had picked out on Google-Earth, which was several kms away from where I usually go. I parked the truck and grabbed some gear and went for a scout.
The first thing that grabbed my attention was that this spot would not appeal to rifle hunters because the regen offered very limited views. The second was the ample sign of the right kind and time frame. By 2:30 I had picked a tree in a likely ambush site. I hustled back to camp to gather my gear for the hunt. By 4:00 pm I was settled in my Lone Wolf stand and pretty excited about the prospects. Sometimes everything seems to scream success and this was one of them!
I had placed a "scent circle" around me so that no matter which way a bull approached he would smell love before he smelt danger. At 5:00, I started cow calling, softly at first, incase there was a bull nearby and with no response, I really started to wail on it.
At 5:30 I thought I heard a bull way off in the distance and within a few more calls and minutes, I knew I had a bull on his way. Then the only bad part about the hunt happened. I reached into my pack to grab the video camera and soon realized it wasn't there. That was a real dissapointment, because after last years archery moose from a treestand, I was detemined to get the next one on video. I had practiced shooting with the cam on my bow and had bought Lumi-Nocks to show the arrow flight better. Oh well, no moose movie stars would be made today.
The bull continued to make his way toward me. When he would quit grunting and stand to listen, I would give a call to affirm the direction to his lady love. I had still not seen him after half an hour. Then things went quiet for several long minutes and then I heard him grunt farther away. A little shocked and desperate, I called fairly loud and immmediately a bull grunted within two hundred yards. There were two Bulls! The closest bull was now really worked up, with a hot cow close by and another bull threatening to intrude.
I finaly caught sight of the closest bull briefly at about one hundred and fifty yards. He was moving along a strip of thick spruce and brush coming directly towards me. I was sure he would angle down wind and past me to check things out. I had three good shooting lanes that would give me a shot within forty-five yards.
By now I was calling softly into my hand to make it sound like the cow was a litle bit farther past me. The bull hung up behind the spruce about forty-five yards out and all I could see were patches of hair and antlers. I called one more time. Then he surprised me by pushing straight through the thick brush and spruce and came into the clear by a poplar I had ranged at twenty yards. I was at full draw as he kept walking and grunting!
Then he stood still and silent, casting about for sight of the cow, but quartering to much toward me. After about a minute I was starting to tire, but I had to hold out, because he was about fifteen yards away and would surely see me if I let down. Finaly he turned his head away and opened up his ribs. I watched the Lumi-Nock dissappear on the black hide, sending the bull on a twenty-five yard dash. A loud cow call stopped him for a few seconds and then a full out run took him another seventy-five yards.
I heard him crash and then I did the same!
By the time I got his hide off to cool the carcass, it was a fews hours after dark. I would like to think it was my woods skills that helped me only get lost several times on the way back to camp. I got to the camper, sweaty,scratched and tired, but happy, by 11:00 pm. As I sat in the chilly darkness, on the tail gate, I could hear three different cows, one very close, wailing in the night. A great time to be living in BC!
As there is a good population of grizzlies and blacks in the area, I set my ScoutGuard trail cam on the carcass before I left it. I have about fifty good pics of me returning in the morning to tend to business. Good camera.
The bull, even with one side broke off, is still fortry-five inches wide, so he may have been sixty if he was intact. He had several fresh wounds from fighting. Funny thing is, he`s old and definitely on his way down but the meat is tender and delicious. My bull from last year was taken under the exact some conditions and is about four years old, but is way tougher and stronger flavoured. This one cooled very quickly as his hide was off soon and it was about ten below that night. Maybe that's the difference.
But like I tell my wife. "Meat is but for a season, horns last a lifetime!"
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/0084.JPG (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=15581&size=big&cat=500&ppuser=7841)
But now it's January and the hunting threads has given way to the regular day drama of bored people. Good thing for the wolf trapping and ice fishing posts. I have today off, so I'll tell my moose story.
I didn't get a moose LEH this year, but I'm getting used to that, and I had to attend a few out of province family events during the season. I don't moose hunt much anymore either. They're too heavy. But when the weather cooled right down at the beginning of October, it seemed like a good time to take a few days in the bush. So I loaded up the camper and hit the road.
I find that though moose still rut in hot weather, they don't do it with as much passion and I was hoping that the chill in the air would increase their ardour enough that I could call one within bow range. I drove to a spot I had picked out on Google-Earth, which was several kms away from where I usually go. I parked the truck and grabbed some gear and went for a scout.
The first thing that grabbed my attention was that this spot would not appeal to rifle hunters because the regen offered very limited views. The second was the ample sign of the right kind and time frame. By 2:30 I had picked a tree in a likely ambush site. I hustled back to camp to gather my gear for the hunt. By 4:00 pm I was settled in my Lone Wolf stand and pretty excited about the prospects. Sometimes everything seems to scream success and this was one of them!
I had placed a "scent circle" around me so that no matter which way a bull approached he would smell love before he smelt danger. At 5:00, I started cow calling, softly at first, incase there was a bull nearby and with no response, I really started to wail on it.
At 5:30 I thought I heard a bull way off in the distance and within a few more calls and minutes, I knew I had a bull on his way. Then the only bad part about the hunt happened. I reached into my pack to grab the video camera and soon realized it wasn't there. That was a real dissapointment, because after last years archery moose from a treestand, I was detemined to get the next one on video. I had practiced shooting with the cam on my bow and had bought Lumi-Nocks to show the arrow flight better. Oh well, no moose movie stars would be made today.
The bull continued to make his way toward me. When he would quit grunting and stand to listen, I would give a call to affirm the direction to his lady love. I had still not seen him after half an hour. Then things went quiet for several long minutes and then I heard him grunt farther away. A little shocked and desperate, I called fairly loud and immmediately a bull grunted within two hundred yards. There were two Bulls! The closest bull was now really worked up, with a hot cow close by and another bull threatening to intrude.
I finaly caught sight of the closest bull briefly at about one hundred and fifty yards. He was moving along a strip of thick spruce and brush coming directly towards me. I was sure he would angle down wind and past me to check things out. I had three good shooting lanes that would give me a shot within forty-five yards.
By now I was calling softly into my hand to make it sound like the cow was a litle bit farther past me. The bull hung up behind the spruce about forty-five yards out and all I could see were patches of hair and antlers. I called one more time. Then he surprised me by pushing straight through the thick brush and spruce and came into the clear by a poplar I had ranged at twenty yards. I was at full draw as he kept walking and grunting!
Then he stood still and silent, casting about for sight of the cow, but quartering to much toward me. After about a minute I was starting to tire, but I had to hold out, because he was about fifteen yards away and would surely see me if I let down. Finaly he turned his head away and opened up his ribs. I watched the Lumi-Nock dissappear on the black hide, sending the bull on a twenty-five yard dash. A loud cow call stopped him for a few seconds and then a full out run took him another seventy-five yards.
I heard him crash and then I did the same!
By the time I got his hide off to cool the carcass, it was a fews hours after dark. I would like to think it was my woods skills that helped me only get lost several times on the way back to camp. I got to the camper, sweaty,scratched and tired, but happy, by 11:00 pm. As I sat in the chilly darkness, on the tail gate, I could hear three different cows, one very close, wailing in the night. A great time to be living in BC!
As there is a good population of grizzlies and blacks in the area, I set my ScoutGuard trail cam on the carcass before I left it. I have about fifty good pics of me returning in the morning to tend to business. Good camera.
The bull, even with one side broke off, is still fortry-five inches wide, so he may have been sixty if he was intact. He had several fresh wounds from fighting. Funny thing is, he`s old and definitely on his way down but the meat is tender and delicious. My bull from last year was taken under the exact some conditions and is about four years old, but is way tougher and stronger flavoured. This one cooled very quickly as his hide was off soon and it was about ten below that night. Maybe that's the difference.
But like I tell my wife. "Meat is but for a season, horns last a lifetime!"
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/0084.JPG (http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=15581&size=big&cat=500&ppuser=7841)