TIKKA TIGER
10-09-2010, 06:29 PM
Fortunately my hunting partner “jdr” and I were lucky enough to get an LEH draw for a bull moose in region 8-09.
I met “jdr” 12 years ago and have been hunting together ever since. We are compatible hunting partners and I really enjoy his company on all our excursions. It seems with every year that we hunt together, we both learn from one another. Good hunting buddies are hard to find and should be cherished and never taken for granted.
On Sept.11th “jdr” harvested his very first elk, a nice 6 pt. and a very memorable moment that we both shared together. We agreed whoever shot the elk the other one will get first crack at the moose. With the elk out of the way, now we were going on our first moose hunt together. “jdr” used our favourite hunting tool “Google Earth” to locate some swamps and meadows to check out before the season opened up on Oct. 1st. We hiked into some of these meadows and they all showed promise. We were really pumped up and looking forward to the upcoming hunt.
On opening day we went into what we thought was the nicest meadow of the bunch and sat the entire time overlooking a meadow and small lake that we had scouted in the summer. We thought this was going to be “THE SPOT”.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v231/eyebowhunt/scoutingtrip021.jpg
We did some cow calling and occasionally threw in some bull grunts and broke brush, etc. The only moose we saw was a cow and calf that came in for a drink in the afternoon. They walked to within about 40 to 50 yards of us and never knew we were there. I got some nice footage on the video camera but that was it for day one… pretty disappointing actually.
On our second day of moose hunting, Monday Oct.4th we decided to check out some different meadows.The first meadow we hunted there was a cow and calf in there. We did some calling but not much was happening. We went to 2 more meadows and a clearcut, did some more calling but once again, no response. For an evening hunt “jdr” suggested going into a meadow he had hiked into earlier, which was much more remote and we we’re pleasantly surprised by the sign. There was a good amount of moose sign, beds, tracks, trails, etc.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v231/eyebowhunt/scoutingtrip030.jpg
We decided to set up about 75 yards from the tree line where we still had some cover. I began cow calling with my home made cow call… which I think was “SIMPLY GREAT”.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v231/eyebowhunt/Copyofdcp_2136.jpg
Once the sun went down I gave a cow calling sequence and once again no response. We were getting frustrated that we hadn’t seen a bull and figured maybe they aren’t in rut yet. "Jdr" had an idea of doing a set of cow calling sequences in succession but only a couple of minutes apart from each other. After the third sequence, within seconds we could hear a bull grunting in the timber in front of us. He was grunting with every step and was coming in FAST and HARD! “Jdr” said “grab your rifle he’s coming in”.
The bull was off to my right and so was my Eberlestock pack. I dropped to my knees and swung my rifle over and set it on the pack. Through the scope I saw movement coming through the timber and the bull stopped behind a tree for a few seconds to check the meadow. I slowly released the safety and then the bull stepped out into the meadow. He was walking directly towards me and stopped about 75 yards away. I had the crosshairs lined up on his chest and I was afraid he would wind us and I squeezed off. I knew it was a good hit as the bull turned and was staggering away and then stopped broadside and I shot again taking out his lungs and he dropped right there at the edge of the meadow. I looked at “jdr” and after a hug and high fives we went over to where the moose dropped. We looked at the bull and were amazed at how big these animals are. We also couldn’t believe how fast everything happened and how well it came together. It was over in about 30 to 40 seconds from when we first heard the bull grunting to when I shot. We took a few pictures and it was getting dark so we got busy for the chore at hand. The bull was down at 6:30 pm and after a few trips to our atv’s and the pack out complete I climbed into my nice warm bed at 1:15 am. What a nice way to break in my new Tikka T-3 Laminate .300 Win. Mag. I had decided to take the first bull I saw… big or small. I must admit, we were both very happy to see it was a young bull.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v231/eyebowhunt/3RonMooseInMeadow4.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v231/eyebowhunt/5RonMooseInMeadow4.jpg
I met “jdr” 12 years ago and have been hunting together ever since. We are compatible hunting partners and I really enjoy his company on all our excursions. It seems with every year that we hunt together, we both learn from one another. Good hunting buddies are hard to find and should be cherished and never taken for granted.
On Sept.11th “jdr” harvested his very first elk, a nice 6 pt. and a very memorable moment that we both shared together. We agreed whoever shot the elk the other one will get first crack at the moose. With the elk out of the way, now we were going on our first moose hunt together. “jdr” used our favourite hunting tool “Google Earth” to locate some swamps and meadows to check out before the season opened up on Oct. 1st. We hiked into some of these meadows and they all showed promise. We were really pumped up and looking forward to the upcoming hunt.
On opening day we went into what we thought was the nicest meadow of the bunch and sat the entire time overlooking a meadow and small lake that we had scouted in the summer. We thought this was going to be “THE SPOT”.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v231/eyebowhunt/scoutingtrip021.jpg
We did some cow calling and occasionally threw in some bull grunts and broke brush, etc. The only moose we saw was a cow and calf that came in for a drink in the afternoon. They walked to within about 40 to 50 yards of us and never knew we were there. I got some nice footage on the video camera but that was it for day one… pretty disappointing actually.
On our second day of moose hunting, Monday Oct.4th we decided to check out some different meadows.The first meadow we hunted there was a cow and calf in there. We did some calling but not much was happening. We went to 2 more meadows and a clearcut, did some more calling but once again, no response. For an evening hunt “jdr” suggested going into a meadow he had hiked into earlier, which was much more remote and we we’re pleasantly surprised by the sign. There was a good amount of moose sign, beds, tracks, trails, etc.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v231/eyebowhunt/scoutingtrip030.jpg
We decided to set up about 75 yards from the tree line where we still had some cover. I began cow calling with my home made cow call… which I think was “SIMPLY GREAT”.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v231/eyebowhunt/Copyofdcp_2136.jpg
Once the sun went down I gave a cow calling sequence and once again no response. We were getting frustrated that we hadn’t seen a bull and figured maybe they aren’t in rut yet. "Jdr" had an idea of doing a set of cow calling sequences in succession but only a couple of minutes apart from each other. After the third sequence, within seconds we could hear a bull grunting in the timber in front of us. He was grunting with every step and was coming in FAST and HARD! “Jdr” said “grab your rifle he’s coming in”.
The bull was off to my right and so was my Eberlestock pack. I dropped to my knees and swung my rifle over and set it on the pack. Through the scope I saw movement coming through the timber and the bull stopped behind a tree for a few seconds to check the meadow. I slowly released the safety and then the bull stepped out into the meadow. He was walking directly towards me and stopped about 75 yards away. I had the crosshairs lined up on his chest and I was afraid he would wind us and I squeezed off. I knew it was a good hit as the bull turned and was staggering away and then stopped broadside and I shot again taking out his lungs and he dropped right there at the edge of the meadow. I looked at “jdr” and after a hug and high fives we went over to where the moose dropped. We looked at the bull and were amazed at how big these animals are. We also couldn’t believe how fast everything happened and how well it came together. It was over in about 30 to 40 seconds from when we first heard the bull grunting to when I shot. We took a few pictures and it was getting dark so we got busy for the chore at hand. The bull was down at 6:30 pm and after a few trips to our atv’s and the pack out complete I climbed into my nice warm bed at 1:15 am. What a nice way to break in my new Tikka T-3 Laminate .300 Win. Mag. I had decided to take the first bull I saw… big or small. I must admit, we were both very happy to see it was a young bull.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v231/eyebowhunt/3RonMooseInMeadow4.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v231/eyebowhunt/5RonMooseInMeadow4.jpg