Darksith
11-06-2010, 01:03 PM
Got my first moose in Reg 3 2 weeks ago. Heres the story:
An old italian guy at work asked me if I hunted, I said yeah all the time. He said he hunted too, but not really in this area and hasn't hunted for a long time. I told him I'd take him out moose hunting, but Ive never really seen many moose around, so I figured I was just being nice. So we agree to go hunting and I say I'll load the quad in my truck just in case, and that I always get my deer when I have the quad with me so its my lucky charm. Anyway I take the old feller out with me to a spot that Ive never seen moose, but is very moosey and we are parked in the dark waiting for light. He decides to go for a walk down a road and we agree to meet back at the truck in a couple hours. Light breaks and I see a cow calf in the swamp. I let out a few bull calls and they stop and listen. Then they slowly move off, and I return to the truck. Im glassing the valley and I see a heard of 9 moose about 2km away, and I figure I know a road that will take us closer to them so Im sitting on my quad in the back of the truck watching these moose. They are too far away to tell what they are, but I know there will be some small bulls sniffing around those cows, and probably a big bull in there as well. All of a sudden I catch some movement in the trees across the valley, but I lose sight of it instantly. Then I pick it up again, yup its a moose about 800 yards away. I think its got horns...I think its a forker! I jump off the back of the truck, grab my gun, load it up and I am super excited, but still not 100% that its a legal forker. I start to close the distance slowly and let out a grunt every now and then. The moose slowly walks right towards me, hes getting closer and closer, but is still out of range. Then I hear my partner whistle, he has returned to the truck to see both doors open and he thinks Im sitting in the truck with a moose across the way, so I whistle back to let him know Ive spotted it and am stalking. The moose keeps coming and now Im sure its legal, but its still 600yards out. It gets to the top of the ravine that seperates us and I put it at 500 yards out, standing broadside. My mind starts to race...its coming right for me, but is it a coincidence or is it b/c of my calls. Will I see it if I let it get down into the creek. Im prone with a good rest, but Ive also taken a shot like this last year and had an injured moose get away on me. I decide that I might not get another chance so I slowly pull the trigger and a shot rings out. The moose jumps and takes 3 steps and puts its head down like its going to feed. Damn I missed I think, then the moose lies down! Yes I hit it. I keep watching him, and he never puts his head down, so now Im thinking...crap. I holler at my buddy whos packin a 300 win mag, to come down to me so I have a backup shooter in case the bull gets up. He comes up to me and we start to discuss what to do when the bull stands up. "Crap" I say and run back to my stump that offered a perfect rest. I lay down, take aim at another perfect broadside shot and slowly squeeze off another round. Thump, my bull drops dead, a perfect shot. My buddy tells me Im shooting a mile, I laugh and say nah, thats around 500 yards, still an amazing shot, but I put around 200 holes in pieces of paper every year, so I know my gun, and I know my skills. This all happened by 9am, it took us until 4pm to get the bull in the back of the truck. We had to cross a creek and break our own trail for the quad. What a day.
http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i472/GNalleweg/truck003.jpg
http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i472/GNalleweg/truck007.jpg
An old italian guy at work asked me if I hunted, I said yeah all the time. He said he hunted too, but not really in this area and hasn't hunted for a long time. I told him I'd take him out moose hunting, but Ive never really seen many moose around, so I figured I was just being nice. So we agree to go hunting and I say I'll load the quad in my truck just in case, and that I always get my deer when I have the quad with me so its my lucky charm. Anyway I take the old feller out with me to a spot that Ive never seen moose, but is very moosey and we are parked in the dark waiting for light. He decides to go for a walk down a road and we agree to meet back at the truck in a couple hours. Light breaks and I see a cow calf in the swamp. I let out a few bull calls and they stop and listen. Then they slowly move off, and I return to the truck. Im glassing the valley and I see a heard of 9 moose about 2km away, and I figure I know a road that will take us closer to them so Im sitting on my quad in the back of the truck watching these moose. They are too far away to tell what they are, but I know there will be some small bulls sniffing around those cows, and probably a big bull in there as well. All of a sudden I catch some movement in the trees across the valley, but I lose sight of it instantly. Then I pick it up again, yup its a moose about 800 yards away. I think its got horns...I think its a forker! I jump off the back of the truck, grab my gun, load it up and I am super excited, but still not 100% that its a legal forker. I start to close the distance slowly and let out a grunt every now and then. The moose slowly walks right towards me, hes getting closer and closer, but is still out of range. Then I hear my partner whistle, he has returned to the truck to see both doors open and he thinks Im sitting in the truck with a moose across the way, so I whistle back to let him know Ive spotted it and am stalking. The moose keeps coming and now Im sure its legal, but its still 600yards out. It gets to the top of the ravine that seperates us and I put it at 500 yards out, standing broadside. My mind starts to race...its coming right for me, but is it a coincidence or is it b/c of my calls. Will I see it if I let it get down into the creek. Im prone with a good rest, but Ive also taken a shot like this last year and had an injured moose get away on me. I decide that I might not get another chance so I slowly pull the trigger and a shot rings out. The moose jumps and takes 3 steps and puts its head down like its going to feed. Damn I missed I think, then the moose lies down! Yes I hit it. I keep watching him, and he never puts his head down, so now Im thinking...crap. I holler at my buddy whos packin a 300 win mag, to come down to me so I have a backup shooter in case the bull gets up. He comes up to me and we start to discuss what to do when the bull stands up. "Crap" I say and run back to my stump that offered a perfect rest. I lay down, take aim at another perfect broadside shot and slowly squeeze off another round. Thump, my bull drops dead, a perfect shot. My buddy tells me Im shooting a mile, I laugh and say nah, thats around 500 yards, still an amazing shot, but I put around 200 holes in pieces of paper every year, so I know my gun, and I know my skills. This all happened by 9am, it took us until 4pm to get the bull in the back of the truck. We had to cross a creek and break our own trail for the quad. What a day.
http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i472/GNalleweg/truck003.jpg
http://i1095.photobucket.com/albums/i472/GNalleweg/truck007.jpg