Sitkaspruce
10-16-2011, 10:49 AM
Well I have been off chasing critters for both myself, friends and clients since the 21st, finally got back last weekend and have found some time to do a little write up.
The client thing was a bust this year, very humbling (to me) not to have an animal down for the trip. Both guys have been with me before and one guy has hunted a total of three hours on his last two hunts before tagging out the the other a total of 4 hours before tagging out. Not this year, we fought wind, rain, snow and mud for 7 days to only see one good bull and one cow. Miserable weather and old men (72 and 82) are not a good combo, but we did have fun and catch up on past hunting trips.
After that trip, I headed east for our annual hunt. Arrived in camp to meet up with the rest of our group, had a quick BS and decided to head out for a quick scout with Happy. From last years trip we had narrowed a few areas down with lots of moose sign and a few small bulls. After a walk (long...as Happy had parked in the wrong place..) we finally got to the spot above a huge lick in the timber. It was 1830 when we finally set up. I let out a few soft cow calls and waited, nothing so a min later a little louder and longer sequence....nothing, so after 5 min I let out a few long bellows and moans and sit and wait. Then from far off comes the unmistakable sound of a bull grunt...and he is coming. I wait him out and as long as he keeps grunting, I am quite. After 10 min or so, he starts grunting softly, I let out a few soft moans and he picks right back up again. He is on a string and coming fast. Happy sets up so that he covers the area to our right and behind in case he circles around that way. I cover the left and down hill side of the area. After another 5 min, out pops his head and neck and he proceeds to thrash a willow 60 yards below me. A quick glimpse of his antlers when he stops thrashing shows me 3+ points on his brow, off goes the safety. When he walks out into the open shooting lane, I softly call and he stops and I proceed to shoot right over his back:confused:.....and quick reload and a second shot goes behind his shoulder, I can see the venting on both sides before he disappears. A minute later we can hear him cough a few times and then silence. We find him piled up about 30 yards away. A good start to our hunt. He made it both ways with 4 on each brow and 10 points, 41" wide.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/Sitkaspruce/Hunting11/PA010047.jpg
The next few days were spent hunting and chasing bulls, having a camp day (for me as I had been going strong since the 21st) and enjoying what life has to offer. The boys had called in a couple smaller bulls and were playing with a few others, including a huge bull they saw on the road that had other things on his mind as he ambled off into timber, never allowing a count of his tines or a shot.
The boys had found an area that we nicknamed the "Moose Motel" as there was at least 6 different cows in this small valley all calling and at least 8 different bulls moving back and forth in the valley. The first night they called in, but never saw 7-8 different bulls. It is very thick and most shots are under 20 yards, the reason the moose are in there. The next morning, New Jeff and myself went in to see what we could bring up. We set up and listened to 2-3 different cows and 3-4 different bulls calling and grunting 80-100 yards in front of us....it was neat to just sit and listen. I softly cow called and right away a bull came up the hill towards us. He circled around and came behind us....too small. There was a big bull down there, you could hear him grunt and trash bushes, but he would not come up, so we sat for 20 min and waited. Then I really started to bellow and moan and whine, that got him going and soon he was below us, new Jeff saw him walking away but could not get a good look at him. The bull was moving down and away from us, grunting and bellowing. I stopped cow calling and began grunting and bellowing back at him, that turned him and he began to come back....then went silent.
We waited 20-30 min and nothing, so I started hiking back up towards Jeff and the ridge when Jeff says he is right there...I look over and all I can see is a huge paddle and long points moving parallel to me up the hill. I grunt and he grunts back but will not stop, I grunt again and he turns to look at us. I quickly get the scope and him and can only see two long pints on his right brow and not enough of his paddle to count to 10, same for Jeff. Then the wind switches and like a ghost, he is gone. He was big, so we nicknamed him King Kong. It was great to experience that, especially with New Jeff as it was his first ever moose hunt and he was up close and personal with moose now....
That afternoon, we left the Motel alone and went to another place that held lots of tracks and good sign. We stopped the quads and had a BS and let the dog stretch her legs. New Jeff said to give a call, so I did and immediately we got a grunt and he was coming fast. I spotted him across the draw as he dropped down into the swamp below us. I called a couple more times and soon he popped up from below. A quick look, three on the brow, a good shot from Jeff and his 303 and the bull was down, his first ever moose hunt and his first moose, he was on cloud nine!!! Another good bull, three on the brow, 10 on one side and 42" wide.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/Sitkaspruce/Hunting11/PA050060.jpg
This bull was a fighter and a loser, he was bruised and had puncture wounds in his a$$ and leg.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/Sitkaspruce/Hunting11/PA050072.jpg
Sure glad we had this machine with us, makes it easy to pack a moose out.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/Sitkaspruce/Hunting11/IMG_5026.jpg
Cont.
The client thing was a bust this year, very humbling (to me) not to have an animal down for the trip. Both guys have been with me before and one guy has hunted a total of three hours on his last two hunts before tagging out the the other a total of 4 hours before tagging out. Not this year, we fought wind, rain, snow and mud for 7 days to only see one good bull and one cow. Miserable weather and old men (72 and 82) are not a good combo, but we did have fun and catch up on past hunting trips.
After that trip, I headed east for our annual hunt. Arrived in camp to meet up with the rest of our group, had a quick BS and decided to head out for a quick scout with Happy. From last years trip we had narrowed a few areas down with lots of moose sign and a few small bulls. After a walk (long...as Happy had parked in the wrong place..) we finally got to the spot above a huge lick in the timber. It was 1830 when we finally set up. I let out a few soft cow calls and waited, nothing so a min later a little louder and longer sequence....nothing, so after 5 min I let out a few long bellows and moans and sit and wait. Then from far off comes the unmistakable sound of a bull grunt...and he is coming. I wait him out and as long as he keeps grunting, I am quite. After 10 min or so, he starts grunting softly, I let out a few soft moans and he picks right back up again. He is on a string and coming fast. Happy sets up so that he covers the area to our right and behind in case he circles around that way. I cover the left and down hill side of the area. After another 5 min, out pops his head and neck and he proceeds to thrash a willow 60 yards below me. A quick glimpse of his antlers when he stops thrashing shows me 3+ points on his brow, off goes the safety. When he walks out into the open shooting lane, I softly call and he stops and I proceed to shoot right over his back:confused:.....and quick reload and a second shot goes behind his shoulder, I can see the venting on both sides before he disappears. A minute later we can hear him cough a few times and then silence. We find him piled up about 30 yards away. A good start to our hunt. He made it both ways with 4 on each brow and 10 points, 41" wide.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/Sitkaspruce/Hunting11/PA010047.jpg
The next few days were spent hunting and chasing bulls, having a camp day (for me as I had been going strong since the 21st) and enjoying what life has to offer. The boys had called in a couple smaller bulls and were playing with a few others, including a huge bull they saw on the road that had other things on his mind as he ambled off into timber, never allowing a count of his tines or a shot.
The boys had found an area that we nicknamed the "Moose Motel" as there was at least 6 different cows in this small valley all calling and at least 8 different bulls moving back and forth in the valley. The first night they called in, but never saw 7-8 different bulls. It is very thick and most shots are under 20 yards, the reason the moose are in there. The next morning, New Jeff and myself went in to see what we could bring up. We set up and listened to 2-3 different cows and 3-4 different bulls calling and grunting 80-100 yards in front of us....it was neat to just sit and listen. I softly cow called and right away a bull came up the hill towards us. He circled around and came behind us....too small. There was a big bull down there, you could hear him grunt and trash bushes, but he would not come up, so we sat for 20 min and waited. Then I really started to bellow and moan and whine, that got him going and soon he was below us, new Jeff saw him walking away but could not get a good look at him. The bull was moving down and away from us, grunting and bellowing. I stopped cow calling and began grunting and bellowing back at him, that turned him and he began to come back....then went silent.
We waited 20-30 min and nothing, so I started hiking back up towards Jeff and the ridge when Jeff says he is right there...I look over and all I can see is a huge paddle and long points moving parallel to me up the hill. I grunt and he grunts back but will not stop, I grunt again and he turns to look at us. I quickly get the scope and him and can only see two long pints on his right brow and not enough of his paddle to count to 10, same for Jeff. Then the wind switches and like a ghost, he is gone. He was big, so we nicknamed him King Kong. It was great to experience that, especially with New Jeff as it was his first ever moose hunt and he was up close and personal with moose now....
That afternoon, we left the Motel alone and went to another place that held lots of tracks and good sign. We stopped the quads and had a BS and let the dog stretch her legs. New Jeff said to give a call, so I did and immediately we got a grunt and he was coming fast. I spotted him across the draw as he dropped down into the swamp below us. I called a couple more times and soon he popped up from below. A quick look, three on the brow, a good shot from Jeff and his 303 and the bull was down, his first ever moose hunt and his first moose, he was on cloud nine!!! Another good bull, three on the brow, 10 on one side and 42" wide.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/Sitkaspruce/Hunting11/PA050060.jpg
This bull was a fighter and a loser, he was bruised and had puncture wounds in his a$$ and leg.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/Sitkaspruce/Hunting11/PA050072.jpg
Sure glad we had this machine with us, makes it easy to pack a moose out.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v489/Sitkaspruce/Hunting11/IMG_5026.jpg
Cont.