Andreas
11-14-2011, 06:34 PM
So after 4 years of bad luck in getting the LEH draw we were finally successful! The anticipation was almost unbearable in the preparation of ensuring the rifles were sighted in properly, buying a few last minute items of gear, and packing. So incredibly excited and pumped we headed out to be ready for opening day in Region 5-01.
Day 1: My father and I headed out early opening morning to an area we had planned ahead of time to hunt first. No bulls, but we saw a nice large cow, mulie doe, and a black bear (boy was I regretting the decision to not buy a blackie tag). So we thought things were off to a good start. Saw nothing for the remainder of the day.
Day 2: Headed out before light to check out some areas we had seen moose in previous years. I found a good vantage point hidden in the tree line adjacent to an open marshy field that is surrounded by tall forest. I did my normal calling routine as the world began to wake. Nothing. I was just getting ready to call it quits and put on my pack when out of the corner of my eye I spotted movement. A really nice cow moose had decided to come and check things out. She stared at me for a while, then decided that I wasn't anything to worry about and walked a little further and began grazing. While grazing she kept looking back to where she had come from... so I'm thinking 'Perfect!' Ol' Bullwinkle is back there somewhere. I sat tight and she didn't seem to consider me a threat and continued grazing and eventually trotted off in the opposite direction she came from. I sat a while longer and gave a few calls but that was it. I went and checked out where she popped out of the thick stuff and found her tracks but they eventually petered out and I decided to head elsewhere, with the plan to return that evening or perhaps the next morning.
Day 3-5: It was beginning to get a little frustrating having seen absolutely nothing over the next three days. Not even relatively fresh sign anywhere. A few of the others in our hunting party spotted a few mulie does and one apparently beauty of a 4pt buck (but he of course got away). But we kept on persisting.
Day 6: Dad and I headed up to an area we had discovered a few days prior up at higher elevation. We stopped and hiked down to a beautiful lake... almost silently we crept closer to the lake as we heard 'splooshing' in the water at regular intervals and I swear it sounded like a large ungulate walking in the shallow water at the shoreline. We inched our way down to the lake only to find that it was tons of beautiful trout jumping and 'splooshing' in the early morning twilight. Mental note... we must come back here for some fishing next season. I set up behind some bushes and began my usual sequence of cow calls and bush thrashing. I did this for approximately an hour and a half when all of a sudden to my left I hear a very distinct bull grunt! I peer around the bushes I'm hiding behind and sure enough about 75 yards away is a beautiful bull facing straight at me! I continue to make cow calls in response to his grunts and he just follows 'em right towards me. Head slightly lowered, swaying his antlers back and forth. I work him in to what we paced out after to be just under 20 yards. My dad was just to my side near the edge of the brush we were hiding behind kneeling with his rifle at the ready. He figured it was close enough so he took a sidestep to his right to clear the brush and get a clear shot. I swear the bull's eyes almost bulged out of his head when he saw my dad step out. He then turned broadside and my dad let one fly! Perfect lung shot. Bullwinkle then decided to jump into the lake and try to swim for it! Dad fired once more and after a few seconds of thrashing in the lake it was all over. We both looked at each other eyes wide and mouths open, then a high five, a big man hug and it was grins all around! We tried to throw a loop over his antlers and pull him in but we just couldn't throw the line out far enough... it was becoming evident that one of us was going to have to go for a swim and get him. I lost the game of rock, paper, scissors... so there I was stripped down into a t-shirt and boxer shorts wading into the piercing cold water to pull out ol'Bullwinkle. I pulled him to shore dried off and put some dry clothes on... we took some photos and didn't waste any time in getting to work. While we were gutting and quartering him two cows showed up across the lake checking out what all the commotion was about. We recruited the help of our hunting party and four hours later the meat was hanging at camp and there was much rejoicing!
Here are the pics:
https://picasaweb.google.com/andreas.diana/MooseHuntOctober2011?authuser=0&feat=directlink (https://picasaweb.google.com/116605076584945338469/MooseHuntOctober2011)
https://picasaweb.google.com/116605076584945338469/MooseHuntOctober2011
I'm very proud of my old man for getting his first moose! (Next year it's my turn to shoot)
Cheers,
Andreas
Day 1: My father and I headed out early opening morning to an area we had planned ahead of time to hunt first. No bulls, but we saw a nice large cow, mulie doe, and a black bear (boy was I regretting the decision to not buy a blackie tag). So we thought things were off to a good start. Saw nothing for the remainder of the day.
Day 2: Headed out before light to check out some areas we had seen moose in previous years. I found a good vantage point hidden in the tree line adjacent to an open marshy field that is surrounded by tall forest. I did my normal calling routine as the world began to wake. Nothing. I was just getting ready to call it quits and put on my pack when out of the corner of my eye I spotted movement. A really nice cow moose had decided to come and check things out. She stared at me for a while, then decided that I wasn't anything to worry about and walked a little further and began grazing. While grazing she kept looking back to where she had come from... so I'm thinking 'Perfect!' Ol' Bullwinkle is back there somewhere. I sat tight and she didn't seem to consider me a threat and continued grazing and eventually trotted off in the opposite direction she came from. I sat a while longer and gave a few calls but that was it. I went and checked out where she popped out of the thick stuff and found her tracks but they eventually petered out and I decided to head elsewhere, with the plan to return that evening or perhaps the next morning.
Day 3-5: It was beginning to get a little frustrating having seen absolutely nothing over the next three days. Not even relatively fresh sign anywhere. A few of the others in our hunting party spotted a few mulie does and one apparently beauty of a 4pt buck (but he of course got away). But we kept on persisting.
Day 6: Dad and I headed up to an area we had discovered a few days prior up at higher elevation. We stopped and hiked down to a beautiful lake... almost silently we crept closer to the lake as we heard 'splooshing' in the water at regular intervals and I swear it sounded like a large ungulate walking in the shallow water at the shoreline. We inched our way down to the lake only to find that it was tons of beautiful trout jumping and 'splooshing' in the early morning twilight. Mental note... we must come back here for some fishing next season. I set up behind some bushes and began my usual sequence of cow calls and bush thrashing. I did this for approximately an hour and a half when all of a sudden to my left I hear a very distinct bull grunt! I peer around the bushes I'm hiding behind and sure enough about 75 yards away is a beautiful bull facing straight at me! I continue to make cow calls in response to his grunts and he just follows 'em right towards me. Head slightly lowered, swaying his antlers back and forth. I work him in to what we paced out after to be just under 20 yards. My dad was just to my side near the edge of the brush we were hiding behind kneeling with his rifle at the ready. He figured it was close enough so he took a sidestep to his right to clear the brush and get a clear shot. I swear the bull's eyes almost bulged out of his head when he saw my dad step out. He then turned broadside and my dad let one fly! Perfect lung shot. Bullwinkle then decided to jump into the lake and try to swim for it! Dad fired once more and after a few seconds of thrashing in the lake it was all over. We both looked at each other eyes wide and mouths open, then a high five, a big man hug and it was grins all around! We tried to throw a loop over his antlers and pull him in but we just couldn't throw the line out far enough... it was becoming evident that one of us was going to have to go for a swim and get him. I lost the game of rock, paper, scissors... so there I was stripped down into a t-shirt and boxer shorts wading into the piercing cold water to pull out ol'Bullwinkle. I pulled him to shore dried off and put some dry clothes on... we took some photos and didn't waste any time in getting to work. While we were gutting and quartering him two cows showed up across the lake checking out what all the commotion was about. We recruited the help of our hunting party and four hours later the meat was hanging at camp and there was much rejoicing!
Here are the pics:
https://picasaweb.google.com/andreas.diana/MooseHuntOctober2011?authuser=0&feat=directlink (https://picasaweb.google.com/116605076584945338469/MooseHuntOctober2011)
https://picasaweb.google.com/116605076584945338469/MooseHuntOctober2011
I'm very proud of my old man for getting his first moose! (Next year it's my turn to shoot)
Cheers,
Andreas