dime
11-24-2011, 06:20 PM
We had a very successful season for moose this year, 3 moose between three guys so I thought I would share the story. First off, we were lucky enough to get 2 LEH draws, first ones in 5 years of trying.
We headed up north in September for the opening day, hopeful that we can at least come home with one moose despite the fact that the rut was still a month away.
We get up to our area very late on Sept 8, set up our wall tents and hit the hay. The next morning we proceed to set up camp, cut firewood, hang tarps for the kitchen area and generally get prepared.
Sept 10 we are up an hour before dawn and ready to go. I head out to a spot where I have seen moose in years past and park my rig at the bottom of the Spur. As I hike in it is starting to get light and as I approach the slash I start to walk slowly and quietly in anticipation of the action to come. As it turns out I was not quiet enough as the moment I come around the last corner I hear a loud snort as the cow standing in the clearing senses me and warns the other animals in the area. I freeze, but it is too late, I am busted. Through my binoculars I can see two moose moving slowly towards the swamp at the bottom of the slash, and as I observe them I can see that the second one is a bull. I estimate the yardage to be over 400, too far for my weekend warrior shooting skills, bi-pod or not. I try to creep closer but to no avail, they are gone in a few minutes. As I hunt the area below hoping to catch a glimpse of the moose but never saw them again.
I continue to hunt out into the series of clear cuts and spot a couple of other moose across the clearing. The are a long ways away, too far to identify so I move into the timber so I can get closer without spooking them. When I get a little closer, I throw up my binoculars but am dissapointed to see they are both cows. Oh well, exciting start to the trip regardless.
It is getting close to lunchtime so I figure I will head back towards where my partners are hunting and start to hear a bunch of chatter on the radio. When I get closer I can hear them talking about an animal down, Wooo Hoooo! As it turns out my buddy (the one without an LEH draw) was walking down an FSR and came around the corner to see a spike fork in a small swamp, took one shot and we had our first moose- and still had two LEH draws! Sweet!
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/moose_2011-4.jpg
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/Moose_2011-3.jpg
We hunted for the rest of the week but did not connect with any more bulls so the next trip was planned for the first week in October.
to be continued........
We headed up north in September for the opening day, hopeful that we can at least come home with one moose despite the fact that the rut was still a month away.
We get up to our area very late on Sept 8, set up our wall tents and hit the hay. The next morning we proceed to set up camp, cut firewood, hang tarps for the kitchen area and generally get prepared.
Sept 10 we are up an hour before dawn and ready to go. I head out to a spot where I have seen moose in years past and park my rig at the bottom of the Spur. As I hike in it is starting to get light and as I approach the slash I start to walk slowly and quietly in anticipation of the action to come. As it turns out I was not quiet enough as the moment I come around the last corner I hear a loud snort as the cow standing in the clearing senses me and warns the other animals in the area. I freeze, but it is too late, I am busted. Through my binoculars I can see two moose moving slowly towards the swamp at the bottom of the slash, and as I observe them I can see that the second one is a bull. I estimate the yardage to be over 400, too far for my weekend warrior shooting skills, bi-pod or not. I try to creep closer but to no avail, they are gone in a few minutes. As I hunt the area below hoping to catch a glimpse of the moose but never saw them again.
I continue to hunt out into the series of clear cuts and spot a couple of other moose across the clearing. The are a long ways away, too far to identify so I move into the timber so I can get closer without spooking them. When I get a little closer, I throw up my binoculars but am dissapointed to see they are both cows. Oh well, exciting start to the trip regardless.
It is getting close to lunchtime so I figure I will head back towards where my partners are hunting and start to hear a bunch of chatter on the radio. When I get closer I can hear them talking about an animal down, Wooo Hoooo! As it turns out my buddy (the one without an LEH draw) was walking down an FSR and came around the corner to see a spike fork in a small swamp, took one shot and we had our first moose- and still had two LEH draws! Sweet!
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/moose_2011-4.jpg
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/Moose_2011-3.jpg
We hunted for the rest of the week but did not connect with any more bulls so the next trip was planned for the first week in October.
to be continued........