Photobucket links are broken now, oh well - not spending a ton of money to update those.
On to the exciting part though - it's been a long season. I have to say, my plan on applying to a Moose District so I can learn the country really paid off. I was able to cover most of the unit - both driving and on foot - to really learn it well. This unit isn't much for elk hunting - even though folks I ran into were super excited to hunt for elk. In the weeks I hunted for moose, I only spotted 3 cow elk one day - and a small 5 point bull on another. In total I spent 21 days in the unit looking for a Bull moose worthy of the tag. Needless to say, the Elk hunters I saw have no worries about me encroaching on their "Elk Spot".
We found moose again on Saturday (11/11, coincidentally my fathers birthday). My brother spotted the bull(s) at about 11 AM on Saturday. We were a couple miles away, but the moose were still feeding and we were able to get some good looks through the spotter that 1 of the bulls was good to for a closer inspection. There are many old, closed cat roads in the district - and one of them would take us above the moose if we could get there undetected. The quickest route was to leave the truck parked and bail off a ridge, dropping about 1K feet (more on that later) and hitting one of the roads.
We then contoured for about 2 miles, taking a upper branch of the road that put us on the path of being above the moose.
We got to a small point just above the moose and 2 of them were still bedded. I first thought I might be in for a quick shot as I peaked over the edge - but they were unaware of our presence and the wind was in our favor. We took the opportunity to really glass all three bulls - and the choice was clear which one to take. I took another minute or so really going over the biggest bull. He looked good to me - the only hesitation was on the distance to the truck.
I asked my brother if he was OK with this pack-out - and his reply was "We might only get to do this once". Decision made, it was time to make it happen. Since the target bull was bedded - I didn't have a clear shot at his vitals. They were only about 75 yards down the hill, but it was steep (32 degrees based on the rangefinder after the shot). I backed up off the edge to stand up straight and slowly worked back out to the edge without crouching. There was too much brush in the way (more on that later) to get a clean shot from a kneeling, sitting or prone position. Off-hand it would have to be.
I slowly crept to the edge, expecting the bulls to jump from their beds and needing a quick shot. I reached the edge - but the bulls kept sleeping. My brother motioned to throw a rock - away from the moose but to make some noise to get their attention. First rock exhibited no response from the moose. Second rock, I noticed a ear flicker on one of them. Third rock, this time a much bigger rock - and they began looking in the direction of the sound at least.
Fourth rock- this time a 30 pounder or so rolling down the slope got the target bull onto his feet. He was looking in the direction of the sound - completely broadside to me. A quick confirmation of his size and then I settled in for the shot behind the shoulder. I squeezed off the shot and it felt solid. I knew he was hit fatally - and from the thread above I was using the 250 gr Accubonds. I could tell he was wobbly in the legs, but I put another round into the No 1 just in case.
He tried to take a step, but fell instead rolling down the slope. The other bulls stood for a count of 30 or so, then moved off at their own gait and were out of sight shortly.
I waited for a couple of minutes to make sure my bull wasn't going anywhere. Satisfied he was done, we made our way down the slope.
In the back of my mind was this picture. It might seem a bit weird - but this rifle and this hunt help illustrate the impact my father had on his boys. He wasn't able to make this trip due to a stroke 15 months ago. I chose this rifle not because of the caliber - but because it was a project that I had with him that at one point I never thought we would complete. It shot like he$$ when I bought it 8 years ago, but I just loved how it handled. I couldn't let go of that gun. My Dad and I always talked about making it into a shooter - and he had begun work on it before the stroke.
After the stroke, the gun wasn't finished. He worried about it when he was in ICU. I told him we would finish it soon, fully knowing that it might never happen.
Thankfully, his recovery has been a miracle. Last Christmas I setup a chair in his garage and he was the brains. I was the hands. We finished the gun together - and now it is a shooter.
Here is the proof.
