The cows eventually fed off and no bull came out. I slowly snuck up to where I could see all the terrain the cows had been in, ready to shoot.
No bull.
I headed back to the direction that I had last seen the bull. I figured he just continued to head away from the lake and was just going to be back in the alders a few hundred more yards from where I’d glassed him.
I made my way that direction. Seeing nothing, I let out a cow call. It was immediately answered by some glunking that only a bull moose makes.
I quickly cut the distance from where I thought the noise came from in half and sat down.
I called a few more times and hear a few more grunts. It started to rain. I put on rain gear. It quit raining. I ate some trail mix and cow called again. The bull moose is coming noise that a bull moose makes when he is coming your direction is unmistakable. That’s the noise I heard. From the alders came a bull, hidden behind a few closer alders. I could he was large, had multiple browtines and therefore must be the bull. He was moving very slow.
For about 20 minutes he stood beside a willow and occasionally raked it. An alder blocked my view.
Multiple times, I thought to myself that next time he rakes, I should jump up, conceal myself behind this little rise and run over there and shoot him from about 8 yards. I also thought, don’t be dumb, he’ll come out.
He eventually did just that. Very slowly he ambled out from behind what was concealing him. I double checked that it was indeed a good bull and likely “the bull”. As I put my scope on him I noticed a wound on his hind quarter and that he was limping.
When his front leg went forward, I shot him, then I shot him in the same spot again. He turned around and headed back toward the tree he had been raking. Knowing this was in a low spot that was likely full of water, I shot him again, then loaded the final round from my magazine and again shot him, this time in the neck (grandpa and my mom love that shot). He dropped dead.
I collected my things, walked up to him in a bit of disbelief and again very thankful he died on solid ground.
