archerman
New member
My First Moose,The camp was really nice, nestled on a Lake full of trout……Way up north in BC, Canada….Carp Lake to be exact…
Terrain was Heavily wooded with thick blow downs from the Beatle infestation years b4….Travel was mostly by boat to different parts of the lake and then to treestands….
I was with two friends of mine……We shared two guides the first night hunt… Jerry was with one guide and Ramon and Me were with the other guide..Mike……
We ferried out in two boats to our hunting area. Our stand was just off a rocky shore about 20 or 30 Yards inland. The stand was big enough for three people and had a nice bench to sit on, but was not really good for bow shooting….I had brought my 30-06 Springfield bolt action Mauser w/ 2-7 power Redfield Scope along in addition to my bow. It was given to me by my uncle a long time ago but I never hunted with it b4. So I was happy to have a chance now. We climbed the ladder and entered the stand.
We had a view of a big open area that consisted of a Boggy field about 200 yds wide and 70 yards deep that stretched from below the stand to the edge of the woods, which was so thick that one could not see movement until the moose was right at the clearing. At around the 70 Yd distance directly in front of our stand was a tall lone pine tree. Ramon is a left handed shooter and took up a position to my right . He suggested that he would shoot any bull that was to the right of the tree and I would take any bull that showed up on the left. I agreed. Our guide , Mike was to Ramon's right.
We had gotten to the stand just around 3:30 PM…..About 1/2 to 1 Hour later, out steps a Cow moose from the deep woods to the right of the lone pine. Mike noticed she was a dry cow… she milled around the bog for a while eating and checking the wind. After a while she started to pay attention to the direction she came from, twitching her ears to the rear and front listening intently.
We watched her for just about 45 min as she headed toward the shore. She stopped in the middle of the bog and turned back towards the thick woods , stopping to urinate. Thats when Mike said to us "that's a good sign, she is in heat and marking the terrain". Finally she sauntered off back into the woods.
For the next two and a half hours Mike listened, cow called, and bull called while Ramon and I scoured the area for any sign of movement or sound. It was dead quiet. Daylight was fading fast and I thought this might turn out to be the only action we would see for the night. Then suddenly I thought I heard a twig break off in the distance. Mike whispered "shh... shh I hear something" Then he gave some bull calls. I looked up at the lone pine and standing just to the left of the tree was a bull staring right at us. Mike whispered "guns Up". I was sitting on the bench and used the horizontal railing to steady my shot. Ramon said he's on the left, it's your shot. Daylight had faded to dusk. The Moose was facing us at 70 yard and all I could see was the outline of his head and chest. I released the safety aimed and put the crosshairs in the center of his chest just below his huge nostrils.
With the sound of the recoil he quivered pivoted to my right exposing his broadside. I saw his back legs slump as he moved behind the lone pine. Ramon was ready to shoot if he came into view on the other side of the tree. He never appeared again but we heard a crashing sound and a gurgle that indicated it was a good hit. I turned to Mike and he said " I think he is down!!!". We waited 30 min., gathered up Jerry and his guide and called back to camp where Tim Dewitt asked us to wait till he got there before going after the Moose. Tim showed up about a half hour later.
Tim met us at the shore where we hauled out earlier to go to the tree stand. It was dark now. The only light was from the moon and our flashlights. The sky was beautiful and the moon reflected on the calm lake water. Me, Ramon, Mike, Tim and Jerry's guide Audey , headed thru the bog toward the lone pine. The bog was so soft and muddy that I kept sinking to my knees. The guides were more familiar with this area and were able to reach the spot where we last saw the moose. After a short time I heard them yell "He's Down". When I reached them I was in aw as to how Big the moose was, even though he was probably only 3 or 4 years old and not quite as big a a more mature Moose.
Bob
