Gastro Gnome - Eat Better Wherever

Moose

Ha, just realized I missed making a post. This is the bull I was looking for on opening day of rifle. Does not hurt to look at these, does not hurt to look at these, does not hurt to look at these, does not....

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Its funny that when you shoot as nice of bull as you did, we still had the 1/2 hour conversation afterwards over if it was the right choice, just because of that dude. He was impressive. Untouchable? possibly, but impressive.
 
Its funny that when you shoot as nice of bull as you did, we still had the 1/2 hour conversation afterwards over if it was the right choice, just because of that dude. He was impressive. Untouchable? possibly, but impressive.
I’ve never hunted moose, and unfortunately probably never will. However, in my professional opinion, I think 50 yards from a road counts for a lot.

@Oak thanks for sharing a great hunt and a great bull.
 
Epilogue:
Colorado allows you to hunt with all three weapons for bull moose: ML, archery, and rifle. I hunted all 9 days of ML season and killed on the first day of rifle.

About halfway through the ML season I told Dink that I can't believe people wait their whole lives to do this. I was not embracing the suck. Don't expect to see a ton of animals on a moose hunt. We saw 9 bulls, 2 cows, and 2 calves in 9 days of ML, and 2 bulls in 30 minutes of rifle.

Some of the obviously bigger bulls I posted were prior to the beginning of the season or on private land. The giant with 4 brows on each side that I posted was killed on private during the ML/archery season. I was looking for a different bull opening day of rifle, but knew about the one I shot and was not going to pass him up if I found him.

Big moose are really, really big. Have a solid game plan for moving it before you pull the trigger. I shudder to think of some of the places we hunted during ML season. I was super fortunate that my bull fell about 50 yards from a road. We packed out whole quarters. I called the meat locker on my way there and told them I was coming with moose quarters and all the trim. Told them I had probably 500 pounds. He replied, "you packed it out, so you think it's more than it is. For a Colorado moose you probably have 325-375 lb." When he pulled the first two quarters out of my truck he said, "this is the biggest moose I've ever seen. You told me you had 500 lbs and you just might be close." The 4 quarters weighed 319 lbs and the other meat sacks totaled 177 lbs for 496 total.

It ended up being a super fun hunt. Not sure how I would have felt if I had made it about halfway through rifle season. ;) And I'm not sure I'm going to continue to let my bank account take the abuse from WY every year, even with 20 points. Apply with care. Consider access, public recreation in the area, the time you have to apply yourself to the hunt, and be reasonable with your expectations.
Congrats on your bull!! Up here a 325-375 moose is a spiker or a small two year old bull
 
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Congratulations on a fantastic hunt and a beautiful bull! Awesome photos!
 
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Your first photos above treeline made me think you’d lost your (Colorado) marbles looking for moose up that high.

It’s always a good time when you and Dinkshooter get afield together. Congratulations on the fine adventure.
 
Good work Oak!!!
You definitely set a great example for the young guns.
Us older guys just nod our head.🤣
Big congrats.
 
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