My #1 goal this season was my Alberta moose hunt. I had booked to for last year but because I didn't get a covid shot, I couldn't cross into Canada. My last two moose tags ended in tag soup. In 2020 I went on a moose/woodland caribou hunt in Newfoundland where we didn't see any caribou, and the three bull moose that I saw were wearing probably their first sent of antlers, so I passed. In 2021 I went on a moose/brown bear hunt in Alaska. I got my bear on the first day, and we didn't see any moose. On the previous hunt in that camp they only saw one bull moose, and they weren't sure if it was legal.
So last month I drove to Ft McMurray, Alberta where I met my guide, and we took ATV's into camp. I think that I was too early for the rut, and the brush was way thicker than I had expected. On the second day I took fall in the down timber and twisted my bum knee. That was 4 weeks ago, and I'm still limping on it. By the 4th day of the 7 day hunt I hadn't seen a moose, my walking ability wasn't what it should have been, and the memories of my previous years of moose tag soups, I didn't hesitate to pull the trigger on a 36" bull when he stepped into a clearing about 70 yards from me.
He wasn't as big as the two Montana Shiras moose that I shot here in Montana and have shoulder mounted in my Trophy Room, so I just mounted his antlers on a plaque which saved me a hefty taxidermy bill, but I brought 3/4 of his meat home which topped off all of the available space in my freezers.
So I acheived my goal of a Canadian moose, but with no empty freezer space, I'll probably just have tag soup with my Montana general elk and deer tags this year.