SixPoint
Well-known member
Beautiful bull! Congratulations on punching your tag! Can't wait to see more pics and read the rest of the story. I look forward to following your Big Horn Sheep Hunt next fall! 
A Summer of Moose and Mosquitoes
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duckhunt
Well-known member
Congrats Randy. You earned it.
The pictures I promised of the amazing lion experience-
You'll take note of the boulder and log just in front of my glassing post here-
And here he is, in all his glory. Gotta be the most amazing five minutes of my life-
hardscrabble
Active member
Awesome! Congrats Randy & thanks for tagging us along!
Here's the view from the rock behind the lake. This is the spot both Ross and I were posting from throughout the week. There was a very good bull in this canyon, but he never wanted to give us a shot opportunity. I think we hiked in and out of this spot five times trying to locate him. After taking apart my bull, I'm not too sad about not killing this one. Would've been a hell of a pack out.
The amount of good moose habitat in this unit is amazing. Almost every creek bottom and meadow is full of willows, and every moose we saw was very near willows. We covered a ton of ground the last 10 days, usually hiking in from trailheads up canyons filled with willows, then climbing to the best high points we could find on the canyon walls. It's amazing how easy an animal the size of a moose can hide in willows and regrowth lodgepole.
The biologist counts an average of 20 moose a year in this unit on her aerial survey. In 12 days of hunting, we located 20 different moose, 11 of which were bulls. The hot cows we found had at least 2 bulls with them. While I wasn't too excited about killing an animal in such a struggling population, it made it much easier to once we saw how high the bull to cow ratio is.
A couple of the smaller bulls I passed on, including the one that charged Ross and I on Sunday-
A couple of the smaller bulls I passed on, including the one that charged Ross and I on Sunday-
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duckhunt
Well-known member
That cat is freaking awesome
While we had been consistently seeing moose, we had really only found the one bull behind the lake that was a mature bull. Our last ditch effort for that bull was Friday night, then if he wasn't located we would head into another area Saturday morning where theat had located some smaller bulls. Friday night was beautiful, but again the big bull didn't show. We threw in the towel on him taking a ride in the truck.
Saturday morning we hiked into the wilderness to the area where theat had located the bulls a day earlier. I had not yet decided how far I was willing to lower my standards, but I knew I most certainly wanted to kill a moose with all of my friends there, rather than later in the season and possibly while hunting solo.
It was one of the more enjoyable mornings I've had hunting, but the only moose that showed that morning was a young cow/calf.
This put all the pressure on Saturday night. Ross needed to fly out early Sunday, and if it was going to happen, it was going to happen that night. Our plan ended up being to split into three groups of two, with each group taking a glassing spot near a road. The three glassing spots had all yielded moose, and were all close enough to one road that if a non-tag holding group spotted a bull, they could come get the tag-holding group to try and plan a stalk. A bit Mossback-y, but we were getting desperate.
My group partner (Ross) was taken from me an hour before dark due to an elk that needed stalked, so I was left alone in my glassing spot.
With about a half hour of light left, I could hear Jeff's pickup headed my direction in a rather timely fashion. By the time he reached my location, I was ready to go and see if we could make it happen. Jeff let me know that the had a smaller bull located, and off we went.
Grant had stayed at their glassing point to baby-sit the moose while Jeff retrieved me, and still had them located when we returned. I had to cut the distance somewhat, and was able to find a boulder to set up on. As soon as I put the scope on the moose, I was blown away at what Jeff said was a small bull. Evidently this guy didn't show when they first located the moose.
I had very little light left, and the bull was dogging a cow and calf hard. He would give me a broadside shot, but it always seemed like one of the other moose was inline. It felt like forever, but with three minutes of shooting light left he finally stepped out and gave me a broadside shot at 190 yards. The first shot hit, and I was able to put a second shot while he was still standing. The second shot hit neck and he dropped in the spot.
Jeff and I headed down the hill fast to get on the bull before we lost light, and in the process had to 'chase' the other moose out of the area. It was an incredible animal to walk up to. Such a unique, giant animal. This bull was very similar in size to the bull that we had been chasing behind the lake.
It took a while, but we finally got all six of us to the kill site. The butchering went fast due to Gerald's skilled hands, and we had the final loads in the truck at 1 AM. It is mind blowing to me how much meat we were able to salvage off that carcass. The quarters were big, but the trim meat was just staggering. The neck alone yielded more meat that some deer I've killed.
I hope the other guys chime in with some of their pictures. This hunt was as much theirs as it was mine. They each put in a ton of work, and were absolutely invaluable in finding and taking care of this moose. I'm incredibly lucky to have such great friends, and I can't wait to return the favor.
Saturday morning we hiked into the wilderness to the area where theat had located the bulls a day earlier. I had not yet decided how far I was willing to lower my standards, but I knew I most certainly wanted to kill a moose with all of my friends there, rather than later in the season and possibly while hunting solo.
It was one of the more enjoyable mornings I've had hunting, but the only moose that showed that morning was a young cow/calf.
This put all the pressure on Saturday night. Ross needed to fly out early Sunday, and if it was going to happen, it was going to happen that night. Our plan ended up being to split into three groups of two, with each group taking a glassing spot near a road. The three glassing spots had all yielded moose, and were all close enough to one road that if a non-tag holding group spotted a bull, they could come get the tag-holding group to try and plan a stalk. A bit Mossback-y, but we were getting desperate.
My group partner (Ross) was taken from me an hour before dark due to an elk that needed stalked, so I was left alone in my glassing spot.
With about a half hour of light left, I could hear Jeff's pickup headed my direction in a rather timely fashion. By the time he reached my location, I was ready to go and see if we could make it happen. Jeff let me know that the had a smaller bull located, and off we went.
Grant had stayed at their glassing point to baby-sit the moose while Jeff retrieved me, and still had them located when we returned. I had to cut the distance somewhat, and was able to find a boulder to set up on. As soon as I put the scope on the moose, I was blown away at what Jeff said was a small bull. Evidently this guy didn't show when they first located the moose.
I had very little light left, and the bull was dogging a cow and calf hard. He would give me a broadside shot, but it always seemed like one of the other moose was inline. It felt like forever, but with three minutes of shooting light left he finally stepped out and gave me a broadside shot at 190 yards. The first shot hit, and I was able to put a second shot while he was still standing. The second shot hit neck and he dropped in the spot.
Jeff and I headed down the hill fast to get on the bull before we lost light, and in the process had to 'chase' the other moose out of the area. It was an incredible animal to walk up to. Such a unique, giant animal. This bull was very similar in size to the bull that we had been chasing behind the lake.
It took a while, but we finally got all six of us to the kill site. The butchering went fast due to Gerald's skilled hands, and we had the final loads in the truck at 1 AM. It is mind blowing to me how much meat we were able to salvage off that carcass. The quarters were big, but the trim meat was just staggering. The neck alone yielded more meat that some deer I've killed.
I hope the other guys chime in with some of their pictures. This hunt was as much theirs as it was mine. They each put in a ton of work, and were absolutely invaluable in finding and taking care of this moose. I'm incredibly lucky to have such great friends, and I can't wait to return the favor.
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backsmasher23
Member
Awesome story and pics so far! Assuming that there is more.
zadvorney
Member
A SLAMMIN STORY!!! You and your crew earned this one the hard way. Nice.
Hunting Wife
Well-known member
Congrats on a great animal! Nice to see all the camaraderie and teamwork. Thanks for sharing another hunt with all of us. I really enjoy reading these threads.
mdunc8
Well-known member
Congrats, Randy. Sounds and looks like an amazing experience
fishing4sanity
Well-known member
The moose was the obvious reward, but just being in that beautiful country with good friends had to be great. Just curious, I think everyone following along was completely confident you'd be getting a moose, were you just as sure? Congratulations on the whole adventure!
7mm08mo
Well-known member
Awsome bull, congrats. Has to be alot of fun to be in the mountains with so many good friends to share the experience with. Thanks for taking us along.
Bulldog0156
Well-known member
Thanks for taking us along Randy! Congrats on an awesome moose!
Muleyfanatic
Active member
Awesome Bull!
Great experiences with close friends make it even more special.
Great experiences with close friends make it even more special.
