Drew bull moose Idaho! 69-2

[LopeHunter]

Will be my first moose hunt. Need to drive over from WA on some scouting trips. Should be a fantastic adventure. Harvest is near 100% so even a blind squirrel like me might find a nut as a rookie moose chaser!

 

[the nikster]

Congratulations! Hope you get on to a nice one.

 

[Oldgoat31]

Congratulations! I'll be just south of you in unit 77. Maybe we can compare scouting notes.

 

[sneakypete]

Congrats, you'll get hooked hunting those beasts! Bring friends with Strong backs or horses or both !

 

[BeartoothFront]

Congrats on the tag! Never been in that unit but have seen lots of moose just over the mtns on the South Fork. You might have to change your name to MooseHunter for the next year...

 

[LopeHunter]

Congrats on the tag! Never been in that unit but have seen lots of moose just over the mtns on the South Fork. You might have to change your name to MooseHunter for the next year...

Nah, enjoy chasing pronghorn too much. Plus, can only be one Moosie around here!

 

[BeartoothFront]

Nah, enjoy chasing pronghorn too much. Plus, can only be one Moosie around here!

Touche. I forgot about him. My apologies Moosie.

 

[Firedude]

Lopehunter. I live in Idaho Falls. The area you drew is where I trap and coyote hunt all winter long. I don't know the whole area really well but the west border I know pretty well. Start asking some of the farmers for permission now. I've seen some BIG bulls on farm ground by hay stacks in October/November. Kepps crossing is a Good road to drive on and scout. It's off of Bone road. Follow Sunnyside road out of Idaho Falls it will hit bone road. Then turn north and it's up about a mile-ish. Kepps runs out through the south end of your unit. I trap a property on the other side of bone road and have seen more than one monster there. Stands to reason that they would be on your side. One of the biggest moose I've ever seen was about 200 yards outside of your unit. He would have scored in the 180s. The genetics are good for having antler in all the right places. I'll try to get some scouting for you one my fur scouting trips. If I see moose I'll be sure to note size and where I see them and get back with you.

 

[Firedude]

Sorry just took a closer look. Kepps is about halfway north and south in your unit not in the south of it.

 

[greatwhitebuffalo]

How long did it take to draw?

 

[LopeHunter]

Idaho does not have a point system. I have been applying in ID since a mid-1990s. First year, I applied for elk/deer/pronghorn and got nothing. Next year applied for sheep. Next year applied for goat. Then sheep for several years. Drew goat in Alaska and then Colorado so changed my strategy in Idaho. I have alternated moose in even years and sheep in odd years in Idaho for past 6 years. This moose tag is my first tag drawn in Idaho. So, was my 5th or 6th time applying for moose in Idaho.

 

[LopeHunter]

Has been about 100 days since drew the tag. The 15 day forecast now includes the first day I will wake up in 69-2! Finally feels real. Forecast is for sunny and 70F with low of 40F. I hope gets cloudy and cooler so the bulls stay in view longer each day. Zero days scouting but if I do not find a nice bull this trip then will return in early November.

The season has been open 13 days and there are 15 bull tags so I am hoping the crowd will be thinned during the next couple of weeks since the fire damage may result in the moose hunters being in fewer spots. Fire damage, you say? A 50,000 acre fire in late August burned brush and grass in the unit including about 2/3 of Tex Creek WMA which is where about 50 moose winter normally plus lots of elk and deer. Might be some rain this week and that will help green things up a tad bit.

Plan to camp in my backpacker tent next to the SUV. Made and froze several meals this summer that I can heat up on the camp stove. Breakfast is juice and granola bar. I eat sandwiches, chips and grapes for lunch. Seems most moose hunters stay near roads so I may do some hikes if get some hot leads on a bull.

Head to Austin, TX, this week and Atlanta next week so that will help me pass the days a bit. Once back from Atlanta, I will drive over to Idaho from Portland. Gear is set aside and ready to load in the SUV. Fifteen days!

 

[Joe Hulburt]

I share your excitement! I'll be in my unit hunting is 17 days.

 

[brownbear932008]

Good luck sounds like the fire may make things interesting. Hope you smoke a monster look forward to the story.

 

[LopeHunter]

I am stuck in Atlanta on a flight delay as try to stay on schedule to drive over to ID tomorrow. 100% chance of rain tomorrow and the unit has some clay roads so might be too slick to drive during the rains. The 50,000 acres burning and now the slick clay roads are just small hurdles. I am thrilled the months have flown by and soon will be amongst the moose with a tag in my hip pocket! Temperatures are cooler the past few days and might even get a bit of snow in spots. I hear that even old guys with old eyes can notice a bull moose walking in snow. Pictures will follow.

If get skunked the next few days then will return in early November when a few more bulls tend to migrate into the unit.

 

[MT_elk]

Congrats on the tag. Best of luck to you! Go get em!

 

[mtmander]

good luck

 

[7mm08mo]

Good luck!!!

 

[HowaHunter]

Did you find a Moose Lopehunter? I am deer hunting in your unit and spotted 5 moose yesterday- 1 okay bull.

 

[LopeHunter]

Did you find a Moose Lopehunter? I am deer hunting in your unit and spotted 5 moose yesterday- 1 okay bull.

Can you PM me the location(s) and time of day?

I hunted two days last month but due to wet road conditions was more of a scouting trip. I want to return though realize should not do this solo after helping a man briefly after his wife got a nice moose down on the ground. Alas, my friends are all working, tax-paying blokes so trying to align brief windows of time where they can go along on the adventure is a bit maddening.

I was daydreaming back in the NW today.....has been a busy week.


“Call me Ishmael. Some years ago--never mind how long precisely--having little or no money in my purse, and nothing particular to interest me on shore, I thought I would sail about a little and see the watery part of the world.” – Ishmael, Moby Dick by Melville

I am evolving from Ishmael to Ahab. My white whale is a 40” bull moose. My ocean is Tex Creek in Idaho. My boat is an SUV. My harpoon is a .338 Win Mag.

My journey is one of complications and twists.

I headed over for a week during the rut. The torrents of rain and a dash of snow made the roads slick and rutted. I had an SUV. An ATV would have worked better for the wet conditions and also to cover more area faster on the two track roads and pinch points on those roads.



After two days at Tex Creek, I set a course for western Wyoming where I held a Wyoming pronghorn buck hunt. This was an easy hunt as got my 8th buck in the past few years.



I planned to return to Tex Creek as the roads would be much drier. I finally got back on the grid where had phone and internet service for the first time in over a day. Rain was now in the forecast at Tex Creek. I diverted to home. The moose would torment me as nightly dreams had me chasing the bull through aspens and creeks, always just a few steps too far back to shoot. Only catching glimpses of the magnificent, regal bull.

I will return. Twelve hours there. Twelve hours back. Rain is in the forecast for next weekend. And the next. The odds for rain rise and fall. Such is the life of a remote hunter.

The season closes the day prior to Thanksgiving.

Ideally, I need a buddy or two along to help once the animal is down. One buddy who had harvested a moose in Idaho years before was between jobs so looked promising he would be able to join me on this adventure. He found a job right away. Good for him, He is a great guy. My brother wants to fly out. His wife’s aunt passed away and a memorial service is planned. My friends work and have family obligations so is one thing to get them to take a weekend to go turkey hunt but another to spend several days on a moose hunt. A moose must be checked in with F&G but the offices are closed on weekends so will need to hang around until Monday if get one on the weekend. This will be a 4 or 5 day adventure, as a result with some days of work missed.

I looked into a guide, mostly to help with getting the animal broken down so could quickly cool and then to pack to the nearest two track road. No moose guides active in the unit. No packers active in the unit.

I could ignore the rain forecast. ATV rentals are available but my SUV rental lacks a tow hitch to pull a trailer. I am unable to find a rental 4WD truck.

And yet, I sit here at my desk and know moose at Tex Creek are slowly passing through the sea of aspens diving out of sight on sunny afternoon then emerging once again. I will not let this drive me mad. Not the rain. Not the buddies blessed with work and family obligations. Not the long drive solo. Not the morning fog.

Now HowaHunter reports 5 moose spotted in one day. Another hunter sent me pictures of two mature bulls from last week. Moose ahay, by gosh, moose ahoy!

Rain. Bulls. Solo. I hear the call of the wild and is everything I can do to not start driving tonight. Alas, I am older and wiser so will try to ignore the call.

"Aye, aye! and I’ll chase him round Good Hope, and round the Horn, and round the Norway Maelstrom, and round perdition’s flames before I give him up. And this is what ye have shipped for, men! to chase that white whale on both sides of land, and over all sides of earth, till he spouts black blood and rolls fin out. What say ye, men, will ye splice hands on it, now? I think ye do look brave." – Ahab, Moby Dick by Melville