My 2019 Maine moose hunt

[targetpanic]

I was fortunate to get drawn for a Maine moose tag after 17 years in the lottery. My tag was a Bull tag, Zone , Oct 14-19.
When I drew my NH moose tag in 2014 I kept a running thread going on another forum from the scouting thru the freezer. I was tempted to do the same thing this year as people seemed to enjoy it and I got a lot of great bits of advice from the members along the way. THere were 175 permits being given out for my Zone and this is the world wide web, so I decided it was better just to do a recap thread after the hunt was over.
WARNING this is going to be a long thread with lots of pics along the way. Instead of typing out a lot of dialogue, I will just copy and paste my scouting notes to these posts for the most part. Feel free to ask questions along the way, and I will do my best to answer them.

 

[targetpanic]

I really drew!!! Unbelievable!!! I had a good feeling going into this years drawing...I lost most of hunting season last year due to rotator cuff surgery...I was hoping there was some kind of good karma coming after that. I was right. A friend of mine was at the drawing at Cabelas in Scarborough ME and txt me that he was almost positive he just heard my name get drawn. We waited around very impatiently for4 the results to get posted to the website. Once they were up, it all became a reality. I had been drawn for my 1st choice zone.

 

[targetpanic]

Moose are one of the few draw species we have in New England. It took 17 years to draw a moose tag and many people have been waiting even longer. I planned on scouting in Maine every weekend that I could. I wanted to do this hunt justice.
My Wife and puppy came up for the first scouting trip. We have deer hunted a little in this area and we had a cow tag here in 2012 so I was familiar with the area and the roads.

Trip 1 – Jun 28, 29, 30 – Shawn and Wendy
Friday PM – No moose seen

1 New Spot – Left immediately after the bridge before the lunch gravel pit approx. mile x (OnX calls it xxx Rd, we will call it Don’s Spot) – Nice cut on top of hill and nice cuts across the ravine not on the satellite maps. Tough access to be determined. Awesome glassing area.
2 Drove all roads off xxx Rd – really grown up in there – the cut that Junior and Don shot the cow in 2012 still looked OK – will revisit at a later date

Saturday – 3 Moose seen
1 pond rd. - Saw a cow ~1 mile in but very thick in there. Lots of moose rubs along road towards the pond parking spot, looks good in the strips there. Hung a camera up the main skid rd up towards the tree line from park spot. Hung a camera off skid rd at the end beyond park spot. Saw a cow moose come out of the strips on the way out.
2 Moose Highway (approx. mile x on left?) Nice looking spot, lots of tracks in the road beyond the brook. Hung camera. Timbers have been delivered to repair bridge on the way in.
3 Left after mile looked OK, some sprayed cuts, some older cuts, one new cut at the very end of the rd. Through the woods not too far to Moose Highway
4 Wxxx – Road to right not on map, looks OK, rest of the road was old cuts. Revisit time permitting
5 Lxxx Rd – mostly old cuts – Revisit time permitting
6 H Rd/ P Pond – Nice cuts but they all appear to be sprayed – Windmill test site at the end of the road – Will revisit
7 MO Rd ) – They are working at the end of the rd. Saw a small bull 2/3 of the way around. A couple good cuts on rd and at end of rd. Will revisit.
8 Left Rd Deer hunted to this rd in 2012. Bridge out but track in rd. Call Bridge out Rd.

Sunday – 2 moose seen
1 Don’s Spot – Glassed a cow in top cut across ravine. Saw a cow at end of spur on Don’s Spot Rd.

This is a pic of the view from Don's spot

 

[targetpanic]

I spend quite a bit of time on this forum. A lot of the techniques I see here and on Randy's videos with spot and stalk and glassing don't really apply to most of New England, but glassing can be effective in this area. After the first trip I realized I could glass from quite a few different spots and look at good looking cuts from a distance. I have good binoculars and a cheap spotting scope, so the spotting scope/tripod started coming up with me.

Trip 2 – July 13, 14 – Shawn and Don

Saturday mid-morning/PM – 1 moose seen
1 Showed Don the Don’s Spot area
2 Trail cam check (2) Dxx. Moved cam on hill to the skid road to the left from parking spot. Hung new cam on Game trail in the strips near the end of Dxx
3 Pxxx – looked meh
4 Gravel Pit rd – Cuts at end of rd but very rocky/bony
5a Cxx – walked to cuts along grassy rd across the washout, grown up a little too much
5b Cxx – Tried to access high cuts across the ravine from Don’s Spot – Skid roads are all deep slash, no good. Hung cam down low on the way out.
6 – Bridge out rd – Saw a spike on right near beginning of rd
7 – Drove both forks of rd on left at Mile x. Nothing special. Road to left became improved/new once in there a long ways

Sunday AM – 1 Moose seen
1 Covered a lot of country off Kxxx rd. gate locked, saw a small cow near beginning of rd. More deer tracks than moose sign in this area.
Trail cams had a couple small bulls and some cows at Moose Highway and end of Dxx park spot

 

[targetpanic]

Trip 3 – Aug 3, 4 – Shawn Junior

Saturday mid-morning/PM – 2 moose seen
1 Don’s Spot – walked across cut to flat spot to cross ravine (long walk but definitely doable), other side of ravine above the top cut has lots of game trails. Cuts across the ravine were all nipped but could use 1 more year of growth. Rough spot to get a moose but still feasible. Need to check the cut area above Don’s Spot
2 Cxx – pulled the cam out of the slash trail there was cow and cow/calf pics.
3 Dxx – saw cow in the strips near Game Trail Cam, checked Hill cam, checked end of rd cam (saw a cow 80-100yds below cam while switching the cards) and Game Trail Cam. 4-5 Different bulls (2-3 real good ones), quite a few cows on cam in these areas definitely keep learning this area. Need to check the cuts off the upper rd, check the area that bends left (NW) around the hill at end of parking spot, check the Winter Rd near the split of parking spot rd and upper rd, check 4 bull cut/Game Trail Cam strip area.
4 Moose Highway – Lots of tracks in rd. Bear messed w cam. Quite a few cow pics, ONE BIG BULL pic. Almost entirely night pictures. Keep checking this area, especially the game trail in front of the camera.
5 Drove way the hell out didn’t find anything of note. They are working out there on Right hand side near triangle.

Sunday – No moose seen
1 Don’s Spot – wanted to glass but some ASSHOLE was parked in the middle of the Cxx Rd
2 Left after Mile xx – still looks OK, cut at very end seems too new. Trying to figure out how this connects to Moose Highway
3 Pxx Rd – tried to find cuts that we couldn’t locate off the Rd. Probably done on this rd now
4 Rd on left after gravel pit – cuts at the end but they are too new, razed to dirt. Probably done on this rd now.
Notes: Keep learning Dxxx area, Check Sxxxarea again…these 2 definitely connect. Next time check Hxxx and the MO rd again. Check the roads off Dxxx rd more carefully especially the winter rd near the split. Check Wxxx Rd again.

Here are some trail cam pics from the trip

 

[targetpanic]

and a few more. It was a good weekend of finding spots/eliminating roads that didn't look good and we had a lot of different bulls on cams.

 

[targetpanic]

I took the next trip up by myself. It made for a long weekend in the truck with nobody to talk to...except myself...have you ever gotten into an argument with yourself and LOST... by this point I was getting a good feel for areas we would concentrate on...but at the same time there was still a TON of country left that I wanted to explore.
Trip 4 – Sept 7, 8 – Shawn

Saturday mid morning/PM – No moose seen
1 Dxxx – Checked cam at end of road and walked on game trail that bends NW around the hill…seems to peter out and is just more strips going up the hill. One shooter bull on cam. Checked trail cam on skid road going up the hill. Some activity, small bulls, bear, doe, fawn. Checked the Game trail cam, far less pics than before. Followed game trail for ½ mile ended up in what might be the remnants of 4 bull cut. Nice quiet walking on game trail. Need to check upper rd cut and winter rd at split still.
2 Don’s spot – Walked out to upper cut across valley and hung a trail cam, still decent sign across valley. Checked the cut above Don’s spot – some sign. Marked a big rock to sit on for a stand mostly for east wind.
3 Moose Highway – Big bull track in rd walking in. The big bull showed us a pic of just his paddle again. I walked the game trail in front of the camera. It peters out pretty quick. This will be a good calling spot with any W wind. Camera didn’t have a lot of pics, but it was aimed too high I think. Will walk to cut SW around moose hwy hill. Excavator has crossed the bridge and opened the road that goes uphill from parking spot. Not sure when they will be cutting in there. Check it out next scouting trip.
4 Wxxx Rd – this road looks better than I remember. There are a few cuts driving on the road and a decent glassing spot at the end of the road. Best area is the road that is not on maps. 1st right on way in. Some tracks and lots of browse, newer cut beyond end of rd where they pulled a bridge. Can glass all these cuts from the start of Hxxx rd. Found bear bait along brook where they pulled the bridge. Good sitting/calling spot.
5 Sxxx rd – Found hookings on the upper road of the split to bog. Plenty of tracks on all the roads but it is super thick/grown up. Only real option is the cut where Junior/Don shot the cow in 2012.

Sunday – 8 moose seen
Saw cow on main rd driving in
Don’s spot – glassed early – Saw 4 moose (1 likely a bull) in the far right side of the cut off of Bridge Out Rd. Saw 2 moose (one BIG cow and the other could have been a very small bull or smaller cow) in top cut across valley. Saw 1 cow on the lower spur rd of Don’s spot.
Hxxx Rd – Upper spur looks pretty good. The main rd has plenty of tracks, but a lot of the cuts are mostly spruce/sprayed. Found glassing spot to Wxxx Rd cuts at the start of Hxxx. Glass from here on the next scouting trip in morning.

Next trip – check 5 cameras, scout upper rd cuts near Dxxx, walk winter rd at Dxxx, glass Don’s spot, glass Wxxx rd cuts. Check MO rd again. Walk to cut that is around the hill SW from end of moose hwy (have Don pick me up at bridge on Left after Mile xx Rd). Check 2 road systems just North on main rd.
Fri – Junior and Marty check out fxxx mt way
Sat AM – Shawn and Don glass Wxxx Rd cuts, Junior and Marty glass Don’s spot cuts at first light? Meet up and head into Dxxx. Shawn walk winter rd, Junior walk upper rd cuts. Check 3 cameras in there. Drive rd to right after pond but before split . Moose Highway (check camera and walk in there to cut SW around hill)
Sun AM – Shawn and Don glass Don’s spot cuts, Junior and Marty glass Wxxx Rd cuts at first light. Drive MO rd, Drive 2 rd systems North on main rd

 

[targetpanic]

The next trip we would have all day sat and Sunday morning and there would be 4 of us. We took 2 trucks and packed the coolers and headed North on Friday around noon. This was also the tail end of the hunts that were taking place in the Northern Zones. We were hopeful to see more hookings and rut sign, but everything seemed to be a little behind.

Trip 5 – Sept. 27, 28, 29 – Junior, Marty, Don, Shawn

Fri – 3 moose seen
Junior/Marty - Drove out to xxx and north of Fxxx Mt. Logging operation close to mile x marker. See Cow & 2 calves.
Shawn/Don – short drive down Kxxx Rd no moose seen, few tracks in Rd

Sat – 10 moose seen
Shawn/Don
Saw bull on main rd about 1 mile north of Kxxx Rd (~35”) in the dark driving in.
Don’s Spot – glassed at first light, 2 cows in cut off Bridge Out rd, 2 cows (separate) in top cut across valley. Shawn walked in to check trail cam across the access point. 1 good bull and a few cows on cam. Also doe and skip seem to be living up there. 1 good moose rub/hooking in the alders crossing the stream at the access spot. Moved cam about 50yds. Talked to couple locals, he has been seeing a pretty good bull in the top cut across the valley.
Dxxx – Checked end of Rd cam, few pics of a small bull. Checked cam on hill, had pics of a big bull and a basket 8pt buck, pulled cam out of there. Checked Game Trail cam, decent amount of moose pics still, one spike is a regular. Walked down winter rd near the split, some sign, found one hooking, not great…could still hunt this area. Drove down rd to right before the split, very little sign. Walked deer hunt winter rd near hxxx, very little sign. Need to walk grown in rd after hxxx before hunt.
Gravel Pit – Drove rd above gravel pit, one hooking up near where the bog is on the left. Could potentially sit overlooking the bog. The cut above the bog is nasty but could be watched.
Moose Highway – checked cam, a few daytime pics, pic of small bull w cow. Switched out cam and changed angle…hopefully get some better pics in there. Did not make the walk to the cut SW around the hill. Drove up newly excavated rd, no moose tracks in mud, cuts too grown up, remember this spot if we draw a tag in the future as they will cut up there soon.
Kxxx Rd – Drove up Rd, Junior took left spur, we went to end. Some feeding sign but nothing great.
Junior/Marty
Hxxx - Drove in towards pond. Turned back at right hand rd. after pond. Saw moose (unknown) on beginning of that rd. Saw a cow moving right to left approx. halfway between that right hand rd. and 1st winter rd. Medium bull seen crossing left to right 100yds before 1st winter rd. Had palm antler, spread unknown.
Hxxx - After light (approx 7am) spotted moose in cut on Wxxx. Did not get spotting scope on to determine. Another moose came into cut shortly after that, confirmed 40" or better with spotting scope at 700-800yds. Slim palm with good point lenghts and front fighter antler also. Watched this bull for 25-30mins feeding. He moved to top of cut into woodline.
Dxxx – Upper cuts Took walk into cut just east of Dxxx. No fresh sign or any sign of recent feeding in this area.
Sxxx - Drove all roads that we hunted in Nov 2012. Some light track in rd. Area has grown in quite a bit in 7yrs. Cut where cow was shot 2012 looked ok for moose. Dead end rd. to right that ends at bog had fresh cut, some track around there.
Wxxx. - Drove to end spur where cut is. some decent smaller cut area there. Some track sign in most of the cut areas on Wxxx rd.

Sunday – 7 moose seen
Shawn/Don
Hxxx Rd – Drove upper spur, not much sign. Glassed cuts on Wxxx. Saw 2 moose (1 definitely a cow other not sure) in the new cut at the end of WxxxRd they were in the lower right side looking at the cut.
Wxxx – Few tracks in rd near the old cuts. The new cut is potentially an opening morning spot.
Access Rd – Drove the left spur, nothing to note. Should drive the remainder of the road up to the spurs before the hunt.
Area farther up Main rd - no new cutting in there…LOOKS REALLY GOOD FOR DEER HUNTING!
Junior/Marty
(MO rd. - 2 Moose seen in cut right next to the 2nd pwr line crossing. Approx 250-300yds from rd. one definetly cow, other prob cow, no visible antler through binocs. 3 Moose seen in cut on N side of Axxx. Lg cow with a calf and smaller cow feeding at approx 730am. Used spotting scope to watch about 10-15mins at approx 500-600yds.

Before the hunt – Pull cams, check access to cut on Bridge Out Rd, drive remainder of access Rd (maybe), Drive MO Rd and find sitting/calling areas, Walk to cut between Moose Hwy and Bridge on Left after Mile xx Rd, walk grown in rd after hxxx, check Don/junior cow cut and new cut on bog side, drive Hxxx rd one more time (time permitting), walk the grass rd at end of CxxxRd. Behind gravel pit, go to right at T, new cut out beyond the end of the road…on Apple maps, not OnX. Right immediately after bridge out on main rd, new cuts out there not on OnX.

Stand/call sites
Moose Highway (W Wind)
Wxxx (N or E wind)
Bridge Out Rd cut (N or W wind)
Don’s Spot cuts (N or W wind)
Bog above gravel pit (N/E/W wind)
End of WxxxRd (?)
Cut SW of moose hwy (N/E if accessed from bridge on L after Mile xx Rd)
Jr/Don cow cut or new cut on bog side (N or E?)
MO rd sites
Still Hunt/call sites
Dxxx lots of options around Game Trail, strips, winter roads etc
End of Cxxx Rd – grass rd
Moose Hwy to Bridge on L after Mi xx Rd

 

[targetpanic]

It was time to head up for the hunt. Some of the guys were going up on Thursday to bird hunt (partridge, ruffed grouse, Randy's favorite) for the weekend. I was planning on going up EARLY friday morning, but I couldn't wait any longer. I was going nuts sitting at work. I called my wife and told her I would be leaving work at 1:00, running home to pack the truck and heading up to camp. I felt I needed to be out glassing one of the 2 areas at first light and I had a lot of cameras to check and a few new areas to check out.
Tip for you guys. I spent a lot of time on Google earth, Google Maps and especially OnX. OnX was invaluable for public/private borders on our Montana hunt last year. FOr the moose hunt I could mark waypoints while I was out there scouting, mark areas to check from my phone or desktop and make notes about each waypoint. This app is awesome and I HIGHLY reccomend it. I also found that Apple maps showed some new cuts that were not on Google or OnX. THe more I scouted, the more I felt that I was looking at cuts that were not quite new enough. I was glassing moose in cuts that were newer than where I had hung my cameras.

Pre- hunt Scout Fri, Sat, Sun 10/11-10/13

Friday Shawn – 15 moose seen
Cow & calf in road at mile 1.5
Glassed Wxxx cut from Hxxx 9 moose 4 cows, 1 calf, 4 bulls. All bulls in low left corner 2 small bulls, 1 35-40”, 1 big bastard w LONG high palms (Spartacus)
Pulled cam at moose hwy – 1 small bull and 1 big bull
Mile xx rd Walked into cut that goes to moose hwy, very little sign.
Hxxx – Pulled 2 cams, mostly small bulls. Walked grown in Rd but very little sign.
Behind Gravel Pit – go to right at the end of the rd – cut not on OnX – lots of tracks – good stand spot
Bridge out Rd cut – Hard climb. We have been glassing a lot of moose up there though.
Don’s Spot – Pulled cam – 3 different bulls in last week, 1 GIANT bull (Salad Bowl)
Wxxx – Cow in the older cut behind the first new cut on the left
Hxxx Evening glass – 3 cows

Saturday – 2 moose seen
Cloudy/foggy/rainy – no glassing opportunities
Sam saw small 6pt bull in road near beginning of Hxxx
Shawn/Dan – 35-40” bull on low end of cut on Bridge out Rd. Walked to cut ½ way up Hxxx…great looking cut and saw 6 huge moose rubs. This is where some locals were concentrating for the hunt.

Sunday – 11 moose seen
AM Glass – Hxxx – 2 cows, 1 small bull in cut on Wxxx
Don’s spot at 7:45 – small forkhorn followed by a cow in 3rd cut across the valley. 10 min later a GIANT ~60” bull (Salad Bowl) stepped out. We glassed him for ~20 minutes. We will start here in AM
PM Glass – Don’s Spot – 3 bulls and 2 cows in cut on Bridge out Rd.

 

[targetpanic]

sorry about the blurry spotting scope photos. They were taken through my spotting scope from 3/4-1 mile away while hand holding my cell phone.

 

[targetpanic]

THis is a world class bull. My jaw DROPPED when he stepped out.

 

[targetpanic]

A couple more pics before we get to the meat of the hunt

 

[targetpanic]

The scouting was done, I had seen 2 first minute of the hunt shooter bulls that were true giants. We had decided to go after the bull we saw Sunday morning. We would have 1 other truck watch some cuts in the area and the other truck headed to where I took pics of the TALL bull on Friday morning. For the first time in a long time I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. We decided to get to our spot EARLY in case others were going to be there...it probably wasn't necessary but that was our plan.
We got everything ready and left the truck at legal shooting time. The full moon was ridiculously bright and we were able to glass cuts almost a mile away before legal shooting time. As we headed into our chosen spot the wind was all wrong. We didn't want to ruin the area so we made a hard turn and dropped down a steep hillside to a brook crossing and then gained the elevation we just lost. We set up on the bottom of the cut that we saw the big bull in Sunday morning. It was a quiet morning and all we saw were 2 deer.

For the evening hunt we decided to hunt one of the new cuts I had found on Friday. It was only 1-2 miles from where we saw the big bull on Sunday morning and if he had left that immediate area he could have moved to this one. We found a good place to take a stand overlooking 1 cut and there was another cut just out beyond it that we could watch also. Early in the afternoon we saw a bull a long ways off in a cut across the road. Around 5:00 a cow and a calf fed out into the cut beyond us. We watched them feed out there for hours. I was intermittently raking brush and cow calling. Not long after we heard a bull grunting down in the woods below us. He came out into our cut grunting a whole bunch. My sub-permittee had a better view of him than I did and said it was a small bull. I called one more time. For the next 10 minutes he kept coming towards us grunting the whole way. He ended up walking by us at 12 yards grunting the whole time. It was cool to see. I have a video but couldn't post it here. He left without ever knowing we were there. Not long before dark a cow started calling from down in the woods. She stepped out into the cut as shooting light ended.
It was a great ending to the first day of hunting.

Hunt days Mon-Sat (10/14-10/19)
Monday – 30 moose seen
Mon Am – Shawn/Junior – Don’s spot – Bad wind so we had to cut down valley and set up on bottom of 3rd cut. Saw 2 deer.
Don/Bill – Glassed Don’s spot. 1 doe in cut near truck, 5 moose in cut on Bridge out rd.
Chuck/Marty – Glassed from Hxxx – 11 moose in cut – 3 bulls none big

Mon midday – hunted from end of hxxx rd back to game trail cam strips – THICK, nasty and slash. Also walked to 2 old cuts at the end of MO rd.

Mon PM – Shawn/Junior – Behind Gravel Pit Cut – Exciting night – Cow and calf in far cut out early, 1 forkhorn bull came in to cow calling/raking. He was grunting the whole way and came walking by at 12yds, near dark 1 cow calling in woods below us.
Don/Bill – Don’s spot - 2 moose in cut off Bridge out rd, 1 small bull 30” on Cxxx Rd
Chuck/Marty – Hxxx -7 moose – 1 smedium bull

 

[targetpanic]

I was torn on where to go on the Tuesday morning. We had 3 viable options. First we could go to the spot we sat Monday evening...there was a hot cow in there and lord knows what she brought in with all her calling over night. Second we could go to where we hunted Monday morning and saw the big bull on Sunday. The wind was going to be right for the area we wanted to take a stand. Third we could go to the cut where the guys glassed all the moose on Monday.
We decided on option 2. I had spent a lot of time there in the summer, I really wanted to get up there with the right wind and give it a try.
We left the truck at shooting light and went for the 1.25 mile walk in. It was a slow morning and all we had seen were the same 2 deer from the previous morning. I told Junior that I wanted to take a walk sidehilling up around the valley. Just as we were getting ready to walk we heard a cow calling a ways off. It was definitely not another hunter so we just waited. I made a few calls and we waited some more. At one point we heard a crash behind us and turned in time to see a moose running away from us. It looked like a cow but I'm not sure, it wasn't a big moose but she had definitely gotten our wind. We walked up to where she had run off and hung out there. Almost immediately Junior whispered that there was a bull coming up behind us. It was a spike and he passed by within 25 yds of us. We walked a little more on the side hill but decided to head out of there. We met up with the guys and compared notes from the morning.
Tuesday – 21 moose seen
Tues AM – Shawn/Junior – Top side of cut across from Don’s Spot – Heard a cow calling, saw 1 unknown moose come in behind us (most likely cow). We moved up to where she spooked off and a small spike bull came walking by us at 25yds
Don/Bill – 3 moose in cut off Bridge out Rd
Chuck/Marty/Brandon – Hxxx – 12 moose in cut, 6 bulls and 6 cows, 2 good bulls (1 tall w big body, 1 wide) and 1 decent bull.

 

[targetpanic]

Tuesday PM
With all the moose that Chuck/Marty/Brandon were seeing (and 2 potential shooters that morning) we felt it was time to sneak into that cut and try to get on some of the moose. The way this cut lays out makes it perfect to sneak in there in the morning if you have a wind out of the east...which doesn't happen often. We thought if we went in early we could get set up in a location that would be OK for the W/ NW wind we had. The cut was very steep and had a lot of rolls and folds in it. YOu could see all of it from where they were glassing but our visibility would be limited from where we set up. If we needed to move we would need those guys to signal to us.

We found a place to set up. As we were getting there we looked to the far right cut and saw a cow feeding a little over 100 yds away. A few minutes later a mid 30" bull stepped out but I passed on him. Shortly after that another cow came out right below them. We killed an hour with no action. I kept looking up above us towards the top of the cut and the right edge where a lot of the moose had disappeared into that morning. We could see back to where the guys were glassing the cut from. At 4:30 we started to move up towards the top of the cut. We started working up the finger of trees we were in keeping an eye out for a black blob above us. Before long Junior spotted a bull about 300yds above us. We looked at him and decided to get closer. At 225yds I stopped and the moose was looking down in our direction. There was a BIG log layed down that would make a perfect rest I got behind the log and Junior got at the end of it. We looked the moose over again. He had flat palms and his driver side had 3 brow points and a palm. We could both see that there was something "off" on his passenger side but couldn't tell what. We had set a goal of 40" or bigger for the first 3 days of the hunt. Even though we had seen 2 giant bulls while scouting we also knew that we had a NASTY storm moving in on Thursday. I knew the other guys had spotting scopes on us and the bull. I decided that he would be a good bull and that the other guys would remember this for a long time. I layed the rifle on my pack on the log and cranked up the scope. Two steps would put the moose in the open and broadside. Junior was having trouble getting a good rest. I told Junior "two more steps and I'm going to take him" Junior replied "I'm OK, I got your back". The bull took 2 more steps, I settled the crosshairs and squeezed the trigger. Through the scope, even with the recoil, all I saw was his head snap back, his ass go out from under him and he crumpled...stone cold dead.
We made our way up the steep part of the cut to him. There lay a beautiful bull with lots of character. His driver side was exactly what we thought. His passenger side had grown a little weaker plus he snapped off the top part of his palm from fighting. He also had a broken ear and a hole in his palm on that side as well.
The guys eventually made it up the 1/2 mile to us w the 4-wheeler...it took a long time, the cut was nasty slash. It was a good drag out and great to have all the help...naturally Chuck decided to stand the 4-wheeler up on the back wheels about 10yds from the end of the drag out and landed on the rack...thankfully he didn't impale himself.

 

[targetpanic]

We got to the check station and the Bull weighed 613lb and was 44.5" wide.
The next day we spent skinning/quartering/deboning the moose and getting it all into coolers.
We headed home in the storm on Thursday and got the moose cut up and in the freezer on Friday night.



Autopsy revealed that my shot centered the on side shoulder blade. The bullet continued through and lodged at the base of the ridge on the off-side scapula...perfect shot

 

[targetpanic]

I can't believe this hunt has come to an end. I dreamed about this tag for a long time and finally got to live it. I can't thank Junior (Subpermittee), Don, Bill, Marty, Chuck and Brandon enough. These guys came up to bird hunt in the mid day but spent every morning and evening keeping an eye on spots we found while scouting, just waiting to jump into action once a moose was down. Could we have found a bigger moose...maybe...but I am very happy with this bull and the memories that were made along the way.
I know some of you guys are shaking your head saying...they really dragged that thing out whole or look how they got it set up for butchering.

Thanks for following along!

 

[Jape]

Having no experience with eastern hunting, this was very fun to follow. Thanks for sharing and congrats!

 

[BAKPAKR]

Congratulations on a good bull! I have hunted both Maine and New Hampshire and they were both really fun hunts.

 

[Northwoods]

Congrats!