Jamen
Well-known member
Well this year I drew my once in a lifetime ND moose tag. I decided I beat the odds when I drew a bull elk tag 4 years ago so the last two years I have been putting in for cow only to up my chances. Once I found out I drew a tag I talked with a few people I know in the unit they said no problem just come up and we will find you a moose, hopefully the corn will be off was a common phrase I heard.
Well me and the old man packed up the day before it opened and went up to go knock on some doors and talk with people. One person who takes people out duck and pheasant hunting sent my dad GPS coordinates on a cow and calf he saw that morning. Not thinking much of it we went to a few places where moose have been seen very frequently. We talked with surrounding landowners and had 6 square miles of private land to hunt and a few sections of public land.
There was more corn standing than anything else so we knew it would be by pure chance we saw one coming and going. That night we were headed to my uncles place to stay and the spot earlier the guy seen the cow and calf was on the way. With 30 minutes of light left I told my dad lets go check it out. His GPS said turn here turn there and we were getting close. Finally it said your destination is on your left. We both look up and there the cow stood 200 yards in the cattails. Pretty ironic we thought.
Our plan was to go to that spot before day break and wait it out. We waited for a bit that morning didn't see or hear anything so we packed up and went to the other spot. Parked the truck and I saw a moose walking on the horizon. It was a small bull, we were hoping a cow would follow but that didn't happen. We glassed and drove around the rest of the day with no luck. That night we went to my uncles again and he called some more locals. Same story wait til the corn was off. We decided we would give the next morning a try and if we didn't see anything we would try again in a week or two.
We went to the spot where we saw bull the day before and sat for 15 minutes and didn't see anything. We decided to move and we got about 3 miles away and turned the corner and there stood a cow on the road. With thick willows on both sides and corn I decided I better take the shot before it disappeared. I was 250 yards away with my rem 700 30-06 my deer rifle that has yet to fail me with 150 grain bullets I squeezed off on the trigger. She took 3 shots and laid down off the road.
All in all it was a great hunt, I wont say it was hard but sometimes an easy hunt is nice too. The real prize was having my father there with me. He's been there for my first duck to my elk to moose and I wouldn't want it any other way. We are unsure on the weight but the owner of the meat market said it was one of the biggest cows brought in in his time owning the business. There was one younger bull brought in and one older and this cow was bigger than the younger and just as long as the older but he had a bit bigger shoulders. All in all we will be eating good this winter! I sent the hide off to a company in Minnesota to have a jacket made from the leather. I placed a side by side of my elk and moose, must have been my dads lucky sweatshirt!!
I have been fortunate to have gotten 2 of the 3 "Big" tags in North Dakota, those from here will understand. Now I wait for the email saying I drew my ND Big horn tag and then it will be complete! ( a guy can dream can't he).
Well me and the old man packed up the day before it opened and went up to go knock on some doors and talk with people. One person who takes people out duck and pheasant hunting sent my dad GPS coordinates on a cow and calf he saw that morning. Not thinking much of it we went to a few places where moose have been seen very frequently. We talked with surrounding landowners and had 6 square miles of private land to hunt and a few sections of public land.
There was more corn standing than anything else so we knew it would be by pure chance we saw one coming and going. That night we were headed to my uncles place to stay and the spot earlier the guy seen the cow and calf was on the way. With 30 minutes of light left I told my dad lets go check it out. His GPS said turn here turn there and we were getting close. Finally it said your destination is on your left. We both look up and there the cow stood 200 yards in the cattails. Pretty ironic we thought.
Our plan was to go to that spot before day break and wait it out. We waited for a bit that morning didn't see or hear anything so we packed up and went to the other spot. Parked the truck and I saw a moose walking on the horizon. It was a small bull, we were hoping a cow would follow but that didn't happen. We glassed and drove around the rest of the day with no luck. That night we went to my uncles again and he called some more locals. Same story wait til the corn was off. We decided we would give the next morning a try and if we didn't see anything we would try again in a week or two.
We went to the spot where we saw bull the day before and sat for 15 minutes and didn't see anything. We decided to move and we got about 3 miles away and turned the corner and there stood a cow on the road. With thick willows on both sides and corn I decided I better take the shot before it disappeared. I was 250 yards away with my rem 700 30-06 my deer rifle that has yet to fail me with 150 grain bullets I squeezed off on the trigger. She took 3 shots and laid down off the road.
All in all it was a great hunt, I wont say it was hard but sometimes an easy hunt is nice too. The real prize was having my father there with me. He's been there for my first duck to my elk to moose and I wouldn't want it any other way. We are unsure on the weight but the owner of the meat market said it was one of the biggest cows brought in in his time owning the business. There was one younger bull brought in and one older and this cow was bigger than the younger and just as long as the older but he had a bit bigger shoulders. All in all we will be eating good this winter! I sent the hide off to a company in Minnesota to have a jacket made from the leather. I placed a side by side of my elk and moose, must have been my dads lucky sweatshirt!!
I have been fortunate to have gotten 2 of the 3 "Big" tags in North Dakota, those from here will understand. Now I wait for the email saying I drew my ND Big horn tag and then it will be complete! ( a guy can dream can't he).
