After getting David's huge bull back to camp Bill and I elected not to hunt that evening and get ready for the next day, it was still really windy anyways. Moose meat was on the menu that night!
The next day we woke up to wind, Bill and I went looking for some new sign in another part of the lake. We spent the day near the rapids coming in from Findlay but the wind would not give up.
The next day brought calmer weather, some wind but better for calling. I had a feeling that we needed to go back to the end of the lake where we got David's moose, so that's where we went. We arrived early and began calling. The animals were active... that is usually a good sign. Bill witnessed a pine marten chasing a rabbit 10 feet away from him. But the rabbit got away and the pine marten left hungry. I continued to call as it approached 9:30 am and was just repositioning myself to get more comfortable and watched the far shore of the lake. Then I saw a huge black spot moving towards the shore, straight downwind of us. Bill and I watched, waited for 30 minutes coming up with a plan to either wait for him to come to us or go try to get close to him by crossing the lake. As we walked down to the boat, out popped the rabbit. After watching the bull and seeing that he was headed along the shore out of our wind we paddled with the now very strong wind to put the sneak on him. Once reaching the other shore, we snuck along the shoreline to a nice big rock for a rest. The moose was less than 100 yards away and I gave him a couple of grunts. I could see his horns pop up and he turned and came right at us, staggering, showing off his impressive rack! Bill sunk 2 shots from his 300 win. Short Mag and down he went. Bill has shot a number of moose in his life but nothing like this one. A huge 51 inch bull moose. Tons of long sharp points, I would bet that he is the one who put the hole in David's bull, shot less than 2 miles away. Guaranteed they knew each other.
2010 was a pretty good year for moose hunting, every party but one harvesting at least one moose if not 2. Now I have to wait another whole year to have this much fun again.
Here is the video. Enjoy.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Moose Fever!!!
In 2010, we hunted into uncharted territory, hunting a third week, beginning on October 3rd. I know that the rut continues for some time into Oct and last year when Bill and David left after their hunt with us, they indicated that they would be interested in hunting that week with me. I was up for it and the plan went into action.
During the 2nd week our hunt went quite well, our 4 unguided hunters bagged 2 bulls and had another opportunity to take a cow but could not get a shot, the hunters I was guiding went 1 for 2, and our other guided hunters, Jerry and David, shot a nice 40 plus inch bull and saw a number of other bulls but as you have heard me say before, moose hunting is tough. Here is a picture of a nice one,
The weather was great the day all the hunters had to move which is nice, happy hunters out and only Bill and David headed back north with me to Loree lake. We had calm weather but it was quite warm and the blackflies were awful! We had a couple of bug nets but had to make a couple of more from some mosquito netting out of the Otter, but it would take a lot more than that to deter us! After calling in a couple of spots the first night we headed out for the first full day of hunting.
As I was getting to the spot where Bill had been calling the night before David whispered "moose!" We could just barely see against the sun....ears. I continued to call and we could hear them moving through the bush ever so quietly. Then....just as it was getting light, a bull! Just a spike bull and not one that we were going to take on the opening day. It was very cool to be able to watch him stare at us and try to figure out what was happening. What had happened was that a cow came to Bill's calling overnight and the small bull just tagged along following the cow. The bull walked into the bush quietly and I left Bill on the rock as David and I headed up the lake to where we were the evening before.
We called. And the moose called back. Calm weather felt so good. I could here 2 cows in opposite directions and was quite sure I had heard a couple of bulls but nothing for sure. After awhile I left David to watch from the ridge and went to look at some other spots on the lake to see what was going on. I went directly across the lake and was having trouble getting the boat to plane out so I was moving stuff around in the boat to level it out, making a bunch of noise as I was only a couple of hundred yards from the shore where I was headed. I looked up....and there stood a 40 inch bull! He was coming to my call across the lake. He looked at me, I looked at him for 2 or 3 minutes as I drifted. What to do... the moose turned and started to walk away and I was off like a flash to go get David. After retrieving David we got up to another spot to try to call the 40 incher back. The wind had picked up and it was getting difficult to hear. We remained there for a couple of hours with no action. I left David again to look for more moose sign. The first spot I checked, I saw a another moose! This was the day. I saw him from a great distance because he was SO BIG! Again, which made me laugh, I had to quickly run back and get David a second time. It was time to try to stalk amongst the match sticks, (small trees) left over from the burn. As we got back to the spot, I hoped he was still there....
We were witnessing a show that few in this world people ever get to see. We were walking, trying to get closer and we could see this huge Canadian moose wagging his shiny antlers from side to side flashing his horns in the sun, standing like a statue, up on a high cliff over looking the whole end of the lake. This Bull had very flat antlers like an Alaskan moose. He was sending a message to the rest of the world that he is THE BOSS! A sight I hope to be able to witness again, but feel fortunate to be able to have seen it once. He was not going anywhere. The moose heard us through the wind and was facing us and looking mad. I want to describe the rest to you but the video I was able get says it all. Imagine how hard our hearts were pumping during it!
Watch this one full screen.
The hunt is not over yet, keep watching for the finale of 2010!!
During the 2nd week our hunt went quite well, our 4 unguided hunters bagged 2 bulls and had another opportunity to take a cow but could not get a shot, the hunters I was guiding went 1 for 2, and our other guided hunters, Jerry and David, shot a nice 40 plus inch bull and saw a number of other bulls but as you have heard me say before, moose hunting is tough. Here is a picture of a nice one,
The weather was great the day all the hunters had to move which is nice, happy hunters out and only Bill and David headed back north with me to Loree lake. We had calm weather but it was quite warm and the blackflies were awful! We had a couple of bug nets but had to make a couple of more from some mosquito netting out of the Otter, but it would take a lot more than that to deter us! After calling in a couple of spots the first night we headed out for the first full day of hunting.
As I was getting to the spot where Bill had been calling the night before David whispered "moose!" We could just barely see against the sun....ears. I continued to call and we could hear them moving through the bush ever so quietly. Then....just as it was getting light, a bull! Just a spike bull and not one that we were going to take on the opening day. It was very cool to be able to watch him stare at us and try to figure out what was happening. What had happened was that a cow came to Bill's calling overnight and the small bull just tagged along following the cow. The bull walked into the bush quietly and I left Bill on the rock as David and I headed up the lake to where we were the evening before.
We called. And the moose called back. Calm weather felt so good. I could here 2 cows in opposite directions and was quite sure I had heard a couple of bulls but nothing for sure. After awhile I left David to watch from the ridge and went to look at some other spots on the lake to see what was going on. I went directly across the lake and was having trouble getting the boat to plane out so I was moving stuff around in the boat to level it out, making a bunch of noise as I was only a couple of hundred yards from the shore where I was headed. I looked up....and there stood a 40 inch bull! He was coming to my call across the lake. He looked at me, I looked at him for 2 or 3 minutes as I drifted. What to do... the moose turned and started to walk away and I was off like a flash to go get David. After retrieving David we got up to another spot to try to call the 40 incher back. The wind had picked up and it was getting difficult to hear. We remained there for a couple of hours with no action. I left David again to look for more moose sign. The first spot I checked, I saw a another moose! This was the day. I saw him from a great distance because he was SO BIG! Again, which made me laugh, I had to quickly run back and get David a second time. It was time to try to stalk amongst the match sticks, (small trees) left over from the burn. As we got back to the spot, I hoped he was still there....
We were witnessing a show that few in this world people ever get to see. We were walking, trying to get closer and we could see this huge Canadian moose wagging his shiny antlers from side to side flashing his horns in the sun, standing like a statue, up on a high cliff over looking the whole end of the lake. This Bull had very flat antlers like an Alaskan moose. He was sending a message to the rest of the world that he is THE BOSS! A sight I hope to be able to witness again, but feel fortunate to be able to have seen it once. He was not going anywhere. The moose heard us through the wind and was facing us and looking mad. I want to describe the rest to you but the video I was able get says it all. Imagine how hard our hearts were pumping during it!
Watch this one full screen.
The hunt is not over yet, keep watching for the finale of 2010!!
First moose video is complete!
Here is the first of a number of moose video's I was able to capture this season. I hope you enjoy. It was lots of hard work and a long haul but worth every step!!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
The camps are closed, moose hunting is done!
This year we had 12 hunters, 4 unguided guys and 8 that were guided. Yours truly ended up with three weeks of guiding in 2010 and was able to get my hands on another experienced moose hunter/guide from within our family to guide the other 2. It was pretty cool to be spend 3 weeks in the bush at 3 different lakes doing what I enjoy...hunting!
Let me start by saying that hunting North America's largest animal is not an easy undertaking. You can't just simply head out anywhere on the lake and see moose standing there just waiting to be shot. It takes long days and time to look at many areas, the bogs, the ridges and high ground if you want to be successful. You need to be rested when you get here because you may be tired when you leave. Moose hunting most of all takes patience, calling all day in one spot is not uncommon, watching and listening for many hours, waiting to here the bush move or a stick break or the best sound in the world, a grunt from a bull!
The first week we hunted Shearstone with 2 guys from Missouri, Kevin and Ken. We hunted hard the first couple of days, finding some fresh sign, seeing one cow and hearing a couple of single grunt answers from bulls but I was not able to get them to come to us. I know from experience that you can never give up until the hunt is over but the guys had some work commitments and had to head home and we had to come out on Saturday. I am certain we would have been successful on Shearstone if we would have been able to stay the entire week, and it is disappointing, but in Big Game hunting, sometimes you come up empty handed.
From Shearstone I moved to Blackbirch, the lake I have spent more time on than any other. The hunters this week were Gene, who has spent more time on Blackbirch than me and one of his Mule deer guides from Nebraska, Josh. 21 years old and full of energy. We were in for an adventure. Throughout the week I was able to show Gene some areas on the lake that he had never seen before in his 90+ days spent there, and every afternoon Josh and I would head into the timber, calling, looking for sign and hoping to have a monster come and fight us. We saw some very interesting country up on top of the hills, down in the valleys and in the heads of the bays. We did find 2 of the coveted "wallows". A wallow is a pit, like a scrape for a deer, and if you find one, you need to spend some serious time in that area calling. The bull urinates in a hole he has dug and rolls in it to give a musky/piney smell, a smell you never forget.
On Tuesday of the hunt I was calling from a ridge, about a 1/4 mile from Josh when I turned my head to my left and standing 30 yards from me....a spike bull! He was staring right at me and coming closer. I was trapped. I waited until the bull went behind a bush and I was off, sprinting through the thick alders, and pines trying to get to Josh so we could get another look at the moose. After getting Josh in hand, we headed back to try to call him to us. We spent a couple hours trying to coax him back to no avail, he must have smelled us. The next day I looked in the bush in that area and discovered he was just yards away but quiet as a moose, standing there motionless, by the tracks and droppings I found.
Thursday rolled around after much wind, the worst thing to have when moose hunting, and just at dark as the wind dropped, it happened....A grunt! Right near one of the wallows I had found. Then another. And another. He was coming! The wind had just gone and it was flat calm, perfect. Grunting, breaking bush, coming like a freight train towards us, it was awesome. Josh was shaking like a leaf and so was I! The moose walked through some water, we could here every step as he got closer and closer. It sounded like he was right on top of us but I knew we would not see him until he was standing right in front of us. For 15 minutes he came, grunting, breaking trees with his antlers, crushing trees while he walked, grunting with every step. As he got closer to the shore I could see trees moving back in the bush a little ways, Josh was ready....Then just before he came out in the open I felt a slight breeze from the south, at the time I did not notice it and concentrated on the moose, He continued to rake the brush, you could hear he was big by the hollow sound of his antlers on the trees as he came to the opening I had envisioned, it was going to happen. Then... HE STOPPED! Right in line with the direction the breeze I felt 5 minutes earlier. We waited for an eternity but I knew. He was gone, the next branch we heard break was 50 yards back in the bush, then 100 yards a small stick broke and a weak grunt. GONE. Such excitment and disappointment all at once. All we could do was keep hunting. Josh had never shot a moose but was able to experience the best part!
Our time for the hunt was starting to dwindle as Saturday approached, now is when the patience pays off, it was windy once again which frustrates me to no end but there was nothing I could do to change it. Fate had pushed us to one of my favorite spots on the lake and the wind went down, finally, and hour before dark. I continued to call to the best of my ability, not to loud, waivering like a cow really in need of a bull! We were up on high ground, a great vantage point, we could see across a beaver pond and the far shore of the next small lake. I continued to call and watch. I noticed a black spot on the far ridge....then as I watched it, it disappeared!! Turned up tree stumps don`t do that. As I walked over to Josh to tell him what I saw, there it was, a bull standing on the far shore of the next small lake looking right at us. I gave him a soft sensual call, hoping he would swim right across the lake. Instead he opted to walk around. I hoped that he would not take too long and show up after dark... Lucky for us moose walk fast, it was very rewarding to be able to watch a bull moose walk over a mile right at us. When he walked into the bush to navigate the shoreline, we moved closer to where we could get a better, closer shot. We were going to meet him half way, down the rock we went, Josh being so excited slid on his butt down a 20 foot rock to get there as I found the old man way down. Getting to the spot right by the other wallow we found, we were in position. The moose was in the first bay of the other lake and grunted once quite loudly as I called out to him. It was going to be 300 yard plus shot for Josh, but he had a great rest and was ready and waiting. This whole ordeal took 20-25 minutes so we had some time to settle down as he came to us.
Then there he was, he rounded the corner and stood there looking in our direction for a few seconds as I whispered instructions to Josh. The moose continued to come closer..."when he quarters, give it to him" BANG, the moose never moved..."again" BOOM...Whack! an awesome sound of the bullet hitting. The moose staggered into the water as I shouted at Josh to keep shooting, Boom...whack, Boom...whack I told Josh beforehand to shoot until he falls, and he did. One last Boom...whack, and down he went. Josh`s hunting partner Gene was a half mile away and heard it all. He could even hear the celebration from Josh and I, so elated after 5 days of 14-15 hours each day, hunting our butts off. We were screaming and cheering like like we had just scored a big goal in a hockey game. It was awesome!! 21 years old, a hunter his whole life, and got an opportunity to harvest a trophy bull moose. Satisfaction. It was a long haul back to the lake but worth every drop of sweat.
I was able to capture this adventure on video and hope to have time to work on it soon, keep watching.
Also there is still more stories to tell from our last week of hunting, stay tuned....
Let me start by saying that hunting North America's largest animal is not an easy undertaking. You can't just simply head out anywhere on the lake and see moose standing there just waiting to be shot. It takes long days and time to look at many areas, the bogs, the ridges and high ground if you want to be successful. You need to be rested when you get here because you may be tired when you leave. Moose hunting most of all takes patience, calling all day in one spot is not uncommon, watching and listening for many hours, waiting to here the bush move or a stick break or the best sound in the world, a grunt from a bull!
The first week we hunted Shearstone with 2 guys from Missouri, Kevin and Ken. We hunted hard the first couple of days, finding some fresh sign, seeing one cow and hearing a couple of single grunt answers from bulls but I was not able to get them to come to us. I know from experience that you can never give up until the hunt is over but the guys had some work commitments and had to head home and we had to come out on Saturday. I am certain we would have been successful on Shearstone if we would have been able to stay the entire week, and it is disappointing, but in Big Game hunting, sometimes you come up empty handed.
From Shearstone I moved to Blackbirch, the lake I have spent more time on than any other. The hunters this week were Gene, who has spent more time on Blackbirch than me and one of his Mule deer guides from Nebraska, Josh. 21 years old and full of energy. We were in for an adventure. Throughout the week I was able to show Gene some areas on the lake that he had never seen before in his 90+ days spent there, and every afternoon Josh and I would head into the timber, calling, looking for sign and hoping to have a monster come and fight us. We saw some very interesting country up on top of the hills, down in the valleys and in the heads of the bays. We did find 2 of the coveted "wallows". A wallow is a pit, like a scrape for a deer, and if you find one, you need to spend some serious time in that area calling. The bull urinates in a hole he has dug and rolls in it to give a musky/piney smell, a smell you never forget.
On Tuesday of the hunt I was calling from a ridge, about a 1/4 mile from Josh when I turned my head to my left and standing 30 yards from me....a spike bull! He was staring right at me and coming closer. I was trapped. I waited until the bull went behind a bush and I was off, sprinting through the thick alders, and pines trying to get to Josh so we could get another look at the moose. After getting Josh in hand, we headed back to try to call him to us. We spent a couple hours trying to coax him back to no avail, he must have smelled us. The next day I looked in the bush in that area and discovered he was just yards away but quiet as a moose, standing there motionless, by the tracks and droppings I found.
Thursday rolled around after much wind, the worst thing to have when moose hunting, and just at dark as the wind dropped, it happened....A grunt! Right near one of the wallows I had found. Then another. And another. He was coming! The wind had just gone and it was flat calm, perfect. Grunting, breaking bush, coming like a freight train towards us, it was awesome. Josh was shaking like a leaf and so was I! The moose walked through some water, we could here every step as he got closer and closer. It sounded like he was right on top of us but I knew we would not see him until he was standing right in front of us. For 15 minutes he came, grunting, breaking trees with his antlers, crushing trees while he walked, grunting with every step. As he got closer to the shore I could see trees moving back in the bush a little ways, Josh was ready....Then just before he came out in the open I felt a slight breeze from the south, at the time I did not notice it and concentrated on the moose, He continued to rake the brush, you could hear he was big by the hollow sound of his antlers on the trees as he came to the opening I had envisioned, it was going to happen. Then... HE STOPPED! Right in line with the direction the breeze I felt 5 minutes earlier. We waited for an eternity but I knew. He was gone, the next branch we heard break was 50 yards back in the bush, then 100 yards a small stick broke and a weak grunt. GONE. Such excitment and disappointment all at once. All we could do was keep hunting. Josh had never shot a moose but was able to experience the best part!
Our time for the hunt was starting to dwindle as Saturday approached, now is when the patience pays off, it was windy once again which frustrates me to no end but there was nothing I could do to change it. Fate had pushed us to one of my favorite spots on the lake and the wind went down, finally, and hour before dark. I continued to call to the best of my ability, not to loud, waivering like a cow really in need of a bull! We were up on high ground, a great vantage point, we could see across a beaver pond and the far shore of the next small lake. I continued to call and watch. I noticed a black spot on the far ridge....then as I watched it, it disappeared!! Turned up tree stumps don`t do that. As I walked over to Josh to tell him what I saw, there it was, a bull standing on the far shore of the next small lake looking right at us. I gave him a soft sensual call, hoping he would swim right across the lake. Instead he opted to walk around. I hoped that he would not take too long and show up after dark... Lucky for us moose walk fast, it was very rewarding to be able to watch a bull moose walk over a mile right at us. When he walked into the bush to navigate the shoreline, we moved closer to where we could get a better, closer shot. We were going to meet him half way, down the rock we went, Josh being so excited slid on his butt down a 20 foot rock to get there as I found the old man way down. Getting to the spot right by the other wallow we found, we were in position. The moose was in the first bay of the other lake and grunted once quite loudly as I called out to him. It was going to be 300 yard plus shot for Josh, but he had a great rest and was ready and waiting. This whole ordeal took 20-25 minutes so we had some time to settle down as he came to us.
Then there he was, he rounded the corner and stood there looking in our direction for a few seconds as I whispered instructions to Josh. The moose continued to come closer..."when he quarters, give it to him" BANG, the moose never moved..."again" BOOM...Whack! an awesome sound of the bullet hitting. The moose staggered into the water as I shouted at Josh to keep shooting, Boom...whack, Boom...whack I told Josh beforehand to shoot until he falls, and he did. One last Boom...whack, and down he went. Josh`s hunting partner Gene was a half mile away and heard it all. He could even hear the celebration from Josh and I, so elated after 5 days of 14-15 hours each day, hunting our butts off. We were screaming and cheering like like we had just scored a big goal in a hockey game. It was awesome!! 21 years old, a hunter his whole life, and got an opportunity to harvest a trophy bull moose. Satisfaction. It was a long haul back to the lake but worth every drop of sweat.
I was able to capture this adventure on video and hope to have time to work on it soon, keep watching.
Also there is still more stories to tell from our last week of hunting, stay tuned....
Monday, October 11, 2010
Moose hunting!
Here is just a preview of what went on during the last 3 weeks! Keep watching for the stories and video of a very tough but rewarding hunt on some of the roughest terrain hunting North America's largest animal. It was awesome!
To view more of the pictures from the hunt, add Amik Outposts on Facebook, click here.
To view more of the pictures from the hunt, add Amik Outposts on Facebook, click here.
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