1998 MooseHunt Journal

1998 Moose Hunt Journal

Attendees George Darryl Al

Saturday, September 26,98

We called at our latest hot spot (The Upside Down Lake) and with no fresh signs we decided (at 10:30 a.m.) to check out the Theatre and go back to camp for lunch.

When we got to the Theatre area we found fresh sign from that morning. We called there until lunch but heard nothing and the moose would have to be on the road to shoot it. We returned to the Upside Down Lake at 3:00 p.m. to find out that a moose walked within 30 feet from where Darryl's blind was. We called there the rest of the evening but to no avail.

Sunday, September 27,98

We returned to the Upside Down Lake and called all day but again heard or seen nothing. However a moose approached from the east and walked the road for quite some time only to sway off of it 500 yards before reaching us. We are unable to determine if this is the same moose which is circling us or a different moose. Al may have heard the ever dreaded cow call from that moose. We ended up coming home early because of wind and rain (7:05).

Monday, September 28/98

It ended up being almost a perfect day, weather wise, however we sat out all day and never heard or seen anything at the Upside Lake. We did see fresh tracks at the first lake going in and the moose turned off where Al and Lark were hunting and heard Jerry calling. We did notice that this moose kicked up a lot of dirt around the lake area which seem to indicate they are still in rut but it certainly doesn't appear so where we are hunting

On that note, we are starting to think that the moose that came out the first day was a cow, the same cow that walked the road on Sunday. Oh well, maybe tomorrow we'll have a bit more luck.

Tuesday, September 29/98

Darryl and I returned to our calling spot and saw no fresh signs nor did we see anything on way in. We called until 8:30 but heard nothing despite the near perfect hunting conditions. We decided that this year this wasn't to be the spot so we packed in search of some fresh signs. We traveled about 1 or 2 miles and we seen where a moose walked the road for about 300 yards since we have been through. We thought that this may be the same cow that Al heard calling on Sunday. It was traveling westward and we knew the road went west for a bit and then north so we back into the road in attempt to cut off the cow. While walking around where we thought the cow may show up Darryl found another set of tracks on a branch road that also happened that morning. We surmised that this was also a cow based the fact that this one, was at one time within calling range of us (of course, it's tracks were more pointed than a bull track!!).

We walked around the area until lunch time and then returned to camp. We also had an hour nap and returned to the area around 3:00 pm.

Darryl sat and watched for one cow and I sat watching for the other. I called a few times (two grunts and one cow ).

Around a half an hour before dark a heard what appeared a cow (two calls-one ending in snarl).

This seems to confirm our theory of both moose being cows .

I am certainly happy to hear these calls so clearly because it seems to assure me of my ability to hunt moose.

I ran back to get Darryl to hear the calls but by the time we got back it had stopped calling. It then got dark and we returned to camp.

Wednesday, Sept 30/98

We agree we would go out this morning and try to call a cow in (in other words we were going to hunt cows.)

Darryl was going to watch for one moose and I the other. As Darryl was walking towards his spot he noticed that one of the moose had moved and tracks were now entering a cutout area between the moose.

Actually the cutout was the one we thought the other moose would hit first. We followed the tracks on the road and realized that it left the road right where we thought the other moose would come out. The moose went right up to Darryl's blind and smelled it. We started to walk around the area and when I was at the place where he left the road I heard a cow call, which seemed to be around 5-6 hundred yards into the bush.

When Darryl came back I mentioned that a heard a cow and thought he may hear it better or even see it , if he were to go back about 5-6 hundred yards.

Within 20 minutes of him leaving I heard something coming out of the bush. I prepared myself as best I could.

To my surprise a bull came out of the bush. I waited as he came out appoximately 120 yards from me to within 52 yards from me. I placed the point of the scope between his neck and his front right shoulder and considered not shooting him but changed my mind after thinking of the odds of this moose coming within 50 yards of me.

So I thanked the moose and squeezed the trigger and he fell right there and appeared to be dead.

When Darryl returned after hearing the shot I said to him "It's a bull" and as I, he could not believe it.

He asked me where the moose was and I pointed him out and he was still alive and I asked Darryl to do the honours. We then figured out that this was the moose that I heard the previous evening that made the cow sounding calls (not grunts).

He was shot at 8:50 and with George's help we had the moose back in camp by 12:30 (whole).

We had him quartered and hanging by 4:00 pm (Thanks George!). The moose's antlers measured 34 1/2 inches across and 27 inches front to back and we are guessing 3-5 years old (good eating).

We will skin him tomorrow....Nice day!