My moose hunt

[John Y Cannuck]

Moose hunt this year was a rain event. It rained every day, except the trip out.

Not that the rain stopped us, there are eight guys in the camp, we hunted every day from dawn to dusk.
Saw 14 deer, seven moose, but not one bull. I brought my moose tag home.
Sad not to have had a chance at a bull, but still, as anyone who hunts knows, the experience itself is what it's really all about.

My camp is about an hour from home by car, and then another ten miles by atv's  with trailers, across a few creeks and such, on a very rough trail. On an empty atv with no trailer, you can do it in half an hour, but, with all our gear, it's usually more than an hour in to camp that's if nobody upsets their trailer, or breaks down, and the beavers don't have the creeks backed up too high.

So how was your hunt this year?

[Rick Teal]

John Y:
 
I've already posted this account of my moose hunt in the moose hunting forum, but since you asked, I'll re-post it here.
 
For the first time, a group I've been part of has gone on a calf-only hunt and connected. 
This year (as usual) there were only two of us, but on wednesday evening, my buddy Pat was sitting in a tree stand when a cow went by.  He was regretting his bad luck when a second (much smaller) moose went by as well.  After weighing all the features he decided it was a calf and shot.

The calf dropped and the cow stopped.  Then he heard a noise to his right and a large bull was standing looking at him.  After a bit the bull moved toward the cow, and then another noise announced the arrival of two more palmated bulls that were clearly smaller than the first guy and subordinate.  These two spent a little time sparring, before the remaining four moose moved off.

After an evening that included some celebration, the next day dawned in a heavy rain (all week had been mostly rainy).  We hung close to camp waiting for a break, when it eased up near evening.  Pat and I decided to take short walks in opposite directions.  When I was just a short distance from camp, the sound of a shot and a radio message that went something like "Rick:  I think I've done it again." announced the end of our moose season.

This time the calf came into a clearing a short distance from camp, and Pat was weighing its characteristics to see if it was a calf or not when the cow stepped into the clearing removing all doubt.  A quick shot took this calf down as well.  During our 3+ days of hunting we saw 10 moose and 1 bear.  Pat saw 8 moose and I saw 2 plus the bear. 
 
With the bear, I may be kicking myself for years for passing on it.  I was looking for a trophy animal, and this very large one appeared across a beaver meadow tuesday evening.  It never looked straight in my direction so I could evaluate the skull.  I thought I'd have another chance when it went behind a small stand of evergreens, but it didn't come into the open again. 

It was a very large animal, and the head looked small which is often the indicator of a trophy bear, but the ear placement and forehead are the critical items and I never saw them clearly.
 
It would have easily been my largest bear ever by body size.  If I'd been more familiar with bear it may have been an easier decision for me to make.

If I'd shot it though, our 3+ mile trip out of the bush with two ATV's and two small trailers would have been much more interesting with a large bear and two moose.

One thing for sure is we could have used a couple more pairs of hands handling the beasts we had.

[John Y Cannuck]

Your camp and trails sound similar to ours. But we have eight guys.
We also use trailers that can be no wider than the atv's, owing to bridges we have built, and the trail widths. Some guys have built walking beam axles into their little trailers,  and that sure makes a difference with how they ride.
Mine is a single axle, and even at the slow speeds we must travel 6 to 10 kph max, it sometimes nearly upsets. I made the mistake of putting my beer in it this year, and lost a third of the case to breakage.
We generally sit and call for the first part of the week, with about three of us walking quietly around, then Wednesday, or Thursday, we start doing drives. I have walked up on a good number of moose over the years, lone cows seem to be the least wary.
Congratulations on your hunt. That will be tasty meat to be sure.

[Rick Teal]

John:
Here's a picture of one of our trailers, mine is similar but smaller.  For the deer hunts we often get 11 guys and 7 or 8 trailers, but for moose we seldom get more than the two of us for a calf hunt, but lots of guys when we have an adult tag.
 

[John Y Cannuck]

John:
Here's a picture of one of our trailers, mine is similar but smaller.  For the deer hunts we often get 11 guys and 7 or 8 trailers, but for moose we seldom get more than the two of us for a calf hunt, but lots of guys when we have an adult tag.
 

That trailer is almost exactly like mine. Bounces way too much on our trails.
I've got to bring it home and make some changes. Either I'll go walking beam with smaller tires, or some sort of trailing axle with suspension.
There's a setup at Princes Auto for trailing axle, but I'm too cheap to go that route. I'll concoct something from scrap around the shop at work.
We're thinking of going in for two weeks of deer hunting next year to our moose camp, instead of our usual deer camp. If that happens, my trailer will need to grow, and get suspension for sure.

[Rick Teal]

On our trail we're rarely able to get up enough speed for bouncing to be a major consideration.  I rarely got my manual shift out of first gear, and I probably had my new machine in differential lock for over half a mile.  Our trip is about 6KM and we can rarely do it in less than an hour - even with no cutting.
 
I'll need an education about walking beams and trailing axles. 
 
I'm thinking of making up a new trailer myself.  I'd like to make up something with a stake or removable box and a tilting bed that can be used to bring moose out of the bush without cutting them up first.

[John Y Cannuck]

The axle being able to pivot lifts the trailer more slowly. It works amazingly well.




This is a torsion axle from Princess auto. Basically, the axle is surrounded by rubber that cushions the ride. I've no experience with it on a trailer, but years ago, we used to have a cultivator that used this system to spring the teeth. It worked quite well.

[John Y Cannuck]

Here's a pic of one of our walking beams. Sorry, bad angle can't wee that there are four wheels. But you can see that the articulation that smooths out the ride.