No moose this fall but I had a chance at a big one. My partner and I were hiking back on one of the No-tell-um River islands and heard the bull banging his antlers and possibly sparring with another moose.
We worked up to it and I finally stumbled into him at about 40 yards - he fooled me as I thought he was farther away. It was late evening and we didn't know how far from the river so we'd agreed we wouldn't shoot. I didn't get a good look at his antlers as he was in a batch of spruces but they were much bigger than anything I've shot. I think he winded me after about 5 minutes plus my calling was a give away. We could hear another animal or two huffing and snorting and saw one cow walk away before the bull departed. No sign of a second bull.
I was packing the .300 Win. But at the time I thought, rats! the perfect time for the .348 - except the low light might have made it tough to see the sights. But with the downpour of rain I'm glad I left the .348 at home - it would have been a pile of rust. As it was, my Nikon (Travelite V) binocs kept fogging up whether I left them out in the rain or kept them inside my coat. I'll have to call Nikon on this. Fogged glasses could ruin a hunt.
On our way out we found we were only .2 miles from the nearest slough and .25 miles to the river over some pretty decent trails. Drat. We seemed to have found the most tangled route to him. If we'd been in the easy walking we might have been more careful and tagged him. Still I think my back is better off.
Oh well it was still really fun to find that guy. Saw a number of cows every time we went back but couldn't find the bull. By the next day it was raining 1.5 to over 3 inches a day for 4 days. Nice quiet walking but all the moose were in the deep brush, laying low and not doing much. Followed one cow for over an hour without spooking her but she never led me to the bull.
Season's over. Warm and rainy. I think it would have been a little easier if weather had been crisp. I think the moose would have been more frisky.
Luckily one friend gave me about 20 lbs of neck meat from his moose and another gave me a front shoulder and some ribs. My freezer is actually looking pretty good. The village tradtion of sharing your catch with your friends is nice - I gave him a hind quarter last year and they took care of me now. Glad I put up some extra salmon.
Just one very rainy day after another lately and I'm tired of being wet. Got home Saturday and some of my stuff was still wet on Wednesday. Sure was glad I was dressed in fleece and all the modern hi tech fabrics. I would have been miserable in cotton. Also glad I had a Coleman lantern to warm the tent and dry a few items each night - but sure had to be careful about carbon monoxide - left the tent doors open and was careful to never go to sleep while drying.
