so this year none of our crew got any draws in the LEH lottery so we opted for a 1 week any bull opening in BC region 6 , bulkley valley area.... sorta 
2 of us arrived at our camp on the afternoon of the 19th and got camp set up. we decided not to do any scouting and to leave my spot untouched until opening morning. I got a nice young bull last year at the top of the cut block on day 2 so decided to hit the same spot and try the new birch bark call I made in September. I decided this year that this was the season I would start parking my butt in a good spot and call, and stick to it with the most patience I could muster. being new at calling, I've been practicing and saw some success last year calling bulls out for the camera and for a buddy who shot a nice one I sweet talked away from his cow
so, we split up on day 1 and I went to the same cut as last years bull. the weather was perfect, just above freezing. we saw 10 moose between us that day with one small bull I passed on in hopes of seeing more.
day 1 ended with the excitement that moose were moving and we were sure the rut was getting going.
Day 2 saw me back in my spot in the top of the cut, sending out cow in estrus moans and keeping myself out of sight....... at 10:00 a.m. this nice 32" bull walked into the sights at 50 yards
he dropped at about 60 yards
that evening our 3rd man in the crew arrived and he was stoked to see the bull hanging in camp and eagerly jumped in to help with skinning and quartering. the next few days we covered a lot of ground where only quads or your legs could take you. loads of sign and sightings of cows but the bulls were eluding us. the weather kinda swung on us with high winds and I think the animals were hunkered down for a couple days.
on the 6th day of the 7 day opening, we were desperate for 1 or 2 more bulls. while the guys pounded their spots, I went up to my spot to see if there were any more bulls around there. my hopes weren't high as we had taken a bull up at the top corner of the cut on day 2.
I got there a couple hours before dark and started my calling sequence. about an hour in a cow and 2 young bulls came out of the far back upper corner of this area (in next pic) and they advanced on my position as I called. they were just specs in the open area (moose aren't in this pic as it's an 'after" shot)
I quietly slipped away and hiked back out to my quad. I would return in the morning with a shooter.
So, Tony and I doubled in on my grizzly and started the hike in to the cut from the top side. As we hiked, I let out the odd long cow call in a 3 call sequence as we slowly made our way in on the crunchy ground covered in a light skiff of snow. as we approached the spot I saw the 3 moose at same time as tony..... but they saw or heard us too as they were maybe 200 yards directly below my calling spot and were already in high gear...... busted!!!
I let out a cow in estrus call and all three moose did an immediate stop and turn..... I heard the crack of tony's 338 win mag and only saw 2 moose high tailing it straight away. Bull number 2 was down and we had not even sat down yet
here we are standing at the kill site of moose #2 , moose number one was called out of the left side of the lower treeline in this pic and in next pic, was taken at the top right corner by the lone tall pine just along the newer planted jack pines. (center on the 2nd pic at top)
can't believe we got 2 bulls in the same cut, only 300 yards or so apart.
we did not bother hunting the rest of the day, filled 2 of the tags for 3 guys and that's lots of meat for us.
made the 6 hour drive home today and dropped our meat at Butcher Bobs in forest grove and it was all over way too fast as it always is.
2014 moose season will be one i'll remember for some time and the knowledge that moose like my calls has me pretty damn stoked for next season.
Great times with my good buds, it doesn't get any better
2 of us arrived at our camp on the afternoon of the 19th and got camp set up. we decided not to do any scouting and to leave my spot untouched until opening morning. I got a nice young bull last year at the top of the cut block on day 2 so decided to hit the same spot and try the new birch bark call I made in September. I decided this year that this was the season I would start parking my butt in a good spot and call, and stick to it with the most patience I could muster. being new at calling, I've been practicing and saw some success last year calling bulls out for the camera and for a buddy who shot a nice one I sweet talked away from his cow
so, we split up on day 1 and I went to the same cut as last years bull. the weather was perfect, just above freezing. we saw 10 moose between us that day with one small bull I passed on in hopes of seeing more.
day 1 ended with the excitement that moose were moving and we were sure the rut was getting going.
Day 2 saw me back in my spot in the top of the cut, sending out cow in estrus moans and keeping myself out of sight....... at 10:00 a.m. this nice 32" bull walked into the sights at 50 yards
he dropped at about 60 yards
that evening our 3rd man in the crew arrived and he was stoked to see the bull hanging in camp and eagerly jumped in to help with skinning and quartering. the next few days we covered a lot of ground where only quads or your legs could take you. loads of sign and sightings of cows but the bulls were eluding us. the weather kinda swung on us with high winds and I think the animals were hunkered down for a couple days.
on the 6th day of the 7 day opening, we were desperate for 1 or 2 more bulls. while the guys pounded their spots, I went up to my spot to see if there were any more bulls around there. my hopes weren't high as we had taken a bull up at the top corner of the cut on day 2.
I got there a couple hours before dark and started my calling sequence. about an hour in a cow and 2 young bulls came out of the far back upper corner of this area (in next pic) and they advanced on my position as I called. they were just specs in the open area (moose aren't in this pic as it's an 'after" shot)
I quietly slipped away and hiked back out to my quad. I would return in the morning with a shooter.
So, Tony and I doubled in on my grizzly and started the hike in to the cut from the top side. As we hiked, I let out the odd long cow call in a 3 call sequence as we slowly made our way in on the crunchy ground covered in a light skiff of snow. as we approached the spot I saw the 3 moose at same time as tony..... but they saw or heard us too as they were maybe 200 yards directly below my calling spot and were already in high gear...... busted!!!
I let out a cow in estrus call and all three moose did an immediate stop and turn..... I heard the crack of tony's 338 win mag and only saw 2 moose high tailing it straight away. Bull number 2 was down and we had not even sat down yet
here we are standing at the kill site of moose #2 , moose number one was called out of the left side of the lower treeline in this pic and in next pic, was taken at the top right corner by the lone tall pine just along the newer planted jack pines. (center on the 2nd pic at top)
can't believe we got 2 bulls in the same cut, only 300 yards or so apart.
we did not bother hunting the rest of the day, filled 2 of the tags for 3 guys and that's lots of meat for us.
made the 6 hour drive home today and dropped our meat at Butcher Bobs in forest grove and it was all over way too fast as it always is.
2014 moose season will be one i'll remember for some time and the knowledge that moose like my calls has me pretty damn stoked for next season.
Great times with my good buds, it doesn't get any better
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