My First Moose

tigrr

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
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Location
Burns Lake BC
I will never shoot another moose in the middle of a swamp. 8 hours to retrieve. I have learnt 20 feet off the road on the uphill side, don't even look down the downhill side. Aches galore. LIG

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If it's any consolation, the next one will be on level dry ground and it'll live just long enough to bolt into the thickest tangliest mess of deadfall imaginable. You know the old saying, best way to ruin a moose hunt is to shoot one, er, well, now you do. :) Congrat's, the meat makes it worth the effort.
 
Congrats! Before I shot my first moose my father always said, "Better a muddy moose than no moose." Then I shot one in a large mineral lick/wallow. I never did hear him say that again...I feel your pain.
 
My first moose dropped 200 yards in a clear cut that was covered in small logs, branches and stumps. Once My friend and I finished field dressing it started to snow. Within the hour the ground was covered in a foot of snow that made walking treacherous. Then, a fantastic stroke of luck! A huge forklift with giant claws used to load logs onto trucks came trundling down the road. The driver agreed to pick up the moose and dropped it in the back of my pickup. Best $20 I ever spent!
 
Congrats........hope you got the hide off ASAP as it don't take long to sour even in the cold..........Harold
 
We all learn.Shot one once that ran into a lake before expiring. November and lake was just icing up. Up to my thighs in ice cold water to put a rope on the buggar,so we could haul him out with the VW. Not sure if he was completely dead,so told my dad, he moves, you shoot. ;)

Grizz
 
The first year that I stopped hunting big game I came across the biggest damn moose I ever saw while out grouse hunting. I looked at him wading through a slough and I was glad that I didn't have a tag because that would be a hell of a pile of work to retrieve him out of there. He must of sensed something because the bastard walked out of the slough and up to my truck.
 
Well done! It was worth the effort, no doubt. Our hunting did the same many years ago. I think that it was about 3:00 am by the time we made it back to camp. But you know what, I would do it again! Who said that moose hunting is easy. The real work begins once the beast is on the ground. Congratulations again, well done!
 
A few years back my father and I were moose hunting. I shot a young bull and he dropped on the spot, right there on the quad trail. Pulled up, gutted him, loaded up, and away we went. Next day we are out to fill my father's tag. Late evening he sees a nice bull at the edge of a swamp, shoots and he charges about a 100 yards into the swamp and falls dead. By the time I get there, its too dark and we can't find the bugger. We figure he'll cool nicely in the cold late October swamp water and look in the morning. Next morning myself, my father, and my grandfather go out to retrieve him. Spend and hour looking for him, finally spot him. Guess who the youngest and mostly likely to wade into the swamp is? It's definitely not the grandfather. Strip my pants, boots, and socks off and away I go into the swamp up to my belly button to wrap a rope and ATV winch lines to pull this bugger out. By now this moose is stiff enough that he provides a hell of a workout that at least warmed me up while we gutted him. But that was the easy part. We spent the next 7 hours, cutting trees/trails, flat tire on the quad trailer hauling this guy out, broke through an old ATV bridge, and having to recover the quad and trailer/moose with two winches, and 3 guys pulling on a block and tackle by hand until our eyes were bugging out. By the time we got out of there we were exhausted and sore. Meat was great though, no spoilage. Was it worth it? Yup. But I really prefer shooting them there on the trail...

Moral of the story? I wouldn't hesitate to shoot one on the edge of the swamp again. Was it a lot of work? Yes, but with some proper/improvised tools, the right company, a lot of sweat and swearing, we have a fun story to tell that 3 generations got to share together. Good on you OP for following through and I bet you'll never forget the experience.
 
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