16A/Pickle Lake Moose

[Ruffed Grouse]

Thanks to those with info on Pickle Lake moose hunting (my thread/posts from a couple of weeks ago).

We got a small bull!!

Here are some pics form the hunt.

Of course he died in the river 12km from the road... Here we are setting up the hand winch. This is me and my friend Dak, picture is taken by my wife Sheena:

Once we got him up onto the muddy bank, this was the best we could manage for our hero shot. If we let go of the winch to turn his head to the camera he would have gone right back into the water. No matter 'cause he wasn't much to look at. Left to right is Dak, me, and Sheena:

Here is the missing head from the previous pic. Not sure what to call the right antler. It is even more misformed than the left - it was downturned and grey coloured. It is also broken off just inside the skull because my mercy shot went into the head (first shot was a broadside double-lung).

Here's the real hero shot:

 

[sheephunter]

That is one wild looking set of antlers....congrats on the sucess and all the hard work.

 

[blargon]

Hey, not bad for first time in an unknown area! You can't eat the antlers anyway, job well done...Looks like lots of hard work too.

 

[1899]

Congratulations! I bet you will not want to shoot another moose while it's in the water!

 

[Ruffed Grouse]

1899:

It was on shore when I shot it first through the lungs. It then swam across the river. We didn't shoot while swimming (even though it would have been merciful, since we knew that it was hard-hit). We finished it on the other side once it was no longer swimming but struggling and failing to get up the bank. It seemed right to finish it then.

We had the hand winch since we knew we'd be near water. Getting it out of the water was not too big of a deal. But working in the mud of the bank was!!

RG

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[Kenny_G2]

1899:

It was on shore when I shot it first through the lungs. It then swam across the river. We didn't shoot while swimming (even though it would have been merciful, since we knew that it was hard-hit). We finished it on the other side once it was no longer swimming but struggling and failing to get up the bank. It seemed right to finish it then.

We had the hand winch since we knew we'd be near water. Getting it out of the water was not too big of a deal. But working in the mud of the bank was!!

RG

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Glad the hunt worked out for you. Did you call him in or spot and paddle up? What type of gun and load did you use?

Same thing happened to me years ago. Watched a Cow wade across a river, plugged her on the far side through both lungs. She turned around and died in the middle of the river. Had to wade into get her but the good thing is moose float very well and I towed her closer to the truck.

 

[Ruffed Grouse]

Kenny G2,

I don't think that the rut was really on. So we planned to eventually call in that spot by thrashing bushes. But for that moment we were just paddling through when he stepped out in front.

I first shot at about 30 yards with my Remington 725 .30-06. We found after that the shot was slightly higher than I had intended but still a double lung shot. When he got to the other side of the river I shot again for the head. The shot hit at the base of the right antler, breaking part of the skull, but didn't immediately put the moose down. My friend then shot for head, but somehow ended up hitting spine behind the shoulders and also broke the far shoulder. He was using a Savage 99 in 358 winchester.

My load was a 165 grain partition loaded by my cousin and he was using the old factory 250 grain silvertip. My wife didn't end up shooting but she was ready with her sporterized M96 with 140 grain Remington pointed softpoint loads.

RG

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