2012 Moose Camp Trip

Mighty Peace

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Well as per Demonical's Request :cool:, here is the way our 2012 Moose Hunt went....its going to be long winded:cool:.
Sept.26th Post:

Well my annual sanity break from work is almost here...leaving early this sunday morning for a week with the guys :mrgreen: My trailer is already loaded up with 2 quads with tub trailers hooked on and 2 other tub trailers tied down on with gear to be placed in saturday. Overall 3 quads and 4 rhinos will make the annual migration into camp. Should take about 5-6 hours to get camp hauled in and setup.

Pic of camp from 2010.
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Pic of 2011 Camp
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Pic of Meat Pole 2011
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Getting pretty pumped ...hard to concentrate on work....lol

Going to surprise my buds this year once camp is hauled in and setup. When we go to leave for the late afternoon hunt, I'm going to break out my Mossberg Tactical 22 and say I'm going moose hunting. The guys will think its a restricted weapon (as AR's here in Canada are) but they wont know its just a rimfire 22 and a non-restricted rifle...its going to be funny. Its going to be my grouse gun this year. :wink:


We have 4 tags in our camp this year, hope to have some freezers full so the families can eat good this winter....maybe a few elk too wouldnt hurt!!

Will post story and pics when we return.
Good luck to everyone heading out on their trips this season !!!

Sept.27th Post:
1 to 1.5 days of work left to go, get rest camp and supplies loaded up saturday afternoon and off early sunday morning. It sure was an awesome cool fall morning today @ 8am out on the jobsite. been a great morning for calling. The bulls nutz should be all tightened up by now and we should hit it full swing rut !!!!! I hope ...lol

I will update when we return.

Sept.29th Post at 1:30pm
Well, all packed up, atvs/supplies/camp, leaving by 7:30am tomorrow. Temps in our region are dropping starting tomorrow !!!! YES !!!! Highs of +10 Celcius lows of -1 Celcius.....should have the bulls going hard!!! HAHAHA I said HARD!!

By this time tomorrow, camp will be all hauled in a setup and prepping for the evening hunt!!

Later all....till October 9th

Oct.9th Post:
Quick update. Man I hate being back at work already!!

We got 2 bulls.....first one again the first day out after getting camp tub trailered in and set up. Same cutblock about 500 metres west of our camp at 6pm. One guy took a shot tuesday morning and missed.....too bad b/c it would of been identical to last years trip and in the same block too boot where we took the second bull.

The 2nd bull taken was on friday. We come home saturday. Cut, made burger, wrapped all the meat yesterday in 6 hours.

Two guys have tags still so a few weekend-day trips will be happening till the end of the month as the early season tags are only open till Octber 31....late season starts November 1.

Anyhow, I will update fully with pics later this week.

Oct.10th Post:
FULL UPDATE with PICS.

Well it was another successful year for our annual moose hunting trip. There were 4 tags in camp this year. Left town early sunday morning. Started unloading the trucks and trailers by 9am and had camp hauled in a with all the gear on the Rhinos/Quads and tub trailers and we were fully setup by about 2pm, plus another hour to get some firewood.

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We all left is separate groups for the evening hunt by 4pm. Just like last year, we got a bull come into my calls in a cutblock not too far from camp (500m west)-same block as last year on the first day out! :mrgreen: Walked into the cutblock and sat on a brush pile. It was all over for our little party by 6pm. About 110 metre 1-shot. Located the downed bull. Nice young bull, maybe 2 year old.

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Me with the bull.
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Found best access out to trail in the cutblock. Walked back to the quads, drove in part way, got the chain saw going and cut a way into the bull....there were some large logs laying down plus the tall grass made it hard to see them. Finish just at dark, rest of guys come in and we dressed the bull out where he layed and then pulled him back to camp. Skinned out, quartered up, deboned the rib cage of all meat. Dragged the hide and rib cage back about 1 mile west of camp.

Cooked supper, consisting of appetizers of smoked oysters, roll mops (pickled herring)and other goodies we are not allowed to eat at home in front of the wifes. :wink:

Woke up at 4:30am to the sound of rain falling on the tent fly. So we slept in till 8:30/9am-still raining, cooked a good hearty breaky of bacon, eggs and maple sausage we made of last years elk & moose. Still Raining - sat around the camp fire and talked the usuall BS and girl stories....lol

It stopped raining, we left by 3pm, off again all in different direction. Had another bull grunting at my calls but never showed. Back to camp............the usual appis' and supper is Moose Chilli with corn tracers.....hahaha.

Woke up at 5am to the wolves howling to the northwest. Great morning, went and worked some blocks a couple miles to the east. Heard a shot. Got back to camp around noon and one of the guys missed (and yes he did go look for blood...he usually doesnt miss). This bull materialized out of no where the first time he seen it, the disaapeared, then appeared again further away in the edge of the block when he shot, about 250 metres. We all say he pulled up from his excitement... 8)

Rest of day was uneventfull...just lots of touring and looking for sign. A few ruff grouse where taken during the day and kept for a traditional camp meal.

The night was very cool and partially froze outside. We thought that would get the bulls going again. The morning was uneventfull for all again. We had an awesome lunch- fresh moose heart pan fried in bacon and onions....hmmmmmmmmmmmm. First time for me eating heart and it was AWESOME!!

I seen a large bull that evening hunt in the far east blocks but the wind was totally wrong and I knew it form when I seen him. We tried a sneak getting over the the east edge of the block out of the wind....got part way, set up and called. The bull come in, trotting then hit the brakes wheeled around and ran straight north. Was about 350 metres from where we set up ....damn wind. Oh well, this got the guys back at camp all pumped up again. We had a tremondous supper of 10-12 oz NY strip loins and roasted potatoes along with fresh large oysters cooked in their shells on the BBQ along with the usual appetizers again.

Off to bed, very cold night...warm in the tent with the diesel heater we have. Porrage for breaky, off to the block with couple of guys to where the bull was last evening.............nothing but a great morning. My quad broke down-snapped a rear u-joint. Had no rear wheel drive. Limped it home later that morning back to camp...good thing all solid ground. As the saying goes, sh!t happens. Been a great machine...new since- 99-Honda 450ES. I guess now I have to get a Yamaha-my buddy is the dealer as you can tell by camp. Hopefully new Rhino-just need to convince the Misses:cool::HR:.

Heard couple shots from where we were setup. Found out wasnt anyone in our hunting group...and none sounded like a hit.

We did up a brunch again...some guys had a nap, some went looking for chickens, cut and buck up some more fire wood. Thursday evening was slow again. Pic of a buddy doing his series of calls.

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Friday morning was spent touring/calling but to no avail. BUT the late afternoon/early evening, another guy was succuessful on a young bull, came right into the cow calls of mine....I guess I sounded good.. :p This bull was quite a ways away from our camp and help was needed.

By the time we got back to camp, got the guys and left and then finally got back to camp it was quite late. We hung the quarters up and then got a fire going and really tied into some RUMS to celebrate camp.

Our meat chimes!! :mrgreen:
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Again we heard the wolves to the NW. We slept in the next day till 8:30am, started to pack up, hauled supplies back to the trucks. We left the area around 12:30pm. Rinsed off the moose quarters with a pressure washer (they were clean but to get some of the liitle bit of hair, grass and bit of mud off).

My wife put me to work the next day starting a reno job in the basement :| , oh well I guess thats what happens when you leave home for a week of fun with the boys !!!

We cut meat, ground burger and wrapped all the meat up on monday-took 6 hours between 6 guys...started at 8:30am.

Couple guys with tags left are heading out over the next couple weekends for day trips-maybe into different area of the zone we hunt as to let our area we hunt rest till next year...its been good to us over the years. The 2 guys have till end of the month for their tags....if no go, we have a few of us with cow elk and bull elk tags and the elk should be near the farmland we have permission on by mid November...mmmmm these elk are like cattle...all they eat is alphafa, oats, etc out from the farm fields all year.

GREAT TIMES !!! GOOD MEMORIES again! Now in the next couple years, most of us have younger children that want to start coming out for a night or 2. CANT WAIT!!! But I dont want my 2 boys to grow up too quickly yet.

Thats the long story. Looking forward to reading other fellow hunters adventures and successes.

Oct.16th POST:
Here is a 2nd update. A few of the guys went out on sunday morning for a 1/2 day trip to a different area in the zone we hunt. I couldnt make it as I had to go out of town for a Hockey Coaches clinic. Anyhow they seen or heard nothing so they were making their way back to the trucks and one guys seen antlers in the willows in the cutblock. They stopped. Coudnt see anything. So they walked back up the rise a little bit and one of the guys (with a tag) seen the bull. One shot and down it went. Guys were giving high 5's and were walking into the spot the bull dropped.

All of a sudden another bull appeared and they thought it was the same bull BUT it wasnt. It was a bit smaller and the guy with the other tag asked the other 3 if he should take it...they said YES. 2 shots from his Sako m75 Greywolf 300WSM with 180gr XP3's and it was down! The 2 bulls are about 40 yards apart. Right after that they realized the work ahead of them. Good thing it was around 12:30pm. They called their wives to say they will be late for dinner.

A HUGE cow moose appeared-they said she had a body bigger than the second bull and almost equalled the first. The 2 bulls had a bunch of bruises as they must have been fighting over the cow.

I was so happy for the guys when they called me sunday evening when I was driving back to town. I was disappointed as welll as I wanted to be there on the trip but oh well. Quite the story and new area they found. All of them thought it was just going to be a easy stroll scouting some new area about 40 km from our moose camp area. The RUT is still on.

I will post pics as soon as I get them emailed to me.

A couple of the guys have cow elk tags and are now thinking with the 4 moose in the freezer that they probably wont go out for them. I guess we will see once we process these 2 bulls - going to make alot of burger and make alot of kubasa and maple breakfast sausage. If it looks we could use more meat then they will get their cow elk. I already have a bull elk tag so if I see a decent bull when out whitetail hunting I will take him.

Its been a great year for our moose hunting group!! Now a couple of us can concentrate on findng a few Booner whitetail bucks!


Well here are the pics as promised.

First Bull:
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Second Bull:
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The guys were not prepared for 2 bulls. I bet they were tired after field dressing the 2 bulls. My one buddy is quick (we have done more than our other friends-maybe he made them do it this time on one of the bulls for practice). Normally we debone in field (at camp once animal is pulled back) or at trucks but with the pull out of the cutblock and down the cutline to the trucks they just field dressed them and then hauled to the trucks/trailer, loaded them up and finished skinning and quartering up back at home.

Meat is hanging in our cooler. We will cut/wrap and make burger on one bull next monday after work and do up the other bull a couple night later. Should take 3 hrs for each animal with 4-5 of us helping out. Now the guys with more children will have lots of burger for this year and I cant wait to start making kubasa and sausage. :mrgreen: The beer and rum will taste good when taste testing :wink: freshly smoked sausage. :mrgreen:

Anyhow guys, keep you posted on the whitetail hunting I will be concetrating on now. Need a buck bigger than 185" or I dont pull the trigger. Got to be bigger than what I have on my wall. If not my tag will be another XMAS tree ornament. I'm due its been 8 years since I shot my last whitetail buck.

Good Luck on the rest of your hunting season guys!!!


Well finally, THE END !!! Sorry for the long story.
:cheers:Everyone!!
 
Cool! Good looking moose, great camp setup. I love the wall tent with the built-in awning.

Thanks.

We do too. Normal size is 5' but we had it built to 8 or 10'. Yeras ago we use to use poly for a porch/awning with some small dia trees as the frame tied to the outside of the tent. When we got the new tent 16x20(bigger for more guys now) 5 years ago from Deluxe Wall Tents, we kind of semi-custom ordered our tent with larger porch and extra windows and stovepipe placement.

Initially I thought you were talking about the cover over the firepit. We learned our lesson about four years ago when it rained for 3 days straight, 24hrs a day. We had 2 smaller tarps to try and issues with water running in, so we bought a large one. If needed, we can pull the rhinos and quads underneath enough if its snowing/raining before we goto bed.
 
Great pics and story, thanks for sharing! (except there's entirely too much Yamaha blue :p)

I know you are poking fun. Only Yamaha blue is the cook shack. Use what we can get. One of the guys in our group is a Yamaha dealer. Only guy not running a Yamaha is me- I have a 99 Honda 450ES. Actually I'm wrong, one of the guys' fatherinlaw bought a new Honda and boy did he hear it at camp.........lol.

I bought the year before my friend opened his business. Now that I have mechanical issues with snapping a driveshaft, 2 tire punctures on this trip, and I'm due for new. I really want to get into a Rhino....put the roll cage on and seat in the box so I can take both of my boys out. Pretty hard to have 3 on a quad and be in control sometimes.
Just need to get the Misses on board.

BTW I like Yamaha blue....my mountain sled is a Yamaha!!!
 
Neighbours as in the same town or across the street? If street, did you get your deer yet? I'm going to try and slip out saturday afternoon after the boys hockey to do some scouting and check out a few of my stand locations...make sure they are not stolen like my game cameras were.:mad:
 
Neighbours as in the same town or across the street? If street, did you get your deer yet? I'm going to try and slip out saturday afternoon after the boys hockey to do some scouting and check out a few of my stand locations...make sure they are not stolen like my game cameras were.:mad:

I'm Jon from across the street...Not yet. Only done some scouting so far this year and picked a couple new stand locations. Late Nov. I have a few days off to put in some serious time. Got a couple cams out myself and will probably check them at the start of next month.
 
Great story and pics! I thought you'd be putting the smack down on a bull with your .338-06 AI ;) Funny you should mention Yamaha's. I was just at Redline in GP last friday and came home with a 2013 700 Grizzly (green) to join our '03 450 Kodiak (green) :)
 
Great story and pics! I thought you'd be putting the smack down on a bull with your .338-06 AI ;) Funny you should mention Yamaha's. I was just at Redline in GP last friday and came home with a 2013 700 Grizzly (green) to join our '03 450 Kodiak (green) :)

No, the 338-06AI is going to be my rifle for my bull elk this year..if I see a bull when packing it. My 300WM is my traditional moose camp gun....cant breal tradition. I probably will be packing my 270WSM for most of the rest of hunting season, going after a B & C whitetail that I will be concentrating more on!!!

Congrats on the new machine.
 
Thanks, Yes it was.

We cut, ground burger and wrapped the last 2 moose just last night. About total 5 hrs with 7 guys. Had a 20 minute break for supper.....BBQ moose tendloin and large tiger prawns and garlic toast.
 
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