Luck was with me this fall when I drew a LEH shared hunt with a few friends. In the first 6 days of season I was seeing moose almost every trip out, but no bulls, yet. After work one day I headed out with the wife and my 3 year old son to get in a quick evening hunt. Overcast and rain, but I won’t kill one sitting on the couch.
A half hour before dark I spotted a moose from the truck. It was a cow, I got out, loaded my 280 Ackley, and snuck down the road a little ways. I could see two cows, and finally got to where I could see better and spotted the bull, standing broadside at the edge of the timber. I was going to try an offhand shot from 150y or so, but the bull was in no rush and I was a little shaky. I crouched down and was able to get closer undetected, when a nice clear shot presented itself at 125 yards. I took a knee, the crosshairs settled and I hit him behind the shoulder. He trotted forward and disappeared behind a brush pile and was out of sight. One of the cows was standing right there and she was staring his way. Seconds later he came out to where he was standing when I shot the first time and stopped broadside. He looked drunk but I gave him another one and that sent him into some slow egg beaters until he fell over.
I walked up and had a nice little 3x2 bull for the freezer. Cut my tag and went back to the truck. My son was pretty excited, as we walked up to the bull he kept telling me how huge it was.
He tells me next time we will get a mama moose
fast forward 5 weeks. A member of the shared hunt, Tex, comes up for a few days of moose hunting.
Camp went up smoothly. This was Tex's first hunting camp, he was very excited
The first couple days were Mooseless, but plenty of Ruffed Grouse kept us upbeat
At daybreak on the last day of our hunt, Tex spotted a couple moose across a marshy cutblock 600 yards away. BULL! We made a quick gameplan and began our stalk. The moose were out of sight for most of it, we slowly made our way to a higher spot until Tex spotted a moose in front of us. It was the bull, facing us, watching. I ranged him at 275 yards, we dialed up Tex's CDS dial on his Leupold scope and set up the short tripod. Tex settled in, as we discussed shot placement. The bull was still facing us, Tex was too vibrating too hard to make the shot. I told him to wait for a better angle, and that came a couple minutes later when the bull took a couple steps. Quartering to, the 7mm barked and instantly followed by a solid WHAP as the 160gr Nosler Accubond landed. The bull staggered , took a few steps, and piled up.
A half hour before dark I spotted a moose from the truck. It was a cow, I got out, loaded my 280 Ackley, and snuck down the road a little ways. I could see two cows, and finally got to where I could see better and spotted the bull, standing broadside at the edge of the timber. I was going to try an offhand shot from 150y or so, but the bull was in no rush and I was a little shaky. I crouched down and was able to get closer undetected, when a nice clear shot presented itself at 125 yards. I took a knee, the crosshairs settled and I hit him behind the shoulder. He trotted forward and disappeared behind a brush pile and was out of sight. One of the cows was standing right there and she was staring his way. Seconds later he came out to where he was standing when I shot the first time and stopped broadside. He looked drunk but I gave him another one and that sent him into some slow egg beaters until he fell over.
I walked up and had a nice little 3x2 bull for the freezer. Cut my tag and went back to the truck. My son was pretty excited, as we walked up to the bull he kept telling me how huge it was.
fast forward 5 weeks. A member of the shared hunt, Tex, comes up for a few days of moose hunting.
Camp went up smoothly. This was Tex's first hunting camp, he was very excited
The first couple days were Mooseless, but plenty of Ruffed Grouse kept us upbeat
At daybreak on the last day of our hunt, Tex spotted a couple moose across a marshy cutblock 600 yards away. BULL! We made a quick gameplan and began our stalk. The moose were out of sight for most of it, we slowly made our way to a higher spot until Tex spotted a moose in front of us. It was the bull, facing us, watching. I ranged him at 275 yards, we dialed up Tex's CDS dial on his Leupold scope and set up the short tripod. Tex settled in, as we discussed shot placement. The bull was still facing us, Tex was too vibrating too hard to make the shot. I told him to wait for a better angle, and that came a couple minutes later when the bull took a couple steps. Quartering to, the 7mm barked and instantly followed by a solid WHAP as the 160gr Nosler Accubond landed. The bull staggered , took a few steps, and piled up.
Lots of laughs with good friends. Tense moments building memories and stories forever. Hundreds of pounds of great meat, feeding many families. This is what hunting is all about!
