It was a long time since my last moose draw and a long time since I was able to hunt anything on the mainland of BC. 10 years ago my wife and I decided to move to the island for various reasons (work, family and weather mainly). Well moving to the island made it near impossible fir me to get to the mainland and go hunting. I've taken my share of blacktail deer over the past few years but I was getting restless and really wanted to get back to the land of moose and big mule deer.
Well this was my year as I applied with my good friend for a region 5 moose and we were both lucky enough to get our tags. The season opened up Oct. 1 and ended on the 14 so we decided to make the most of the time we would have. This was going to be my friend jimmys first hunt for moose so needless to say he was quite pumped. I researched the area we were drawn for and narrowed our camp site to 2 lakes that were surrounded by swamps, timber and some newer cuts.
It was finally time to head out, our pickup was packed with tents, rifles, packs and other gear. It was Sept 30 and we caught the5:30pm ferry to Vancouver. After the ferry ride, a couple quick stops for gas and food and a 6 hour drive later we were finally in our zone. We found a good swamp on our map we had but had no idea what the surrounding timber was like. It was 3:30 in the morning and wouldn't be light for another 3 hours. We grabbed our pillows and crashed in the truck for a much needed sleep.
At 6:15 my alarm went off and out to the swamp we go. As we walk towards the swamp we realize we are surrounded by cattle....apparently there was a ranch near by with all their cattle in the area, we quickly get back in the truck and check the map for other potential locations. I locate a road that I saw some promising looking blocks with good elevation on google earth so we proceed.
As soon as we reach our destination we knew we were in the right area. There were tracks all over the road, bushes that had been rubbed up and willows chewed right down. We drove in a couple Km's got out and found a good vantage point. I did some cow calling every 15 minutes for about an hour. Since this was our first day we thought we should check out a little more ground before taking up too much time at one spot. We hop in the truck and drive down the road a little further. Another 2 km down we hit a deactivation.... Our hopes kind of crushed we turn the truck around and begin our way out. Just as we are returning to the spot that we had just previously called we see a big brown object on the road. Simultaneously we both yell moose! I pull up my binoculars and shout bull. Jimmy shuts down the truck jumps out and loads a 165 gr hornady inter bond handliad into his browning a-bolt topped with a Nikon monarch 4-16 x42 scope. Steadies himself on the bipod and with what seemed like 10 minutes but what was actually 10 seconds, the rifle barks and the bull drops on the road. The first of our tags is filled on the first day of the hunt. High fives and a couple pictures later and we are off to find a camp site to spend the night and hang the quarters.
After a long night of setting up camp, hanging and cleaning up the meat we were off to sleep. 5 hours later we were up again to find our second moose. We decided to go back up the same road as the day before, although short it seemed to hold a lot of sign. We drove to the deactivation and got out to go for a walk, as we are getting our gear ready I grab my Gino's and spot a black spot up on a hill about 2.5 km away. We were not sure what it was but really seemed out of place. Unfortunately there was no way to get closer as a large river separated us and the 'spot'. We split up and liked for a couple hours to no avail. As we get back to the truck and meet up we both glass the hillside that previously had the spot on it. To our surprise it was gone. Moose. Perfect, now how do we get up there. We check our maps that we printed and find another route back around 40 km further back down the mainline. After taking out time and spotting a few mule deer along the way we reach our destination. It is up on a large mountain with newer cuts and looks very promising. We find the deactivated spur which we believe leads us to where the black spot was and decide that it is the road we will walk to get into the area.
It was now 2:30 and the sun was bright, so we decided to drive a couple km up the road and park for lunch and a little break. We kill the next 2 1/2 hours and finally we are ready to start our walk in. We make our way back and park the truck, hop out and grab our gear. Not 10m from the start of our walk jimmy puts his hand up and motions me to stop, he says in a quiet voice, moose! I grab my binocs and see a bulls head between 2 patches of alder. He is bedded down and intently looking down hill away from us at something. We range the bull at 656 yards and devise a plan to get to a reasonable shouting distance. We creep slowly through the slash and along ditch lines trying to stay quiet. The entire walk it felt like my heart was pumping through my chest and hands were shaking every time I looked at him through my binos. We finally reach a spot that we range at 346 yards, it was little far but a distance I was more than comfortable shouting from. At this point we would gave to cross a large opening to get closer or set up here for a shot. We decide not to risk it and I find a good stump and lay down with my .280 xbolt. I look through the minox 3-9x40 scope and steady my cross hairs on the bull. At this point he us still bedded and I was not going to take a head shot. We sit a wait, 2 minutes goes by....then 5.... I whisper to jimmy, "let out a bull grunt". He grunts and the bull gets up, he looks in our direction then turns his body and looks back down the hill, as he does this I place my 140 gr nosler silvertip handliad through his front shoulder. He studders and I let a second fly, immediately he drops. We wait for a minute in astonishment of the events that just took place then jump up and give a high five a a shout of joy.
We make our way up to the bull and as we get to the crest of the hill find a cow and calf still standing at the edge of the bottom of the cut. We now have our work cut out for us. It was just starting to get dark at this point at 6:20 pm. After 5 hours of gutting cutting and packing we get the bull down to the spur and into the truck. 2 bulls down in 2 days. This was something that we never expected.
We arrive back to camp at 12:30. After a quick bite we hang and clean up the second set of quarters. At 2:30 we crash. The next day we spend in camp relaxing and tidying up the moose quarters. Next day we pack up and leave for the 12 hour trip back to our island home. It was a trip that I had been looking forward to for years and it all came together perfectly. We got back 5 days early, with meat for the year. Like a whirlwind blur it was over all too fast, but it was awesome! We are already planning the hunt for next year! Thanks for reading.
