Opening day moose (Ontario)

daveg01

daveg01

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Lanark, BANtario
It was an exciting hunt so say the least. We arrived at the cut where we had found a ton of fresh sign the day before. We were waiting at the trucks for day light as we arrived very early to ensure no one would be there first.

We were 5 minutes from walking the 2km into where we were going to be. 3 guys on the outside cuts and the caller in the middle. The hope was that the moose would have to pass by one of the guys on his way to the call.

Anyways, right before we were ready to start walking we started hearing a bull grunting only a couple hundred yards away (we had yet to call). We were still standing at the trucks. 3 of us got ready and the 4th guy called back with a lonesome cow call. The bull returned the call right away.

Long story short, this went on for an hour until I caught a glimpse of the moose through a gut in the terrain. I couldn't see it's head, only the top of its back, so I had to wait (we only had bull and calf tags). Another 10 minutes passed and the bull popped his head over the hill at 50-60 yards. By the look on the bull's face he knew he was in trouble. We were still standing on the logging road right next to the 2 trucks.

Since he was facing us, we shot twice in the brisket and he turned broadside where we hit him once more. He appeared to go down over the hill so we carefully started towards him. Once over the hill we could see him 40 yards downhill still standing, but looking like he was having trouble. For insurance, I popped him twice more broadside and he was down for good. 3 of us shot at him at nearly the same second, so we split the credit 3 ways.

When we opened him up, the brisket shot was right through the heart so he was a dead moose walking.

We took this moose at 7:45 opening morning and he was the largest moose taken in the area as far as we could tell. This was in the northern part of WMU40 and he was 54.5 inches. Another bull (49") was shot 600 yards from us only 10 minutes later by a gang we know. His head and body was very scarred up from fighting.

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Awsome moose, congrats!! (BTW : How TF do you get a tag in WMU40!)

We used to hunt 40 and 41, but tags were/are hard to get.

Anyway, good on your guys.....we had no luck in WMU25 last week.
 
44fordy said:
Awsome moose, congrats!! (BTW : How TF do you get a tag in WMU40!)

We used to hunt 40 and 41, but tags were/are hard to get.

Anyway, good on your guys.....we had no luck in WMU25 last week.
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We have a group size of 13 so we get a tag nearly every year. The only problem is we have to split the meat 13 ways :(
 
daveg01 said:
We have a group size of 13 so we get a tag nearly every year. The only problem is we have to split the meat 13 ways :(
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I hear ya. We only have 6-8 guys, so we're very limited.

We used to hunt in 40/41 around River Valley, we got lucky and drew a tag the first year with no guarantee. After that we weren't so lucky so we started hunting Hearst area.

Thinking of going back for a bow hunt next year.
 
I know what you're saying 44Fordy... One of the issues we have hunting in 40 is that we have to invite some people that are well - pretty much complete idiots.

We are looking to find a place to stay in 19 or 21 as the tags numbers are high.

From what I saw this year, there are plenty of moose in the part of 40 that we hunt. There were lots of moose hanging after opening day compared to previous years.

One bonus of less tags we are noticing is that there are fewer hunters around - especially ATV road hunters. Soooo many times we have been setup in a great area and a pack of ATVs come rolling through. Frustrating to say the least.
 
My first time moose hunting, myself and a friend went to another friends' camp in 21 near Caramat.

First day saw a moose, second day shot a moose, dragged said moose from the bush, cleaned/quartered and hung. 3rd day we went back home.

The other guys #####ed because we only stayed for a couple days. If it wasn't for us, they'd still be in bed drunk, let alone have a 1000lb bull hanging!!

Immediately after that, we started our own gang....with the amount of guys we have, it's hard to draw anywhere. I LOVE hunting 40/41, which is why we're considering bow hunt with tag and lodging.
 
44fordy said:
My first time moose hunting, myself and a friend went to another friends' camp in 21 near Caramat.

First day saw a moose, second day shot a moose, dragged said moose from the bush, cleaned/quartered and hung. 3rd day we went back home.

The other guys #####ed because we only stayed for a couple days. If it wasn't for us, they'd still be in bed drunk, let alone have a 1000lb bull hanging!!

Immediately after that, we started our own gang....with the amount of guys we have, it's hard to draw anywhere. I LOVE hunting 40/41, which is why we're considering bow hunt with tag and lodging.
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Your experience is similar to mine. Unless we cut some dead weight in our gang, a few of us will be starting our own gang too.
 
I went out the first 2 days in wmu 2. Had an afternoon nap at my calling spot and woke up with a cow browsing beside me. I have a bull tag. Same thing the next day, I ran into that cow again.

The next day I was hunting grouse in wmu 3, and saw a pair of antlers moving across a rise in the road. I waited a while and let out a low cow call, and the bull responed immediately. It would move in and hang up repeatedly, so we played a few waiting games for the next 3 hours. Eventually, I had it within 50-75 yards, and it circled around to wind me and left. That made for some great calling practice, since I'm a novice and never actually called a bull in before. Now I hope I can get some more days off soon, so I can head back into 2, portage my canoe around, and get my bull!

good luck everyone!
 
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