Hi all,
We have returned from our moose hunt. We are mooseless, but we had a pretty good hunt. The weather didnt cooperate with us, but we were able to make the best of it. Here' s a rundown of the weeks activities.

Saturday Morning: The wind was blowing like hell, and the trees were laid right out in the wind. We never left the cabin.
Saturday Evening: The wind let up, and the rain slowed, so we headed for the back-side of the mountain. The weather was warm, and I dressed waaay too heavy for the 2 mile walk in. Saw some fresh bull tracks on the road, but no responses to my calling. The bugs were terrible.

Sunday Morning: We woke up to a 45 degree morning, wind was calm, and it was cloudy. We decided to go to the beaver pond where we were pinned down by the bull last year. There were huge fresh bear tracks everywhere on the 1 1/2 mile walk in. Nice morning. Brian decided to go to the far side of the pond and set up. 3 steps later and he was up to his waist in water. Seems the beaver have been busy. No responses to my calls.

Sunday Evening: Set up on a big clear cut close to the beaver pond. Fresh cow and calf tracks greeted us. Found a nice size birch tree that a bull took his agressions out on. I had something come in behind me in thick stuff, but couldnt see it.

Monday Morning: We decided Blake Lake was where it was happening. It was cool and calm when we woke up, and a slight fog near the lake. We got set up, and I gave my first call. Nuttin. Second call was greeted by a faint bull grunt. Things are looking up. I began giving quieter cow calls, and was greeted each time by a bull grunt. I could hear him walking in the lake coming towards me. I was set up about 70 yard off the lake watching where a bull and cow track went down a run. He kept coming, but stopped at the edge of the lake. I gave another cow call, which was immediately responded to by a cow moan. Each time I would call, the bull would grunt, and the cow would moan. I could hear her coming down the lake like the bull did. She got in close to where the bull was, and lead him away. (Darn Women screw up everything) Brian said they cut through just in from him, but he didnt get to see them.

Monday Evening: We went back to Blake Lake and set up a little ways from where we did in the morning. It was raining buckets, and the wind really picked up. I was soaked in less than 10 minutes. Brian met up with me at dark, wet up to his armpits from stepping in a beaver slide. (He really hates beavers at this point.)

Tuesday Morning: Wake up call was trenchal downpours and high winds. Good morning to catch up on some sleep.

Tuesday Evening: We set up on an awesome marsh off the south end of Blake Lake. Fresh moose tracks, and droppings greeted us. The bugs were really biting well, but the moose wouldnt respond to my calls.

Wednesday Morning: A nice morning, cool, calm. We decided to hunting the clearcut that Webster screwed up on a nice bull last year. As we were walking in, we kicked a moose out of the clearcut. A real bummer. We set up and called, but noone wanted to play with us.

Wednesday Evening: Once again the winds picked up, and it rained. We were on Blake Lake for one more try. No responses, but we did get wet, and bit up by the bugs. (By now we both look like we have some kind of disease from all the bug bites.)

Thursday Morning: Quite possibly the perfect moose morning. We woke to 35 degrees, calm, and no rain. We decided Mitchell Lake was calling our names. We got in and got set up. I began giving the occasional cow call. I could hear something in the water, but didnt know if the noise was from all the ducks that were on the lake. At 8:15 I look over at Brian who is sitting on point, and I can see nature boy taking pictures of the wood ducks 6 feet in front of him. I can also hear something big walking through the brush right behind him. He is showing no reaction. I stood up waiting from him to turn my way so I can motion that something is behind him. He stands up, snaps another picture, and sits back down. Then, he finally hears it, and about turns himself inside-out grabbing his bow. He hooks up the release, and starts to draw. Finally he wakes up!!!!!
A nice bull, about 30" or so walks out 15 yards behind him, but in the brush. The only shot I had was a gut shot, so I passed. The bull walks to where Brian walked in at, and his eyes got as big as soft balls. He made a quick look around, and walked up over the ridge. I tried calling him back, but he was on to us. So close yet so far.

Thursday Evening: We set up on Monster Swamp, about 1/4 mile from where we were this morning. Brian got set up, and I walked down to a small bay to call. I just got my backpack off, and looked up, and there were antlers at the end of the lake. I quickly grabbed the binoculars, from my pack, and he was gone. I gave a few calls and waited. As I sat there, this smell hit me. There was a bear daaamn close to me, but I couldnt see it in the brush. About 3 minutes went by, and the smell disappeared. A few minutes later, and beaver started going crazy in front of Brian. I thought it seem Brian or something. After dark, I met up with Brian. He had a moose behind him in the brush, but too thick to do anything about it.

Friday Morning: Wake up to an awesome morning. 28 degrees, no wind, no rain. We decide to play with the Mitchell Lake bull again. My first call was quickly followed up by a grunt. I can hear the moose moving away. ( I think he' s on to us.) I continue to call, but the bull dont want to play. A calf begins talking for a few minutes, then all goes quiet. As we leave, we run into the only other archery moose hunter in the area. He was set up about 1/2 mile away from us. He had a bull at 20 yards, got to full draw, and the bull turned and ran away. He was pumped up.

Friday Evening: Undecided on where to go, we sat down with the topo map. I found an area that looked good, and told Brian, " Here' s where he is" . We head out for missing bridge for our last sit of the hunt. We found an awesome area, lots of tracks, and it just " felt good" . I gave a call, no response. 15 minutes later, I gave another call. It sounded like someone was driving a bulldozer through the woods. It was the perfect set up. He was coming at me from up wind, and I had a ton of natural shooting lanes. It got to the edge of the thick stuff, and threw on the brakes. It stood there for several minutes just out of sight. It Finally turned and walked away. Calls wouldnt turn him for nothing. Just before dark I could hear something coming up from the river bottom. I got turned, just in time to see the biggest beaver I have ever seen. I bet it would go over 70 pounds. Dark fell on us, and the hunt was over.

All in all, we had a great hunt. The weather really scewed us a few days, but we were able to make the best of it. I once again end up mooseless, but the experience was the greatest, I got to see 2 bulls, and hunting season was once again kicked off for the year.
I am now official camera man for Brian' s first bear hunt, and hopefully tonight we will get his first bear on video.