My first rifle was a 1903a3? 30-06. The first big game animal I took with it was a bull moose. We had run up the river the day before to our moose hunting cabin and got all set up for a nights hunt. My god father stayed at the cabin where we have a large white spruce that we called the grandfather tree. My dad and I headed down the trail to sit in some other stands we had built in fields anywhere from 1/2-1 mile away. I set up in the first stand about 1/2 mile from the cabin and got situated, then my dad was headed to the far tree about another 1/2 mile up the trail. He was out of sight in no time as the woods was very thick where the tree was, but opened up into a large clearning that you could see nearly 3/4 of a mile down, and about 500 yards across. He worked his way through the woods and made it about half way to his tree when a young bull moose ran out into my field. He never saw it or heard it, but the bull came running right in my direction. I put the cross hairs on him, but wanted to wait for the shot he had taught me, but the moose kept a running pace right towards me. About 40 yards out, he slowed to a walk, and I put the cross hairs on his chest. I squeezed off a round and the bull stopped, hunched up and turned broadside. I took another quick shot and he dropped in his tracks, not 40 yards from my tree. I had time to get down and go up to my moose before my dad got back, and when he saw that I had a bull down, he was exstatic. We got the bull packed out by the middle of the next day and did some grouse hunting. We dropped 5 grouse and I went back up that same spotting tree, and saw two large bulls and a cow. The larger bull had just run the younger bull off, which was right in our direction. I left my 30-06 in the tree, and my dad came walking through the woods with the grouse. I quickly got down and told him a bull was coming in, and he got up in the tree. The bull held up about 400 yards out, so I started some calling by brushing a dead black spruce against some dead tamarack trees, and the bull came running, thrashing brush, grunting and sniffing the air. Once the bull got into 100 yards, my dad squeezed off a round and dropped the bull in his tracks. My bull had a 24" spread and the bull he shot had a 53" spread. The skull cap cracked on the hike back through the woods, so the right antler on the big rack is angled in. This was one of my most fondest memories for hunting.