just got home, hung the meat, and man I am beat!
The story... well I trailed a bull all morning yesterday. No calling, they are still in velvet. No luck. The bull hitched up with a cow, a looooong ways later, and thigh deep water, I backed off.
This morning was supposed to be for my buddy. An 18 yr old I have known since I first arrived in Ak. His older brother and some of their family friends used to shoot with me almost nightly at the old indoor range. Well he pulled out that old Bear Grizzly this summer and started zinging arras. Not only that but he drew a COW tag. Man icing on the cake for moose meat! We went out last nite, didnt see a stinking thing! We had to try an old area I had previously hunted with mixed success. The wind was swirling, the sunset was great, the company was great, but no moose. He banged on the door at 5:15 this morning and we went to register him on post so he can hunt army lands. Fifteen minutes later we were off to find some 4 legged critters.
A cow in a field caught our attention. After pulling out my spotting scope, realizing it was a calf, we had to retreat. We snuck up on a cow and calf for fun to see how close the two of us could get. 50 yards later (more swirling winds) we were looking at a big ole rump going the other way through the brush.
We gathered our things and moved to a different area, behind the NBC chamber, or the Gas chamber for you non Military types. Their are some old 4 wheeler paths that you cant get down on wheelers anymore without a good wench and a strong back due to the muskeg and swamp. One of the few places they have ruined and they have finally gave up on ruining it some more. After a couple hundred yards ya hit some nice birch/aspen and spruce ridges, dotted with grassy sloughs here and their. It dont last long but its always worth a look see. Some to include the slough the bull was in we could see from the drive in to the parking spot down the back side of the ridge the NBC chamber is situated on. Almost a perfect glassing spot in its own right and one only a few know about it, or a few use to any extent. Its just to much work for the rest of them.
The deal was, the cows were his, the bulls were mine, unless he was in a position to shoot, or a better position then I to take up the trail. Well being I was in the lead and I did see the bull first, off I went.
Now yesterday this bull was skittish beyond all compare! Not to mention he had a cow and she wanted no part with the goofy thing splashing in the water cussing at himself for taking the chase and not circling to higher ground and waiting them out. Hindsite is always 20-20.
So today thats exactly what I did, got in front and waited. This time no cow and the bull was much more relaxed. I wont say how bad I screwed up, lets just leave it at single digits, thats before my 2nd mistake....read on. The bull ran off into one of those sloughs, perfect for a stalk. The spruce forests are lined with muskeg. Nice soft quiet blankets of natures carpet. The best for stalking. 15 yards later and an arrow in the air, I had that sick feeling, something wasnt right. You know when it happens and you wish you could freeze frame life as you know it. The bull was quartering away, not hard, maybe 15 degrees and didnt move until the arrow struck. He had worked his way into one of the few nice stands of birch and aspen groves in the area. He didnt go off hard which was suprising big time! It looked decent, but like I said something didnt feel right. Well my pard had my binocs and was standing at the look out spot near the pickup. (remember what tuff and I said about shooting one close to where to get him out, well this one all worked out as the bull was headed back towards my pard the hole time LOL) The bull ran off 30 yards and bedded down. Not the kind of situation you normally find yourselve in. Decision time.....
Just what would you do? He is 30 yards away, hit, one of those hits that makes you go hmmm. He didnt react like a gut shot animal, but then I knew it wasnt a double lunger either. You can only see half of one antler.
Well I did what I preached, backed off, made a loop and got back to our ridge. We picked up the binos and could easily see him from the our ridge line perch (across a nice grassy slough) He was breathing hard, but held his head high. My stomach by now is turning and my mind is beating me up. The bull moved off another 15 yards and rebedded. Not the kind of thing you want to see. I did notice something though. The terrain allowed me to put another sneak on. The woods he was in was thick but quiet, with little to no underbrush, just nice tall birch and aspens dotted with an occasional spruce. I snuck back up and found myself almost standing in his old bed. Now when I saw the blood I felt a little better, but two steps to my left I had a shot.
A bedded moose. If its a wounded animal, I'll tell you to shoot all day long if the opportunity presents it self, which it rarely will (about as often as 2 shots on the same animal DOH), but no way if he isnt. Take that from experience.
I had my arrow nocked and was hoping the bull would stand, also hoping he didnt run. Quite frankly I dont think he ever heard me. The blood was all over the place near him, it was obvious he was hit harder then I thought, but that nagging thought entered my mind. Now I am back at 15 yards, have a clear shot, and still unsure of my first hit.
Ya ever hear of moose fever? Well when that arrow hit the air I was shaking like a leaf. It struck right where I was looking and the bull went off like a greyhound at the races. I yelled at my pard to watch him as he was headed back his way. The bull never made it. We heard some crashing on the other side of the slough and all went silent. Know I knew better to do what I had done, but the opportunity presented itself in a way I doubt I will ever see again. A wounded animal bedded in the perfect spot for a finishing stalk.
I still beat myself up for it but I tell ya, it eased my mind knowing my "2nd" arrow was a dead ringer, albeit still unsure of my "1st". An hour later and my buddy from Idaho gimping along (he just had knee and hand surgery last wed but couldnt pass it up to get out of the house) we took up the trail. Once I really started to see the trail up close, I had no doubt in my mind I had liver. Come to find out, I had liver and lung with that arrow, and due to the way the bull was sitting I took out his other lung with my 3rd arrow. Btw, I wont tell you I missed with the first but I did. 25 yards broadside. sailed right under his belly. Just how do you miss a stinking moose I'll never know! He hardly reacted giving me the 2nd chance, my first lung liver arrow. The 1st arrow sailed into that grassy area beyond. The bull didnt even look my way, with the commotion off to his right.
Well the blood was easy to follow......into the grass he went. I love tracking in the grass, even with no blood they are easy to follow. Sure enough, 30 yards from his 2nd bed their he lay.
I took some still pictures of how we quarter one side first, take the strap, and fillet the neck out. Roll him over onto his hide or a tarp and do the same. Then gut. Lifes just so much easier. Then if you screw up (gasp) and poke just a little to far gutting (gasp gasp), you dont mess up hardly anything. Btw, the ribs are Barney Flinstone sized! THe back straps were a measured 3+ feet long! Heck the loins are bigger then a whitetails backstrap! I should have those pics up in a day or two. I do have some digital pictures, but we ran out of memory card. We had forgot to erase some pictures and being fairly new to the diggy world, I figured I had better not as I'd probably fry the $600 camera I some how coaxed Dawn into letting me carry in my fanney pack to gather moose photos for yall.
btw, dont cut the antlers off unless its a big bull. The smaller bulls, it helps to stabalize th bull as you are doing your work.
Thanks to Carl Miller, I put that knive you made me to good use. Butchering up a moose without ever having to sharpen the blade. Its a Helle Polar knive with a handle made by Carl of Osage and Bacote. Oh it could use some serious stone work now, but it lived through the field work great!!!
The set up is my usual, tapered cedar, 60lb 68" take down crusader longbow, and my tried and true zwickey eskimo 2 blader and one 18 year old eager to carry quarters out <img src=icon_smile_big.gif border=0 align=middle>!
digital pics soon to follow.
http://www.geocities.com/tradbow007/...dventures.html