One down and one to go! We tagged out on the first day of the hunt. I dropped off my brother and sister in-law just before daybreak in our #1 spot and headed out to do some scouting. They were sitting in a small swale where we got a small bull on camera a few days earlier. 28 degrees and crystal clear skies. They sat until about 8:30, did some calling but nothing showed. We had a scent rag hanging at that location saturated with cow in heat urine but the bull on camera evidently wasn’t in the area that morning. They roam a lot during the rut just like a whitetail.
Meanwhile, I’m down the road a few miles and I climb an old skidder trail up the side of one of the mountains and I find what looks to be a great spot. Sign wasn’t great there but we have been experiencing a drought for the past couple of months and even as heavy as they are the moose leave surprisingly little sign on the rocky terrain. I had found a good trail crossing the road through the poplars in an old chopping and some small trees shredded. I knew there was at least one bull in the area.
After picking my brother and his wife up I took them up to check it out and they liked the setup. The wind was coming down the mountain and we had a great little clump of fir trees to hide in. We also had a 30 ft. shooting lane for 200 yards up the side of the mountain.
After lunch and a nap I dropped the 2 of them off and headed back out to scout. They got comfortable and it was quiet for the first couple of hours. About an hour before dark my brother did some calling and a big cow pops out at 50 yards and stares at them. She could see them but couldn’t smell them. They watched her for several minutes until she turned and went back in. 10 minutes later he calls a little more aggressively and another cow, this one with a calf beside her step out at about 100 yards and then another big cow comes out behind them. My brother is looking frantically for horns to no avail when my sister in law says “there’s a bull.” Brother can’t see it at first but tells her if she has a clear shot to take it. At this point my sister in-law is pretty shaken up and can’t find it in the scope and the bull takes off up the trail. Just a few seconds later another bull steps out in the same spot and stands there broadside at 150 yards. My brother gets his wife to settle down and her first shot drops him. Moose are tough and he tried to get up so she shoots again. Down he goes but he tries to get up again and brother puts him down for good with a finishing shot. 6 and a half hours later we are back at camp and very tired and hungry but very, very happy. Her bull weighed 657 pounds at the tagging station the next morning and we were home by 4 pm yesterday afternoon. Brother and his wife are meat hunters more than trophy hunters so we were actually hoping for a smaller one cause they eat better but we’ll take it.
Now all I have to do is repeat this success again in 2 weeks when we go on my wife’s moose hunt.