2009 moose hunt

[Liege]

Well, I was just talking with my hunting buddy about our upcoming trip in Sep to northern BC, and had a look at the country with Google Earth. Lots of water, bush and mountains!!! The Mathews Rezen is drilling bullseyes out to 60 yards, I've got most of my gear together, and I start travelling on the
11th of Sep. Can't wait!!!! I will post pictures for all to look at.

Gord

[bowing4bulls]

Well be safe and GOOD luck!!!!! hope you stick a big one!

[Bow Drawn]

Good luck Gord! I'll check out Mathews forum for your post there too.

[Liege]

Well, everyone, I start driving to BC on Thursday morning - early!! I'll meet my partners in Prince George during the afternoon, drop off my truck at a secure location, and head north to Smithers with the guys. We stay the night, and drive to Dease Lake on the 11th. We're flying in on the 12th, and come out at the end of 15 days, or when we each have a moose and a caribou apiece, or something along those lines. Final pack over the next day or so, with some last-minute juggling of gear and equipment. We hope to make a video of sorts, and I will take a ton of pictures to share with everyone. Thanks to all who wished me luck, and everyone please have a safe and most enjoyable start to your fall hunting season.

Gord

[Smokey]

Have fun and I'll be watching for the report when you return. Should be an awesome trip.

[Monie]

Nail a monster, Gord!!! We're rootin' for ya!!

Have a safe and FUN trip!!

[Rick Teal]

Well, it seemed it would never come, but I'm leaving in 6 days for my bowhunt in WMU 24 here in Ontario. I can only hunt cows and calves this year, but I'm still going to give it a full effort.

For any of you who aren't familiar with Ontario, WMU 24 is north of the most northerly east/west paved highway in Ontario, and about even with the west side of James Bay though not that far north.

[Liege]

Well, I'm back. What a trip!!! Super guys to hunt with, whose sense of humour and excellent work ethic helped everyone work hard at what we like to do most - Hunt hard!! So, here goes: Sep 10 - Drive to Prince George, get lost in town looking for my buddies, get directions, and.........the AC condenser in my truck siezes solid and I blow a belt! Well, I broke down right beside a shop, so... drop off the truck, order parts and work done, sign the work order, and tell them to secure the truck until I get back, I'm going hunting. Lucky break, I think. It was under $1000.00 when I got back, so it's all good. The guys come to my rescue, we load my gear into their truck, and we're off for a final grocery shop and last minute stuff, then on to Smithers, BC. We stay the night with Bart Lancaster, of the Lancaster/Fontana Hunting Company, and then head north to Dease Lake in the morning, 11 Sep. Arrive at Dease, pick up our Zodiac, fuel, get supper, and do the final pack and gear adjustment. 12 Sep - down to the floatplane base for noon, load the Beaver (we're heavy!!!!!) and take off for Tightlip Lake (I've been asked not to reveal the real name). We get over the lake about an hour later and the pilot goes around a couple of times, as it's a lot shallower than normal, and he needs a channel to land in........ down we go. We get down safely, and start unloading, in the rain, or course. We get the tent and stove set up, and start sorting things out. The other two get on with outside stuff and I get all the cots set up, and put everyones gear on their bunks, sort out the kitchen stuff, and get a fire started, as we are wet, wet, wet!!! We work on drying our gear, and getting ready for the morning. 13 Sep - now it gets interseting. Billy and I are still in the tent, talking about drying things out, and Steve goes outside and commences calling. He pops back in and tells us that a bull is coming right at the tent!!! We grab the camera and my bow, and try to get into postion, and........the wind gets us! The bull, about a 48"er, gives us the slip. We go over the hill to see if we can get something going, and then Steve is telling me, "Gordie, you've got to see this bull - he's a bruiser!!" He wasn't kidding; the only problem was, he was 300 yards out, and was slowly but surely getting out of Dodge. So, I did what I was hoping not to - I put down my bow, and used Billy's 340 Wby. I really did want to harvest my moose with my bow, but I guess I wasn't prepared to go all that way and go home empty handed, not to mention the fact that the other guys said I had first shot, and they REALLY wanted me to get a big bull - so I did it, and I have no regrets. He's 54" wide, and scores about 192 B&C, and he was around 1500-1600 lbs on the hoof - can you say huge!?? We took pictures, and started the work. This was about 9:30, and we finished packing him to, and putting him on, the meat pole just a few minutes before dark. I'll post pics later tonight.

[Liege]

Originally Posted by Liege

Well, I'm back. What a trip!!! Super guys to hunt with, whose sense of humour and excellent work ethic helped everyone work hard at what we like to do most - Hunt hard!! So, here goes: Sep 10 - Drive to Prince George, get lost in town looking for my buddies, get directions, and.........the AC condenser in my truck siezes solid and I blow a belt! Well, I broke down right beside a shop, so... drop off the truck, order parts and work done, sign the work order, and tell them to secure the truck until I get back, I'm going hunting. Lucky break, I think. It was under $1000.00 when I got back, so it's all good. The guys come to my rescue, we load my gear into their truck, and we're off for a final grocery shop and last minute stuff, then on to Smithers, BC. We stay the night with Bart Lancaster, of the Lancaster/Fontana Hunting Company, and then head north to Dease Lake in the morning, 11 Sep. Arrive at Dease, pick up our Zodiac, fuel, get supper, and do the final pack and gear adjustment. 12 Sep - down to the floatplane base for noon, load the Beaver (we're heavy!!!!!) and take off for Tightlip Lake (I've been asked not to reveal the real name). We get over the lake about an hour later and the pilot goes around a couple of times, as it's a lot shallower than normal, and he needs a channel to land in........ down we go. We get down safely, and start unloading, in the rain, or course. We get the tent and stove set up, and start sorting things out. The other two get on with outside stuff and I get all the cots set up, and put everyones gear on their bunks, sort out the kitchen stuff, and get a fire started, as we are wet, wet, wet!!! We work on drying our gear, and getting ready for the morning. 13 Sep - now it gets interseting. Billy and I are still in the tent, talking about drying things out, and Steve goes outside and commences calling. He pops back in and tells us that a bull is coming right at the tent!!! We grab the camera and my bow, and try to get into postion, and........the wind gets us! The bull, about a 48"er, gives us the slip. We go over the hill to see if we can get something going, and then Steve is telling me, "Gordie, you've got to see this bull - he's a bruiser!!" He wasn't kidding; the only problem was, he was 300 yards out, and was slowly but surely getting out of Dodge. So, I did what I was hoping not to - I put down my bow, and used Billy's 340 Wby. I really did want to harvest my moose with my bow, but I guess I wasn't prepared to go all that way and go home empty handed, not to mention the fact that the other guys said I had first shot, and they REALLY wanted me to get a big bull - so I did it, and I have no regrets. He's 54" wide, and scores about 192 B&C, and he was around 1500-1600 lbs on the hoof - can you say huge!?? We took pictures, and started the work. This was about 9:30, and we finished packing him to, and putting him on, the meat pole just a few minutes before dark. I'll post pics later tonight.

So, here we go again. The 14th and 15th were fairly uneventful, lots of moose spotted, but nothing we wanted to go after right away. On the morning of the 16th, we were on a ridge north of camp, glassing for moose. We called in a young, 40" bull, and he bedded down about 200 yards from us, right on an island. Then, Steve spots some caribou south of camp. We put the spotting scope on them, and the chase is on. We motored down to a spot downwind of them and stalked in close for a look. We could only get within 100 yards, due to terrain limitations. I wanted to try a stalk, but the buckbrush was so thick and noisy that I would have have blown them right out of there. I told the guys to go ahead and take them, but Steve said he wanted me to take a nice bull caribou, and he wanted me to shoot one. Billy wasn't too excited about a 'bou, so I was up again. As Steve had spotted them, he had first pick, so we got shooting assignments figured out, and then waited them out. I peeked at them, and they were up!! Boy, do they cover ground quick!! By the time we got things sorted out, they were at 250 yards and going. Two quick shots, and it was done. Well, mostly done. Steve's dropped, and mine ran 100 yards (with no heart, I might add) and died in a pond - a deep, cold pond. Anyway, I made like a cowboy, and lassooed (sp?) his antlers, and we pulled him to shore. I went for the boat to bring it closer; 200 yards is the best we could do. Then, just about the time I get back and we get to work on my bull, it starts to rain - sideways. Then hail - sideways. Then lightning - and we're standing in 8" of water!!! And nowhere to go. Keep truckin', boys, let's get it done. Anyway, we get back to camp, completely soaked, get the meat looked after, and get to drying stuff out. So, the 17th to the 20th was more of the same, spotting, calling, hiking, hunting hard. Then, on the 21st, we were up on a ridge across the lake, when we saw a great bull on the other side - of course. We hump back to the boat, and get over there. It's getting dark, so I stay at the boat (I'm tagged out) and they go off, calling and stalking. So, I'm standing there and just when I can't hear the guys anymore, I hear a grunt beside me. I look over and there's the bull, not 150 yards away!! Moose-zilla!! He ambles along a beaver pond, kind of heading in the direction of the boys, but not quite. It's almost dark by the time they come back and they finally saw my frantic hand signals. They get into position and call, and he comes right in. Two quick shots and he goes down. However, when they walk down, he's not quite done, so billy gives him a finisher, and he stands up! Steve was so close that he didn't have to aim, he just pointed his rifle and fired two shots to close the deal. Close call, good thing they weren't too close to him. We gutted him and finished the pack job the next morning. The 22nd was uneventful, but the 23rd was busy. Steve stalked a monster bull, but the winds were so strong he couldn't hold on him for a good shot. That bull got away, but he is definitely a B&C bull. Oh, by the way, Billy's bull scored 207 - a good Canada moose. Anyway, we went back to the ridge north of camp to continue spotting, and we ran into the bull we had called on the first day, and Steve shot him. So we gutted him, as it was getting late, and finished the pack job on the 24th. Flyout was on the 25th, which we managed to accomplish in fine style, meat, antlers, gear and all. I don't know which order the pictures will come up in, but my bull is in all the brush (I'm holding the antlers), and Steve's is more in an open spot. The caribou pics are of my bull. I'll post the pic's when I get them from the guys. This was the most physically demending hunt I've ever been on - no trucks, quads, winches - just your knife, saw, backpack, and determination. Hard, honest work - awesome!

[Bow Drawn]

Hunt of a life time to me, congrats to you and your compadres.