2013 Northern Ontario Moose Hunt
Oct 14, 2013 15:32:30 GMT -5
Post by smokeeter on Oct 14, 2013 15:32:30 GMT -5
We just returned from our annual 2013 Northern Ontario Moose Hunt . This year we had four members in our group but our senior member decided not to accompany us due to his age (77 yrs.) and the challenge of this hunt was just too demanding. Our group consisted of myself and my two sons along with a past guest from 3 yrs. prior. It is a complete D.I.Y. hunt .
This year we had two Bull tags which was the first hurdle to overcome but the lottery gods had blessed us. Here in Ontario we are entitled to shoot calf moose on our regular licenses but we opt to only shoot antlered animals to reduce the chance of mistakes and it also helps with the moose numbers.
Our trip is planned for 3 weeks, we head out 4 days prior to the season opener to allow for set up of camp and stand locations and let things settle down for the opening day. We hunt a river system and network of old logging roads. This is an older growth area with no recent logging/cutting so the area is quite dense. We split up into 2 groups, one group hunting the river north from base camp and the other group hunting the river south. We hunt during the regular firearm season and I am the only member using a muzzleloader, the others are all using rifles. Opening morning had myself and my first son at the south end and my second son and his partner on the northern exposure.
We headed out an hour before first light, half hour canoe trip and an half hour waiting for light, to let things settle down and start the calling session in hopes of attracting a bull moose. The first morning things were quiet until the still air was disrupted by the sound of gunfire, followed by the report on the radio that my second boy had a bull down. The morning hunt had just concluded and our efforts were turned to retrieval of the moose. We gathered up our equipment , we got the trailer to within 2 miles of the downed moose and proceeded to skid the moose with the 2 atvs from the kill site to the trailer. The moose was brought out whole so the area would not be too impacted by our presence since we were continuing our hunting efforts in the area. Back at base camp the moose was skinned , field dressed and quartered. During the butchering we noticed that 3 ribs were broken on the left side in 2 different places and extensive bruising on the shoulder and neck area as well as the hip. This old warrior had been in a severe battle for dominance and win or loose I was curious to see what his opponent looked like.
Getting the meat looked after took the better part of the day which caused us to abort the afternoon hunt but it did lead to our customary celebratory dinner and champagne toast. This dinner was spicy chicken wings and refried rice which was quick and easy. We were dead beat after the days efforts and woke at the sound of the alarm and pouring rain on the tent, we elected to stay in bed for an extra hour and a half to see if things would die down. Things didn’t slow down in the rain department but it did allow us to have a hearty bacon and egg brecky instead of the hunt breakfast of toast and coffee. It continued to rain all day but died down and we went out for the afternoon.
Me and number one headed back to our southern location but the northern boys split up and my son said he had heard a lot of activity where his partner should have been , so the next morning everyone was back on plan A and the stage was set. This was Monday morning and during the pre dawn darkness I had started my calling sequence one half hour before light, and I had a reply by an amorous cow moose. She replied often and I suspected that there was a bull moose near by although no vocal reply was received. Our anticipation of the arrival of a bull moose was quickly squashed with the sound of gunfire
from our northern team and a quick radio announcement confirmed that we had our second bull tag filled. It was my sons partner this time but the retrieval of this moose would prove to be much more difficult than the first one, this one was on the other side of the river and a quarter of a mile from last landing so it meant we had to process the moose where he laid.
We skinned and caped the bull and then field dressed and quartered the beast. Since we were basically finished hunting we wouldn’t jeopardize the hunt further . We loaded the canoes with the moose and made the 3 mile trek back to camp via the waterway while two others brought the atvs back to camp. It took the better part of the day to get it back to camp but we just had to hang the meat when we returned . The good news , as if it could get any better, was celebration dinner and toasts were in order. We had one more meal of chicken wings and with the complimentary rice all went well with the champagne. Plus we got to sleep in the following morning.
We had planned to spend a couple of days for R and R and try to use up some of the food. Listening to the weather forecast revealed that we were in for high temperatures and rain coming in the next 3 days so we moved up the homecoming to a week and a half sooner, but it did give us time to cut and wrap the moose sooner too.
It was a very successful year both in that we filled our tags and also had a great time with good company. Both of these moose were very mature bulls, as big as they get for Ontario. Our thoughts are that the first moose was the long standing monarch for the area but he got a woopin, unfortunately the new Kings reign came to an end this year.
Here are a few pics of the experience. I hope you enjoy them as much I we did.
This year we had two Bull tags which was the first hurdle to overcome but the lottery gods had blessed us. Here in Ontario we are entitled to shoot calf moose on our regular licenses but we opt to only shoot antlered animals to reduce the chance of mistakes and it also helps with the moose numbers.
Our trip is planned for 3 weeks, we head out 4 days prior to the season opener to allow for set up of camp and stand locations and let things settle down for the opening day. We hunt a river system and network of old logging roads. This is an older growth area with no recent logging/cutting so the area is quite dense. We split up into 2 groups, one group hunting the river north from base camp and the other group hunting the river south. We hunt during the regular firearm season and I am the only member using a muzzleloader, the others are all using rifles. Opening morning had myself and my first son at the south end and my second son and his partner on the northern exposure.
We headed out an hour before first light, half hour canoe trip and an half hour waiting for light, to let things settle down and start the calling session in hopes of attracting a bull moose. The first morning things were quiet until the still air was disrupted by the sound of gunfire, followed by the report on the radio that my second boy had a bull down. The morning hunt had just concluded and our efforts were turned to retrieval of the moose. We gathered up our equipment , we got the trailer to within 2 miles of the downed moose and proceeded to skid the moose with the 2 atvs from the kill site to the trailer. The moose was brought out whole so the area would not be too impacted by our presence since we were continuing our hunting efforts in the area. Back at base camp the moose was skinned , field dressed and quartered. During the butchering we noticed that 3 ribs were broken on the left side in 2 different places and extensive bruising on the shoulder and neck area as well as the hip. This old warrior had been in a severe battle for dominance and win or loose I was curious to see what his opponent looked like.
Getting the meat looked after took the better part of the day which caused us to abort the afternoon hunt but it did lead to our customary celebratory dinner and champagne toast. This dinner was spicy chicken wings and refried rice which was quick and easy. We were dead beat after the days efforts and woke at the sound of the alarm and pouring rain on the tent, we elected to stay in bed for an extra hour and a half to see if things would die down. Things didn’t slow down in the rain department but it did allow us to have a hearty bacon and egg brecky instead of the hunt breakfast of toast and coffee. It continued to rain all day but died down and we went out for the afternoon.
Me and number one headed back to our southern location but the northern boys split up and my son said he had heard a lot of activity where his partner should have been , so the next morning everyone was back on plan A and the stage was set. This was Monday morning and during the pre dawn darkness I had started my calling sequence one half hour before light, and I had a reply by an amorous cow moose. She replied often and I suspected that there was a bull moose near by although no vocal reply was received. Our anticipation of the arrival of a bull moose was quickly squashed with the sound of gunfire
from our northern team and a quick radio announcement confirmed that we had our second bull tag filled. It was my sons partner this time but the retrieval of this moose would prove to be much more difficult than the first one, this one was on the other side of the river and a quarter of a mile from last landing so it meant we had to process the moose where he laid.
We skinned and caped the bull and then field dressed and quartered the beast. Since we were basically finished hunting we wouldn’t jeopardize the hunt further . We loaded the canoes with the moose and made the 3 mile trek back to camp via the waterway while two others brought the atvs back to camp. It took the better part of the day to get it back to camp but we just had to hang the meat when we returned . The good news , as if it could get any better, was celebration dinner and toasts were in order. We had one more meal of chicken wings and with the complimentary rice all went well with the champagne. Plus we got to sleep in the following morning.
We had planned to spend a couple of days for R and R and try to use up some of the food. Listening to the weather forecast revealed that we were in for high temperatures and rain coming in the next 3 days so we moved up the homecoming to a week and a half sooner, but it did give us time to cut and wrap the moose sooner too.
It was a very successful year both in that we filled our tags and also had a great time with good company. Both of these moose were very mature bulls, as big as they get for Ontario. Our thoughts are that the first moose was the long standing monarch for the area but he got a woopin, unfortunately the new Kings reign came to an end this year.
Here are a few pics of the experience. I hope you enjoy them as much I we did.
