Northern Ontarion 2019 Moose Hunt.
Oct 23, 2019 20:50:43 GMT -5
Post by smokeeter on Oct 23, 2019 20:50:43 GMT -5
It's been a few years since I got to report on our northern Ontario moose hunt because we hadn't been successful in obtaining any adult moose tags.
This year the tag Gods smiled on us once again and we managed to get one adult bull tag, and since our Province allows party hunting our group was a go again for this year.
Same basic operation as previous years with the exception of the one major obstacle had been somewhat improved this year. The bridge the had previously been out for the past 18 yrs had been rebuilt and the inevitable was about to happen.
Looks like the logging company had gotten approval to cut one of the last sections of mature forest in the area so a new bridge has been built but not put in operation as yet ( but it will be coming ). Cutting hasn't commenced but I suspect it with this winter.
Anyhow this did make our set up somewhat easier since we could drive our vehicles to our camp site and not shuttle all of our equipment via ATV's.
As usual we arrive 4-5 days prior to season opener and settle in and prepare for the hunt, ie scouting and stand prep etc.
Opening morning was uneventful for myself and my number one son ( we hunt up river ) but my second son and another member hunt inland and in the opposite direction.
At day break number two son had two moose near him that he could make out , one fork horn 2 pt and a bigger moose that stayed in cover and didn't present a suitable shot. The forky was less than 10 yrds away and hung around for the better part of an hour. My son elected to give it a pass since it was the first day and was holding out for something a little bigger.
We all met a lunch time to share our experiences and discussed that it would be the shooters discretion on the size of the animal they would shoot.
That afternoon while hunting a bull similar in size to the one my son passed presented itself to me, I opted to pass also ( if the kid could do it I surely could ) and although not to be greedy I've had my time moose hunting with many under my belt and felt it would be good to give one of the others a longer chance to hunt since once our one bull tag was filled we would be done and it was still day one.
Sunday morning a mature cow moose passed within 140 yrds of my stand and I anxiously waited in anticipation of bull following her but it didn't happen.
Monday morn was uneventful for the river team but the inland guys had moose all around them but no clear sighting for a shot. Again we met at lunch and set out for the evening sit. We made our 4 km trek up river and sat till almost dark with no action. I made my way to the canoe and paddled the 1 km back to get my son and then we carried on back to camp. On the way back about halfway to camp I spotted 3 dark objects on the shore amongst the tag alders. We were still about 200 yrds away but we could see one was sprouting antlers and definitely larger than the fork horns.
We paddled and closed the distance to about 100 yrds and I since my son was in the bow of the canoe he would be the primary shooter. He was using a Sako 300 WM and leveled the rifle and fired his first shot, none of the moose reacted to the report of the rifle, I told him to shoot again which he did and still no affect. I know it's a little more difficult to hold steady when shooting from a sitting position in an unsecured canoe but it didn't look like the moose was hit. I opted to grab my smokeless .45 and thought I better try to assist in getting this moose. After that shot the bull spun around and was gone into the wall of tag alders, the two cows remained until we paddled to within 10 yrd then they also fled , one straight away the second followed the path of the bull then suddenly swung back in our direction nearly capsizing the canoe with it's retreat.
We marked the spot with one of our hats and returned to our camp and meet the other members. After we prepared and downed our supper we returned to the marked location about 1 1/2 hrs later and began looking of sign. I had a pretty good idea in the direction the moose went and we found the expired bull right where I last heard him, he never went 20 yrds from where he was shot. The second cow must have tripped over him when she retreated and that would explain her reaction when she almost ran us over.
We gutted the moose that evening and left some sign around the carcass so we could return in the morning to pack it out.
An autopsy revealed that the bull was hit two times. One 30 cal. bullet was recovered in the opposite shoulder and one pass through both sides of the ribs.
My boy's getting credit for this one, I was there just for insurance and can't be sure the second shot was even mine, but it sure was exciting to be part of it.
I'm not sure what the future holds with the area being opened creating easier access for more hunters or even the likely hood of obtaining bull tags in the future.
This year the tag Gods smiled on us once again and we managed to get one adult bull tag, and since our Province allows party hunting our group was a go again for this year.
Same basic operation as previous years with the exception of the one major obstacle had been somewhat improved this year. The bridge the had previously been out for the past 18 yrs had been rebuilt and the inevitable was about to happen.
Looks like the logging company had gotten approval to cut one of the last sections of mature forest in the area so a new bridge has been built but not put in operation as yet ( but it will be coming ). Cutting hasn't commenced but I suspect it with this winter.
Anyhow this did make our set up somewhat easier since we could drive our vehicles to our camp site and not shuttle all of our equipment via ATV's.
As usual we arrive 4-5 days prior to season opener and settle in and prepare for the hunt, ie scouting and stand prep etc.
Opening morning was uneventful for myself and my number one son ( we hunt up river ) but my second son and another member hunt inland and in the opposite direction.
At day break number two son had two moose near him that he could make out , one fork horn 2 pt and a bigger moose that stayed in cover and didn't present a suitable shot. The forky was less than 10 yrds away and hung around for the better part of an hour. My son elected to give it a pass since it was the first day and was holding out for something a little bigger.
We all met a lunch time to share our experiences and discussed that it would be the shooters discretion on the size of the animal they would shoot.
That afternoon while hunting a bull similar in size to the one my son passed presented itself to me, I opted to pass also ( if the kid could do it I surely could ) and although not to be greedy I've had my time moose hunting with many under my belt and felt it would be good to give one of the others a longer chance to hunt since once our one bull tag was filled we would be done and it was still day one.
Sunday morning a mature cow moose passed within 140 yrds of my stand and I anxiously waited in anticipation of bull following her but it didn't happen.
Monday morn was uneventful for the river team but the inland guys had moose all around them but no clear sighting for a shot. Again we met at lunch and set out for the evening sit. We made our 4 km trek up river and sat till almost dark with no action. I made my way to the canoe and paddled the 1 km back to get my son and then we carried on back to camp. On the way back about halfway to camp I spotted 3 dark objects on the shore amongst the tag alders. We were still about 200 yrds away but we could see one was sprouting antlers and definitely larger than the fork horns.
We paddled and closed the distance to about 100 yrds and I since my son was in the bow of the canoe he would be the primary shooter. He was using a Sako 300 WM and leveled the rifle and fired his first shot, none of the moose reacted to the report of the rifle, I told him to shoot again which he did and still no affect. I know it's a little more difficult to hold steady when shooting from a sitting position in an unsecured canoe but it didn't look like the moose was hit. I opted to grab my smokeless .45 and thought I better try to assist in getting this moose. After that shot the bull spun around and was gone into the wall of tag alders, the two cows remained until we paddled to within 10 yrd then they also fled , one straight away the second followed the path of the bull then suddenly swung back in our direction nearly capsizing the canoe with it's retreat.
We marked the spot with one of our hats and returned to our camp and meet the other members. After we prepared and downed our supper we returned to the marked location about 1 1/2 hrs later and began looking of sign. I had a pretty good idea in the direction the moose went and we found the expired bull right where I last heard him, he never went 20 yrds from where he was shot. The second cow must have tripped over him when she retreated and that would explain her reaction when she almost ran us over.
We gutted the moose that evening and left some sign around the carcass so we could return in the morning to pack it out.
An autopsy revealed that the bull was hit two times. One 30 cal. bullet was recovered in the opposite shoulder and one pass through both sides of the ribs.
My boy's getting credit for this one, I was there just for insurance and can't be sure the second shot was even mine, but it sure was exciting to be part of it.
I'm not sure what the future holds with the area being opened creating easier access for more hunters or even the likely hood of obtaining bull tags in the future.
