Northern Ontario Moose Hunt 2009
Oct 21, 2009 19:26:20 GMT -5
Post by smokeeter on Oct 21, 2009 19:26:20 GMT -5
We just got back from our annual moose hunt in Northern Ontario and this year was a very special one for me. My two sons were part of our group this year making it a party of five. This was the first year the Boys could join us for the 3 wk trek due to previous scholastic commitments. But they have both completed all of their university and college programs and have now entered the real world.
My objective this year was to help them both fill their tags, which incidentally the two adult bull tags that we had acquired for our group were alloted to both of them. Although we do party hunt and any one of our group is able to harvest animals for the alloted tags.
We also have one senior member of our group who is 74 yrs young and just aching to shoot a trophy bull moose, so I dedicated the first two days for him , where I accompanied him and called and tried to entice a bull but to no avail. The rut just wasn't in full swing or it was completely over but we didn't have any action for the first part of our hunt.
After my initial obligation to our senior member I concentrated on hunting with each of the boys individually, and on the second day with my oldest son I had a bull coming in at 10 am. He wasn't vocal but was coming in to investigate the love sick cow moose that was apparently in the area. We heard his approach and when he finally broke cover all that we could see was a snow covered head and antlers nearing the edge of the river we were surveying. Number one son had the rifle shouldered and was getting anxious and all I kept saying was not yet, not yet, not yet, I was waiting for the beast to reach the rivers edge to make our recovery a minimum since we were doing everything by hand and I wanted to use the river to help float our quarry back to our camp which was 3 kilometers down stream. When the bull was 20 yrds from the rivers edge the suspense was too great for my son who took the first clear shot that he was presented, I was watching through the scope of my 45 smokeless and saw the bullet hit the shoulder but even though he was shooting a 300 win. mag the beast changed course and started the run back away from shore so I quickly fired and the bull dropped in his tracks ,( my load was 62 grs of H4198 powder and my modified concaved 260 gr. nosler bullet) he piled up a mere 30 yrds for the rivers edge but it took 4 grown men more than an hour to manhandle the bull into the river where he could be floated back to camp with the assistance of our makeshift catamaran from two 16 ft canoes that we lashed together with a framework of 2X4's and a 3 hp motor.
This was a true trophy which taped out at 55 1/4 in. at the widest point. Not bad for a first moose.
Recovered nosler bullet
My efforts were switched to number two son who is 15 months junior to his brother and after switching stand locations for several days we were back at the location of our first kill and into the 7 th day of our hunt when during the break of day we had another bull moose in the vicinity and heading our way. Again not vocal but interested the same, this time dads help wasn't required as my second son anchored the bull with a 130 yrd shot and dropped him at the rivers edge with a single shot. The makeshift catamaran was again assembled and summoned to bring our quarry back to camp. This one was a much quicker process since he hit the water when dispatched.
I realize that this may not entirely apply to smokeless muzzleloading but my sabotless 45 was somewhat involved although not completely necessary, I did want to share this special season with the folks here.
Here is number two with his moose.
A couple of happy bird hunters ,and our humble abode
This is just a brief synopses of our hunt, the boys commented that this is no holiday grueling work with long days and short sleep and you couldn't pay them enough to do this hunt if it was their job, but they would gladly do it for free and even pay to be part of it. They have now joined the ranks of our moose party and my hunting partners share the same enthusiasm as I but my pride is just too big for words.
My objective this year was to help them both fill their tags, which incidentally the two adult bull tags that we had acquired for our group were alloted to both of them. Although we do party hunt and any one of our group is able to harvest animals for the alloted tags.
We also have one senior member of our group who is 74 yrs young and just aching to shoot a trophy bull moose, so I dedicated the first two days for him , where I accompanied him and called and tried to entice a bull but to no avail. The rut just wasn't in full swing or it was completely over but we didn't have any action for the first part of our hunt.
After my initial obligation to our senior member I concentrated on hunting with each of the boys individually, and on the second day with my oldest son I had a bull coming in at 10 am. He wasn't vocal but was coming in to investigate the love sick cow moose that was apparently in the area. We heard his approach and when he finally broke cover all that we could see was a snow covered head and antlers nearing the edge of the river we were surveying. Number one son had the rifle shouldered and was getting anxious and all I kept saying was not yet, not yet, not yet, I was waiting for the beast to reach the rivers edge to make our recovery a minimum since we were doing everything by hand and I wanted to use the river to help float our quarry back to our camp which was 3 kilometers down stream. When the bull was 20 yrds from the rivers edge the suspense was too great for my son who took the first clear shot that he was presented, I was watching through the scope of my 45 smokeless and saw the bullet hit the shoulder but even though he was shooting a 300 win. mag the beast changed course and started the run back away from shore so I quickly fired and the bull dropped in his tracks ,( my load was 62 grs of H4198 powder and my modified concaved 260 gr. nosler bullet) he piled up a mere 30 yrds for the rivers edge but it took 4 grown men more than an hour to manhandle the bull into the river where he could be floated back to camp with the assistance of our makeshift catamaran from two 16 ft canoes that we lashed together with a framework of 2X4's and a 3 hp motor.
This was a true trophy which taped out at 55 1/4 in. at the widest point. Not bad for a first moose.
Recovered nosler bullet
My efforts were switched to number two son who is 15 months junior to his brother and after switching stand locations for several days we were back at the location of our first kill and into the 7 th day of our hunt when during the break of day we had another bull moose in the vicinity and heading our way. Again not vocal but interested the same, this time dads help wasn't required as my second son anchored the bull with a 130 yrd shot and dropped him at the rivers edge with a single shot. The makeshift catamaran was again assembled and summoned to bring our quarry back to camp. This one was a much quicker process since he hit the water when dispatched.
I realize that this may not entirely apply to smokeless muzzleloading but my sabotless 45 was somewhat involved although not completely necessary, I did want to share this special season with the folks here.
Here is number two with his moose.
A couple of happy bird hunters ,and our humble abode
This is just a brief synopses of our hunt, the boys commented that this is no holiday grueling work with long days and short sleep and you couldn't pay them enough to do this hunt if it was their job, but they would gladly do it for free and even pay to be part of it. They have now joined the ranks of our moose party and my hunting partners share the same enthusiasm as I but my pride is just too big for words.
