Alberta has three Bowhunting only zones. Edmonton area, Calgary and Canmore. There is also a special draw hunt (bow only) for Sheep in another zone in November that borders Canmore.

I hunt Moose mostly in the Edmonton Bowzone although there are Moose in all three. In 2019 we bought 20 acres on the east side of that zone near Cooking Lake. I built our home and managed to hunt some pretty good properties close to home. I soon found out that between Cooking Lake, Ministik Bird Sanctuary (about 18,000 acres) and a few other smaller lakes, we lived in the heart of one of the highest Moose densities in Alberta.

It was funny to sit in a Whitetail stand at the end of September, early October and all of a sudden hear a fence stretch somewhere, followed by grunting and a young Bull come cruising by during the rut.

Anyway I took my first Cow on our acreage a few years later.

I was asked once by a local outfitter to guide a Trad hunter he had coming that fall. At that time I had no clue how to really hunt Moose and had not killed one yet. He said "That's ok, you Trad guys just like to sit out there and smell the flowers and watch the tweety birds". I told him flatly, NO!

So cool Gun, I am blessed to have a similar experience to your own. My camp in Pennsylvania is in the heart of the Elk range in Pa. On more than one occasion while bow hunting deer I have had big bull elk bugling and fighting close by. I have had big bulls over 350 as close seven yards. Drawing an elk tag is difficult as it is a lottery, but someday maybe. The photo portion of the site is not working but if you pm me I will send some photos. Thanks - Joe

Moose were commonly seen around my VT cabin until about 10 yrs ago when the population started to drop off from winter ticks. There's lots of moose themed items in the cabin reminiscent of the old days. Haven't seen one in years and then on May 28 at 8pm a cow shows up on my camera coming down the trail through my property. It continued on toward the cabin and road also caught on the lower camera along the trail. Not surprised it didn't have a calf in tow. Must be one lonely moose.

Sorry, not very user friendly

Guess I can't put in pictures.

Fast forward a couple years and I killed a few more Moose. I had been putting in for the Ministik draw now and after six years drew a tag. That same outfitter offered me another week to guide a Trad hunter. I learned a lot about Moose hunting and calling that year. We went 9 for 10 hunters that year with my hunter the only one to not kill a Moose. He did see Bulls every day of his hunt and hit a two year old Bull in the shoulder from about 20 ft.

After guiding that week I set out on my own to try and fill my tag. I had one chance at a P&Y class Bull but blew the stalk. Finally I asked one of the other guides to help me get my Bull. I ended up shooting a 40" Bull with a borrowed rifle with 2 weeks left in the season. I hadn't shot anything with a rifle other than gophers and squirrels since I was a teenager. The whitetail rut was on and I wanted to get after them. Tag clipped

I put that tag aside for two years while learning to shoot lefty after nerve damage to my right shoulder. Then tearing two tendons in my right shoulder and learning to use my teeth.

I had heard of a zone out in the prairies that was producing big Bulls and knew that a friend of mine was helping Alberta Bowhunter Members filling their tags.

A year ago we finally had a Banquet again post Covid. I was able to talk w Ed in person and learn about the Moose hunting in that zone. He asked my priority and I told him Eleven. He said Nine gets drawn and to put in.

When August rolled around I was successful in the draw. After talking w Ed again on the phone, "He said your lucky as they cut the number of tags by more than half".

We planned a late September hunt. I drove up on the 24th and was going to stay as long as it takes. The area we hunted was just north of the Battle River, known for huge whitetails.

OK More Gun

When I got to Camp on Monday the 25th of September, I found another Bowhunter, my new friend Brian who contacted Ed thru a mutual acquaintance. He had been there since Saturday and they had found a couple of decent Bulls already.

This country consists of a mix of prairie and farmland with crop harvest in full swing. Huge teams of Combines were everywhere. Thousands of acres with small pockets of bush and sloughs in low spots in the fields. Main products are Corn, Canola, and Barley.

When I got to Camp on Monday the 25th of September, I found another Bowhunter, my new friend Brian who contacted Ed thru a mutual acquaintance. He had been there since Saturday and they had found a couple of decent Bulls already.

This country consists of a mix of prairie and farmland with crop harvest in full swing. Huge teams of Combines were everywhere. Thousands of acres with small pockets of bush and sloughs in low spots in the fields. Main products are Corn, Canola, and Barley.

What’s that I understand not being able to load pictures, but a double post ok it happens to the best of US !

I am heading to Alberta next fall.

Gun, you can put in pictures last I checked, but it has to meet size requirements. I pull up photoresizer.com on my computer and resize the images. I don't know the exact value, but I assign 640 to largest measurement and it works out. It is a pain, and then I have to download the image and send it to myself as a message. There is probably an easier way, but I am certainly not that savvy when it comes to the computer stuff.

Try again. This is correct size on my PC

Nobody has been able to post pictures lately, it’s a site problem till it gets fixed !

I quit posting pics because I don't know how to do it. LOL. I use to post pics without doing anything. Too much work.

Only half the story with out pix. One last try or I'm done. Sorry Try to post my first Moose.

Camp- Roughing it

Ed told me before the hunt that we would see between 15-20 Moose a day! I had my doubts as in Ministik there was a density of 10-14 per square mile and its thick cover.

We would drive around the gravel/dirt roads until we saw a Bull with or without cows and try to get ahead, set up and call him in. We wore dark tops to look like a Moose from a distance. We would usually have 2-3 opportunities in the morning. Break for lunch mid day and have another couple of tries in the afternoon, keeping track of certain Bulls.

The first afternoon we went after a nice Bull the guys had found that morning with two cows. He was out in the tall Canola trying to keep a yearling Bull away.

I forgot to mention that after notification of getting my tag, I drove up to the zone before the season. Ed and I talked with a few of the Landowners and did some "road scouting". Ed's wife grew up in the area so everyone new her family. He informed me that the draw tags allocated had been cut in half this year. It takes approximately 9 yrs to get drawn in the zone and I was at 11. The tags were good for the gun season as well.

We're talking farm sizes here in sections not just quarters. A lot of corporate farms are buying up land and getting rid of the brushy potholes and bush. We had a lot of property to hunt. A guess would be 20 miles by 20 miles.

Our camp was set up on her Grandfather's home quarter. The buildings were all run down and broken in to. There was even a airplane hanger and runway. The Machine Shed was in the best shape and the roll open doors still worked with a hand chain hoist hung from a rail 18 ft above the floor. Lots of old tools hanging on the walls even though no one lived there.

The nearest gas station was a half hour drive. We had enough spare gas for the generators and only drove to town twice to fuel up the trucks and pick up a few supplies.

We backed up the truck until we were out of sight. Then planned a route to get the wind in our favor. Using a rise in the field we managed to get about 50 yds from two cows on the edge of the bush. We could hear the Bull raking inside the trees. Ed was in the lead w Brian behind him and myself as the caboose. Ed made a few grunts and had his plywood antler on top of his head rocking back and forth. The 40"+ Bull stepped out and was looking at us. We took a few steps closer. The Bull shifted his position a bit, turned and ran back into the brush leaving the cows!

We were a bit surprised by that, when all of a sudden a two year old Bull steps out about 20 yds from where the other Bull was. Our little "train" realigned and Ed continued grunting. The Bull walked parallel to us angling closer. At about 30 yds he stopped and stared at us wondering what this weird looking imitation of a Moose was up to. Neither Brian or I were interested in shooting him. Eventually he turned and trotted off into the bush. The cows left as well.

We walked slowly into the bush to try and locate the Bull. We saw the cows which turned and ran out the other side. Then we split up and checked out what was actually a finger coming up from a Coulee that went down to the Battle River.

I went towards the road and then circled back through the middle finding lots of rubs and rut pits. One big rut pit was about 5' long and at least 10" deep. I had never seen one that big.

We soon met back at the truck and continued on the dead end road coming to Ed's family old homestead. It was a good lookout across part of the River Valley and we would come there often to look for Moose. We did see another smaller Bull about a half mile away w some cows in the middle of a large slough surrounded by willows. He was too small so we headed north.

We eventually came across some standing cornfields and stopped to glass the rows. I spotted a pair of Moose ears. Ed decided to go see if we could call a Bull up. Where the cows are, Bulls should be close too.

We baled out and walked up the north fence line, with the wind in our favor, about half the length of the quarter. Ed let out a few cow calls and we listened. We continued stopping and calling until we reached the NW corner of the corn. The field slowly rose uphill from the road and when we got to the west end you could see down into the corn. Rut sign was everywhere. As we slowly walked south calling, Brian saw the Cow's ears again and we noticed a calf with her. While glassing, Ed noticed a medium sized Bull crest the horizon from the south and go down into a slough at that end of the Corn. We walked along the corn until we were on an opening that went to join up with the slough. Again, rut pits, rubbed willows, tracks everywhere.

We worked our way along the slough w Ed calling. We didn't hear any response and split up slowly heading back towards the road. We then drove north and spotted a few small Bulls cruising in various fields looking for cows.

As the sun was setting we headed back to camp and as we approached our road that goes to camp we saw a good Bull w two cows on the edge of a small slough. We stopped to glass from about 200 yds away. It was too late to try a set up. We drove past and knew where we would start tomorrow.

The next morning we were on the road at the crack of dawn. In a few minutes we were near the area we saw the Moose the night before. We soon spotted a single yearling cow feeding on the edge of a small slough. She was about 50 yds from the road and right by a corner. We paused and glassed the surrounding willows but no other Moose. We drove to the next corner and turned north. We had not driven very far when we spotted two more cows and slowed down. As we did the Big Bull stepped out from behind some brush. We kept driving until we were out of sight then got out and walked slowly using what little cover there was and the terrain. When we could see the cows, Ed started waving the "antlers" and grunting. We cut the distance in half to about 100 yds then the Bull stepped out of the slough, and herded the cows in the opposite direction. We backed out and drove on.

We had a few other opportunities until late morning but nothing really developed. One lone borderline Bull came close but Brian(Kayo) and I passed. We saw about a dozen Moose that morning.

Let me be clear that we were not "road hunting" in that we were trying to do drive by shootings. Ninety five percent of the roads were gravel. Most of the time we would only see a handful of vehicles in a day. Combines were out everywhere. There was very little driving into harvested fields.

We also soon realized the Rut was not near its peak. It could only get better.

Back to camp for lunch and a snooze for my two companions.

We didn't take many pictures during the hunt as we didn't have any go-pros, and when we were on the move it was like the Three Stooges. So just before we left for the afternoon hunt Kayo's wife, Georgia rolled into Camp to spend a few days and bring I few items he forgot.

We headed north into new country. We did a quick stop at the Big Cornfield and did some calling but didn't see any movement.

About 20 mins later we saw a dark object across a quarter and the binocs and spotting scope revealed 3 Bulls with two Trophy class. We thot that was weird. Ed quickly got out his MD map and said, "we have permission on the quarter behind, lets see if we can bring one in.

When we got on the other road we realized it was a paved rural highway. The field had been hayed a while back with many round bales still scattered through the quarter. We pulled in the open gate and got our gear. The wind was a bit iffy (SW) but we got to the north fence and headed east. We soon saw that all three Bulls were in the Alfalfa feeding.

We quicky sneaked down the fence line. About a third of the way, small poplar trees were growing into the field and provided more cover. Again, lots of rubs and rut pits. Everything was trampled. We made it to about a hundred yards from the east fence where the trees opened up more and a large slough spread into the field corner. One of the bigger Bulls was closest to us and we flipped a coin to see who would go in. Kayo won. He put a bale between the Bull and himself managed to get up to it about 50 yds away.

Ed went with him a bit but stopped behind a closer bale and did some cow calling. All three stopped feeding and looked our way. The big Bull was broadside but seemed nervous. He couldn't see a cow that was making the noise. Getting nervous he turned and walked towards the other Bulls. Ed was still calling but the two larger Bulls kept walking and eventually crossed the fence back to land we didn't have permission.

The smaller Bull continued to feed and we re-grouped. Kayo said he ranged him just under 50 but was wary of the wind which had picked up. We continued to the corner and hoped to get up to a bale and try to sucker them back. I lost track of the small Bull and Ed said he had laid down against a bale.

Ed didn't feel confident calling would work. I did a stalk on the small Bull just for fun. When I was about 10 yds from the bale he stood up. I couldn't see him but one of the guys whistled to get my attention. I slowly straightened up and he was looking at me. He didn't stay long.

We saw some more small Bulls on the move and a few cows as well alone.

We really were seeing 15-20 Moose a day. Combines were working well into the night. The Rut started picking up a bit.

Wednesday we spit up. Kayo and Georgia headed out on their own. They wanted to go after the big Bull from Monday and yesterday again. I forgot in the previous post that we did get on that Bull yesterday first thing. He was about a mile north of where we saw him on Monday.

I stayed back and watched from the road as Ed and Kayo tried to pull it off. When they finally exposed themselves at about 60yds, their act and calling didn't work and the Bull herded the cows off.

Ed and I headed north to see if we could find those two big ones from yesterday. On the way we saw a cow and calf bedded on the side of a ravine coming down from the edge of another corn field. She and the calf would be bedded in the same spot three consecutive morning in a row. We saw a few more cows and young Bulls as we drove. Nothing that interested us and most were on property we didn't have permission for.

We parked just inside the gate at the Alfalfa field. No Moose in sight, but we decided to get the wind and walk through two bush patches of a couple acres on the south side. No Luck

Then we tried a spot where a long finger of slough came out into a Barley field where Ed had helped a friend kill a decent Bull last year. We walked along the north fence line and when we got into the high weeds and poplars we saw a lot of Rut sign. We could smell Moose it was so fresh. We slowly worked through openings in the Willows, grunting and displaying the "Rack".

All of a sudden I heard a "crack". I touched Ed's shoulder and motioned that I heard noise. His hearing is worse than mine. We froze and listened. I soon saw movement and pointed to where. Ed let out a few soft grunts and I saw the Bull coming. I slowly cleared Ed's right side and was ready. The Bull saw us at about 10 yds and stopped. I could barely see his shape it was so thick. There was a small opening to his chest for a frontal shot but no way I was taking that chance.

We couldn't see his antlers very well and I guessed maybe 40". He definitely saw me and was making low grunts. We waited for him to make the next move and were ready to hit the dirt in case.....

A lot of hunting fun , Moose or not.

...... at that instant I realized that he could only see me clearly, as Ed was off to my left in a gray hoodie and had already whispered, where, where? He wasn't what I was looking for so I waved my hand a bit and said something to the effect, "Not today Big boy". He spun and ran, sending willows and alders flying.

Ed looked at me and said, "well that was fun!"

We paced off to where he stood, it was nine steps.

We then worked to the other end of the slough and came out in the cut field, walking around the outside edge and headed back to the truck. We drove to some new territory. As we drove by a decent sized lake we saw a Bald Eagle up in a tree just off the road. We stopped and admired it for a bit then continued on.

About 10 mins later we saw a pretty good Bull with two cows about 200 yds off to our left on a hill just across a small pond. We drove past and stopped so Ed could check the map if he knew who owned it. No Luck so we turned around to take another look, just in time to see another good Bull with a cow walk over a rise about 50 yds from the first one. We stopped to see what would happen.

The first Bull left his cows and started for the other Bull swinging his antlers back and forth. The second Bull stood his ground but the cow was acting skittish. As the bigger Bull (not by much) got closer the second Bull engaged. They hit with a bang and were pushing back and forth. The bigger Bull was gaining ground and with a final big lunge drove the smaller Bull back. He turned and trotted off a bit. Eventually the cow started walking away and he followed her. The bigger Bull just watched us drive away. We didn't even think about getting our phones out.

As we headed back to camp for lunch we saw two small Bulls cruising across fields. We stopped at the cornfield to glass. Again we spotted Cow ears between rows. It was getting late morning so we continued on. I'm pretty sure we saw a dozen Moose that morning. It looked like the Rut was ramping up.

...... at that instant I realized that he could only see me clearly, as Ed was off to my left in a gray hoodie and was whispering, where, where? He wasn't what I was looking for so I waved my hand a bit and said, "Not today Big boy". He spun and ran, sending willows and alders flying.

Ed looked at me and said, "well that was fun!"

We paced off to where he stood, it was nine steps.

We then worked to the other end of the slough and came out in the cut field. We walked around the outside edge and headed back to the truck. We drove to some new territory. As we drove by a decent sized lake we saw a Bald Eagle up in a tree just off the road. We stopped and admired it for a bit then continued on.

About 10 mins later we saw a pretty good Bull with two cows about 200 yds off to our left on a hill just across a small pond. We drove past and stopped so Ed could check the map if he knew who owned it. No Luck so we turned around to take another look, just in time to see another good Bull with a cow walk over a rise about 50 yds from the first one. We stopped to see what would happen.

The first Bull left his cows and started for the other Bull swinging his antlers back and forth. The second Bull stood his ground but the cow was acting skittish. As the slightly bigger Bull got closer the second Bull engaged. They hit with a bang and were pushing back and forth. The bigger Bull was gaining ground and with a final big lunge drove the smaller Bull back. He turned and trotted off a bit. Eventually the cow started walking away and he followed her. The bigger Bull just watched us drive away. We didn't even think about getting our phones out.

As we headed back to camp for lunch we saw two small Bulls cruising across fields. We stopped at the cornfield to glass. Again we spotted Cow ears between rows. It was getting late morning so we continued on. Pretty sure we saw a dozen Moose that morning. It looked like the Rut may be ramping up.

When we got back to camp, Kayo and Georgia were having lunch. We swapped stories and found out that they had found the big Bull from Monday again in the same spot. Kayo got out of the truck as Georgia drove away. The Bull was still with the two Cows and the wind was good to go right at them along the tree line. He was almost in range when one of the cows saw him and they all ducked back into the trees and crashed off towards a Coulee.

Later in the afternoon we split up again, with Ed and I going to check out some new spots. Lots of young Bulls and better ones that we couldn't go after with no permission.

We ended up at a small town where we fueled up and got a few groceries.

Then we decided to check out the Cornfield again. By now probably 3/4s of harvest was finished. We noticed that the Canola field next to the corn had been picked. Not seeing anything in the Corn we drove into the empty Canola field which slowly rose in elevation. When we got to the end we stopped to glass and I saw a dark spot over a half mile away.

Ed got the spotting scope out and saw that it was a yearling Bull coming our way. We decided to try and call him in just for fun. Ed backed the truck up out of view. We got out and ran for cover, a narrow slough off to our left. The Bull kept coming. He disappeared in a dip in the field and we quickly moved over to intercept.

When he came into view again at about 100 yds Ed had put the fake antlers up and started grunting. The Bull stopped for a second then came right at us. We slowly turned in unison as he approached, 30yds, then 20, and at 10 he stopped looking at us probably wondering why this Bull was so skinny.

Ed whispered to me, "there's your shot". He finally decided we were up to no good and trotted away. That same Bull would become a key player the next day.

On our way back we took a different route and just before the main road turn off I saw a couple Moose about 200 yds to our left in standing Canola not far from some farm buildings behind them. We stopped to glass, I thought it was a really big Bull and a cow. Ed didn't think so. We turned the corner and got a bit closer. As we glassed the Bull again, Ed said, "well maybe". We drove into the farm yard to ask at the house. When Ed came back, he said the people were just renting and the land belonged to a corporate farm.

Back at camp Brian had some action but no luck. He did find another shooter Bull. By now we knew of five possible P&Y class Bulls.

It was cooler Thursday morning and we set out with high expectation. We drove to where we saw the big Bull the evening before. There was a truck parked in the middle of the gravel road as we pulled along side.

The driver had a spotting scope mounted on the window. When the passenger looked at us Ed recognized him as bowhunter from the town of Lethbridge in southern Alberta.

We then noticed the Big Bull from last night out in the Canola just past a Willow tree strip about 100 yds from us. He was with the same cow feeding. While talking Ed discovered that the driver had a tag and his buddy was helping him as he had killed a nice Bull a few years previous. After looking closer Ed agreed that it was a pretty nice Bull and bigger than he thought the night before. The property was still part of the corporate farm so we drove on.

We turned north towards the Cornfield to start. When we slowly drove past we saws two pairs of Moose ears towards the NW corner. While glassing we saw a medium Bull come over a hill from the south and trot down into the corn.

We discussed a quick plan and Ed backed up to where we entered the harvested Canola the evening before. We drove up out of sight from the corn and turned right, stopping midfield. We got our gear together. Ed and I would go stand about 100 yds down the fence on the north end of the corn, with Brian another 50 yds further east. The slight wind was from southeast to northwest.

In position Ed started cow calling. We listened hoping to hear some rustling in the corn. After a few minutes Ed called again.

Soon two cows came trotting out about 20yds east of Brian. They ran into a pocket of Bush north of us. We saw them wandering around a bit then lost sight of them. After a few minutes Brian slowly walked up to us while Ed was coming up with plan B.

Ed told Brian to go back to where he was and that he and I would go around the bush the cows went into and see what we could push towards him.

We walked around the west side of the corn edge and came out near the truck. Ed wanted to get rid of some clothes as it was warming up. I drank some water and came around the box, when all of a sudden Ed says, Big Bull! I looked around but couldn't see anything. He pointed to the corner of the next patch about 200 yds away and there he stood with the two cows. Ed put up the spotting scope while I glassed through my binocs.

Just then the Bull left the cows and trotted west towards some other Bush were the small Bull from the night before was with another cow. He soon chased the little guy off and herded the cow back to the other two. Ed said, "lets go"!

(Pix of Bull getting ready to herd the cow)

Awesome, Thanks for sharing. I can't imagine seeing that many moose in a day.

While the Bull was coming back we ducked down and half stepped, crawled over to the other two cows. About halfway there (about 50 yds) two other cows came from out of nowhere towards us about 150 yds away. The Big Bull had added the single cow to the other two and noticed these two new cows coming. Just then the small Bull from the night before came out of the west bush and started to go after the newcomers.

The Big Bull didn't like that and went to chase him away while we crawled closer to the now three cows. We made it to the edge of the bush but still fairly in the open. The three cows were about 30 yds north of us and looking at the commotion of the big Bull running off the little Bull. He herded these cows in with the rest. The two original cows went in to the bush. The harem had now grown to five cows.

This patch was about 5 acres in size we found later. There is a low spot in the middle which holds water in the spring melt off, that lets trees grow along the edges. The middle was dried up with numerous old cattle trails in the tall weeds and brush.

Yea Moose Heaven, but not in Pa.

I was standing behind Ed when he started grunting and swaying back and forth. We were fairly close to a very large but dead Diamond Willow. The Bull saw us and turned, with a stiff legged walk he went up to the dead willow and started thrashing the crap out of it. Wood was flying everywhere! Ed was still challenging and the adrenaline was pumping!!

The thrashing stopped and the Bull started walking around the willow towards us. I noticed that he was on a trail going right past about 10 yds away. I was set with my Bow half up. Ed reached back and gave me a nudge out to the left side of him. The Bull stopped at my movement slightly quartering to. I waited. He soon started walking again and I waited till he was just past us. Ed grunted, stopping him. My arrow struck him low in the chest behind his right shoulder.

Really enjoying this. Thanks for sharing!

The Bull ran past us and veered left down into the slough. He slowed and walked in a half circle and bedded about 40 yds away. Two of the cows went down and stood by him. He got up, took a step and laid back down.

Ed gave me a pat on the back and congratulated me with, "You got your Moose". We knelt down and watched him thru our binocs. I had a better view than Ed from my angle. I could tell he was struggling. He would cough a few times and put his head down. After about 10 mins he stood up again but laid right back down. Ten mins later the cows left. We had noticed a few minutes earlier the small Bull had come back and herded off two of the other cows. I thought, "Thanks for the diversion buddy!"

We waited a half hour total but his head was still up. I whispered, "lets back out and come back in a couple hours". I didn't want to push it or have the wind change and him run off.

We slowly and quietly backed up and headed back to the truck. When we were near the fence we saw Brian coming up along side of it. He said he could hear us calling and a bunch of racket, but wondered what happened. We gave him a quick blow by blow, went to the truck and drove to Camp.

A couple hours we went back to where the shot was taken only to discover the Bull gone! We scratched our heads for a few seconds, then I took the lead and started looking for blood. At about 20 yds I found the back third of the shaft. We came to the beds, (now three) and saw blood in them. We were on the edge of the dry slough but visibility was not great. The weeds and brush was fairly thick. We couldn't see blood leaving the beds so we split up on three separate trails to look.

Brian was to my left with me in the middle and Ed on my right side. The trails fanned out some towards the middle of the slough. I went about 20 yds with no sign. I turned to Brian and quietly said I'm going back, we missed something. When I turned, I saw Ed frantically waving for me to come towards him. When I got there he pointed to his right and whispered he's still alive!

I couldn't see him at first as there was a low bush blocking my view. I'm not sure if he heard something or what, but he stood up and fell right over. I quickly stepped to the side and put another arrow in to his lungs. In seconds it was over.

He somehow made another 50 yds from where we left him earlier. I believe my shot was just a bit low catching a small part of the lungs as seen on the diagram.

After congratulations we took some pictures and Ed went to get the truck.

After some pictures and tagging, Brian and I went to work clearing a path to the overgrown pasture. We finished up just as Ed showed up, along with Georgia in the truck. Some more pictures and then Ed backed in as far as he could. He has a special frame made that bolts on to the window rack just for Moose/Elk extraction. We still had to use a nylon sling. (Aw shucks, I know) :)

After some body tugging we got him out in the open. Ed took care of the gutting, showing us a very efficient way to take everything out from esophagus to anus in one pull.

After some more pictures we loaded him whole and went back to camp.

Well video clip didn't work.

I found out while skinning and quartering that the guys had seen my Bull near the same cornfield on Saturday before I came up.

Kayo and Georgia went out in the afternoon and had yet another encounter with the Bull from Monday. I can't remember what else....

After quartering, in the cooler trailer. Another homemade gem with a modified window air conditioner.

Friday was my birthday. I stayed in camp and cleaned up the skull in celebration while the guys went cruising. Georgia brought out some snacks and we waited for story time when the guys came back for lunch.

I can't remember what they saw that morning. Nothing was harmed anyway.

Late afternoon we drove a single lane dirt road. We were about a mile west of where Brian and Georgia had been trying to get the Bull from Monday.

As we approached a corner, Ed glanced out the side and saw a couple cows bedded in the bush. We turned left at the corner and drove up a hill a ways until we were clear of the bush patch. Ed pulled into a approach of the cut Canola and parked.

The plan was to have me go back to the corner and watch what came out. Ed and Brian would go along the top until they got to where they thought the cows were bedded below and try sneak into the trees to call up a Bull if there was one.

I got in position and had a good view of the dirt road and the harvested field to the west. About 15 mins went by when I saw the two cows bust out and cross the dirt road, turn south and crossed the road going west and enter the bush on the other side. I waited there for probably a good half hour.

Eventually Ed and Kayo showed up by the truck. I walked up there and the story unfolded.

They asked if I saw a Bull with the Cows? I had not. They both said good, "he's still in there".

When the guys walked down to to where they thought the cows were bedded they slowly entered the bush. They had only gone a short distance when they saw a nice Bull bedded in front of them already in Bow range.

Ed whispered to Kayo to get ready, he was going to make a light cow call to get the Bull to stand for a clear shot. When he did one of the cows stood up but the Bull still laid there. Then the other cow stood up and both cows started to move. The Bull stood and looked at the cows, totally unaware of any danger. Brian released hitting the Bull perfect behind the shoulder.

All three Moose took off and they soon lost sight of them. They waited there for a while discussing the shot and then went back up and towards the truck. We waited a bit longer and Georgia showed up. Brian had texted her directions and she wanted to get in on the tracking.

After she heard the story we slowly walked down the road a bit before Ed turned into the bush and had Kayo take lead and look for blood. Georgia and I stayed back. It wasn't very long while Kayo was looking down for blood that Ed spotted something dark off to his side and whistled softly to get his attention, then pointed. Kayo quickly nocked an arrow and slowly took a few steps then poked the Bull. He was done, and had only gone about 50 yds.

After congratulations and pictures, with hugs and kisses from Georgia we cleared brush while Ed got the truck.

We had him loaded after about an hour and back to Camp where the processing started again.

We had a big feast that night on fresh grilled tenderloin.

We organized the next morning and packed for the trip home. I gave Ed half of my Bull as we still had some meat in our freezer from last year.

As it turned out, I shot my Bull on Brian's birthday and he got his on mine.

This was one of the most fun hunts I've ever been on. I've never seen so many Moose in one week! Ed did think that numbers were down from previous years, as well as quality. I didn't complain.

Thanks for looking!!

Great story and pictures Gun!! Really enjoyed it, I see you were shooting your bear takedown, I have an a handle mag riser on order. What kind of arrow/broadhead combination did you use? I apologize if you mentioned it already I missed it, great story!!

Thanks Gun for taking us along, enjoyed the many stocks and stories to the success at the end . Congratulations on a fine moose and your buddy too, Happy Birthday to the both of you.

Sorry. Cutthroat single bevel, 190gr. Old Patriot carbons 45-60 spine. 42# at 26 1/2" draw.

Not a passthru but hit chest wall on opposite side.

Thanks for the ride!

Super cool, thanks for sharing again Gun!!

Great story.

Another great story. Thank you.

Very Nice,,, great story,,thanks for sharing.

Great hunt Gun! Big fun with some good friends is hard to beat. Thanks - Joe

If you have already registered, please

sign in now

For new registrations

Click Here