Newfoundland Moose/ Caribou Hunt

[mrklean]

Nice job

[DonBo]

Wow Bruce, WTG! Awesome, just awesome.

[LightningBG]

Does it come in Camo?

I hope not. Turns out camo knives are the worst idea ever. I know... or knew... How about blaze orange or hot pink? I've spent more time than I'd like to admit looking for knives that I knew were within 10 ft of me.

[sticknstring]

What an awesome trophy! The scenery and pics you took are spectacular as well! Can't wait for the rest...

[hugonian1]

We spent the rest of Wednesday afternoon getting the caribou meat cleaned and hung, the capes prepared & salted, etc.

The weather was actually starting to get "nice".

We still had 1.5 hours before the sun set and I figured we would just kick back and wait for the other 2 guys to come back and share stories & celebrate.

Wrong!

Warren says lets go, we still have daylight to burn.

We got in the argo and went back a couple of miles, worked our way to the base of a mountain and callled & glassed.

We were not there 15 minutes and a young bull moose popped out. He only had 6 points and had small paddles.

My goal for the moose was a bull with paddles. It did not have to be the biggest moose on the mountain. The way the moose activity was I thought about this guy but he was not quite what I was looking for.

We toyed with him for a while, calling. We had him within 100 yards.

Then he slipped into the black spruce only to come back out 5 minutes later followong a cow and calf.

Pretty cool having 3 moose that close.

He was pushing the calf off and was definatley after the cow. At 1 point he got up behind the cow and looked like we were really going to get a show.

We had about 20 minutes of good light left. Then we heard a shot southwest of us. That was where Bill was hunting. We were upwind of them so the sound carried to us. Bill is an accomplished hunter and has been to this camp 8 or 9 times. We figured that equated to a kill. He only had a moose tag.

As we were losing light we headed back to camp.

Here are a few more pics of the terain we were hunting. It is really a beautiful area.

We got back to camp and were anxiously waiting for Bill to return.

It was a couple of hours but he came back with a smile on his face.

Bill has taken a lot of moose in his life and his goal on this trip was to fill a freezer which he did by taking a large/ mature cow.

After a very tough few days 3 of 4 of us filled a tag this day.

I have never eaten caribou so it was quite a treat to have grilled caribou backstrap for dinner.

After dinner Warren pulled me aside and asked if I was up for a long walk tomorrow. His plan was to take a boat accross the lake and go back about 6 miles to an area that was untouched this year.

I know well that good things don't come easy so this was music to my ears.

I went to bed with great anticipation as to what Thursday was going to hold.

[Powerstroke]

"I know well that good things don't come easy so this was music to my ears.

I went to bed with great anticipation as to what Thursday was going to hold"

I see you're starting to get good at leaving those little cliffhangers. I can't wait to see how the rest of your trip goes.

[BLACKJACK]

Beautiful rack on that caribou!!!!!!!

Thanks for taking the time to post the story!

[hugonian1]

Thanks for all the kind words guys.

I have hunted all my life but never after anything larger than whitetail.

This caribou still has me giddy like a little schoolgirl.

Well Thursday we woke up to much warmer and stable weather.

We had a good breakfast, got dressed, and loaded up the boat.

The plan was to boat a couple of miles accross the lake and then spend the day working our way thru the bogs and swamps between the mountains to an area that has been untouched this year.

Here is a picture of a map that was on the wall of the cabin to give a general idea of the area we were staying and hunting.

We waited for the sun to get up enough so we could see the rock reefs waiting to take out a prop or lower unit. Had to take it slow crossing the lake. You could glass quite a large area from the lake. Did not see anything out on the way over.

We tied the boat up and started our trek. It was a beautiful area with trails and droppings everywhere. I am guessing some of these trails have been used for hundreds of years.

We stopped, called, and glassed as we made our way back. It was a bluebird day and after all the bad weather it seemed like the moose would start moving back out from the thick spruce to the open areas to feed.

All we saw was a lone cow caribou in 5 or so miles of area we covered.

Around 10:00 we set up on a berm that was about a mile from the mountain and lake we were heading towards. We could see quite a bit of area from here.

Warren called sparadically. After a half hour here the warm sun was helping me nod off when all the sudden a moose let out a loud grunt. It was downwind of us and was not far off. There was a wooded area about 300 yards away and this is where it was calling from.

We traded calls back and forth. It was getting louder. I chambered a shell and had my 7mm up ready to go. This was very exciting and intense. We then started hearing a second moose farther away. These were the first moose we heard all week so it was a very cool experience. The grunts that were closer started getting further away. It sounded like they were moving back towards the mountain base and lake.

We waited about 15 minutes and then decided to make a move. We had the wind to our favor. We slowly made our way along the woodline easing over berms heading towards the mountain base. Things were quiet at this point.

We made our way almost to the mountain base seeing nor hearing anything more.

we set up on a berm about 75 yards out from the woodline. We had good cover here. Warren started calling and were greeted with a loud response. It was not far off back in the trees.

All the sudden the moose came charging down thru the trees. It stayed back far enough to maintain cover but I could see clearly it was a bull.

I was amazed at the body size and dark color. He was not the biggest bull but met my goal of a mature bull with paddles. I could see 5 points on 1 side. He held back in the trees about 75 yards away facing us. He was posturing, swinging his head back and forth. Warren was still calling and he was clearly not happy. By now I had my rifle up on the shootong stick and and was watching him thru my scope. I decided if he offered a good shot I would take him. All I had was a facing neck shot. At that point he turned and offered a shoulder. I moved the crosshairs into position, took a deep breathe, and squeezed off the shot. He spun, went down on his "knees" and disapeared into the thick spruce. We thought we heard him go down and a gasp. I felt good about the shot. I was elated as was Warren.

We waited a bit and then moved to where he was hit. As we approached a moose busted out thru the woods heading to our right towards the lake. My heart sank. Was this him? Was this his cow?

We found blood right away and could follow it for about 30 yards where it stopped. It was heading up the mountain in the thick spruce. Warren told me to stay at last blood and he would circle up above and see if he could find anything more. After about 10 minutes I was starting to feel dejected thinking I blew the shot and that was him we saw taking off.

Warren was making his way down. He stopped about 20 yards from me and asked if I had found anymore blood. I said I had just stayed at last blood like he told me to. Then he said he found "good blood" up where he was and to come up. Here is the "good blood" he found 20 yards from where I was standing.

I was absolutely speechless.

What a great experience and hunt.

The hunt had everything.

This is what I had dreamed about for months.

For me it is not about the kill. I might not have taken this moose if it had walked by while we were on stand. The way it played out made it a trophy hunt for me and I could not be happier.

Here are a couple of pictures with him.

Now the work began.

More to come.

P.S. Leech- You Happy? Newfy Moose Down

[maros91]

Yessss!! Congrats!!!

[leech~~]

P.S. Leech- You Happy? Newfy Moose Down

Happy as a Caribou struck little girl! Ha.

Great job. Love me some Moose meat!

[DonBo]

Gawd Bruce, that is great. Good for you! How exciting.

[pumper317]

So cool! I am very happy for on how it turned out. Truly a trip of a lifetime! I am looking forward to the rest.

[Living_The_Dream]

Nice Bull, every "trophy" is different for everyone. A trophy is not about the biggest rack, it is about the adventure get your trophy. Congrats.

[ozzie]

Congrats on quite the experience!!!

[perchking]

Make some more space on the wall, you have two beauties that need a new home...

Congrats Bruce...

[Sturg]

A great adventure without a doubt, congrats on a dream come true. Thanks for sharing your trip.

[Sifty]

Congrats on the two trophy's.

[hugonian1]

Finally getting some time on the puter.

By now things were really warming up. I would guess near 70.

We were definitely in this moose's living room. Trees were torn up everywhere.

He took his last breathe on a perfect shelf on the mountainside.

I looked at Warren and said now what.

We were 6 miles back from the boat up on a mountainside and had a moose to deal with.

The plan was to get him quartered and caped, get everything down to the base, and lay out in the shade on the cool thick mossy ground. Cover with spruce boughs, hike out, and come back in the morning. We would mark a route out. In the A.M. we would tow the argo accross the lake with the boat and retreive the meat and cape. This sounded good to me.

Again, Warren got out his trusty retractable blade utility knife and the moose was prepped in less than an hour. Caped and all.

Here is a picture of Warren with the moose.

He has spent his life in the timber industry. His arms are bigger than my legs.

You can see the tree in the background is all tore up.

We got everything down to the base and covered and headed out.

It was a great hike out with the antlers in hand,

I really thought the other 2 guys that still had moose tags would have a good report as the weather really turned around but both saw minimal activity.

In the morning we waited for the sun to get up after seeing the others off, tied the argo to the boat, and off we went.

It all worked like a charm.

Being tagged out I had a couple days of down time which I am not used to. I actually took a couple of naps which I never do and just enjoyed the camp.

Tim did not fill his moose tag and Chris ended up taking a young 4 point Saturday.

All said between the 4 of us we ended up with 3 moose and 2 caribou.

We flew out of camp Sunday morning.

It truely was a magical trip and experience.

The meat all ended up at a local business that processes & vacuum packs it.

The first week of December they truck all they collect into the U.S. where they have 6 drop off points- 1 being in Lakeville. This is really a good deal.

A few things that proved invaluable on this hunt were:

- My guide Warren- I hit the jackpot when I drew him.

- Cabela's Dry Plus Outerwear- Jacket and pants.

- Lacrosse Alphaburly Pro 18" boots.

- Badlands "Sacrifice" backpack.

- Tika T-3 lite 7mm rifle/ Barnes 150 grain cartridge.

Thanks for coming along on the hunt with me.

Sitting down and writing about the experience, re-living it, has really been enjoyable.

[leech~~]

Fun stuff. How much weight do you think you will lose by the time this "vacation" is over with all the humping and packing out you have done?

[hugonian1]

I think I burned 17 calories getting in and out of the Argo.

Strong mind/ week back isn't all that bad.

I did ask Warren to make sure we only hiked down hill but he didn't comply with that request.

It was hard to lose weight having a camp cook around but I actually did drop a few pounds.

[ozzie]

Great story and congrats on a trip of a lifetime!! Caribou and a moose on the same trip!!

[rkhinrichs]

Man hunting a moose is my dream hunt! congrats!