It does take a lot of practice but it can be really effective for hunting small areas or some of the overlooked areas.

I spent one season hunting a small piece of ground, about 5 square miles that had a popular trail through it but was very heavy cover on both sides of the trail. The moose sign was plentiful and people often reported seeing bulls in the area.

Most of the trail users were heading to a couple of old clear cuts to watch in the morning and evening. I parked my ATV in a well hidden area and spent many days working through that heavy cover. I quit counting the cows after still hunting up on 20 of them and ended up seeing seven bulls within handgun range. Unfortunately none of them were legal. One was right on the cusp of 50 inches and may have been over but only had two brow tines. I let him go. He was a whopping 20 yards from me. I got busted by 3-4 other bulls who may have been repeats of bulls I had seen before. I got busted by a half dozen cows as well during that season.

Despite not killing a bull, it was one of my most memorable seasons. I often heard ATV's going by but never once saw another individual back in the timber.


Chronographs, bore scopes and pattern boards have broke a lot of hearts.