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Well it is time for another hunt travel log from me. In 2011 I reported my WY trip here
http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/5713412/1

And in 2013 I reported my Dall sheep Yukon trip here
http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/8383265/1

This year it is a moose hunt, but also a story of connections between generations. Some background will he necessary. In the late 1950's my Dad started going to Ear Falls Ontario on lac Seul to hunt and fish. Indiana had no deer season at that time so every couple years Dad would hunt deer and moose up there and every summer we would go on a family fishing trip to Lac Seul. In 1972 I took my first deer in Indiana, a massive 4 point, while Dad was moose hunting. He was suprised when he returned that we actually had enough deer to hunt at home. He started deer hunting at home with me, and I saw him take his only Indiana deer, a massive 6 point, and he was with me when I took my first archery deer, a small 8 point.
Dad returned to Lac Seul in 1974 for his last moose hunt and took a 32" bull. Due to school, work and life in general we were never able to hunt Lac Seul together. 2010 would have been Dad's 100th birthday and I decided to go to Lac Seul for a moose hunt. This story starts then and ends last week.
Here is a picture of Mom and Dad from the late 1950's.

In 2010 I booked a moose hunt with Anderson's Lodge out of Sioux Lookout on the Eastern side of Lac Seul. My friend Curt went with me and despite horrible weather, we were impressed with the effort and service provided by Anderson's.Due to extreme high winds and rain the week saw few moose sightings except for a cow and a few calfs. Our tags were good for bull or calf but I just wasn't ready to fill it on this guy.

Or this one

When we left we booked again for 2012.

2012 Curt and I returned to better weather and more moose sightings.

Cow the first day

We saw 11 moose total, Curt took a calf, I passed a spike, missed a chance at a good bull, and missed a shot at a spike the next to the last day. The Anderson crew, Jody, Jackie, Arron, and Kevin continued to impress us with their hard work and great facilities.
Jody fixing walleye shore lunch.


Third time is a charm. I'm coming back in 2014.

So here i am on Oct. 13, 2014 driving up to Souix Lookout by myself. Curt could not make it this year so I am solo. Two day drive and I check in at Anderson's main lodge at 5:00 Tues. the 14th. Wed. morning I get my moose tag and drive over to the boat landing to meet Jody. He has been in the Northern most outpost camp for 2 days and already seen 3 bulls, a cow and a calf. We load my gear into the 21' Bowrider and head North for a two hour boat ride.

Pickrel Narrows camp was rebuilt in 2013 so is all new and very comfortable. Arron was in camp to help along with Mark. We unload my gear into my room and have some lunch.

Then it is into the 16' boat for the first afternoon of scouting and an evening hunt sit and call session.



Back to camp for a chicken dinner. First full day of hunting tomorrow.

It's a great story already. I'm very interested to see how this story develops.

Looking forward to following along. Thanks for posting.

Way to persevere! I'm looking forward to the rest of the story!

Cheers,
Eric

Full day 1, 4:30 am
Aaron and Mark have breakfast ready. We eat, fill our thermos with coffee and head to the boat. Mornings are usually spent sitting on a bay or crossing watching for moose moving out to feed. This morning I am in a pop up blind on what I'll call South bay. The wind is from the South which is perfect for this location.

No moose seen by 9:30 so Jody picks me up and we go to the next bay East which I'll call B bay. After a morning set you cruse likely bays based upon the wind direction. B bay is great for a South wind.

After idling up a side river we see our first moose in a back bay.

Cow, not good on my tag but we putt up to within 40 yards of her and get pictures.

Leaving B bay it is time to catch some walleye for a shore lunch, then go North to cruise back down C bay, where we sat the evening before.


The beavers were busy getting ready for winter, but no moose.


Back to camp where the cabin is warm and the meal hot. Forecast is for a strong front to move in from the North tomorrow with rain and high winds.

Day 2
Weather forecast was right. Started the day in the blind at South bay but the wind was wrong. After an hour Jody picked me up and we moved to a stream on the West side of the lake. Good sign, and we plan to sit here this evening. We move way North and going up a little river we spot 2 moose in a sheltered bay. Quick turn into the back side of the point and we stalk around the point. They are gone, caught our wind. Tracks and droppings indicate a bull, cow and calf. Jody had seen a trio on Tues. about a half mile from here out on a main lake point. Could be the same group. We will keep an eye on this spot the rest of the week when the wind is right.
Finished the day with a set on the East side bay. No moose.
horrible weather day. Didn't even get the camera out. Clearing tonight with South winds tomorrow.

Man I love this! Thanks for posting it!

I like the play by play!! Good luck!

Thanks for sharing, Woody.
Make it happen!

Day 3

I had picked this day as a killing day because the weather front had moved through, wind was to slow and shift to the South, and I thought critters would be on the move. Sat the morning at the West bay with no activity (other than the beavers).

Mid-morning we headed up to C bay because the wind was now from the South. No luck there. Checked the trio bay, then had lunch. Lunch was walleye salad sandwichs and homemade chicken soup. Headed back South West for the afternoon and stopped on the shoreline for a leg stretch and pee break. While talking about the history of the lake Jody says "Look" and points to a bay on an island a couple thousand yards away. A moose has stepped out. I glass it and it is a cow but a second, bigger one follows her. Big bull! We get in the boat an slowly circle to get down wind. The moose cross the shoreline and move into the timber. There are two bays they could be headed to. We pick the back bay and set up. No sound or sign after 20 minutes so we get in the boat and Jody paddles up to the point of the middle bay. We hear a stick break and know they are there. We get out on shore and ease around the point spotting the cow at only 30 yards. She gets a little spooky and moves back around the bay about 80 yards, then settles down. I am on my shooting sticks waiting for the bull to step out.

After about 15 minutes we hear a loud snort/roar from the bush behind her. Never heard a moose make that noise before. Cross between an elephant trumpet and lion roar. Cow looks back toward the noise. Bull calls again and she walks back into the woods to join him. Close,exciting, but somewhat disapointing.

We slip back to the boat and ease away. This is not a big island, maybe 70 acres, and we think as long as they are not spooked we have a good chance to catch them here tomorrow. We circle the back bay and find a narrow opening between this island and an even smaller island. Tomorrow I'll sit on the point of the smaller island and it will give me a good view of the back bay. Jody will take the boat to the opposite side and watch those two bays. If they pop out there he will come around to get me.
I have a good feeling about this. Back to camp for the night.

Day 4

Aaron and Mark have a big breakfast ready again and lots of hot coffee. Jody and I head to the back side of the island well before daylight. We beach the boat in the sand on the small island and walk over to the grassy point. Walking in the dark with no lights I pick my way over some drift wood on the beach, step up into the grass and miss seeing a log in the grass. I trip, fall hard and jam my right knee into another log in from of me and crack my left shin on top of that log. Jody is asking if I am alright and I cannot even answer. I lay there a few seconds, roll over and make sure everything is working, then get set up under a small pine. Jody takes the boat to the other side of the island and I dig in my pack for some Alieve. My shin is killing me. As it gets light I like what I see.

The sand is covered with tracks where they have crossed betweek islands. The morning weather is constantly changing with fronts, a little snow, rain, and mostly South wind.

About 10:00 Jody picks me up. No moose on either side of the island. I point out the tracks and he checks the other beach.

It starts raining and we leave to go cruise B bay. We have lunch there and decide the beach looks too good to ignore. We decide to get the tent blind, set it up there and sit the rest of the day. When we get out on the beach the tracks tell us the bull came through while we were gone. Jody says cows will leave their calves on an island while they go off to breed with a bull. The tracks look like she came over to check on her calf a couple times, the bull followed, she went back to the big island, and the last trip she took the calf with her. Either that or there is another cow and calf in the area. We clear the sand of tracks on both sides and I set here for the rest of the day and all of day 5. No moose. How disapointing. Time for a new plan for the last two days.

Day 6

At the end of day 4 my right knee and left shin were both swollen and brusied from the fall I took. L would limp around some the rest of the week but at least this was not a heavy hiking type hunt.
After supper on Day 5 we looked at the map to decide what to do on day 6. A full day of running and looking in the boat, trying to find moose on the move.
We headed out after breakfast and hit B bay and South bay first, then West bay, then headed North. Wind was from the South. Jody thought he saw one on the distant shore. I declared it a Bigfoot sighting as he described it as "a large dark figure moving into the timber". We hit trio bay and had lunch by the falls.



Then back East into new territory, down Spooky bay. No signs of life here, not even beaver or otters. But the view was nice.




Down to the South East. Some great looking area, but no moose. Sky had cleared, wind was calming as we headed back to camp.
[img]http://i1122.photobucket.com/albums/l528/54Woody/imagejpg3_zpsa7093fbe.jpg[/img]

Day 7 Last Day

Over supper we had discussed what day 7 would bring after 3 days of not seeing moose. One thing I have learned about moose is they are not predictable. They may suddenly appear where you have not seen them before, or show up in a new spot. I kept telling myself not to give up. Mark said we would see moose on day 7 and I would kill one. His reasons were the wind had been stable from the South and would stay that way, the skys had cleared because the front was through, cool night so they should be out feeding in the morning.
We head out and go to B bay first. At 8:15 we see our first moose as it steps in the timber. We pull over and watch to see if it will walk through to the next shoreline. In 20 minutes we move on and immediately see a cow and calf at the waters edge. They drink then move to cover. I am feeling this is all a good sign. We move on to South bay. I glass the shore and see nothing but notice Jody is turning the boat in behind the tree line. I look at him and he says my new favorite 4 word phrase, "Bull In The Water"!

I took one look through my binos and saw a bull feeding, shoulder deep in the bay. We tie up the boat and move 20 yards through the treeline to the shore. I range him at about 193 yards. I sit up on my shooting sticks but cannot see the moose clearly. The sun is in my eyes and he is behind a large log with a big root wad. Hard to tell what is dark log and what is dark moose. I move to my left and the cattails are too high to see from a sitting position. I try to use a small pine for a rest, too limber. Jody motions me to the right. The wind is in our face strong and the bull continues feeding without knowing we are there. I sit up this time and he is clear of the log. Now I need to wait for more of his chest to clear the water. He will move a couple steps to the left, take a bite of water weeds and raise his head up high to chew. The next couple steps raise his front end out of the water to about mid chest. I put the crosshairs on high shoulder and touch it off.
BOOM, the shot felt good. The next sound I heard was the WHAAP of a 150 grain Nosler Partition hitting a wet moose.
Jody yells "He's down, he's kicking and swirling in the water".