I am going to continue from the previous thread “30-06 bullets for Newfoundland moose”.

I will try to update every night after the hunt and report what’s going on.

Best of Luck! Wish I was going with you!

Looking forward to it, good luck!

Enjoy that Ferry & send some bog pics!

updates and pics are definitely needed! Good luck!

I wish you the best. I am looking forward to reading your updates. A very welcome change!

Too tired last night to post.
Five guys in camp, us 4 and a fellow from NY on his first hunt. He shot a 12 point.
Yesterday was a warm day. It was 70 by mid afternoon.
My guide and i started out in the side by side up the power line road and then took side trips to sit and call.
First two hours nothing.
We proceed up the road and look to the left and there is a cow standing there like a painted statue. I ranged her at 420 yards. W
Gerald figured she was eye balling a distant spot, assumed it was a bull in waiting.
12 minutes go by and the guide proceeds down the hill and up and i keep an eye on the cow.
She starts to move on the 16 minute mark, slowly.
He waves me down and off i go, heart rate hit 145 in no time. He got a glimpse of the bull in the bush, cow keeps trucking. I make it to the top of the hill and cow returns. Turned out to be a different one. We waited for the bull, no luck.
Later in the day he calls out at a different spot and out comes a spike. Ranged him at 145 yards. I passed on him too.

Today
In the ARGO we go, what a beast and body beater upper. An ass kicker. at 8 am he calls in a bull, comes up from behind him. Ranged him at 130 yards. And let him walk.
That was it for me.
My son’s buddy saw 9 cows and two bulls and took a small bull.
My bro in law took 2 shots and missed, drew some blood.
My son saw a bear, no moose.
Going to bed.

To be continued…..

Patience is a vertu abbydog!

Almost put my head through Argo Windshields twice, the windshield is harder than my head so it was far from pleasant, make sure to lean back in them puppies, when you hit a hidden stump, it stops instantly so you do not want to be leaning forward!

I will say a prayer for you tonight, praying for your good fortune, hope you don't mind.

Can't wait to see the pictures of your beautiful NL moose!!!!

Glad you are there. Excited for you. You can bet that I'll be reading your upcoming posts. Have a great hunt.

Good luck and I hope you get the big one you are after!

That was not a miss. I hope your hunt goes well.

Update

Wednesday morning we hunted off the access road to the camp. That being said in 15-20 minitues your in a whole different landscape, After 3 hunts in NF, i am always amazed and in awe of the landscape.
Fog below in the valley, nothing moving. Moved to another area across the way. Nothing responding to the call so he asked me if i want to go to his spike camp which i agreed.
We stock up with a few supplies and off to the guide’s personal camp on a lake. The access road is a mile from our access road but then off on the ARGO for an hour. On the way we see our first rub and scrape and lots of track on the trail. We saw a set today on our way out. Finally get to his camp, overlooking the lake. Honda generator starts right up and we have power then start the wood stove, then we are off for two hours on the ARGO to the back country.
We hit a mud hole and bury the left side of the ARGO. 15 minutes later we are off. Did some calling, no responses.

Back at the camp my brother in law shoots a nice 12 point and my son a spike.

Thursday

We head out at first light from the spike camp and drive an hour or so. Up the hill over what i call mini moguls and bam, we hit a hole and the front end is buried and rear wheels in the air. NOthing phases the guide, he will handle it later. Up the hill and the top has a commanding view of the lake and a bull swimming across likely a call from a waiting cow. In fact 10 minutes later we hear a cow calling.

I walk down and he gets the ARGO out of the hole and picks me up. Back to camp, call along the way, nothing.
However we did see 3 caribou, 6 Ptarmigans and a few spruce grouse.

We clean up the camp and head back and decide to go out at 4 close to the camp. Off we go and ARGO for 30 minutes to the top of the hill and call. NOTHING. Try another spot on the way back, same. A little windy.
ON the way to the truck we both turn to the right and 200 yards or so is a moose wanting to cross. I jack a bullet in the SAKO S 20 06 and lean across the hood of the machine. I told him earlier, I’ll neck shoot this late,
First shot I’m feeling good, right on with the S& B set at 4x. Damn she is still standing, jack another one in and the guide says shoulder and let it fly, Direct hit, spins around and drops like 25 feet int the bush. He’s searching too far down and i walk closer to the edge of the brush line and she’s dead. Bullet took half the heart.

Thanks to everyone who responded in a previous thread re: 30-06 bullets for NF moose. What worked in the new SAKO S 20 were 165 greasing Barnes TSX. 1 -1 1/4” group at 200 yards.

While i was getting ready today for the afternoon hunt my son took my gun and shot at the target to ensure nothing got out of wack after multiple days in the ARGO. At 115 yards he was an inch low.

Well done and congratulations.

What outfitter did you hunt with?

Good for you and your buddies abbydog!

Congrats any pictures?

We hunted with CONNE RIVER OUTFITTERS. We were here in 2018 and TUckamore Lodge in 2021.
I’ll get some pics up today. Files are kind of large.

I’ll put a positive review for the SAKO S20. As you guys told me to try what worked for you and I did. By doing so I had plenty of practice shooting this rifle before the hunt.
When we got the right bullet weight the grouping was amazing. The gun is a bit heavey and that could be a game changer if you’re walking all day. I really like the thumb hole stock and actuary was as advertised.
The S&B scope with 50 mm objective was great, I usually have a 42 mm objective.
I will have my S&B 6x42 up for sale since the Browning rifle it’s on is going back to the dealer for a trade. It did not group well at all. That was going be my primary for the hunt — 300WSM.

By the way, the NF natives are the best. Certainly after 9/11 they became the innkeepers to many a stranger that landed at Gander.

+ 1 on that!

I had friends on both Newfoundland and at in Yellowknife on Great Slave Lake who took in a dozen stranded people each when ALL airline traffic was grounded (mostly American).

They fed and housed them for a long bloody while before flights gradually resumed.

I've lost contact with these friends of mine, but I know that the people they helped were still staying in touch with cards in 2018 - quite classy I thought, well done Americans!

/John

I used 150 grain Barnes TTSX BT. decent size exit wound, obliterated half the heart. Good people everywhere.

That short review right there says a lot. Sounds like a fabulous load. What more could one ask? Congratulations.

abbydog;
Good morning to you sir, I hope that this first Friday of October finds you and yours well in all ways possible.

Thanks for taking us along on your hunt and congratulations on the moose.

Growing up eating Saskatchewan moose, there are few meals I prefer over good moose meat.

All the best on the rest of your hunts this fall.

Dwayne

Good morning Dwayne, I hope you are doing great and getting ready for a beautiful Thanksgiving dinner with your family!

Its funny, if you had a room with 100 people that hunt both Elk and Moose and asked, "What do you prefer to eat, Moose or Elk?" 50% of them would say Elk the other half saying Moose, kind of funny actually. Personally, I would be in the moose group.

If I were on Death Row and was asked by the Warden: "What would you like for your last meal?" This would be my response:

A medium rare Moose Cheeseburger with Lettuce, Sweet onion, Tomato, Horse Radish, Hot Peppers, Mustard, and Relish with an Extra Large serving of Onion Rings and a Giant Chocolate Milkshake.

Wishing you a great Thanks Giving!

Another thumbs up for the locals of NF. I hunted with Mountain top Outfitters 2 years ago. After a complete klusterphuc dealing with Air Canada and their Covid BS I finally landed in Deer lodge after being screwed by the airlines for an extra day. I was meet at the airport by a cab driver who happened to be leaving the air port to go home and eat dinner. He ended up taking me to his house for dinner. His wife made a big spread of moose stew and all the fixings. It nearly made me cry because I had never encountered such nice people. The rest of the hunt was great and ended up taking my first moose. A very large cow with my 300 SAUM.

Abbydog - congratulations on the moose and also what reads as a fine adventure. Enjoy the eats as a moose makes good table fare.

Those folk are in a class by themselves. I work with a bunch. All the same.

If I had another life to live, it would be on NFLD.

I looked very seriously at relocating to Newfoundland after my second trip up there hunting. Simply the most salt of the earth type folks I have ever been around. That was 20 years ago and I often wonder "what if". We go every other year and fill the freezers.

Way to go, Abbydog!
Your account of bullet selection, the trip, and the hunt have been a great read and you found a great moose hunting rifle/caliber/cartridge combination. I believe that you'll not find better. The 165TTSX was my final choice for my 300WSM. Your SAKO S20 in 30-06 shooting the 165TTSX, what a combo!. Thanks for sharing.
Jim

Pictures or it never happened!

Just kidding lol

We are at the ferry terminal in port aux Basque as I write this.
We were delayed from Saturday by wind, waves abd to an extent the butcher.
Yesterday was a great day for the hunters in camp. 1 Caribou and 5 bulls.
Last week the larger bulls were busy servicing cows! Yesterday they were out on the prowl. Some of the same bulls guys got a peek at were shot! We loaded all the meat in styrofoam boxes and placed inside a 8’x 30” x 36” 3” thick styrofoam lined plywood homemade coolers with 14 bags of ice on top of those in large bags.
All meat was vacuum packed.
Guys were amazed with this cooler.

Congratulations on the successful hunt! I think you'll agree that hunting in various places around the continent is fantastic, but "bringing home the bacon" is important too. Newfoundland is great for so many things, except jobs maybe. I love visiting there and the Maritimes generally.

Got home Wednesday night, packed the freezer and left for Maine Thursday at 2:00 and now camping til Sunday. Finally caught up on sleep. Slept 11 hours lat night with one BR bread! And a nap this afternoon.
I’ll work on posting pics when i get home.

BTW
I had the S&B set at 4x so not to get caught with it set at a higher power and then a close up shot.
I totally forgot to turn on the Illuminated dot!!!! Second time that’s happened on a a moose hunt.

It sounds like you had a great time! Do you think you'll go back again?

I would like to while I can. I am 72 next August.

The outfitter was pretty much sold out next year and the hunt is $8,500. Apparently many outfitters have gone up on price due to increased costs and continued cost to carry the camps over the year.
$25,000 for a Caribou hunt this year. I did not partake.

Steve,

The guide took me to his spike camp and we did some exploring on the ARGO. Basically went where others don’t hunt but do snowmobile in the area, friends of the guide’s.
That part of the trip was priceless Needless to say I did give him a tip worthy of the experience. Very pleased.

I'm glad. When I lived down east I used to say that Newfoundland and Labrador were our secret treasures. The pace of life is slower and much friendlier than most other places.

This time of year is also magical. Christmases in Germany were great, but given the choice between there and Canada, Canada wins. I guess that's to be expected.

Anyway, you have your winter's meat laid in. You'll have lots of great memories and maybe a special meal on the 24th. A nice soup or stew made in the slow cooker.