I was drawn for a limited entry hunt - black powder - 3 days for Cow Moose on one of our military bases. The hunt has deer, elk, cow and bull moose hunters (approximately 200 in total) all in at the same time so there can be a fair bit of traffic in some locations at times . Conditions were not great as melt and re-freeze had very crunchy snow. Hunting by myself and on heart meds I promised my wife I would not take something to far back in causing a pack out. The method I used on this trip was to pick high spots and spend time glassing with a spotting scope, looking for travelling animals and then try to get in front of them. Day 1 -- saw 5 bulls, 23 deer but no cows. Day -- saw 4 bulls and 1 cow early but I was late on cutting her off. Mid morning I spotted two cows at about 1000 yds moving across a large clearing looking back and travelling towards a strip of brush. I moved over and positioned myself on a corner of two trails -- north / south and east / west. I suspected that if they came out they would cross the east / west line headed south but I had a good view both ways. I took range measurements of mid points on the lines to 150 yds and had a good tree for a rest.
While I was standing a truck came down the north / south line from the north. They stopped and started talking. I asked what they were looking for and just as the passenger said a bull moose the first cow stepped out onto the east west line. I said there she is -- took three steps sideways away from my tree rest, to clear the front of his truck went to a knee and took the shot. I could hear the whop and the guys in the truck yelling you got her, you got your cow. Lot's of smoke drifting up so I did not see the impact. The guys in the truck had big grins and passed on congratulations then drove off.
After a re-load I walked over to where the cow had been standing and there was a patch of hair but no sign of blood. I tracked in about 20 yds, as there was no blood I backed out and walked back to the truck. I made a decision to mark the area and let the animal settle down for 45 minutes to an hour as it was early. After 45 minutes I went in and started tracking. Conditions were really poor with noise from crunchy snow and lot's of old tracks. Taking my time I found the moose veered off to the east and went up hill into some dense scrub poplar. After following the trail for about 150 yds she stood up in the bush and made a wobbly short run and then stopped, obviously hurting. I was able to get an opening for a 2nd shot at about 80 yds and she dropped on a side hill in a tangle of small poplars. I was able to get around to the top of the hill with the truck and had enough rope to pull her up and out.
Firearm -- T/C Pro Hunter. 250 Barnes T-EZ, 100 gr by volume 777. First shot hit the liver, Second shot was upward through a lung, broke the spine and exited. On cleaning, the decision to let her sit was the right one as the cavity was full of blood from the damaged liver.
As I checked out mid day, I never did get the full reaction from the two guys that drove up while I was on stand watching the two lines. Having to step away from someone that drove up to me to have a discussion to take a shot at a big game animal is a first for me. I do wonder what they were thinking -- both driving up to a person on stand and then when I shot.
This was my tenth moose taken with the muzzle loader.
