Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Another Campfire Moose hunt in Idaho...

continued...

I thought I'd made a good mark on the stand of quakies the bulls walked into, but as we crested the last little rise between us and the moose I couldn't make out either of them. It looked too open to be hiding two moose, each the size of a small car,....but it's not the first time I've seen it happen. We were only about 300 yards out from their last known location, so I sat down and started picking apart the brush as best I could with my glass. It took me a couple of minutes, but I finally caught the tell-tale flash of a paddle in and amongst the brush and quakies. I felt a sense of relief knowing they were still in play for us, but didn't see an obvious path to success from our current location.

I suggested we stay above them and keep the thermals in our favor as we made our way around them to get a different, and hopefully more open line of sight. Greg stayed right on my hip as we moved past them and began our descent down a small finger ridge. We couldn't see them at all, but it didn't seem like they were in any big hurry to vacate the little patch they were currently in. I'd take two steps and glass into the thick brush. Lather, rinse, repeat for the next 100 yards. I finally I caught sight of the small bull staring at us from behind one of the few pine trees in their vicinity. He didn't seem particularly alarmed as Greg and I dropped down into a kneeling position. It seemed like we had a few pretty good shooting lanes in front of us, so we decided so set up and wait to see if the bigger bull would give us an opportunity.

It's not terribly clear, but you can make out the white paddle of the smaller bull near the center of this photo.



Here is Greg waiting patiently on the bigger bull to give him a shot opportunity. We could sort of make out the dark outline approximately 10 yards uphill of the smaller bull, but certainly nothing in the way of a clear shooting lane.



It seemed like a literal eternity, but was probably closer to 10 minutes before we both caught sight of the larger bull making his way downhill and presumably into one of the shooting lanes. I heard the safety flicked off just as the larger bull cleared a small pine and stepped into a nice opening. I was just starting to whisper "shoot" when the rifle barked...he didn't need me to tell him when the opportunity was there. I heard a distinct "whack" as the 200 grain Accubond found it's way home. Greg racked the bolt while I watched the bull stumble about 10 yards and slowly tip over. There would be no need for a follow-up shot. Greg stood up and I snapped this photo just before he threw me into a big, bear-hug.



to be continued....