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Happy Thanksgiving Everyone.

This weekend my heart has filled with many thanks for family, friends, and traditions.

I am thankful for many things that I’ve learned from my Dad, Uncle Mark, my first boss Alan Monette (he taught me how to cut meat), and many more. I am blessed to have many opportunities to share these skills with others.

Three years ago I had a limited draw cow moose permit for Homer. My Dad was able to hunt with me that year and we were successful on the first day! This fall I’ve shared, on Facebook, pictures and stories of moose hunting adventures that I’ve had with Blake and some friends from the same area that I hunted with my Dad. I figured the fellers here on the 'fire would appreciate a few sights from the field and a little yarn as well.

Throughout this season, we were able to explore new country and revisit some memorable places. The first day of the season came on the morning after my Uncle Mark’s death from C-19. I spent many fall days in the UP hunting grouse and deer with my Uncle. On this first day of moose season, I saw over two dozen spruce hens along the trail who had seemed to assemble to salute his passing. Although we didn’t get a moose that day, I am thankful that I got to spend that day with long time hunting partner Phil Morin.



The previous weekend saw the first snows on top of the hill in Homer. More recent snow made for great conditions to track and still hunt. Blake came with on this trip. We saw lots of tracks in the snow and cut a fresh track that we were able to follow. With a good wind, we stalked up on a young cow, however it didn’t give me more than a moment to consider shooting. In that instant, I didn’t shoot. Thankfully, I didn’t; mechanical issues shortened our hunt that weekend.




Blake came hunting again a couple of weeks later after Halloween weekend on the hill was washed out with rain followed by snow. More snow during the first part of November meant more fresh tracks, however the freshest tracks were from wolves and bears. We didn’t see many moose at all except for a 30” bull right at dark Saturday night.

KPB Assembly commitments and processing the educational moose kept me out of the Homer woods for a weekend and our cow season was quickly drawing to a close. Hunting season always seems to run face first into Holiday events. The last day of cow moose season was scheduled for … family pictures. With this sword of Damocles threatening the final opportunity to hunt, something had to be done.

Plans were quickly laid to hunt the second to last day of the season. I placed an evening call to “Handsome” Kenai Jay Sjogren and he graciously accepted my invitation to ride shotgun for the last hunting trip of the moose season.



We left in the predawn dark toward Homer. Our mounts for the day were a couple of classic mid 90s snow machines. The day broke clear and cold without much moose track activity in the snow. Near midday we saw a cow bedded with two calves and from atop the same hill that my dad and I got a cow on three years earlier, we glassed up a bedded bull a ways away. With about a half hour left of shooting light, we decided to call it a day and begin to make our way back toward the truck on the rather lumpy trail that had been recently abused by a large tracked vehicle - making the ride a bit sporty.

I lamented to Jay as we left the likely hunting grounds, “I hate to quit. It’s an anathema to my being.”

He prophetically reassured me, “We might still put one on the hood by the time we’re done.”



It wasn’t too long after that when we spotted a small bull next to the trail. Blake and I had seen it a few weeks before. It was nice to see, but I was rather resigned to accept our unsuccessful fate.

Only twenty more yards down the trail a lone cow rose to its feet as the old sleds crawled closer to the truck. I squeezed the binders on the two stroke and eased to a stop as the cow stood. I retrieved my rifle from its case as I searched the surroundings for a calf and other hazards.

Peering through through the falling light I watched the moose and saw that it was without a calf. I shouldered my Sako and settled the heavy duplex for maximum utility.

Many folks say that it is at this instant that the work begins. It’s not work, it’s a labor of love that is a way of life. Harvesting wild food is who we are and what we’re made of. I am thankful to learn something new with each day in the field, hour in the kitchen, or in front of the butcher block.

This moose will feed many for a time. I trust that our traditions will endure for all time.





#fueledbynature

it doesnt get much better than that, congratulations

Great story thanks for sharing!

Very nice. Thanks for sharing 😊 --- Mel

Nice!!

Great story. Thanks for sharing.

Congratulations........

Blake’s quite the little man! Well done, J.

Congratulations.

Don't know how I managed to miss this. Awesome job my friend...
Excelsior!

Great hunt with family mixed in.

We couldn't fit him in the oven.