7 minute read
Highlight of the Hunt
HIGHLIGHT
of theHUNT
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TD Kelsey from Texas took this Dall sheep under the guidance of Bonnet Plume Outfitters.
Guides Jim and Josh Lancaster of Copper River with hunter Ron Gallman. Rick Munaretto of Illinois with Dall sheep, guided by Mackenzie Mountain Outfitters.
John Urrutia from California with 7-foot black bear guided by Silent Mountain Outfitters.
Ed Duda of Nebraska with goat, guided by Love Bros & Lee Ltd.
Brian Woods of Wisconsin with his moose, guided by Northwest Big Game Outfitters. Garrett Vaughn of Oregon, took his first black bear with Chilanko Forks Oufitters, guided by Gillian Tew.
Matt Moses of Washington, with goat. Guided by Dan Watson of Backcountry BC and Beyond Ltd.
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The criteria has been expanded to include a wider variety of photos. Send us your pics of the moments that made your hunt stand out from all the rest. Submit to info@goabc.org with the outfitter’s name, species and/or names of people in photo, and adventure date.
by Michael Cummings
recently ended a twenty-nine-year odyssey to successfully arrow a second bull moose. Although I have hunted British Columbia, the Yukon and Alaska several times over the years, and back in ’85 killed a small bull with my bow in northern BC (and several others elsewhere with rifle since then) this time it was the Northwest Territories with Nahanni Butte Outfitters.
Right from the start the trip was plagued with unseasonably warm weather making seeing or hearing a rutting bull difficult and unlikely. Plus, we’d spotted a pack of a dozen or so wolves along the river while flying in. The hunt had the usual hills to climb covered with shin-tangling undergrowth, willows, blowdowns and boot-sucking tundra swamp.
Early on we traveled by jet boat up and down a river. I hunted with Clay who also piloted the boat. He was a master at avoiding the rocks in the river as the water level was unusually low. Then, for the last couple of days of my hunt, I was transported to a separate lake where some recent rutting activity had been recorded by another successful bowhunter in our group. In this area I was accompanied by Devon, a young but knowledgeable guide.
On the last evening we were finally able to work a bull in close but were ultimately foiled by shifting winds. He didn’t go far and we heard him calling and raking trees some distance from our two-man tent throughout the restless night. In the morning we made another attempt but never heard him again.
Knowing the aircraft was coming to pick me up at noon we both felt that the hunt was essentially over. For me, it was a familiar outcome that I have experienced many times over the years. And yes, I could easily have taken a moose earlier in the hunt with my rifle, which I am not above doing, but that doesn’t approach the exhilaration of getting one in close with the bow.
Surprisingly, upon returning to our camp we noted a bull about a kilometer away at the lake’s edge, slowly making his way toward us. It may have even been the same bull we’d encountered the evening before. A quick look with our binoculars told us that he was not a huge bull for the area. However, he had a pretty nice spread and decent paddles and I
was in no mood to be picky. The wind was perfect as we quickly made a set up near the lake’s edge. He walked deliberately toward us, grunting and splashing water with his steps as he approached around the lake. With my heart pounding, I chose a tree near enough to the lake that if he did continue on and pass by, I could get a good broadside shot into his left chest. Or, if as planned, Devon was successful in challenging him with a call that drew him from the lake, I might use a narrow opening in the brush for a fleeting shot into his right chest.
The plan was perfect. Devon began calling and the bull stepped from the lake and began raking the brush in protest. With his head swaying, I drew and waited for the perfect shot.
There! I heard the arrow strike home. The moose crashed away about 10 steps, coughed twice, and fell over dead. The single-blade arrow point had sliced through both lungs and exited the off side. The shaft was broken in two places and we later found the front portion along the trail. I was very happy with my success.
I learned a valuable point from Devon which I had never before considered but will surely remember when stalking moose in the future. I had felt that we should give a cow call to sweeten the bull’s amorous intentions, whereas Devon insisted on using only soft bull grunts. He later explained the strategy saying that if, by chance, there was a cow with the bull that
we didn’t see, a cow call might make her lead the bull away, thereby blowing our ambush.
As a bonus on this hunt, I had killed a black timber wolf three days earlier. I had taken advantage of a fleeting opportunity while we were making our way down the river. In that case, I used my rifle for the shot. There was plenty of other activity in the area as well. A guide in our outfit was surprised when he was approached by a large grizzly boar while getting creek water for the spike camp. He tripped and fell on a root while slowly backing away. He later said that at that moment he felt that the jig was up. Fortunately, the bear only came up to him, sniffed, and ran away. Unfortunately, a hunter in an adjacent hunt unit was not so lucky. As I was told from sketchy information, the hunter was fatally injured by a grizzly and dragged away.
Driving the 900 miles home, I had to hustle to keep the moose meat from spoiling. I gave one quarter to my neighbor and processed the rest. It all made it into my large freezer in good shape.
Also when I got home, a friend of mine who had been fishing on my property recounted a tale of being mock charged by a grizzly sow with two second-year cubs. I used caution in the area until it was cold enough for hibernation. Also, several weeks later, while I was out of town on another hunt, I received an unusual call from a friend who was feeding my dog and horse. He jokingly asked if I carried any hazard insurance. As it turned out, he’d found a black bear in my shed when he went in to get some dog food. The bear had pried the door open to gain entrance but the door, which is on a bungy cord, partly closed behind him. Evidently the bear couldn’t find its way out. Duncan, my friend ran him out with a broom.
EDITOR’S NOTE:
