Moose!

Wow, I know fishing tournaments and producing fishing shows earlier in the year kept me hopping, but at least in most of the places I fish I have some type of communication with the outside world. Yeah, I know.... still no excuse for not blogging regularly. But in my defense, in these past several weeks I have hunted some pretty remote spots!

 

Two weeks ago, my camera man, Gerry, and I were packed into a remote tent camp in New Mexico where we chased bugling bull elk unsuccessfully for seven long days. We averaged over ten miles of hiking per day with the last day being over 17 miles on our GPS.

 

Last week, I had an incredible hunt for Scent Loks High Places in Utah with Ryan Foutz and Kurt Wood of Bighorn Basin Outfitters. We were bow hunting for Shiras Moose. Shiras are the smallest of all the moose species and only have huntable populations in Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, and Utah. It is a "once in a lifetime tag" in Utah, so I really felt fortunate just to get to hunt them. 

I was very surprised at the high-desert terrain in which the Shiras live. At over 8,000 feet it was a drastic contrast to other Moose hunts I have been on. The moose were in full rut and on day two, we called in two rut crazed bulls to within 40 yards! The cover was so thick it was difficult to get good video or a clear shot, until they got within 20 yards. My heart was pounding out of my chest as those bulls pushed each other around and raked the brush, grunting the whole time. I finally got a clear shot at the biggest of the two and made it count!

 

I feel extremely fortunate to have now taken the Canada, Alaska-Yukon and Shiras Moose with my bow. For me it was a major hunting goal fulfilled and a trip I'll never forget. 

Alaska-Yukon Moose "2009"

Canada Moose "2008"