2023 Alberta Moose Camp

[BruceT]

   Really enjoying this ! Keep it coming !!

[supernaut]

Outstanding, keep it coming please!


 

[mnbwhtr]

I'm hooked! Keep it coming.

[Gun]

Thanks guys, appreciate the comments!

Brad, care to pm me that spot since you don't live here anymore?! Sure tough to get access around Calgary.

Ok, so I may get a few of the times, numbers, and opportunities mixed up some as I don't keep notes anymore. My right hand is kind of buggered and I'm only using two fingers to type.

We were really seeing 15-20 Moose a day. Combines were working well into the night. The Rut was going harder.

Wednesday we spit up. Kayo and Georgia headed out on their own. They wanted to go after the big Bull from Monday and yesterday again. I forgot in the previous post that we did get on that Bull yesterday first thing. He was about a mile north of where we saw him on Monday.

I stayed back and watched from the road as Ed and Kayo tried to pull it off. When they finally exposed themselves at about 60yds, their act and calling didn't work and the Bull herded the cows off.

Ed and I headed north to see if we could find those two big ones from yesterday. On the way we saw a cow and calf bedded on the side of a ravine coming down from the edge of another corn field. She and the calf would be bedded in the same spot three consecutive morning in a row. We saw a few more cows and young Bulls as we drove. Nothing that interested us and most were on property we didn't have permission for.

We parked just inside the gate at the Alfalfa field. No Moose in sight, but we decided to get the wind and walk through two bush patches of a couple acres on the south side. No Luck

Then we tried a spot where a long finger of slough came out into a Barley field where a friend and Ed had killed a decent Bull last year. We walked along the north fence line and when we got into the high weeds and poplars we saw a lot of Rut sign. We could smell Moose it was so fresh. We slowly worked through openings in the Willows, grunting and displaying the "Rack".

All of a sudden I heard a "crack". I touched Ed's shoulder and motioned that I heard noise. His hearing is worse than mine. We froze and listened. I soon saw movement and pointed to where. Ed let out a few soft grunts and I saw the Bull coming. I slowly cleared Ed's right side and was ready. The Bull saw us at about 10 yds and stopped. I could barely see his shape it was so thick. There was a small opening to his chest for a frontal shot but no way I was taking that chance.

We couldn't see his antlers very well and I guessed maybe 40". He definitely saw me and was making low grunts. We waited for him to make the next move and were ready to hit the dirt in case..... 
 

[Gib]

Oh that’s low!!!! Hopefully you got him ??!! Can’t wait for the rest,,,,, PLEASE??? gib

[JR Chambers]

Brat stuff

[Michpatriot]

I think the moose jumped over him and knocked down the WIFI antenna...

[Jeff D. Holchin]

That pivotal moment…..love it!  Could turn out good, or it could turn out bad!

[JR Chambers]

I meant to say great stuff.

[Gun]

I was wondering JR.

We are in the midst of a 3 day snow fall. Did some shoveling.  Also having issues posting again.
Stay tuned

[Gun]

...... at that instant I realized that he could only see me clearly, as Ed was off to my left in a gray hoodie and had already whispered, where, where? He wasn't what I was looking for so I waved my hand a bit and said something to the effect, "Not today Big boy". He spun and ran, sending willows and alders flying.

Ed looked at me and said, "well that was fun!"

We paced off to where he stood, it was nine steps.

We then worked to the other end of the slough and came out in the cut field. We walked around the outside edge and headed back to the truck. We drove to some new territory. As we drove by a decent sized lake we saw a Bald Eagle up in a tree just off the road. We stopped and admired it for a bit then continued on.

About 10 mins later we saw a pretty good Bull with two cows about 200 yds off to our left on a hill just across a small pond. We drove past and stopped so Ed could check the map if he knew who owned it. No Luck so we turned around to take another look, just in time to see another good Bull with a cow walk over a rise about 50 yds from the first one. We stopped to see what would happen.

The first Bull left his cows and started for the other Bull swinging his antlers back and forth. The second Bull stood his ground but the cow was acting skittish. As the bigger Bull (not by much) got closer the second Bull engaged. They hit with a bang and were pushing back and forth. The bigger Bull was gaining ground and with a final big lunge drove the smaller Bull back. He turned and trotted off a bit. Eventually the cow started walking away and he followed her. The bigger Bull just watched us drive away. We didn't even think about getting our phones out.

As we headed back to camp for lunch we saw two small Bulls cruising across fields. We stopped at the    cornfield to glass. Again we spotted Cow ears between rows.  It was getting late morning so we continued on. Pretty sure we saw a dozen Moose that morning. It looked like the Rut was ramping up.

Another view of camp from the Machine Shop

[Gun]

When we got back to camp, Kayo and Georgia were already there and having lunch. We swapped stories and found out that they had found the big Bull from Monday again in the same spot. Kayo got out of the truck as Georgia drove away. The Bull was still with the two Cows and the wind was good to go right at them along the tree line. He was almost in range when one of the cows saw him and they all ducked back into the trees and crashed off towards the Coulee.

Later in the afternoon we split up again with Ed and I going to check out some new spots. Lots of young Bulls and better ones that we couldn't go after with no permission.

We ended up at a small town where we fueled up and got a few groceries.

Then we decided to check out the Cornfield again. By now probably 3/4s of harvest was finished. We noticed that the Canola field next to the corn had been picked. Not seeing anything in the Corn we drove into the empty Canola field which slowly rose in elevation. When we got to the end we stopped to glass and I saw a dark spot over a half mile away.

Ed got the spotting scope out and saw that it was a yearling Bull coming our way. We decided to try and call him in just for fun. Ed backed the truck up out of view. We got out and ran for cover, a narrow slough off to our left. The Bull kept coming. He disappeared in a dip in the field and we quickly moved over to intercept.

When he came into view again at about 100 yds Ed had put the fake antlers up and started grunting. The Bull stopped for a second then came right at us. We slowly turned in unison as he approached, 30yds, then 20, and at 10 he stopped looking at us probably wondering why this Bull was so skinny.

Ed whispered to me, "there's your shot". I had no intention. He finally decided we were up to no good and trotted away. That same Bull would become key the next day.

On our way back we took a different route and just before the main road turn I saw a couple Moose about 200 yds to our left in standing Canola not far from the farm behind them. We stopped to glass, I thought it was a really big Bull and a cow. Ed didn't think so. We turned the corner and got a bit closer. As we glassed the Bull again, Ed said, "well maybe". We drove into the farm yard to ask at the house. When Ed came back, he said the people were just renting and the land belonged to a corporate farm.

Back at camp Brian had some action but no luck. He did find another shooter Bull. By now we knew of five possible P&Y class Bulls.

[Gun]

 He was at the far left tree line when we first saw him

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/BtJSYiRlroE

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/3CBZAMu8Gzw

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/RQT7SuTK4yo

[Gun]

It was cooler Thursday morning and we set out with high expectation. We drove to where we saw the big Bull the evening before. There was a truck parked in the middle of the road as we pulled along side.

The driver had a spotting scope mounted on the window. When the passenger looked at us Ed recognized him as bowhunter from the town of Lethbridge area. We then noticed the Big Bull out in the Canola just past a Willow tree strip about 100 yds from us. He was with the same cow feeding. While talking Ed discovered that the driver had a tag and his buddy was helping him as he had killed a nice Bull a few years previous. After looking closer Ed agreed that it was a pretty nice Bull and bigger than he thought the night before. The property was still part of the corporate farm so we drove on.

We turned north towards the Cornfield to start. When we slowly drove past we saws two pairs of Moose ears towards the NW corner. While glassing we saw a medium Bull come over a hill from the south and trot down into the corn.

We discussed a quick plan and Ed backed up to where we entered the harvested Canola the evening before. We drove up out of sight from the corn and turned right, stopping midfield. We got our gear together and Ed and I would go stand about 100 yds down the fence on the north end of the corn, with Brian another 50 yds further east. The slight wind was from southeast to northwest.

In position Ed started cow calling. We listened hoping to hear some rustling in the corn. After a few minutes Ed called again. Soon after two cows came trotting out about 20yds east of Brian. They ran into a pocket of Bush north of us. We saw them wandering around a bit then lost sight of them. After a few minutes Brian slowly walked up to us while Ed was coming up with plan B.

[Gun]

Ed told Brian to go back to where he was and that he and I would go around the bush the cows went into and see what we could push towards him.

We walked around the west side of the corn edge and came out near the truck. Ed wanted to get rid of some clothes as it was warming up. I drank some water and came around the box, when all of a sudden Ed says, Big Bull! I looked around but couldn't see anything. He pointed to the corner of the next patch about 200 yds away and there he stood with the two cows. He put up the spotting scope while I glassed through my binocs.

Just then the Bull left the cows and trotted west towards some other Bush were the small Bull from the night before was with another cow. He soon chased the little guy off and herded the cow back to the other two. Ed said, "lets go"!

Pix of Bull getting ready to herd the cow

[Gun]

Another angle

[Gun]

While the Bull was coming back we ducked and half stepped, crawled over to the other two cows. About halfway there (about 50 yds) two other cows came from out of nowhere towards us about 150 yds away. The Big Bull had added the single cow to the other two and noticed these two new ones coming. Just then the small Bull came out of the west bush and started to go after the newcomers.

The Big Bull didn't like that and went to chase him away while we crawled closer to the now three cows. We made it to the edge of the bush but still fairly in the open. The three cows were about 30 yds north of us and looking at the commotion of the big Bull running off the little Bull again. He herded these cows in with the rest. The two original cows went in to the bush.

This patch was about 5 acres in size we found later. There is a low spot in the middle which holds water in the spring melt off, that lets trees grow along the edges.

[Gun]

Ed stood w me behind him and started grunting and swaying back and forth. We were fairly close to a very large but dead Diamond Willow. The Bull saw us and turned, doing the "walk" he went up to the dead willow and started thrashing the crap out of it. Wood was flying everywhere! Ed was still challenging and the adrenaline was pumping!!

The Bull quit and started walking around the willow towards us. I noticed that he was on a trail going right past about 10 yds away. I was set with my Bow half up. Ed reached back and gave me a nudge out to the left side of him. The Bull stopped at my movement slight quarter to. I waited. He soon started walking again and I waited till he was just past us. Ed grunted, stopping him. My arrow struck him low in the chest behind his right shoulder.

Just a touch left of the blue spot

[Gun]

The Bull ran past us and veered left down into the slough. He slowed and walked in a half circle and bedded about 40 yds away. Two of the cows went down and stood by him. He got up, took a step and laid back down.

Ed gave me a pat on the back and congratulated me with, "You got your P&Y Moose". We knelt down and watched him thru our binocs. I had a better view than Ed from my angle. I could tell he was struggling. He would cough a few times and put his head down. After about 10 mins he stood up again but laid right back down. After another 10 mins the cows left. We had noticed a few minutes earlier the small Bull had come back and herded off two of the other cows. "Thanks for the diversion buddy!"

We waited a half hour total but his head was still up. I whispered, "lets back out and come back in a couple hours". I didn't want to push it or have the wind change and him run off.

We slowly and quietly backed up and headed back to the truck. When we were near the fence we saw Brian coming up along side of it. He said he could hear us calling and a bunch of racket, but wondered what happened. We gave him a quick blow by blow, went to the truck and drove to Camp.

[Jeff D. Holchin]

Great stuff Gun!  That pic showing the moose vitals is a classic, I think my buddy Bill Allard created it years ago….