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Author Topic: Wyoming 09 elk and moose adventure  (Read 3931 times)

Offline Jeff D. Holchin

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Re: Wyoming 09 elk and moose adventure
« Reply #140 on: September 30, 2009, 10:16:00 AM »
Moose day 6:

I showered and really brushed my tooth this morning, as I wanted to really impress the rancher.  I was at the bluff overlooking the riverbottom at daylight (6:30 am) but saw no moose, and then drove to the ranch at 8:00 am.  I guess I passed the test because the rancher jumped into my truck and showed me the property boundaries and where some moose had been seen, including a small bull at the north end.  However, I was warned to stay off the neighbor's property, make sure any wounded moose didn't go there, and call before each hunt.

As soon as that tour was over and I thanked the rancher repeatedly, my phone rang and it was one of the other landowners, saying I could hunt and to come over now to meet him.  I did so but the area I was allowed to hunt was essentially a willow-choked stream through miles of pasture and thousands of cattle, so I went back to the first ranch to scout, starting at the north end.

It took about 5 minutes to see this little moose at 20 yards, the closest I had been to a moose this hunt.....

 

Turns out he was a little bull, but he had to walk only 100 yards before he was on the neighbor's property and the river....

 

I checked this area a little, and on the way back to my truck spotted the young bull the rancher had mentioned, but he too soon crossed the property line onto the neighbor's land....

 

I then drove to the south end of the ranch, which offered a lot more room to hunt before encountering the property line.  Immediately I saw a cow drinking in this pond, in the middle of the day....

 

I stayed until dark but didn't see any moose, but was excited about my chances of killing a bull here....

 

Things were looking up!
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Offline Terry Green

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Re: Wyoming 09 elk and moose adventure
« Reply #141 on: September 30, 2009, 11:45:00 AM »
:campfire:    :coffee:
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Offline steadman

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Re: Wyoming 09 elk and moose adventure
« Reply #142 on: September 30, 2009, 11:50:00 AM »
Great photos and story Jeff! Thanks for taking us along.
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Offline BaldingEagle

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Re: Wyoming 09 elk and moose adventure
« Reply #143 on: September 30, 2009, 03:01:00 PM »
Wow. Beautiful country and great pics.  Thanks for sharing.
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Offline Nate Fikkert

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Re: Wyoming 09 elk and moose adventure
« Reply #144 on: September 30, 2009, 08:10:00 PM »
Man Jeff, you really covered some country the first day.  All the way from Buckskin Crossing to the Upper Green.  Wish I was there!  Did you go to Pinedale Bible Church when you were there?  Can't wait to see the rest.

Nathan
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Offline Jeff D. Holchin

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Re: Wyoming 09 elk and moose adventure
« Reply #145 on: September 30, 2009, 08:28:00 PM »
Yes Nathan, I covered some ground - really should have made that scouting trip in August more worthwhile!  I attended the Lutheran Church.
Well, here is the grand finale.

Moose Day 7:

The pressure was increasing. I forgot to mention that I had begun to see orange-clad rifle hunters beginning on Tuesday, which made me a little nervous in my camo, especially when 2 such hunters stalked past my stand late tuesday when I was climbing down the tree. Something had spooked the 2 moose I was watching, and their stares led me to the hunters who were upwind. Also, the gun season for moose in this unit would begin on Sunday. Even though I finally had access to a good private ranch, when I called to make sure I could hunt there on this day (Friday), I was told that a deer hunter would be on the ranch for the weekend so I needed to hunt somewhere else those 2 days. Finally, I had an expensive elk tag in my wallet and I love to elk hunt also. I decided that I would not be very picky if a bull moose got within range.

I was at the south end of the ranch before daylight and by mid morning I had seen 3 cow moose. Then I moved to the north end, and after parking my truck, walked 10 steps, looked to the left and saw this....

 
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Genesis 27:3 "Take your bow and a quiver full of arrows out into the open country, and hunt some wild game for me."

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Offline Jeff D. Holchin

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Re: Wyoming 09 elk and moose adventure
« Reply #146 on: September 30, 2009, 08:30:00 PM »
A nice bull moose was standing straight-on and staring me down - I was busted! He was about 36-38 inches wide and I soon saw the reason he was there - a sweet little cow fed past but his stare would not be broken, that is not until the little bull on the left began sniffing him over and got a little too close to the family jewels. This made the bigger bull whirl around and whack the little guy in the side! He took off and I saw him about 1/2 mile away about 10 minutes later. This was the first sign of any rutting activity, and after the bigger bull ran off the little guy, he followed the cow across the property line and out of my life! I hung around for several hours hoping to see them again but they were gone. The wind was from the east this day and they were to my west, so I decided to head back to the public land where my treestand was located.
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Genesis 27:3 "Take your bow and a quiver full of arrows out into the open country, and hunt some wild game for me."

Proud PBS regular member - if you are a serious bowhunter, check us out at     http://probow.discussion.community

Offline Jeff D. Holchin

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Re: Wyoming 09 elk and moose adventure
« Reply #147 on: September 30, 2009, 08:42:00 PM »
I parked the truck, shot a few arrows, ate lunch, loaded my pack and headed to the bluff for a look-see before heading down to my treestand for the rest of the day.  I immediately saw moose - first these 2:

 

Then another cow bedded back in the willows, then these 2 moose:

 

Hey, are those antlers on the one?  Yes, pretty small but he is bedded not 50 yards from my treestand!  Believe it or not, I dialed up the game warden and made sure that there is no minimum size for my tag, and upon confirming that there is not, I circled way to the west and sneaked into my treestand.  Finally secured and ready, I checked and the 2 moose were still there.  The waiting game began.  About 30 minutes later, the little bull rose and could have gone any which way, but made a beeline for my tree...

 

It took about 20 nerve-racking minutes as he stripped willow leaves almost under my feet (no photos now, it was just too quiet and close to screw up the whole thingg now), but finally he turned away and offered a perfect quartering away shot at 12 yards.  I debated with myself the whole time until he finally headed my way, if I should kill such a small bull, but considering the number of bigger bulls that had been within range in the past 7 days (zero), I decided to accept this gift!  At the shot, he bolted back across the river, wavered a moment and then fell....


 
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Genesis 27:3 "Take your bow and a quiver full of arrows out into the open country, and hunt some wild game for me."

Proud PBS regular member - if you are a serious bowhunter, check us out at     http://probow.discussion.community

Offline Guru

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Re: Wyoming 09 elk and moose adventure
« Reply #148 on: September 30, 2009, 08:45:00 PM »
This is awesome Jeff!!
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Offline Jeff D. Holchin

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Re: Wyoming 09 elk and moose adventure
« Reply #149 on: September 30, 2009, 09:00:00 PM »
I gave Thanks, and the bull some time to expire, then the unbelievable happened:  voices on the river, coming from a fisherman and his guide on a raft, headed straight for my bull and the cow.  My bull gained his feet and moved off into the high grass, where I couldn't see him.  This definitely is not a wilderness moose hunt, but I knew that going in.  After 30 minutes, I moved in and claimed my prize.  As I was tagging him and preparing for the work ahead of me before dark (I had 3 hours to dark), more voices behind me and here came 2 fishermen in waders, who were a bit surprised to see me and the moose!  At least they took a few photos for me...

 

I was very happy with this bull, not the biggest in the area but he was now officially mine...

 

It was then I discovered that my good knife was gone and I only had a pen knife for the task ahead of me.  Time for the gutless method...

 

I did it "one piece at a time, and it didn't cost me a dime"..

 

I carried the pieces back across the river and laid them on a log to cool..

 

I couldn't forget this choice cut; Larry Fischer made me promise to take the tongue too..

 
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Genesis 27:3 "Take your bow and a quiver full of arrows out into the open country, and hunt some wild game for me."

Proud PBS regular member - if you are a serious bowhunter, check us out at     http://probow.discussion.community

Offline Jeff D. Holchin

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Re: Wyoming 09 elk and moose adventure
« Reply #150 on: September 30, 2009, 09:23:00 PM »
This was the first time I tried the gutless method, and I really liked it, since I had no help...

 

By pitch dark, all the meat was ready for packing, along with the head, my gear and the treestand.....

 

It was now 8 pm and my truck was 1/2 mile away, uphill.  It took 6 trips with the pack, but luckily I had plenty of coolers and ice in the truck.  The loads with hindquarters had to be 110 or 120 lbs, while the front quarters were probably 90 lbs.  That last load felt so good at 1:00 am.  I was tired and sore, and my knees and hips hurt for several days, but it "hurt so good"...

 

I slept in the truck that night and spent most of the next day, Saturday, processing the meat and getting it into my freezer at Dexter's place.  I finished in the late afternoon, ditched the moose hunting gear, loaded the elk hunting gear, and turned my truck north to elk country, where I encountered that bull moose shown at the beginning of this story.  I did have another week to hunt, and possibly I could have killed a big bull moose.  I'll never know, but I have no regrets.  I had some moose burger several days later - yum!  Such a tender young bull, it will feed my family and me for the next year.

I need to take a little break to bale some hay on my farm, then pack up the truck with camping gear.  My family wants to go camping in the Smoky Mountains this weekend, so I'll tell the story of my elk hunt soon.
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Genesis 27:3 "Take your bow and a quiver full of arrows out into the open country, and hunt some wild game for me."

Proud PBS regular member - if you are a serious bowhunter, check us out at     http://probow.discussion.community

Offline Doug S

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Re: Wyoming 09 elk and moose adventure
« Reply #151 on: September 30, 2009, 09:24:00 PM »
Very Nice Jeff,

Congratulations!
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Offline JimB

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Re: Wyoming 09 elk and moose adventure
« Reply #152 on: September 30, 2009, 09:43:00 PM »
Nice going.And from a tree stand!Quite the hunt.
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Offline Nate Fikkert

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Re: Wyoming 09 elk and moose adventure
« Reply #153 on: September 30, 2009, 09:43:00 PM »
Nice job Jeff!
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Offline Duckbutt

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Re: Wyoming 09 elk and moose adventure
« Reply #154 on: September 30, 2009, 10:29:00 PM »
I did it "one piece at a time, and it didn't cost me a dime"..

...and I'll dang sure know its you when you come through my town.

Great story.  Congrats.

Now, let's hear about the elk hunt!!!
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Offline Whip

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Re: Wyoming 09 elk and moose adventure
« Reply #155 on: September 30, 2009, 10:56:00 PM »
Fantastic Jeff!  Can't wait to hear the rest of the story!
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Offline AkDan

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Re: Wyoming 09 elk and moose adventure
« Reply #156 on: September 30, 2009, 11:01:00 PM »
Jeff....I dont know how I missed this!!!  Awesome bull and story thus far!  Just feel bad I have a good friend who lives in Pinedale and I've hunted elk very near there in 02...Sounds like you had some great support though!  Can't wait for more!
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Offline saumensch

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Re: Wyoming 09 elk and moose adventure
« Reply #157 on: October 01, 2009, 04:45:00 AM »
awesome!
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Offline IndianaBowman

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Re: Wyoming 09 elk and moose adventure
« Reply #158 on: October 01, 2009, 07:34:00 AM »
Great job Jeff!  What camera were you using. It takes great field pictures and the zoom seems to work really well.

Elk hunt story....

Thanks again for all your time in sharing this hunt with us!
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Offline joevan125

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Re: Wyoming 09 elk and moose adventure
« Reply #159 on: October 01, 2009, 08:17:00 AM »
That was a great storey Jeff and you did a fantastic job.
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