2011 Maine moose hunt

[maineac]

Since the excitement of the fall seasons has died down, I thought I would post the story of my Maine moose hunt this past fall.  I hope it helps break up the dead of winter and rekindle dreams of fall.  After a twenty- year wait I was drawn for a Maine moose tag this past June.  With a busy summer I was only able to get away three times to scout with my young shorthair.
 

I covered a lot of miles looking for the right area in my zone.  Over the years I had come to the decision to try to do a hunt from a river to get away from the roads and pressure.  I settled on a section of the dead river below the Flagstaff Lake dam.

 

 

 

So after months of anticipation and preparation it was time to head out.  We packed trucks up Friday night and headed out around 6:30 Sat. morning.  The party consisted of me, my Sub permittee Alvin and another friend Carl (who had agreed to run a camera and help pack out meat).  We drove to Eustis and headed in on the Big Eddy Rd.  

 

[pauljr]

This is looking good, thats a awsome looking shorthair

[huskyarcher]

[Owlgrowler]

[Bonebuster]

 Looking forward to this!

THIS is what "hunting" is all about!

[awbowman]

Man this will be good!

[Cyclic-Rivers]

[Shedrock]

Bring it on!  

[stickbowmaniac]

Waiting  

[Ulysseys]

 Forum rules say you can't start an awesome story and abruptly stop...I love Maine.

[maineac]

After finishing the 17 mile drive in we unloaded the boat and trucks and got to setting up camp.


After setting up the cooking fly and table we set up the tents



Of course we had to identify the camp for anyone who might be joining us during the hunt


After that we got to some scouting.  We traveled the river looking for fresh moose sign.  The foliage was at peak.


We checked lots of spots along the river.  We couldn't find any fresh rubs, but we found several areas that had almost every forearm to thigh sized maple tree in a half acre area had been rubbed over the past several years


I don't know if you can see all the rubs but at least 60% of the trees in the pictures have been rubbed.  We couldn't see how they still couldn't be using the area if they had every year for the past 5 or 6 (based on ages of rubs).



The ride back was highlighted by the full moon.



We headed back to cocktails and dinner by the fire.

[leatherneck]

Loving this already.

[Mike Vines]

I'll add my own    while we are waiting.

[jcar315]

[Cookus]

[Stripstrike1]

Very Nice!

[Knawbone]

Great stuff, Love Maine,Please continue!      

[ti-guy]

Very nice! Thanks for sharing.

[Trumpkin the Dwarf]

That is cold...taking a break for more than an hour in the early stages of a story like this? TTT to remind you to finish what you started!

[wildgame]