Staying or moving for moose

Choosing to stay in an area or to relocate is a tricky decision. But there's nothing like punching your moose tag knowing your decision made it happen. I’d been sitting, waiting for the rain to pass, at the back edge of a large cutover. Water drops clung to my scope and binoculars, and made sure my rangefinder wasn’t steamed up. It was one of those moments that would prove to be a good use of my time. Once all the gear was clear of moisture, I started walking down an old skidder road that would ultimately lead me back to the truck. As I moved along the edge of a swamp, something caught my eye — a honey-coloured glint to the right. Though I couldn’t see the exact source, my brain immediately registered it as a moose antler. I froze, lifted my binoculars, and sure enough, there was a bull. I ranged it at 135 yards, and despite the trees and shrubs between us, I had a clean shot. The bull occasionally glanced my way, but I stayed still, careful not to move when it did. Wet moose antlers, catching sun Those wet antlers, catching the sun, really got my heart racing. When the bull finally looked forward, I mounted my Sako .30-06 on the shooting stick, placed the crosshairs on its shoulder, and took a deep breath. Then, I squeezed the trigger. The crack of the bullet rang out, the moose jumped, and in an instant, it was gone. Everything had happened so quickly, but the shot had found its mark. An hour later, my hunting partners, Tom Armstrong and Paul Karpowich, stood with me around the bull, hugging and celebrating. It was a beautiful three-and-a-half-year-old with a 45-inch rack. I had harvested this animal because we made the decision to change our original hunt plan. At noon that day, our group had decided to abandon our primary hunting area due to a lack of moose sightings. This new cutover had been on our radar but hadn’t been fully scouted. It was a risky move — our original zone had good sign, and we knew there were moose in the area. The clues, however, suggested a change was needed. No one had spotted anything in two days, and fresh moose sign was scarce. The decision to leave our number one spot ultimately changed the course of our hunt, and