Moose hunts to remember

Two falls ago, early in the hunting season, I killed a beautiful bull moose. It was a memorable hunt for a lot of reasons, and ended a long, personal moose-hunting dry spell. I’ve been recounting that hunt lately but also thinking about the complexities of almost any moose hunt. So many things are in play at any given time. One decision can cast the die, good and bad. It’s amazing how often a little luck can change everything. Stroke of luck My very first moose was taken thanks to, at least in part, a stroke of luck in a remote area three decades ago. A friend and I were pre-season scouting some logging areas that were cut the previous winter. These “winter cuts” were done when it was cold because they were in wet and swampy areas. Our access points were a bit gooey, but doable. We put on our rubber boots and walked into it. The moose sign on the While sitting there, with the morning sun on my face, I heard the distant sound of antlers clashing. This was not a sound I’d ever heard while hunting before. Yet it was so loud and so distinct there could be no doubt what it was. When it happened again, I scrambled off the slash pile and made my way up an old skidder trail that headed into another cut. As I carefully and slowly topped the hill, I could see two bull moose standing in a cut below me 300 yards away. They were focused on each other, which allowed me to take cover. I crouched and carefully made my way to a stump. When I slipped the scope up on the stump and looked through it, the larger of the two bulls was already heading to the bush. Luckily, the smaller bull was standing its ground and provided a perfect broad-side target at 200-plus yards. I took a breath and squeezed the trigger. The shot found its mark; the moose started to sway and then fell over. Twenty minutes later, exhilarated and more than a little in awe, I walked up to my first bull moose. The animal had a quite handsome 40-plus-inch rack. The sound of those antlers had put me in a place where I was able to take my first bull. Revisiting decisions This writer harvested a couple of other bulls in the years after