2009 Moose Hunt

Sweeeeet!!! nice bull. Congrats.

 Congrats That a good looking Bull.

WTG, 'too!!!

Great trophy! Congrats and all that ...

(Only 19 days until my moose huntin' season opens ... cow tag, but I'm happy with that ... pix, if/when ... one might hope by Oct. 3 ... it'll take me 24 hours to calm down if the hunt goes the way I hope it will ... )

All of life is six-to-five against, just enough to keep you interested. (Damon Runyan)

Gravity makes all the important decisions ... (John R. Powers)

NRA, REMF, PF, NAHC-L, NAFC-L, KC, NPPA

Countin' down ... only 177 hours (give or take a few minutes) until legal shootin' light on opening day of Moose season ... gotta practice with the handgun and muzzleloader, and re-check the zero on the Main (backup, if plans go according to ... um ... plan ... ) ordnance, for those longer-distance shots ...

50-75 yards max. with the .454 Casull ... (T/C Encore with 2x-6x Tasco glass & that cool Circle/Crosshair reticle ... )

125-150 yards max with the .50 ... (NEF Huntsman with 1.5x-4.5x Swift glass)

100-125 yards max with the 1873 Springfield trapdoor .45-70 (really poor sight picture, never liked it ... but the novelty and thrill would be worth it, if the right opportunity presents its ownself ... )

150 yards to ... INFINITY AND BEYOND! ... with the .300 ... (670 Winchester with 3x-9x Nikon ProStaff ... been shootin' this one for more than 40 years ... it's treated me right ... )

Leica rangefinder to help with the guesswork ...

We'll see how near I can be to where the moose will be walkin' ... and which item described above will be in the fotos after the successful hunt ...

All of life is six-to-five against, just enough to keep you interested. (Damon Runyan)

Gravity makes all the important decisions ... (John R. Powers)

NRA, REMF, PF, NAHC-L, NAFC-L, KC, NPPA

Great looking bull huntin. Congrats!!!!!

Gary Scheel
NAHC LM,RMEF LM,NRA Member, Lonestar Bowhunter, TexasHogHunter Pro Staff Member

Well, this could go on the "Whitetail" page, since that's the main reason I wuz back @ the farm, takin' two oldest grandsons on their first-ever Youth License deer huntin' excursion ... but there wuz a small side-benefit ... in addition to a neighbor also reportin' a cow with twins a few miles from where we've planned to start ... (a few miles in Nodak is merely a few minutes ... if the harvesters don't clog the traffic zones ... )

Yeah, I did some vague "scouting" for reported moose locations ... but ... after I left (REALLY windy today, also cold, with scattered showers ... a HUGE change from Saturday, when it wuz in the 80s and winds of less than 5 mph ... ) D#1 took the boys out for one last chance to fill their tags (the older one will be able to use his in the regular rifle season) ... and she found my date for Friday!

Comparatively small (as mooses go) critter, we're speculatin' on whether the mom left, or it's a different calf ... or whut ...

I'll be seriously scoutin' as much as possible on Thursday, and with some adequate luck in findin' the critter (and mebbe a larger MOM alongside), the opener could be a fairly short day of huntin' to fill the tag ...

If I can find the tag ... put it away when it arrived, and now I'm not sure where it is ...

Might hafta get a duplicate from G&F ... plenty of time for that ...

Still about 106 hours 'til legal shootin' light on Friday ...

All of life is six-to-five against, just enough to keep you interested. (Damon Runyan)

Gravity makes all the important decisions ... (John R. Powers)

NRA, REMF, PF, NAHC-L, NAFC-L, KC, NPPA

Good luck Pard!!

Found the tag ... in the gun vault, where I put it for safe keeping ... merely had fallen down behind some firearms ... NBD, that's where I thot it wuz in the first place ... tho I'd not put the other "regular" tags there, but all are together now ... should mebbe stick the others to the main license form, so I don't lose 'em ... four deer tags (still haven't had time to practice, let alone buy a bow tag) and two turkey tags ... if I fill half of 'em I'll have way more meat than we can use up, and that doesn't count whut My Bride might bring home ...

Of course the moose is the main item (had steak tonite, still tastes great, even after most of a year of that bein' the main entree on the menu) ... and a few fessunts, of course (chased one bunch ahead of the mower today, four roosters, two hens and one unknown, so the birds are present in decent numbers ... ) so it should be a good year ... if I can only find the time to do it all ...

Already got more than 1,000 miles of driving planned for the various destinations during deer season ... 460 round-trip to the farm area and 320 to the Badlands, and I've been known to put on 100 miles a day, when we can't find deer in the first place we look ...

Went to the range tonite to check ordnance ... the mzl needs a bit more tuning (and cleaning, tonite, of course) but I've decided to forego the option of usin' the Casull ... I'm simply not confident enuf of my ability to place a shot properly with it at any greater distance than about 40 yards, and the hunting will likely not provide me with a shot that close ... the mzl should be good to 100-125 with me drivin' it, and even the .45-70 might be OK ... but the .300 will likely be the one on which I will rely ... got dark too early to finish with that rifle, but it's apparently about 1.5" high @ 25 yards usin' the "new" load, so I need to check zero/range again tomorrow nite ...

I really like the reticle on the mzl, and it shoots well enuf ... 150 grains of Pyrodex pushin' a 245-grain PowerBelt Aerotip ... loads nicely, too ... I'm curious as to whut the NRG level is with that load, gotta look it up on the 'net, so I'm satisfied that this combo will have the power I think is necessary ...

I'm thinkin' I'll take the first decent shot I find ... no matter the size of the critter ... not gonna "wait for a better one" ... while there's plenty of 'em around (for the number of licenses), they're not always where one expects 'em to be ...

If all goes well, and the critters are in the chain of cattail sloughs where we know they've been all summer, the hunt could be over in the first hour ... or not ...

Gotta go clean the smokepole, and at least run a snake thru the barrel of the others ...

All of life is six-to-five against, just enough to keep you interested. (Damon Runyan)

Gravity makes all the important decisions ... (John R. Powers)

NRA, REMF, PF, NAHC-L, NAFC-L, KC, NPPA

OK ... been re-thinkin' the desirability of usin' the mzl on a moose ...

Checked the ballistics (whut's available, general info and reviews/comments on various bullets/loads and such) and considerin' that it's a mere 24" barrel (you oughta see the FIREBALL!) and the fact that a significant amount of the NRG is expended outside the barrel ... I rather doubt that the load will have enuf punch ... at least I'm doubtful, unless I could chrony the load ... so ... NOT gonna take a chance that a OIL shot wouldn't have the guts to do the job in the way one might only hope ... (it's too late for me to get a heavier bullet and sight it in and all that ... but I'll try the present combination on a deer ... see how it werks and so forth ... )

I'll have the mzl handy, if an opportunity inside 50 yards would happen ... but the .300 is the ordnance most likely to be the one I'll use ...

Speakin' of which ... if I can get a foto to load ... went to the range again tonite and adjusted the scope for the new recipe ...



Dang! That din't werk ... lemme try again ...
[image]

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(the other holes are the check shots ... the group @ the top left is the final try, and I turned it down one inch after that ... it wuz gettin' dark, so I had to quit ... this wuz @ 100 yards, and there wuz a LOT of wind today, but another shooter and I moved up to the 200-yard backstop and shot @ the 300-yard block, becuz the last 100 yards is sorta in a sheltered dug-out area, and the breezes of 25-45 mph were negligible in there ... possible a bit of drift frum right-to-left caused by the atmosphere tho ...)

Fairly decent for a cheap, old rifle, eh? 'Specially when bein' fired by a tired, old guy ...

So ... the weapon of choice is the same one I've been shootin' for ... um ... more than ... um ... 45 years ... I sorta like it ... it's done the job for me many times ...

All of life is six-to-five against, just enough to keep you interested. (Damon Runyan)

Gravity makes all the important decisions ... (John R. Powers)

NRA, REMF, PF, NAHC-L, NAFC-L, KC, NPPA

OK ... as of 1030 hours on Oct. 2 ... Opening Day of Moose season in Nodak ...

Here's a foto, if I can get it to werk/load ... Apologies for the poor imagery ... a friend took the pix, and he's a Lawyer ... AND ... Left-handed ... AND Scandahoovian ... but we'll allow him those transgressions, becuz he's really a good person ... and nearly as old as I do be ...

[image][/image]



OK ... them folks in the image are Moi Ownself, My Bride, and Son #1 ... that's the primary gang whut helped me ... a neighbor also wuz a Major Help, bringin' his Prowler to help extract the critter frum the slough and pull her to the road (VERY wet that day, and NOT a place to take stuff you might want to leave until next spring, unless it wuz capable of gettin' out without other help ... )

Also apologies for not a better presentation of the quarry ... she wuz so covered by mud when we got her to the road, it wuz not easy to even determine species ... this foto wuz after a long hose-down cleaning, back in town ...

My best estimate on size is about 900# ... she'd nursed a calf this summer (it wuz nearby and in the attempted flight from danger), and I'm guessin' she wuz about 1.5 years old ... slightly smaller and a year younger than that one My Bride got last year ...

Not braggin' about the shot, but I din't gut-shoot her, and one Barnes TSX did the job ... tho she traveled about a half-mile after the hit ... and I also shot twice more (missed tho), in an attempt to knock her down ... she barely flinched when hit, but got over the hill into the next cattail slough and lay down and bled out internally ... my shot din't hit any major structural bone to speak of, becuz they are FAST!!!! ... I led her as I would a deer @ that apparent speed/distance (REALLY FAST! & about 150 yards), and the bullet hit about 24-30" behind where it would've on a comparable shot @ a deer ...

Hung weight of carcass, with head and hide removed wuz 435#, gonna plan on about 300# of processed, cut/wrapped/frozen provender for the freezer ...

Got-R-Done! (And with minimal spoilage -- mebbe about four ounces ?? of meat -- due to extra holes in the body that might detract frum a clean kill ... ) That's whut matters ...

All of life is six-to-five against, just enough to keep you interested. (Damon Runyan)

Gravity makes all the important decisions ... (John R. Powers)

NRA, REMF, PF, NAHC-L, NAFC-L, KC, NPPA

Good job O. Thats a Big critter.

  Nice job!!  I'll take a steak!!

Jeff

Jeff (shadow) ... call me the night before you arrive, so I can have the steaks thawed and the grill ready to light, upon your arrival ...

Ennybuddy else frum the forum, too ... Y'all can join us for Moose steaks (or Chili, or stew, or burgers) ... but y'all gotta be here ... do y'all know whut it costs to ship even a small package of jerky? OUCH! ... Did that once, for a friend ... never again ... costs about four times whut the retail price would be, to send the stuff ...

And ... no ... I won't send one if sumbuddy sez he'd pay the shipping ... that'd be cheatin' ... y'all gotta come visit ... might wanna bring a rifle or shotgun or bow, when y'all do ...

All of life is six-to-five against, just enough to keep you interested. (Damon Runyan)

Gravity makes all the important decisions ... (John R. Powers)

NRA, REMF, PF, NAHC-L, NAFC-L, KC, NPPA

Nice job O. Maybe if we get that bird hunt going we could have a game feed.

Good job, O!  Congrats!
 
Lots of meat there!
 
Thanks for sharing.
 
Take care and Good Hunting!
 
Best Afield,
 
Steve

That could werk, 'rik ... both of us like moose meat very much, but we're thinkin' of a bit of variety in the diet for this next year ... so that means I'll be sharin' a greater percentage of this one than last year's model ... already got three "feeds" on the list where my contribution will be Moose Chili or some such ... and the kids will get plenty ... but if one or two (or six or eight) of y'all show up, I'm fairly sure we'd have some T-bones to grill ...

Speakin' of mooses ... do y'all know how much that dang hide WEIGHS?!?!?!?!?!?!

I finished fleshing the hide, to get it ready to go to the tanner (if I can find one locally ... shipping that much poundage would be REALLY expensive) ... and I had to roll it onto the tarp to put it back in the garage ... I couldn't lift it ... gotta be too heavy to ship by either UPS or PO methods, or excess charges would make it even more pricey ... so, I'd rather deal with a local ...

All of life is six-to-five against, just enough to keep you interested. (Damon Runyan)

Gravity makes all the important decisions ... (John R. Powers)

NRA, REMF, PF, NAHC-L, NAFC-L, KC, NPPA

I hope we can get together for some of that moose while we are out in your neighborhood to hunt those cackle birds in a week!  I thought elk were big until I walked up to that Shiras bull my buddy shot out in Idaho in 2007!!!

Mike Stephenson
aka Topgun----30-06