Wayne in BC
New member
The man who taught me more about hunting than any other, has for the past three years lived only a few minutes away from me, having moved here from Alberta. He and his wife would often come to visit and fish with us over the years and finally saw the wisdom of not fighting below zero winters and long drives for a few days here in paradise
It has been many years and untold miles of wonderful exciting trails we travelled together, about 40 of them i reckon. I was some happy when he moved here, what could be better than picking up a nearly lifelong friendship right where we left off and the first thing he did was to acquire a nice big boat! Now i'm liking him even better!
I had always been a hunter but after meeting Grant in the mid 60's when he moved next door to my folks, i soon realised that i had only just been a occasionally lucky shooter, but with his companionship i was becoming a hunter! He was raised in a trapping cabin in northern Alberta that his Dad built and the family lived a life that one only sees in a few movies that do not do it justice at all! I was astounded by the knowledge this man had, he was a natural observer who not only missed nothing but was very intelligent and able to interpret and understand the natural world like no person i ever met.
One fall day in 1967 i learned much more about my friend and my quarry, Moose! Grant and i, along with his wife (she as enthusiastic as us about hunting!)and 2 year old daughter had left home at 3 am to drive about a 100 miles to our favorite Moose area in his 3/4 ton Ford truck. It may not sound like a real hunt to some with a wife and baby along but that was our way of it, no problem.
The ancient logging road we had found a few weeks previous wound through perfect Moose country. A river nearby and stands of somber Black Spruce broken by Aspens and the omnipresent Muskegs ringed with willows. Willows are the staple of life for Moose in most of the north country and they will congregate around these areas like women at a shopping center, but they are much less noisy
It was breaking daylight and we drove slowly looking for fresh tracks. Both Cows and Bulls were open to hunt and we wanted meat so any "swamp donkey" would do.
The baby Lorie was a really good child, as most "first" children are (otherwise there would be far fewer) she was happily playing with her toy next to me. I was in the "shotgun seat" with my eyes roaming around when Lorie started to get a bit fussy and Betty, Grants wife said, Wayne open the glovebox, there is some gum in there and she wants it. I said ok and muttered, sure, soon as i reach in there a dang Moose will show up, gad! It happened! I was reaching when Grant stomped the brakes while throwing a long arm around Betty and Lorie and i bonked my elbow on the dash just as my eyes saw a big black object right in front of the truck! Moose! No time to say i told you so and i fell out of the truck on my back trying not to land on my rifle, which had been betwixt me and the door.
The Moose, a cow, stood right there where she had stepped out onto the road, probably to see what was coming. They are not very bright and in areas where there are few people they seem downright stupid. Not true though, they are accustomed only to fear a few predators, Wolves mostly and occasional Grizzly bears, the arrival of a truck on that unused trail was likely the first one she ever saw. Me thrashing on the ground and trying to get a clip into my rifle must have looked suspicious though cause she trotted off the trail as i finally got loaded.
I have to explain here that we truly "hunted" certain game like Elk and Bighorn Sheep by hiking many miles and stalking for many hours or even days, but this was just plain meat shooting, filling the freezer was our agenda and sport was really not much a part of it. Our winter meat supply was important,it took a couple to see us through.
We both headed off after the Moose, i had the clip in my 270 Win. and Grant had his Browning semi auto 30-06 as we trotted up the trail to where the Moose had disappeared. We split up without a word, about 200 ft apart and both quietly entered the woods and down the gentle slope. Visability was about 30 yards as i slipped from tree to tree watching carefully. The Moose had not been panicked and i expected it to be close ahead and likely watching its backtrail, which is why we spread out on each side of its escape route. I pussyfooted another 30 yards or so, poking my nose through a screen of brush and downhill i saw the Moose standing looking back, perfect! Raising the rifle and finding the scope, a rear end presented itself going away, fast! Only chance for a kill was the back of the neck and i was on target as the recoil slapped me!
continued......
It has been many years and untold miles of wonderful exciting trails we travelled together, about 40 of them i reckon. I was some happy when he moved here, what could be better than picking up a nearly lifelong friendship right where we left off and the first thing he did was to acquire a nice big boat! Now i'm liking him even better!
I had always been a hunter but after meeting Grant in the mid 60's when he moved next door to my folks, i soon realised that i had only just been a occasionally lucky shooter, but with his companionship i was becoming a hunter! He was raised in a trapping cabin in northern Alberta that his Dad built and the family lived a life that one only sees in a few movies that do not do it justice at all! I was astounded by the knowledge this man had, he was a natural observer who not only missed nothing but was very intelligent and able to interpret and understand the natural world like no person i ever met.
One fall day in 1967 i learned much more about my friend and my quarry, Moose! Grant and i, along with his wife (she as enthusiastic as us about hunting!)and 2 year old daughter had left home at 3 am to drive about a 100 miles to our favorite Moose area in his 3/4 ton Ford truck. It may not sound like a real hunt to some with a wife and baby along but that was our way of it, no problem.
The ancient logging road we had found a few weeks previous wound through perfect Moose country. A river nearby and stands of somber Black Spruce broken by Aspens and the omnipresent Muskegs ringed with willows. Willows are the staple of life for Moose in most of the north country and they will congregate around these areas like women at a shopping center, but they are much less noisy
It was breaking daylight and we drove slowly looking for fresh tracks. Both Cows and Bulls were open to hunt and we wanted meat so any "swamp donkey" would do.
The baby Lorie was a really good child, as most "first" children are (otherwise there would be far fewer
) she was happily playing with her toy next to me. I was in the "shotgun seat" with my eyes roaming around when Lorie started to get a bit fussy and Betty, Grants wife said, Wayne open the glovebox, there is some gum in there and she wants it. I said ok and muttered, sure, soon as i reach in there a dang Moose will show up, gad! It happened! I was reaching when Grant stomped the brakes while throwing a long arm around Betty and Lorie and i bonked my elbow on the dash just as my eyes saw a big black object right in front of the truck! Moose! No time to say i told you so and i fell out of the truck on my back trying not to land on my rifle, which had been betwixt me and the door. The Moose, a cow, stood right there where she had stepped out onto the road, probably to see what was coming. They are not very bright and in areas where there are few people they seem downright stupid. Not true though, they are accustomed only to fear a few predators, Wolves mostly and occasional Grizzly bears, the arrival of a truck on that unused trail was likely the first one she ever saw. Me thrashing on the ground and trying to get a clip into my rifle must have looked suspicious though cause she trotted off the trail as i finally got loaded.
I have to explain here that we truly "hunted" certain game like Elk and Bighorn Sheep by hiking many miles and stalking for many hours or even days, but this was just plain meat shooting, filling the freezer was our agenda and sport was really not much a part of it. Our winter meat supply was important,it took a couple to see us through.
We both headed off after the Moose, i had the clip in my 270 Win. and Grant had his Browning semi auto 30-06 as we trotted up the trail to where the Moose had disappeared. We split up without a word, about 200 ft apart and both quietly entered the woods and down the gentle slope. Visability was about 30 yards as i slipped from tree to tree watching carefully. The Moose had not been panicked and i expected it to be close ahead and likely watching its backtrail, which is why we spread out on each side of its escape route. I pussyfooted another 30 yards or so, poking my nose through a screen of brush and downhill i saw the Moose standing looking back, perfect! Raising the rifle and finding the scope, a rear end presented itself going away, fast! Only chance for a kill was the back of the neck and i was on target as the recoil slapped me!
continued......
