SurfCutter
New member
The second day we were again up and out by dawn and travelling the roads the difference was very noticeable in that the woods did not have the traffic that was every were on the first days hunt. The other thing that stood out was most of the traffic was now on the move like us they had not gotten there moose and were travelling the roads and cuts looking it was very clear were those that had any luck with each camp we passed there would be something hanging or laid out in the beds of trucks and on trailers. Much of the morning slipped away with us in a slow parade of trucks going from cut to cut river and stream looking . At some places it was like the day before you would hear a shot and then drive up to the cut and see the party of very happy hunters and guides as the case my be or see the same type of party hard at work recovering /loading their prize to be taken to the check in / weigh station.
We got to see a lot of the country side some of the views were great but even this will were thin after a few hours in a truck that has seen hard use . The trucks were the personal property of the guide and his helper Nicky having been given first shot road with the guide in his truck and was set up for recovery with a heavy duty winch that came up and over the top of the cab to a home made flat bed , the idea being one's moose would be tied on and pulled up a couple of planks to the bed of the truck from the rear . It was getting to be about noon time and we decide to take a break and head back to camp for lunch and a nap .
As I had said before the cabins were newly built and much of the work being done by the guide Randy ,with help from both family and friend , they knew what they were doing in for both comfort and what a guide cabin needed to be. It was not very long that even with the excitement of being on a moose hunt , easily called a hunt of a life time we soon fell asleep in either our bunk or one of the new chairs in the main room / living room .
It was all to soon that our wake up call came via the knock on the door that our hunt would start anew . After a quick check of equipment and other matters we were back on the roads again only this time the guide having given thought to our mornings lack of success thought a change of hunting area was needed and headed our small group to the south of the camp . This area I knew from my days of hunting deer felt comfortable in travelling the area have some idea as to what the area had to offer.
Maine gives out along with the limited number of out of state permits it is farther broken down to an any type and cow only permit, I was lucky to have an "any" moose permit . It was our good luck to meet a party that was from out of state and they were the holder of a cow only permit their problem was they had located a cow but had not been able to get a shot due to a small bull moose that was acting or trying to act like a bull moose ....
So it was quickly agreed we would take the small moose and they would be free to take the cow , the hunt was on !
The plan was to set up on the clear cut that they had seen the moose of late and they would work the small bowel / valley to try to work they two out to the road the helper and I would drive to the top of the hill over looking the bowel to see if they could be spotted and then report back . We had gotten to the top of the hill and did not see any sign of the moose and we headed back to the cut and it was about half way back when we got the call they were spotted . It was a dirt track road race from then on for Nicky could not legally shoot unless we were with in sight and calling distance. We came down off the hill and around the corner and the truck had just about stopped when Nicky got in to action , the small bull had come out of the woods from behind the parked truck to feed on the young growth in the clear cut . Nicky all but fell out of the truck , later it was told the guide had pushed him out for in the excitement of the guides shout of moose Nicky was alert and looking everywhere out in the clear cut as he loaded his rifle and not at the back of the truck were the guide had seen the moose come out in the trucks mirror. With us roaring up the moose had slowly moved from behind the truck to out on the road and Nicky now having collected himself was out in front and laid in a round in to the side of the front chest of the bull . He then let his rifle drop and stood watching the bull,
,later he would relate in awe just how big it was compared to the deer he had hunted and the fact it did not drop on the shot ....
The Guide now had a fit and was yelling "Shoot...Shoot ...Shoot !!!"
Now I have to tell you that Nicky was known to empty his gun on deer if there was so much as a twitch of movement or life and for him to drop his rifle was just out of character for him . The yelling of the guide soon had him back to business and with that he pumped the rest of the rounds in to the neck of the bull which then dropped not 20' from the road dead in his tracks. The smile on Nicky's face was priceless and it was a hunt of a life time , for me I have time to hunt again and be the one to pull the trigger if I so choose but it not so big a deal now as when I was younger. Randy was very happy in that we had done our part not only did we , Nicky prove that we hunted hard and shot well but to drop it so close to the road and not have to chase or carry it back to the truck was an added bonus . The other odd thing was our moose only had one antler in that the left side antler for some reason never grow out and was only a small nub.
It did not take long for randy to have the moose field dressed and loaded , after the picture and the congra's all around along with the thanks from the party of the cow permit.
Loaded up we headed to the check in station located in the center of Jackmen, there we had our moose weighted ,just under a 1000lbs, tagged and information collected as to were it was shot , by who , permit number, age / sex of moose etc etc ... With the official work done it was back to the cabins and to hang our Moose .
Darkness was not long in coming and after a quick and simple meal it was to bed and rest from the days excitement . The next day we would set work butchering and after it was all neatly packaged for the freezer and gifts for meat to the guide and helper we took home just over 450 lbs of prime meat which we both split evenly and some mighty fine eating that year .
I can post pictures if you all care to see them , I ask first so as not to offend I understand it's one thing to tell of the hunt and another to see it ,,,,
Bill G.
We got to see a lot of the country side some of the views were great but even this will were thin after a few hours in a truck that has seen hard use . The trucks were the personal property of the guide and his helper Nicky having been given first shot road with the guide in his truck and was set up for recovery with a heavy duty winch that came up and over the top of the cab to a home made flat bed , the idea being one's moose would be tied on and pulled up a couple of planks to the bed of the truck from the rear . It was getting to be about noon time and we decide to take a break and head back to camp for lunch and a nap .
As I had said before the cabins were newly built and much of the work being done by the guide Randy ,with help from both family and friend , they knew what they were doing in for both comfort and what a guide cabin needed to be. It was not very long that even with the excitement of being on a moose hunt , easily called a hunt of a life time we soon fell asleep in either our bunk or one of the new chairs in the main room / living room .
It was all to soon that our wake up call came via the knock on the door that our hunt would start anew . After a quick check of equipment and other matters we were back on the roads again only this time the guide having given thought to our mornings lack of success thought a change of hunting area was needed and headed our small group to the south of the camp . This area I knew from my days of hunting deer felt comfortable in travelling the area have some idea as to what the area had to offer.
Maine gives out along with the limited number of out of state permits it is farther broken down to an any type and cow only permit, I was lucky to have an "any" moose permit . It was our good luck to meet a party that was from out of state and they were the holder of a cow only permit their problem was they had located a cow but had not been able to get a shot due to a small bull moose that was acting or trying to act like a bull moose ....
So it was quickly agreed we would take the small moose and they would be free to take the cow , the hunt was on !
The plan was to set up on the clear cut that they had seen the moose of late and they would work the small bowel / valley to try to work they two out to the road the helper and I would drive to the top of the hill over looking the bowel to see if they could be spotted and then report back . We had gotten to the top of the hill and did not see any sign of the moose and we headed back to the cut and it was about half way back when we got the call they were spotted . It was a dirt track road race from then on for Nicky could not legally shoot unless we were with in sight and calling distance. We came down off the hill and around the corner and the truck had just about stopped when Nicky got in to action , the small bull had come out of the woods from behind the parked truck to feed on the young growth in the clear cut . Nicky all but fell out of the truck , later it was told the guide had pushed him out for in the excitement of the guides shout of moose Nicky was alert and looking everywhere out in the clear cut as he loaded his rifle and not at the back of the truck were the guide had seen the moose come out in the trucks mirror. With us roaring up the moose had slowly moved from behind the truck to out on the road and Nicky now having collected himself was out in front and laid in a round in to the side of the front chest of the bull . He then let his rifle drop and stood watching the bull,
,later he would relate in awe just how big it was compared to the deer he had hunted and the fact it did not drop on the shot ....The Guide now had a fit and was yelling "Shoot...Shoot ...Shoot !!!"
Now I have to tell you that Nicky was known to empty his gun on deer if there was so much as a twitch of movement or life and for him to drop his rifle was just out of character for him . The yelling of the guide soon had him back to business and with that he pumped the rest of the rounds in to the neck of the bull which then dropped not 20' from the road dead in his tracks. The smile on Nicky's face was priceless and it was a hunt of a life time , for me I have time to hunt again and be the one to pull the trigger if I so choose but it not so big a deal now as when I was younger. Randy was very happy in that we had done our part not only did we , Nicky prove that we hunted hard and shot well but to drop it so close to the road and not have to chase or carry it back to the truck was an added bonus . The other odd thing was our moose only had one antler in that the left side antler for some reason never grow out and was only a small nub.
It did not take long for randy to have the moose field dressed and loaded , after the picture and the congra's all around along with the thanks from the party of the cow permit.
Loaded up we headed to the check in station located in the center of Jackmen, there we had our moose weighted ,just under a 1000lbs, tagged and information collected as to were it was shot , by who , permit number, age / sex of moose etc etc ... With the official work done it was back to the cabins and to hang our Moose .
Darkness was not long in coming and after a quick and simple meal it was to bed and rest from the days excitement . The next day we would set work butchering and after it was all neatly packaged for the freezer and gifts for meat to the guide and helper we took home just over 450 lbs of prime meat which we both split evenly and some mighty fine eating that year .
I can post pictures if you all care to see them , I ask first so as not to offend I understand it's one thing to tell of the hunt and another to see it ,,,,
Bill G.
