Wayne in BC
New member
When Cliff and i wanted to hunt, little things like weather never even came into the equation, we just added clothing and gear according.
Mid December of 1979 was cold as Alberta ever usually gets in early winter, near to 20 below with an outlook for either worse or no change. We decided that the last week of the Moose season would not be wasted like the earlier weeks had been, me building a house had somewhat to do with it!
How to spend a few days in our favorite Moose area of the mountains when we had already closed up my guiding camp and packed out the tents, hmmmm!
After some pondering about taking a room in the nearest tiny town, 80 miles from nowhere, (Nordegg, pop. 17 people and a few dawgs, on the David Thompson hiway) and rejecting the expense which was high due to oil workers driving up the prices, i thought about a quick carpentry job with some plywood, yep we would build a temporary camper for the truck!
Several hours and a couple dozen cans of anitfreeze, Budweiser i think it was, in my buddy's shop on a friday night gave us a better job than we thought! Two little windows, a roof vent, and double doors at the back. No standing room, just a bit over cab height but that was ok, we would be just sitting or sleeping in there anyway. Plans were finalised and two other buddies said they might show up with their camper a day or so after we got there. We left Saturday morning well before daylight with no sleep for me at all, i had not had but two beer and Cliff was snoring in the seat, having had a few too many..... i had the duty as usual :veryangry: Three hours of driving mostly in 4x4 later, normally 1-1/2 but roads were sheet ice! It was just past daylight and i was easing my way down a logging trail through 10 inches of untracked snow. The Powerwagon was having no problem with the tall and aggressive tires doing their job and a mile or so in i stopped to answer nature's call.
Stepping out of the warm truck was a shock as the icy blast of air near took my breath away! Cliff mumbled and stirred on the seat as the cold found him also but almost instantly went back to snoring so i left the door open
I was admiring the view when the Bull Moose stepped out on the road only 50 yards away and stared curiously at the bright red Powerwagon with the cloud of exhaust steam nearly surrounding it from the snow flying up into warm places. I had one hand free and took a couple ginger type steps back to the door and reached for the rifle rack, what the heck, i had extra undies and pants with me
I racked a round into the 7mm mag and my eye found the scope as i forgot that the other hand was supposed to be doing somthin........
The crosshair settled nicely on the Bull's vitals and a cloud of steam suddenly obscured the view, i waited, not wanting to move around for fear it would alarm my meat prospect and at least 30 seconds passed as i got worried that he would be gone when i could see again.......and he was! A bit of panic for a moment as i looked around the fairly open area for the Moose and began to mutter uncomplimentary words about lady luck, Murphy, etc! Cliff was stirring now, confused with the cold blast of air and his condition, i turned my head from the rifle to look at him, expecting to have to silence him if he started talking. (a rubber hammer would have been real handy) Shock! The stupid Moose must have moved as soon as i lost sight of him and was only 40 feet away directly across from the passenger side of the truck on a little rise, he was looking curiously once again, shifting from foot to foot in the front and literally ogling the truck! A young Bull, he had likely never seen one as that country had hundreds of square miles with no road and he may have been traveling to winter pasture from a remote area.
To heck with caution i thought and stepped up on the running board, leveling the rifle across the top of the cab. Two seconds later i had meat on the ground with a neck shot and Cliff was floundering around in the seat yelling WTF!!! The rifle blast and vibration in that cab was awesome!!!!!............Then as his wits came about him he looked to see me still up on the running board with myself unzipped and facing him!
You folks do not really need to know what was said next but it was a couple minutes before my bud settled down and got happy about the Moosemeat and i told him to get his knife if he wanted liver for supper! He always was a good sport and we did the job with the occasional outbreak of laughter as we relived the incident. I knew that the Moose kill would not be the subject of much conversation when this hunt story was brought up in days to come
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Took two hours to dress and quarter the Moose, hide left on to hopefully keep from freezing and on a tarp in the camper. We continued to hunt after a bite to eat and followed several sets of fresh tracks through the snow until they went too far to carry a Moose out. Slogging through that stuff for more than a mile with a 100 odd lbs of meat on a pole across your shoulders or pulled on a toboggan for several trips was something we had learned not to do. Kinda spoiled by having the horses we were.
No luck finding another Moose for Cliff and we were seriously tired now after the short night and hard work so we decided to go to the area near the Blackstone river where we would make camp and possibly see our friends show up in the morning.
On arrival the first job was to decide what to do with the meat since there was now very little room under the camper. Easy choice though, back up to a couple of trees, hoist the quarters up and tie off to branches. The tarp used to wrap them and keep some heat in. Freezing meat too soon makes for poor aging and flavor, we would try to avoid that. The temperature had come up to about + 20 f, we were pleased about that and looked forward to the weather guys being wrong again!
By the time we were organised, got the Coleman stove going and had dinner it was dark but warm and dry in the camper so after a good slug of whiskey we bedded down and slept hard!
My questioning look at my luminous watch dial told me in the black dark that it was 5:20 am as i came awake to the truck bouncing on its springs! Right away i knew that our buddies had showed up early and were jerking our chains to get us up, i elbowed Cliff as i said......ok you azzholes, we are awake! It seemed oddly quiet as i pulled my boots on and crawled out with the flashlight and looked from the doors for Ron or his truck, no sign of them. It had snowed a couple inches during the night and there were boot marks in the snow on the tailgate of the truck, also around the area. A closer look with the flashlight at the tracks had me lunging back and slamming the door of the camper! Cliff looked at startled......until i said Grizzly!!!
Both of us knowing that our rifles were in the cab of the truck did not make for confidence cause a Grizz that finds meat, specially late in the year when he should be denned, if not a critter to be messing with.......we huddled listening for a bit then started hollering loud! After listening some more and a peak out the door (windows frosted), all was silent and no sign of the beast so i eased out he door, pussyfooted to the truck door and grabbed my rifle, all the while talking loud and trying not to let my imagination mess me up. Nothing moved so i got both rifles and we began a slow check of the area around the camper. A bunch of very large tracks showed where the bear had been tearing chunks off a front quarter, then switched to a hindquarter but used the tailgate for a step cause it was only a couple feet from the quarter. I had only pulled the truck ahead a couple feet after hanging the last one........yep 5-600 lbs of Grizz is gonna rock yer truck!
We messed about for an hour or so until daylight, taking turns guarding while the other cooked or ate. No sign of the bear in daylight and by this time we were po-ed and looking for revenge or restitution so we lit out on the trail of the Grizz, heartened now that he had fled, we figured on maybe catching up and firing enough rounds nearby to put the fear in him!
The trail soon led into a large dense patch of willows and being the brave lads we were, we settled for firing a few shots in the air while swearing a lot!!! Following him through that jungle seemed unnecessary......
We then returned to the truck, loaded the meat pronto and left a note for our buddies that we would be down by the Brazeau river instead, but not why An hour later we were following a set of Moose tracks that were fresh across the road. We caught up with him, saw him standing in an opening and as Cliff raised his rifle i said, wait a bit, i gotta pee What he muttered was unprintable but he dropped the Moose.
Two more hours and truck really full of meat found us heading home a day early. Next week we would come back to try for Elk nearby where there was a late cow season. That is another story.......
Mid December of 1979 was cold as Alberta ever usually gets in early winter, near to 20 below with an outlook for either worse or no change. We decided that the last week of the Moose season would not be wasted like the earlier weeks had been, me building a house had somewhat to do with it!
How to spend a few days in our favorite Moose area of the mountains when we had already closed up my guiding camp and packed out the tents, hmmmm!
After some pondering about taking a room in the nearest tiny town, 80 miles from nowhere, (Nordegg, pop. 17 people and a few dawgs, on the David Thompson hiway) and rejecting the expense which was high due to oil workers driving up the prices, i thought about a quick carpentry job with some plywood, yep we would build a temporary camper for the truck!
Several hours and a couple dozen cans of anitfreeze, Budweiser i think it was, in my buddy's shop on a friday night gave us a better job than we thought! Two little windows, a roof vent, and double doors at the back. No standing room, just a bit over cab height but that was ok, we would be just sitting or sleeping in there anyway. Plans were finalised and two other buddies said they might show up with their camper a day or so after we got there. We left Saturday morning well before daylight with no sleep for me at all, i had not had but two beer and Cliff was snoring in the seat, having had a few too many..... i had the duty as usual :veryangry: Three hours of driving mostly in 4x4 later, normally 1-1/2 but roads were sheet ice! It was just past daylight and i was easing my way down a logging trail through 10 inches of untracked snow. The Powerwagon was having no problem with the tall and aggressive tires doing their job and a mile or so in i stopped to answer nature's call.
Stepping out of the warm truck was a shock as the icy blast of air near took my breath away! Cliff mumbled and stirred on the seat as the cold found him also but almost instantly went back to snoring so i left the door open
I was admiring the view when the Bull Moose stepped out on the road only 50 yards away and stared curiously at the bright red Powerwagon with the cloud of exhaust steam nearly surrounding it from the snow flying up into warm places. I had one hand free and took a couple ginger type steps back to the door and reached for the rifle rack, what the heck, i had extra undies and pants with me
I racked a round into the 7mm mag and my eye found the scope as i forgot that the other hand was supposed to be doing somthin........
The crosshair settled nicely on the Bull's vitals and a cloud of steam suddenly obscured the view, i waited, not wanting to move around for fear it would alarm my meat prospect and at least 30 seconds passed as i got worried that he would be gone when i could see again.......and he was! A bit of panic for a moment as i looked around the fairly open area for the Moose and began to mutter uncomplimentary words about lady luck, Murphy, etc! Cliff was stirring now, confused with the cold blast of air and his condition, i turned my head from the rifle to look at him, expecting to have to silence him if he started talking. (a rubber hammer would have been real handy
) Shock! The stupid Moose must have moved as soon as i lost sight of him and was only 40 feet away directly across from the passenger side of the truck on a little rise, he was looking curiously once again, shifting from foot to foot in the front and literally ogling the truck! A young Bull, he had likely never seen one as that country had hundreds of square miles with no road and he may have been traveling to winter pasture from a remote area.To heck with caution i thought and stepped up on the running board, leveling the rifle across the top of the cab. Two seconds later i had meat on the ground with a neck shot and Cliff was floundering around in the seat yelling WTF!!! The rifle blast and vibration in that cab was awesome!!!!!............Then as his wits came about him he looked to see me still up on the running board with myself unzipped and facing him!
You folks do not really need to know what was said next but it was a couple minutes before my bud settled down and got happy about the Moosemeat and i told him to get his knife if he wanted liver for supper! He always was a good sport and we did the job with the occasional outbreak of laughter as we relived the incident. I knew that the Moose kill would not be the subject of much conversation when this hunt story was brought up in days to come__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Took two hours to dress and quarter the Moose, hide left on to hopefully keep from freezing and on a tarp in the camper. We continued to hunt after a bite to eat and followed several sets of fresh tracks through the snow until they went too far to carry a Moose out. Slogging through that stuff for more than a mile with a 100 odd lbs of meat on a pole across your shoulders or pulled on a toboggan for several trips was something we had learned not to do. Kinda spoiled by having the horses we were.
No luck finding another Moose for Cliff and we were seriously tired now after the short night and hard work so we decided to go to the area near the Blackstone river where we would make camp and possibly see our friends show up in the morning.
On arrival the first job was to decide what to do with the meat since there was now very little room under the camper. Easy choice though, back up to a couple of trees, hoist the quarters up and tie off to branches. The tarp used to wrap them and keep some heat in. Freezing meat too soon makes for poor aging and flavor, we would try to avoid that. The temperature had come up to about + 20 f, we were pleased about that and looked forward to the weather guys being wrong again!
By the time we were organised, got the Coleman stove going and had dinner it was dark but warm and dry in the camper so after a good slug of whiskey we bedded down and slept hard!
My questioning look at my luminous watch dial told me in the black dark that it was 5:20 am as i came awake to the truck bouncing on its springs! Right away i knew that our buddies had showed up early and were jerking our chains to get us up, i elbowed Cliff as i said......ok you azzholes, we are awake! It seemed oddly quiet as i pulled my boots on and crawled out with the flashlight and looked from the doors for Ron or his truck, no sign of them. It had snowed a couple inches during the night and there were boot marks in the snow on the tailgate of the truck, also around the area. A closer look with the flashlight at the tracks had me lunging back and slamming the door of the camper! Cliff looked at startled......until i said Grizzly!!!
Both of us knowing that our rifles were in the cab of the truck did not make for confidence cause a Grizz that finds meat, specially late in the year when he should be denned, if not a critter to be messing with.......we huddled listening for a bit then started hollering loud! After listening some more and a peak out the door (windows frosted), all was silent and no sign of the beast so i eased out he door, pussyfooted to the truck door and grabbed my rifle, all the while talking loud and trying not to let my imagination mess me up. Nothing moved so i got both rifles and we began a slow check of the area around the camper. A bunch of very large tracks showed where the bear had been tearing chunks off a front quarter, then switched to a hindquarter but used the tailgate for a step cause it was only a couple feet from the quarter. I had only pulled the truck ahead a couple feet after hanging the last one........yep 5-600 lbs of Grizz is gonna rock yer truck!
We messed about for an hour or so until daylight, taking turns guarding while the other cooked or ate. No sign of the bear in daylight and by this time we were po-ed and looking for revenge or restitution so we lit out on the trail of the Grizz, heartened now that he had fled, we figured on maybe catching up and firing enough rounds nearby to put the fear in him!
The trail soon led into a large dense patch of willows and being the brave lads we were, we settled for firing a few shots in the air while swearing a lot!!! Following him through that jungle seemed unnecessary......
We then returned to the truck, loaded the meat pronto and left a note for our buddies that we would be down by the Brazeau river instead, but not why
An hour later we were following a set of Moose tracks that were fresh across the road. We caught up with him, saw him standing in an opening and as Cliff raised his rifle i said, wait a bit, i gotta pee What he muttered was unprintable but he dropped the Moose.Two more hours and truck really full of meat found us heading home a day early. Next week we would come back to try for Elk nearby where there was a late cow season. That is another story.......
Great story, I wuz right there with ya. Could just about see the surprise on Cliffie's face when ya woke him up!
