First Moose Hunt

[ddavis_1313]

The wife and some of her fish. I got spanked this trip. She out fished me 3-1 easily on the peninsula. She was using a spin cast dredging (I think that’s what it’s called) a bead on the bottom.


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[ddavis_1313]

Even though I got spanked, I still caught a 28” rainbow on a 6wt fly rod which was a blast. I was drifting a bead with a strike indicator.


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[ddavis_1313]

Thank you for sharing with us. Moving past the challenges and disappointments, which were real, I like how you ended your write-up..."All in all, we had a heck of an adventure as we always do. We definitely learned a lot regarding to floating and moose hunting."

I also enjoyed your recognition and gratitude for the hospitality of the young family who were the lodge owners.

It does sure sound like you had one heck of an adventure...and you did it together and made it back safely. Memories for a lifetime....that's always my most prized trophy.

The very best to you for future adventures with your wife!

Thank you sir! I for sure am not bashing anyone but just wish I had more info going in or before I made a decision. Either way, we enjoyed ourselves. My frustration is 98% seeing my wife frustrated. We could not have done anything differently. We literally whispered to each other for 10 days. This included being in camp and even in the tent.


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[AKDoc]

Thank you sir! I for sure am not bashing anyone but just wish I had more info going in or before I made a decision. Either way, we enjoyed ourselves. My frustration is 98% seeing my wife frustrated. We could not have done anything differently. We literally whispered to each other for 10 days. This included being in camp and even in the tent.


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Well said, sir. We are always learning...all of us. I like the way Vern said it earlier...that was spot on.

Thank you for sharing the photos, they were FANTASTIC!!

BTW that's a beautiful and huge trout you took with your 6WT.

 

[waspocrew]

Sounds like it was a great hunt! Excellent photos.

 

[ddavis_1313]

Well said, sir. We are always learning...all of us. I like the way Vern said it earlier...that was spot on.

Thank you for sharing the photos, they were FANTASTIC!!

BTW that's a beautiful and huge trout you took with your 6WT.

Yeah it was a fun fight. Even more fun to drop her back in the water and swim away!


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[elkguide]

WOW! What an adventure. Your photo, memories book got some great upgrades on that trip.

 

[AKBorn]

Great pics Dan and awesome fishing! I would have passed on that bull also, can't see him being 50".

 

[johnnycake]

Great write up and I love the pics. I would be pretty confident that that bull is over 50" based on the pic, but I absolutely respect the choice to not risk it.

 

[ddavis_1313]

Great pics Dan and awesome fishing! I would have passed on that bull also, can't see him being 50".

I measure the pic zoomed in with a ruler and came up with 45-47 inches


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[Catchfish]

sounds like it was a good experience, just not what was expected. Fishing looks like it was a great distraction. I agree with you that moose was close, I think you made the right call, hard to tell because I can’t see the bases, or tines but the overall shape appears to be cupped. Props on holding back on that moose.

 

[ddavis_1313]

Great write up and I love the pics. I would be pretty confident that that bull is over 50" based on the pic, but I absolutely respect the choice to not risk it.
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So with the pic zoomed out I see him as possibly legal. And this is a picture of the video paused on my digital camera. Then take in consideration that I’m looking through binos, while settling my wife, running a digital camera, and trying to count brows first and foremost. lol. In the perfect world she would know how to use her scope to measure OR I would have my gun to use my scope to measure but it happened pretty quickly. I zoomed in the picture and it does get a bit grainy. Once I got the picture to where it appeared the eyes were easily measured on the ruler I measured from paddle to paddle and he seemed under. Of course by then he was gone.

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[ddavis_1313]

sounds like it was a good experience, just not what was expected. Fishing looks like it was a great distraction. I agree with you that moose was close, I think you made the right call, hard to tell because I can’t see the bases, or tines but the overall shape appears to be cupped. Props on holding back on that moose.

From what I could tell he was 3 on the left and 2 on his right. Of course my binos started fogging up when I was looking at him but they were 12x and he was 165 yards so I got a pretty dang good look.


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[mxgsfmdpx]

So with the pic zoomed out I see him as possibly legal. And this is a picture of the video paused on my digital camera. Then take in consideration that I’m looking through binos, while settling my wife, running a digital camera, and trying to count brows first and foremost. lol. In the perfect world she would know how to use her scope to measure OR I would have my gun to use my scope to measure but it happened pretty quickly. I zoomed in the picture and it does get a bit grainy. Once I got the picture to where it appeared the eyes were easily measured on the ruler I measured from paddle to paddle and he seemed under. Of course by then he was gone.

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Next time bring a MIL dot spotting scope and spend time using it to measure bulls. I watched the bull I killed this year for over 4 hours and measured him what seemed like 100 times.

Using MIL math I had him at somewhere between 52 and 53 inches. After I killed him and cut his head off I measured on the ground like how the AK troopers measure (drag the antlers in the ground and measure the widest line). He was 52.6”.

 

[ddavis_1313]

Next time bring a MIL dot spotting scope and spend time using it to measure bulls. I watched the bull I killed this year for over 4 hours and measured him what seemed like 100 times.

Using MIL math I had him at somewhere between 52 and 53 inches. After I killed him and cut his head off I measured on the ground like how the AK troopers measure (drag the antlers in the ground and measure the widest line). He was 52.6”.

I run mil dot and front focal plane on my wife’s scope as well as mine. lol


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[johnnycake]

So with the pic zoomed out I see him as possibly legal. And this is a picture of the video paused on my digital camera. Then take in consideration that I’m looking through binos, while settling my wife, running a digital camera, and trying to count brows first and foremost. lol. In the perfect world she would know how to use her scope to measure OR I would have my gun to use my scope to measure but it happened pretty quickly. I zoomed in the picture and it does get a bit grainy. Once I got the picture to where it appeared the eyes were easily measured on the ruler I measured from paddle to paddle and he seemed under. Of course by then he was gone.

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He's definitely not a no brainer +60". And it is for sure always nice to have the brow tines requirement met. I'm pretty sure that bull would be around 52" minimum, maybe as big as 55" if he has tines that stick out.

The paddles on him are pretty wide and there's still a lot air between the insides. That's usually a good base point to see that he's probably over 50". He also doesn't look cupped up, and appears to have pretty flat beams. That's another good reference point that he's probably not in the 40s. Neither of those are perfect metrics, but they do hold true most of the time.

In the press of the moment he'd be a tough one for me to be confident about unless I had a solid few minutes to look him over.

 

[ddavis_1313]

He's definitely not a no brainer +60". And it is for sure always nice to have the brow tines requirement met. I'm pretty sure that bull would be around 52" minimum, maybe as big as 55" if he has tines that stick out.

The paddles on him are pretty wide and there's still a lot air between the insides. That's usually a good base point to see that he's probably over 50". He also doesn't look cupped up, and appears to have pretty flat beams. That's another good reference point that he's probably not in the 40s. Neither of those are perfect metrics, but they do hold true most of the time.

In the press of the moment he'd be a tough one for me to be confident about unless I had a solid few minutes to look him over.

I’m working on getting you a video to show you how long I had to judge him. lol


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[johnnycake]

I’m working on getting you a video to show you how long I had to judge him. lol


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Honestly, I can imagine! I'm pretty sure if I were in your shoes at that moment that bull would still be walking around like he is today.

 

[ddavis_1313]

ok... anyone know how to post a video....

 

[ddavis_1313]

hopefully this works....