After applying for 20 years I was able to draw a tag for the Idaho panhandle area, understatement to say that I was super pumped and exited.
Preparations began right away, time off granted, food and clothing picked, reloading a bunch of ammo and plenty of range time done, also started scouting during late summer and practicing with cow calling.
Bonus that my wife was able to get time off for the 1st week of my hunt!, I always enjoy her company while hunting.
We set up camp September 23rd and hunted every day from dawn to dusk, we snuck up on deer, elk, turkeys and cow moose nearly every day but we never saw a bull at all, weather was a bit warm and other hunters told us the rut was delayed this year but who knows.
The second day of our hunt we met Jim and Steve, Steve is a Korean War veteran that has a terminal illness, he is not able to walk very far but he has the heart of a hunter and a total patriot. He has a tag also and we made great friends, we hunted together one day and it was a great experience. I told him that after I filled my tag I would help him fulfill his dream, he has until December 15th to do so.
On September 29th at 0700 I was able to locate this old bull in a draw, I silently snuck up on him to about 125 yards and put him down with 2 rounds of .308 165gr. Hornady Interlock bullets.
Celebration began with my wife then the hard work began…..the pack out was brutal! we didn’t get back to camp until 17:30 but it was worth it, absolutely worth the long time wait to get drawn. What a magnificent experience, we feel very blessed…………..And now I can keep hunting moose as I help Steve with completing his dream as I have mine……
Preparations began right away, time off granted, food and clothing picked, reloading a bunch of ammo and plenty of range time done, also started scouting during late summer and practicing with cow calling.
Bonus that my wife was able to get time off for the 1st week of my hunt!, I always enjoy her company while hunting.
We set up camp September 23rd and hunted every day from dawn to dusk, we snuck up on deer, elk, turkeys and cow moose nearly every day but we never saw a bull at all, weather was a bit warm and other hunters told us the rut was delayed this year but who knows.
The second day of our hunt we met Jim and Steve, Steve is a Korean War veteran that has a terminal illness, he is not able to walk very far but he has the heart of a hunter and a total patriot. He has a tag also and we made great friends, we hunted together one day and it was a great experience. I told him that after I filled my tag I would help him fulfill his dream, he has until December 15th to do so.
On September 29th at 0700 I was able to locate this old bull in a draw, I silently snuck up on him to about 125 yards and put him down with 2 rounds of .308 165gr. Hornady Interlock bullets.
Celebration began with my wife then the hard work began…..the pack out was brutal! we didn’t get back to camp until 17:30 but it was worth it, absolutely worth the long time wait to get drawn. What a magnificent experience, we feel very blessed…………..And now I can keep hunting moose as I help Steve with completing his dream as I have mine……
