Long post warning.
In December 2022, I was able to draw an archery elk tag in ID with a buddy. On a whim, he suggested we put in for that unit's NR moose tag. Fast forward to May, and I got the email stating I drew the tag. From then on, I spent at least a few nights a week researching or training for the trip. I increased my bow's draw weight by 8-9 lbs, so I spent quite a few nights resetting pins. I also spent the next few months attempting to dial in my .300 win mag using Hornaday ELD-X 200-grain bullets. After 60 rounds I finally gave up and switched to 180-grain Nosler Accubonds. I should have started with Accubonds because they've always performed well for me.
After spending an hour on the phone with the lead biologist of my hunting unit I planned my trip around the start of the moose rut in late September. In a perfect world, I would have waited until late October or early November for the leaves to fall and for the snow to accumulate, but with a baby on the way that wasn't in the cards. We left in the early afternoon last Wednesday and got into the unit around sunrise on Thursday morning. On the way to one of the areas I picked to camp we saw three different moose. Two cows and a calf. This is the point I should mention there are literally cattle everywhere. Have you ever tried distinguishing between an Angus cow and a cow moose at a mile? It sucks, and it was a problem for the entire trip. Kudos to those cowboys who round them up in the mountains because their work is cut out for them.
This is also the point where it started to rain at a decent clip. After driving another 30 minutes on essentially logging roads I gave up hope on my main campsite and opted for a backup. Five of us set camp in a few hours and then headed back out to glass and scout.
In the months prior I found a forum post from 2016 (not from here) that gave away a few locations for moose. We headed to one of the drainages and to our surprise saw 6 moose just over a mile into the drainage. Four cows, a calf, and we thought one good bull. Later we found this bull was a half-rack. How a moose ends up as a half rack must have been one hell of a fight. I spent the rest of the day driving trails in my ranger and hiking ridges with two buddies. At this point, I'd been up for 40 hours.
It's still raining on Day 2. We started in the same drainage we found moose the day prior and again found the half rack and some cows. This time the bull was chasing a cow through the aspens even further from the road. We then saw a different bull chase another cow on a ridgeline we could get to. We hiked up the mountain and dropped into the bowl without catching up to either so we opted to glass across the drainage. I spotted a bull a half mile away raking aspens around 2:00. We hustled over to the next ridge directly across from the bull but couldn't locate him again. That evening I did have a cow come into 400 yards, but my tag was only good for a bull. We called it a day and hiked uphill about 3 miles back to our ride in the falling snow. We were all soaked to the bone. My heavier buddy asked if we would shoot him and get it over with. Spirits were low at this point.
Day 3 started again in the same drainage, but this time my buddy spotted this bull on our side of the mountain. Luckily the rain had finally stopped, and the sun was peaking out.
We tried to catch up to the bull who was with a cow and calf, but the forest was just too damn thick. I found myself crawling through the underbrush in young aspens, and it just didn't work. We did jump a calf at 40 yards, but the bull was nowhere to be seen. We also had a cow run between us and our truck that ended up about 20 yards from my dad. It was pretty cool to watch that animal step over a four-wire barbed wire fence. We hiked a few miles back to our ride, and we went back to camp for a hot meal.
That afternoon we took a different approach and came into the bowl from the bottom rather than starting at the rim. We sat over a few beaver ponds figuring we might catch a moose getting a drink in the now hot weather. The plan worked, but we only had a calf come into 265 yards. Thankfully a few mallards on the water alerted us of the calf.
The rest of the sit was uneventful, so I opted to head back to the ranger while we still had light. We got 1,000 yards from the ranger while side hilling and my buddy spotted a cow and calf 200 yards up the mountain from us. Then the bull stepped out from behind a pine tree. I threw my sticks down and got on the bull who thankfully stood broadside while I nearly pissed my pants. He ate the first bullet and only took a few steps before turning around. I hit him again, and he took two steps and fell on his ass. It happened that quickly.
We caped half of him and got his quarters off before heading back to camp. After a few bear hugs, we got back to the bull around 10:30. We didn't finish the pack out until 5:00 a.m. the next morning, which was followed by another hour of driving putting us back in base camp at 6:00 a.m. We had all been up for 28 hours before we finally slept an hour or two before we started processing meat again.
I can't stress enough how large of an animal they are. I made five trips packing meat with three of the loads weighing around 100 lbs. We were so lucky to have shot the bull within 1,000 yards of a UTV trail. All of our pack work was downhill which made a huge difference. We picked up camp and headed to a regional office for the mandatory check-in. Two biologists pulled a tooth, a CWD sample, and did their paperwork. The one actually wrote the moose management plan for ID so it was cool to get his take on my bull. Once home I dropped the head and cape off at the taxidermist, and for the first time in more than a decade, I took an animal to a meat locker. I feel guilty not processing it myself, but it's just too damn much meat to handle solo.
In December 2022, I was able to draw an archery elk tag in ID with a buddy. On a whim, he suggested we put in for that unit's NR moose tag. Fast forward to May, and I got the email stating I drew the tag. From then on, I spent at least a few nights a week researching or training for the trip. I increased my bow's draw weight by 8-9 lbs, so I spent quite a few nights resetting pins. I also spent the next few months attempting to dial in my .300 win mag using Hornaday ELD-X 200-grain bullets. After 60 rounds I finally gave up and switched to 180-grain Nosler Accubonds. I should have started with Accubonds because they've always performed well for me.
After spending an hour on the phone with the lead biologist of my hunting unit I planned my trip around the start of the moose rut in late September. In a perfect world, I would have waited until late October or early November for the leaves to fall and for the snow to accumulate, but with a baby on the way that wasn't in the cards. We left in the early afternoon last Wednesday and got into the unit around sunrise on Thursday morning. On the way to one of the areas I picked to camp we saw three different moose. Two cows and a calf. This is the point I should mention there are literally cattle everywhere. Have you ever tried distinguishing between an Angus cow and a cow moose at a mile? It sucks, and it was a problem for the entire trip. Kudos to those cowboys who round them up in the mountains because their work is cut out for them.
This is also the point where it started to rain at a decent clip. After driving another 30 minutes on essentially logging roads I gave up hope on my main campsite and opted for a backup. Five of us set camp in a few hours and then headed back out to glass and scout.
In the months prior I found a forum post from 2016 (not from here) that gave away a few locations for moose. We headed to one of the drainages and to our surprise saw 6 moose just over a mile into the drainage. Four cows, a calf, and we thought one good bull. Later we found this bull was a half-rack. How a moose ends up as a half rack must have been one hell of a fight. I spent the rest of the day driving trails in my ranger and hiking ridges with two buddies. At this point, I'd been up for 40 hours.
It's still raining on Day 2. We started in the same drainage we found moose the day prior and again found the half rack and some cows. This time the bull was chasing a cow through the aspens even further from the road. We then saw a different bull chase another cow on a ridgeline we could get to. We hiked up the mountain and dropped into the bowl without catching up to either so we opted to glass across the drainage. I spotted a bull a half mile away raking aspens around 2:00. We hustled over to the next ridge directly across from the bull but couldn't locate him again. That evening I did have a cow come into 400 yards, but my tag was only good for a bull. We called it a day and hiked uphill about 3 miles back to our ride in the falling snow. We were all soaked to the bone. My heavier buddy asked if we would shoot him and get it over with. Spirits were low at this point.
Day 3 started again in the same drainage, but this time my buddy spotted this bull on our side of the mountain. Luckily the rain had finally stopped, and the sun was peaking out.
We tried to catch up to the bull who was with a cow and calf, but the forest was just too damn thick. I found myself crawling through the underbrush in young aspens, and it just didn't work. We did jump a calf at 40 yards, but the bull was nowhere to be seen. We also had a cow run between us and our truck that ended up about 20 yards from my dad. It was pretty cool to watch that animal step over a four-wire barbed wire fence. We hiked a few miles back to our ride, and we went back to camp for a hot meal.
That afternoon we took a different approach and came into the bowl from the bottom rather than starting at the rim. We sat over a few beaver ponds figuring we might catch a moose getting a drink in the now hot weather. The plan worked, but we only had a calf come into 265 yards. Thankfully a few mallards on the water alerted us of the calf.
The rest of the sit was uneventful, so I opted to head back to the ranger while we still had light. We got 1,000 yards from the ranger while side hilling and my buddy spotted a cow and calf 200 yards up the mountain from us. Then the bull stepped out from behind a pine tree. I threw my sticks down and got on the bull who thankfully stood broadside while I nearly pissed my pants. He ate the first bullet and only took a few steps before turning around. I hit him again, and he took two steps and fell on his ass. It happened that quickly.
We caped half of him and got his quarters off before heading back to camp. After a few bear hugs, we got back to the bull around 10:30. We didn't finish the pack out until 5:00 a.m. the next morning, which was followed by another hour of driving putting us back in base camp at 6:00 a.m. We had all been up for 28 hours before we finally slept an hour or two before we started processing meat again.
I can't stress enough how large of an animal they are. I made five trips packing meat with three of the loads weighing around 100 lbs. We were so lucky to have shot the bull within 1,000 yards of a UTV trail. All of our pack work was downhill which made a huge difference. We picked up camp and headed to a regional office for the mandatory check-in. Two biologists pulled a tooth, a CWD sample, and did their paperwork. The one actually wrote the moose management plan for ID so it was cool to get his take on my bull. Once home I dropped the head and cape off at the taxidermist, and for the first time in more than a decade, I took an animal to a meat locker. I feel guilty not processing it myself, but it's just too damn much meat to handle solo.
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