So we are just home from a 6 night trip hunting my drawing sheep tag with our good friend Steve (stid2677). We encountered super variable weather on this trip, including exceedingly high winds and I ended up coming home without a ram, but we gave it an honest effort. Bivied one night at elevation through a lightening storm with rain, sleet and snow and had rams within 500 yards at one point but wind gusts up to 50mph made the spotter shake so bad it was hard to be sure they were legal. Spent another night huddled in the sleeping bags with all our important gear while Luke ran around the tipi pounding in stakes as the hurricane force winds tried to take all our stuff away. The persistent winds made sheep spotting, stalking and shooting almost impossible, and to say I was discouraged would be an understatement.
The morning of our 5th day I was about ready to call it quits, but we decided to make one last foray towards the rams before throwing in the towel. As we crossed the creek drainage on the way to "ram valley" I spotted a large bull moose in the brush about 800 yards out. Having a moose harvest ticket in my pocket "just in case" we decided to move closer. Luke and Steve judged the bull to be greater than 50" (a requirement in the area we were hunting) and I decided I would be foolish to pass up a legal bull right in front of me...
Although he wasn't the ram I wanted, I am thrilled with my first big moose!
With Luke and Steve...the best team I could ask for!
Butchering him was a huge undertaking...
Steve cooked us an amazing feast of fresh tenderloin with caramelized onions, corn and potatoes...he's a great friend to have in any hunting camp and we definitely couldn't have done this trip without him!
Dropped my moose at the processor yesterday, minus the back straps and tenderloins he weighed in at 563 lbs!
The morning of our 5th day I was about ready to call it quits, but we decided to make one last foray towards the rams before throwing in the towel. As we crossed the creek drainage on the way to "ram valley" I spotted a large bull moose in the brush about 800 yards out. Having a moose harvest ticket in my pocket "just in case" we decided to move closer. Luke and Steve judged the bull to be greater than 50" (a requirement in the area we were hunting) and I decided I would be foolish to pass up a legal bull right in front of me...
Although he wasn't the ram I wanted, I am thrilled with my first big moose!
With Luke and Steve...the best team I could ask for!
Butchering him was a huge undertaking...
Steve cooked us an amazing feast of fresh tenderloin with caramelized onions, corn and potatoes...he's a great friend to have in any hunting camp and we definitely couldn't have done this trip without him!
Dropped my moose at the processor yesterday, minus the back straps and tenderloins he weighed in at 563 lbs!
