We went to Alaska

[cnelk]

And of course you can’t drink moose water.

 

[cnelk]

After camp was set up, it was time to do some scouting/exploring. This was a completely different spot than where I hunted in 2016

 

[cnelk]

Saw some fresh rubs and tracks. We were getting pretty stoked by now

 

[cnelk]

 

[cnelk]

Towards evening, I started raking and calling. We heard a bull grunt very near camp so we kinda kept quiet and waited until morning when we could hunt
This is the smaller lake - we ended up naming it 'Echo Lake' as sound would carry across and echo back - so cool.

I made a small paddle and brought that for raking - also cut out the bottom of a bleach jug for raking and calling

 

[cnelk]

Sunday morning before daylight we hear the bull thrashing very close to the tipi.

We waited until it got light and set up.

I was behind Collin - raking and grunting.

Collin looks back at me and points - whispers….. “Bull….”

 

[cnelk]

The bull came in on a string. Walked right by us thru the neck of trees between the lakes. Not 60yds from the tipi.

 

[cnelk]

Collin was closer to the bull than I was. He got a good look while I was taking pics/video

The bull had a distinct grunt, kinda a double grunt.

Being it was just day 1 and wanted to look at the pics to confirm he was big enough, we let him walk.

 

[nobody]

Love this, keep it coming. Tagging in so I don't miss anything haha.

 

[cnelk]

Okay - back to the hunt.

The bull walked west in between the lakes. We decided to not go over there

We hiked along the lake shore to the south to check that area out. A cow moose came out and swam across the lake heading to where the bull went

 

[cnelk]

We were definitely in the moose

When we were at the south end of the lake, we did some more calling/raking. That must have fired up another lonely cow as she started to moan A LOT!

She wasnt that far away from us and Collin thought was pretty neat to hear - basically an old moo cow bellering

 

[cnelk]

We made our way back to camp, had some lunch and went over to Echo Lake and called there again.

It was nap time - so on on way back to the tipi, we saw another cow in the big lake - maybe it was the cow that was moaning earlier, but she was just out feeding - cool stuff

 

[cnelk]

Back at the tipi, lounging and hanging out, we reviewed the pics and video of the bull from the morning hunt. Based on the ear and head calculations, we determined the bull was indeed a legal bull [50"+ / 4 brow tines] - we knew he didnt have 4 brow tines, but he was plenty over 50"

Collin decided that if the bull gave us another opportunity, he would take him

 

[cnelk]

Echo Lake was hard not to spend time at. It was just so beautiful and for nice calling and raking.

Here is Collin - Sunday evening about 7pm at Echo Lake

 

[cnelk]

After about an hour of raking and glassing, we were both hungry for supper and decided to go to the tipi and make some Mtn House - after all, the tipi was only 80yds away

We were about halfway thru our Mtn Houses and we heard the distinct double 'Gluck gluck'......

We looked at each other and said "Its him - he's at Echo Lake"

 

[cnelk]

Collin grabbed his rifle - which I lent him to use for the trip - a 340 Weatherby Mag.

I grabbed my binos and we snuck back over to Echo Lake edge.

It was well before dark and still legal shooting time, but the moose was across the lake standing in some shadows. We didn’t see him right away but then he took a couple steps and stopped and look in our direction. Standing broadside.

It was him.

I told Collin - aim straight up the front leg - center mass.

Boom. The shot echoed across the lake and I heard the bullet smack meat.

 

[cnelk]

The distance was 300yds. Hit looked good.

The bull turned and slowly walked into the trees.


We looked at each other and both said “WTH just happened?!”

About 20 seconds later we heard what we thought was a moan from the bull’s location.

 

[cnelk]

We hadn’t crossed around to that side of Echo Lake yet. We knew it was marshy and wet, but access not known.

Dark was coming quickly.

Due to the unknowns, we decided to just let the bull be until morning. Definitely didn’t want to go over there and possibly bump the bull. The temps were in the low 30s so we knew it was cold enough

We went back to camp and finished our cold Mtn House supper.

 

[cnelk]

Monday morning dawned with cloudy skies, a spattering of cold rain.

We waited for it to get plenty light, put our hip boots on and started over to cross the marsh.

We both had rifles. We made a bit of noise and as we neared the bull’s last known location, the safeties were off and had ‘One in the Pipe’ as we moved slowly along.

The area we were hunting has lots of grizz - and we sure didn’t want to surprise one

 

[cnelk]

We didn’t have to search much. The bull only made it a few steps into the woods and fell over

As he lay