A good buddy wanted to get his first bull moose this year and he had the priority points so when the draws came out he entered for an area I suggested to him. Fast forward to last Thursday morning we had the quads and all our camping gear loaded up including a 12’ inflatable of mine for a 6 day hunt. We got to the spot on a local river to find a couple other gents already camping there with their jet boat. They had no issue with us offloading the rubber raft and tying it up out in front of their camp. They planned on running up river so we planned on heading the other way as not to bother them, although they would be out of our range within 45 minutes of running. We found another spot to camp about 3/4’s of a mile away inland that was a better camping spot, although not as convenient.
Friday morning found us floating down the river and then running back up with a small Outboard. We stopped and called in dozens of spots but never so much as heard a response. It didn’t help that there was quite a bit of jet boat traffic on the river.
Saturday morning into the early afternoon found us doing the same with the same results. When we got back to the launch the two other guys we met previously were loading their jet boat up for the ride out since they got a small bull that morning.
For the afternoon hunt we ran upriver and planned to float back to the launch for dark. We made it as far as we could on the one prop we had and after a short walk around we started our drift back. About an hour before last light we spotted a cow on the river bank. We pulled the raft up and started calling. She knew we were there but didn’t seem bothered by us. With only half an hour of legal light left we decided there wasn’t a bull close by her so we carried on down river. We only made it around the next corner when we spotted another moose up off the river in the willows. I was sure I spotted bone but not 100% positive. We pulled the boat up on the opposite shore and got out. My buddy got set up and a couple short cow calls had the moose move a bit closer to the river where we could see he was a decent bull. The first shot was a positive hit and had the bull run 10 feet before stopping. The second hit had him stand right up on his hind legs and go arse over tea kettle; it was quite the sight. When we got to him the back of his rack was actually sticking straight in the ground.
After a couple hoots and hollers we got to work breaking him down and bagging him up using the gutless method. It was a steep bank and since we were not done until 10:30pm or so we decided to leave him there for the night and come back for first light in the morning. I haven’t had a bull in that raft before so loading him up in the dark also didn’t seem wise.
Here’s a pic from the next morning. My partner took the pic so that’s me in the back of the raft, not my buddy the shooter. Two days and he had his first bull moose on a quite busy section of river. Lucky guy. We both have antlered Muley draws for 118 this November and it’s also his first time hunting them so hopefully his run of good luck isn’t played out.
