After three years of applying for an antlered moose tag in western Alberta's foothills I finally was successful in getting drawn. Right from the start I was very committed to getting a bull with my bow. Being a hunting guide I have a couple friends that have guided moose hunters with great success and I got as much information as I could from them about calling, season, and locations. As much as that information was a help to me I knew the rest was up to me so I commenced scouting the area I was planning to hunt. Over the years i had been bear hunting and deer hunting in this area so I knew it quite well and had seen plenty of moose sign so i had a few locations in mind. It was with high hopes that i set out one day in early august to scout some moose hunting hotspots. After a full day of hiking and studying tracks in the mud I knew where I was going to be chasing moose with a bow and arrow come October.
Fast forward to the first week in october. I had been shooting my hoyt trykon bow almost daily and had it tuned to perfection, I also had my calling skills as good as they possibly could be with only a month of practice. I finished guiding my last group of waterfowl hunters and headed out to my moose hunting hotspot. I got there in the early afternoon and set up camp. My camp consisted of a tent and a 3-D archery target. I was planning to stay at least three days and possibly 7 if it took that long, I was determined not to come home without my moose. I got camp set up by 3pm and got geared up for the evening hunt. After a half hour hike I was at my treestand. This was a stand my friends and I call the bushman stand. It is situated at the point of a triangle between a cutline and a creek and is mixed spruce and poplar with lots of muskeg, Perfect moose habitat!! After getting settled in the stand and letting the woods quiet down I commenced calling. Long wavering cow calls accompanied by several bull grunts echoed through the northern boreal forest but nothing happened. I called for 2 hours with no response. More than a little disappointed I climbed down from the treestand about 1 hour until darkness shut down my hunt for the day. I decided to move down the cutline until I intersected the creek and try my calling there, as I stepped out onto the cutline I spotted movement out of the corner of my eye, I turned and froze! there was a bull moose only 20yards away and he had spotted me!! After several seconds of facing off with the young bull I slowly moved back behind a spruce tree out of sight of the bull. Knowing the hunt was almost ruined and just hoping for the best I let out a low bull grunt. Much to my surprise the bull returned with a blasting grunt!! Tilting his small antlers down and to the side he began to close the distance between us grunting and swinging his antlers with every step. Heart pounding I waited for an opportunity to draw however no shot presented itself. finally at 3 yards looking the bull square in the eye I decided I had to draw my bow or risk getting head butted by a bull moose. I drew as slowly as possible but of course the bull didn't like that and deciding he had been fooled long enough he spun around and charged away, I let out a grunt but that didnt stop him so I let out a long desperate sounding cow call and he froze in his tracks looking over his shoulder at me I had a perfect quartering away shot at 15yards and thats all the opportunity I needed I released and the arrow flew straight and with a solid sounding "Whack" passed completely through the bulls heart low down right behind the shoulder. A perfect hit I thought as I tried to contain my excitement. Watching the bull run 200 yards down the cutline I decided to let out another cow call and managed to stop the bull he started to wobble and ran into the woods with a crash. After leaving him for 45 min I found him laying 50yards from the cutline. My first Moose!! With a bow!! I was very proud to say the least.
Calling in bull moose to archery range is as exciting as it gets give it a try!!
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Fast forward to the first week in october. I had been shooting my hoyt trykon bow almost daily and had it tuned to perfection, I also had my calling skills as good as they possibly could be with only a month of practice. I finished guiding my last group of waterfowl hunters and headed out to my moose hunting hotspot. I got there in the early afternoon and set up camp. My camp consisted of a tent and a 3-D archery target. I was planning to stay at least three days and possibly 7 if it took that long, I was determined not to come home without my moose. I got camp set up by 3pm and got geared up for the evening hunt. After a half hour hike I was at my treestand. This was a stand my friends and I call the bushman stand. It is situated at the point of a triangle between a cutline and a creek and is mixed spruce and poplar with lots of muskeg, Perfect moose habitat!! After getting settled in the stand and letting the woods quiet down I commenced calling. Long wavering cow calls accompanied by several bull grunts echoed through the northern boreal forest but nothing happened. I called for 2 hours with no response. More than a little disappointed I climbed down from the treestand about 1 hour until darkness shut down my hunt for the day. I decided to move down the cutline until I intersected the creek and try my calling there, as I stepped out onto the cutline I spotted movement out of the corner of my eye, I turned and froze! there was a bull moose only 20yards away and he had spotted me!! After several seconds of facing off with the young bull I slowly moved back behind a spruce tree out of sight of the bull. Knowing the hunt was almost ruined and just hoping for the best I let out a low bull grunt. Much to my surprise the bull returned with a blasting grunt!! Tilting his small antlers down and to the side he began to close the distance between us grunting and swinging his antlers with every step. Heart pounding I waited for an opportunity to draw however no shot presented itself. finally at 3 yards looking the bull square in the eye I decided I had to draw my bow or risk getting head butted by a bull moose. I drew as slowly as possible but of course the bull didn't like that and deciding he had been fooled long enough he spun around and charged away, I let out a grunt but that didnt stop him so I let out a long desperate sounding cow call and he froze in his tracks looking over his shoulder at me I had a perfect quartering away shot at 15yards and thats all the opportunity I needed I released and the arrow flew straight and with a solid sounding "Whack" passed completely through the bulls heart low down right behind the shoulder. A perfect hit I thought as I tried to contain my excitement. Watching the bull run 200 yards down the cutline I decided to let out another cow call and managed to stop the bull he started to wobble and ran into the woods with a crash. After leaving him for 45 min I found him laying 50yards from the cutline. My first Moose!! With a bow!! I was very proud to say the least.
Calling in bull moose to archery range is as exciting as it gets give it a try!!
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