Thursday September 17, 2015

We woke up to the best morning of the week so far. Although it wasn’t exactly chilly, it was cooler than the last few days and much less windy. We went up the mountain behind camp and dad and Chuck headed to Lucky rock across the lake.

When we got to the top of the mountain we were welcomed with a magnificent sunrise.

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When we got to the lookout, we spotted two moose down below us and two more on the mountain to the east. There was a bull and a cow in each group.

After splitting up for a few minutes, Duane saw a good bull moving along the edge of the timber down below us. We quickly got on a caribou trail and followed it through the timber until we came out on a bog. The bull was nowhere to be seen. Although it couldn’t have gone too far, we were unsure where it was hiding.

We waited  few minutes before deciding to move to the knob in front of us and glass the edge of the timber. Duane began rubbing his ax on a tree when we got to the knob. Instantly, I could hear antlers smashing a tree in the timber. Moments later the moose was heading right toward us. I could see its antlers, but not its body.

When the moose didn’t see another bull racking its antlers on the trees, it got nervous and took off. We raced to our right and got ready for it to run out of the timber below us.

When it appeared it was going full tilt across the bog. Duane yelled for me to shoot, so I shouldered the gun, put the crosshairs at the top of its antlers and in front of the nose, and pulled the trigger. At the sound of the gun it fell to the ground and I had my first bull moose. After range finding the distance he was approximately 450 yards. I shot him with a Browning X-Bolt 30.06 and a 180 grain Fusion bullet.

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As we were taking pictures, we heard some gunshots. A quick conversation on the radio confirmed that my dad had also killed a nice bull. It was 9:00 a.m. and dad and I were celebrating our first moose kills on opposite ends of the lake.

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This trip has been nothing short of phenomenal. I was hesitant about spending the money, but even if I didn’t shoot a moose it would have been worth every cent. Some things are priceless and this hunt has surely been one of those things. I hope I’m able to do it again at some point in my life.

I’m going out with Brad tomorrow to take some video and tag along on his hunt. He’s the only one who hasn’t gotten a moose yet.  I hope tomorrow is his day. He has worked hard and his guide Hector is the oldest of the guides. He is 68 years old, followed by Duane at 43, Jason at 41, and Chuck at 26. They are all fantastic guys. They are some of Newfoundland’s best people.

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