Moose R a calling!

[hunterkiller]

Went out to 316 heard the bulls calling. I heard of a guy out there last Tuesday night and saw a bull chasing a cow. She was having nothing to do with him even though he had his nose up her ying yang. She was pretty frustrated and thought he could get closer than the 60 yards already but they bolted once they picked up his scent.

Tomorrow my friends, tomorrow one of them is going into my freezer! :twisted:

[ricky]

CONFIDENCE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's what separates the men from the boyz

[hunterkiller]

Well, first day of rifle seasom amd every bohunk for 500 miles was out @ 316. Almost hwy 1 te amount of traffic was horrible.

We saw three whitetail motoring away from an open feild put up a moose in the morning, no shot. Other than that nothing to report. We tried to poke an arrow in a squirl but couldn't even get a shot at him!!

next time, next time

[scooterj]

I was out in 506 on Sat and I guess I called one in. I did'nt see it until I fired my practice arrow at a clump of grass, then climbed down to retrieve it. While I was kicking the grass aside to find my arrow, a nice bull snuck up to within 15 yds of me without me hearing him-all in a wide open field. When I heard a rustle I looked up and saw his hind end going over a small mound 15 yds to my left. When I crawled to the top of the mound, there he was about 30 yds away and looking right at me!! I backed off and nocked an arrow, but when I crawled back up, he bolted and bu7ggered off down the field and was gone. I got the feeling HE was hunting ME...

[keeper]

My oldest boy and I had pretty good answers to our calls when bow season opened for moose here on Sept. 18....but they weren't coming in . Finally on the 23 a bull run within 19 feet of the boy, who was standing there at full draw(heard him coming....sounded like a frieght train smashing through the bush). He had to (gingerly)spook the moose away(he didn't want to take a frontal shot) and luckily it stopped broadside at 28 yds. He got a double lung hit....the 49" bull only traveled another 60 yds before folding .
Lots of excitement !
I missed a broadside shot on a smaller bull at 30 yds :oops: I can't believe it .
But anyway....a lot of fun was had .

[TBow]

I know this may be a tad late, seein's how this thread was all last fall, but hey, what the heck, I just signed up here recently!

Anyhow, I have taken to the woods in Northern Ontario in search of Bullwinkle with my bow every year since 1980. I've only missed two or three years due strikes at my workplace. I absolutely LOVE it!

Anyhow, 2004 moose hunting was a good year for my son and I. I've always contended that the absolute best time to be out chasing moose is September 26th to October 2nd, and I have yet to be disappointed. That's not to say that bulls won't respond at any other time, but 25 years of experience have shown a pattern of the greatest response results during the period I noted in the area that I hunt.

My son and I arrived in the northern woods on September 25th and spent the ramainder of the day setting up camp. That evening we rested around a campfire and discussed the next few days plans. In the darkness we heard a bull some 500 yards or so giving his traditional woof, woof! Needless to say, we were some pumped!

The next couple of days saw us scouting, setting up a couple of stand sites and doing some calling from stands. On the afternoon of the 28th, we hit paydirt.

I have learned that for the territory and habitat that I hunt, it's best to hunt in small groups of two or three hunters. One takes on the role of caller and the other hunters are set up as shooters in front of the caller some 75 to 100 yards. It's best to locate in such a manner as to try to manipulate the bull's approach from upwind. Use points of land, escarpments, clear cuts and waterways if possible to force the bull to come in past your shooters. Bulls tend to hold up at 100 yards or so, hence the stategic placement of your shooters is critical.

My son and I had just set up a couple of stands on the edge of an old clear-cut. I placed my son as the shooter on the edge of the tall timber and I moved out into the cut and set up in an old birch tree that sort'a stood out like a sore thumb. There were a few 8 to 10 foot spruce trees around me, but otherwise my view was unencumbered for a ways. I could see my son some 80 yards off to my south.

My first couple of call sequences brought a response that sounded like a mile or so to the southest. Sure'nuff, it took about an hour and a quarter to bring the bull into sight and yup, he hung up at around the 100 to 150 yard range. It was then that I heard another bull coming in from the south. WHOWEEMAMA! Two bulls!

I switched my calls to low cow whines. I'd turn my head away from the bulls approach and give one or two whines in a low tone always ending the sequence in a quivering note. To accomplish that, I'd pinch my nose and push and pull while trailing off with a nasal whine. Both bulls responded to some degree, but still appeared to be holding out beyond shooting distance. Then I took my birch bark horn and raked the branhes in my tree after my nasal calls. That worked out great. I could hear and now see both bulls working their way into range.

I succeeded pulling both bulls in front of both my son and myself. At 15 yards, I was at full draw on a 44 incher and I could see my son some 80 yards off with his crossbow fixed on the bull in front of him. It was just a matter of time until one of us would let fly. We only had one bull tag, so it was imperative that only one of us shot. Party hunting is legal in Ontario, and being able to communicate with the other members of your group is imperative.

The bull in front of me stopped at 15 yards from me and stopped to sniff the trail that I'd walked in on. His vitals were blocked by one of those small spruce trees I mentioned and all I could see was his head and antlers. I repeatedly kept shifting my eyes in my son's direction and could see his crossbow aimed in the direction of the set of horns that I could just see atop the small trees near him.

Finally I heard the crack of his crossbow, and I finally let off the draw of my Mathews after what seemed like an eternity. I watched the bull in front of me walk off casually as I heard my son's bull drop only after a mere 20 yard run. The groans and gasps meant a clean hit as we heard the bull pile up.

Although elated with the current events, the reality of the tremendous amount of work before father and son now took hold. Fortunately, my son had just acquired a new 4wheeler that summer, and it proved its worth in transporting the bull out of the bush.

It's been nye on 6 months now, and just last week I took my son's antlers to a friend who coordinates the Ontario big game record book (FROW - Federation for the Recognition of Ontario Wildlife). The bull had a spread of almost 54 1/2 inches and netted 166 2/8. So far it looks like it'll rank in the top 10 for Ontario moose taken with crossbows.

It was a great hunt, and what made it even better for a proud dad, was the fact that I just happened to be the guide and caller on this fall adventure!

TBow