The hunt was booked at the Safari Club convention February of 2015. I was actually searching for a father/son spring black bear hunt for Trevor and me, a gift for Trevor’s 30th birthday. Talking with Brent Chapman of B.C. Outfitters Consultant , I happen to notice he had posted a Woodland Caribou hunt available. There are only a few Woodland Caribou permits available in any given year and most of those are much more expensive than this one. There was an option to add an Eastern Canadian Moose at a very reasonable fee. Knowing nothing of the outfitter involved, I asked of there were any references with whom I could speak. It happened there was an SCI member at the show who had taken this same hunt in 2014. Brent arranged for us to meet. The hunter was very enthusiastic about the hunt and he had his smart phone with lots of pictures from his experience there. He harvested both the Woodland Caribou and a Moose on that trip. He advised me to ask for the same guide (Dean) that he had during his hunt.
| B.C. Outfitters Consultant 22 Farchant Way Vernon, B.C. V1H 1E3 Canada 877.540.6916 250.542.6916 Residence 250.309.0322 Cell [email protected] | JDI Outdoor Adventures Ltd. c/o Jerry Pumphrey 1060 Highlands Rd Highlands, NL A0A 1N0 Canada 709.645.2789 709.649.7713 cell |
Beth did a good job scheduling me with adequate layovers particularly in airports where Customs was involved. This is a vital issue when traveling with firearms that most travel agents do not appreciate. My hotel stay upon arrival and departure was reserved with the Holiday Inn Express in Deer Lake, NL. Room rate $168.37 CA per night. The staff there is very hunter friendly and also has some freezer facility for small amounts of meat that air travelers may have with them. There is another lodge in town often used by hunters, Deer Lake Inn. It is very likely a less expensive facility.
Total air fare with taxes and fees $1529.53 Canadian.
There are extra baggage fees as well as a surcharge for firearms that increase the actual cost of travel with Air Canada. United has a second bag fee but no surcharge for the rifle.
My route of travel began in Reno NV with United Airlines to Denver, UA Denver to Toronto where I had to clear Customs. Toronto is a large sprawling airport that is the result of many expansions. Not at all a convenient facility. Customs is a mess. It took me 2 full hours just to complete the Customs process. Next flight was with Air Canada to Deer Lake NL. 25 hours had passed by the time we touched down in Deer Lake. US TSA allows ammunition to be locked in the same case with the firearm, Air Canada apparently does not, something of which I was informed upon my return trip when booking into Air Canada in Deer Lake.
Return trip was essentially the reverse, save that U.S. Customs is located in Toronto as opposed to Denver for this route. I met a rather nice young U.S Customs agent in Toronto with whom I left my card for a hunting reference.
Check in at the Reno United terminal was an experience. I arrived at 0310 for my early morning flight. The first UA agent to arrive was 0330. She was very nice but did not know how to process the firearm in the computer. 0400 other employees arrived, several had the same issue. One older male finally arrived who knew the computer process and accomplished the check in 0430hrs. 0450 TSA cleared my gun case. It certainly pays to be early when traveling with firearms. NOTE: Untied Airlines does not accept cash for any fees. A credit or debit card is a must for travel. Wear a shirt, vest, or jacket with pockets as photo ID and boarding pass are required at several stops in the boarding process.
Inflight food service is available at an extra fee. Carry food in your carry on luggage. I forgot and packed all my trail food in my checked Duffle. They do provide a small beverage, in my case orange juice.
It is a big help to have Canadian currency when traveling in Canada. Unfortunately the Currency exchange booth in the airport charges $0.87 per US $1 while the official exchange rate was more like $0.73. All the businesses want to charge you in $US and pay your change in $CA. I used the credit card for the few purchases I had to make as the fee charged by VISA is much less than the locals take. On this trip there was no opportunity to visit a bank or other government agency for exchange purposes.
In the Toronto airport there is a Subway with good food and reasonable prices.
Flight from Toronto to Deer Lake was late departing due to bad weather for the incoming plane. The actual flight over was rough due to a lot of air turbulence. Hotel has a staff member on duty 24 hours a day. Short night, three hours sleep.
Sunday the 13th, breakfast is rather nice and included in the room rate. Several kinds of fruit, coffees including decaf, several types of juice, eggs, sausage, muffins, toast, pancakes, four dry cereals, and instant oatmeal. Yogurt and milk included in the cooler. Not typical of most of the US Holiday Inns.
Outfitter’s son Jeff, picked me up at the Hotel. He was late. We drove to a service station/cafe called Irving’s about 2 hours from Deer Lake. The outfitter, Jerry, met us there as well as his daughter who issued my hunting licenses and tags. Jeff then turned off the highway on a dirt road nearby that eventually led to the cabin/lodge from which I would be hunting. Weather is overcast with light intermittent showers.
The cook, Jerome was in the lodge along with two hunters from New York and one from Ontario. They had arrived in time to hunt the opening day of the season on Saturday. One of the hunters, Harold, had killed his moose (cow) Saturday morning by 8 am in a meadow just below the camp. As there is no hunting in NL on Sundays until some time in October everyone except the guides were in camp. The ban on Sunday hunting is due to berry picking both private and commercial on those days. Jerry’s Six day moose hunts are scheduled for Monday through Saturday so the guides can have Sundays off. John shot his moose (cow) on Monday and Larry shot his 11 point bull moose on Tuesday. They each shot the first moose they saw. They both left for home as soon as their meat was processed. Larry turned out to be a big help to me during the first couple of days. I purchased his rubber rain pants after Dean took me on a stalk where the “tuckamoor” tore my rain pants. Nearly destroyed would be a better term. In Alaska the term for that type of vegetation is “shintangle”
Total air fare with taxes and fees $1529.53 Canadian.
There are extra baggage fees as well as a surcharge for firearms that increase the actual cost of travel with Air Canada. United has a second bag fee but no surcharge for the rifle.
My route of travel began in Reno NV with United Airlines to Denver, UA Denver to Toronto where I had to clear Customs. Toronto is a large sprawling airport that is the result of many expansions. Not at all a convenient facility. Customs is a mess. It took me 2 full hours just to complete the Customs process. Next flight was with Air Canada to Deer Lake NL. 25 hours had passed by the time we touched down in Deer Lake. US TSA allows ammunition to be locked in the same case with the firearm, Air Canada apparently does not, something of which I was informed upon my return trip when booking into Air Canada in Deer Lake.
Return trip was essentially the reverse, save that U.S. Customs is located in Toronto as opposed to Denver for this route. I met a rather nice young U.S Customs agent in Toronto with whom I left my card for a hunting reference.
Check in at the Reno United terminal was an experience. I arrived at 0310 for my early morning flight. The first UA agent to arrive was 0330. She was very nice but did not know how to process the firearm in the computer. 0400 other employees arrived, several had the same issue. One older male finally arrived who knew the computer process and accomplished the check in 0430hrs. 0450 TSA cleared my gun case. It certainly pays to be early when traveling with firearms. NOTE: Untied Airlines does not accept cash for any fees. A credit or debit card is a must for travel. Wear a shirt, vest, or jacket with pockets as photo ID and boarding pass are required at several stops in the boarding process.
Inflight food service is available at an extra fee. Carry food in your carry on luggage. I forgot and packed all my trail food in my checked Duffle. They do provide a small beverage, in my case orange juice.
It is a big help to have Canadian currency when traveling in Canada. Unfortunately the Currency exchange booth in the airport charges $0.87 per US $1 while the official exchange rate was more like $0.73. All the businesses want to charge you in $US and pay your change in $CA. I used the credit card for the few purchases I had to make as the fee charged by VISA is much less than the locals take. On this trip there was no opportunity to visit a bank or other government agency for exchange purposes.
In the Toronto airport there is a Subway with good food and reasonable prices.
Flight from Toronto to Deer Lake was late departing due to bad weather for the incoming plane. The actual flight over was rough due to a lot of air turbulence. Hotel has a staff member on duty 24 hours a day. Short night, three hours sleep.
Sunday the 13th, breakfast is rather nice and included in the room rate. Several kinds of fruit, coffees including decaf, several types of juice, eggs, sausage, muffins, toast, pancakes, four dry cereals, and instant oatmeal. Yogurt and milk included in the cooler. Not typical of most of the US Holiday Inns.
Outfitter’s son Jeff, picked me up at the Hotel. He was late. We drove to a service station/cafe called Irving’s about 2 hours from Deer Lake. The outfitter, Jerry, met us there as well as his daughter who issued my hunting licenses and tags. Jeff then turned off the highway on a dirt road nearby that eventually led to the cabin/lodge from which I would be hunting. Weather is overcast with light intermittent showers.
The cook, Jerome was in the lodge along with two hunters from New York and one from Ontario. They had arrived in time to hunt the opening day of the season on Saturday. One of the hunters, Harold, had killed his moose (cow) Saturday morning by 8 am in a meadow just below the camp. As there is no hunting in NL on Sundays until some time in October everyone except the guides were in camp. The ban on Sunday hunting is due to berry picking both private and commercial on those days. Jerry’s Six day moose hunts are scheduled for Monday through Saturday so the guides can have Sundays off. John shot his moose (cow) on Monday and Larry shot his 11 point bull moose on Tuesday. They each shot the first moose they saw. They both left for home as soon as their meat was processed. Larry turned out to be a big help to me during the first couple of days. I purchased his rubber rain pants after Dean took me on a stalk where the “tuckamoor” tore my rain pants. Nearly destroyed would be a better term. In Alaska the term for that type of vegetation is “shintangle”
Camp is a set of cabins; the main cabin has five rooms with double bunks for the hunters, a room for the cook, two bath rooms with showers, a great room with large wood stove, and a full kitchen. One cabin for the guides, one cabin for extra hunters when they have large parties. The third cabin has two rooms with double bunks for hunters, a room for a cook or other staff, a kitchen, and a great room with wood stove. This kitchen is not used as Jerome stays in the main cabin. The camp is off the grid. Generators are used when electricity is needed. The water here is not suitable for drinking or cooking as it is drawn from a stream with a large amount of peat. The water is brown from the peat. All the water for drinking etc is brought in.
Dean arrived in camp late Sunday evening. We went up the road toward the mountains to the east to inspect and repair a bad spot in the trail. It was a deep steep cut through which a small stream ran. Dean cut a lot of small spruce trees which we used to fill in the cut. I was skeptical of the ability of the Argo to travel over this fill without issue. After filling the cut we drove the Argo over the trees several times to partially pack in the trail. It worked without a hitch. On the way out we observed a large cow moose standing about 400 yards off the trail. She watched us for some time before moving off into the timber. There were a couple of moose across the river on the mountain side to our south.
Food is abundant, typical comfort food. I had to make a special request for whole wheat bread and fruit. Breakfasts were eggs, sausage or bacon and white toast. We had blueberry pancakes one day. Eggs, canned boston beans and bologna on two days. Lunches are all sandwiches. Dean carried a kettle in the Argo for tea when we were in the vicinity of the Argo for a break or lunch. Dinners were basically meat and potatoes. On a couple of occasions Jerome steamed a pot with potato, turnip, carrot, and cabbage. Good assortment of vegetables and rather tasty. Meats varied by day and included roast beef, roast turkey, caribou stew, baked cod, and moose. Jerome cooked moose liver and onions one day in addition to the other meat for those who liked that fare. I had a small piece but am not a big liver fan. There was some form a desert each day; carrot cake or pies for those inclined.
Each day starts before dawn when Jerome get up to make coffee and cook the breakfast. He uses propane stoves and lanterns for this process. When the coffee is done it is placed on the wood stove in the great room. At this time Jerome starts the generator. This serves as the alarm clock for those who are not already awake. Breakfast is served, the hunters eat at a picnic table in the great room while the staff eats at a table in the kitchen. Hunters and their guides leave the camp in Argos or on 4x4 ATVs. Typically after dawn by as much as an hour. Jerry has the rights to a very large territory so travel can be short or hours long. Moose can be seen at any time and many are shot from the trail. This outfit is set up for the meat hunter who simply wants to fill the freezer. Trophy hunts are longer, 8 hunting days when booked in the early part of the season. As long as nine days when you have a guide like Dean and are camped out as opposed to hunting from the lodge. More than one moose tag is available for those who want more meat. Most hunters who can shoot accurately are tagged out by Wed and leave early. This gives the guides some extra time off and makes the cook’s work lighter.
The terrain is a combination of mountains and tundra. It looks very much like central Alaska where I hunted for Grizzly. The tundra has a lot of berries, Blueberries, Partridge berries, Crow berries and others. One looks very much like Sallal another grows from a flat leaf plant on a long stem. The berries are in a cluster and are bright metallic blue. No one could tell me what they were so I did not partake. There is also a cloud berry that the locals call bakeapple. It is usually gone by mid September but we did find a few over ripe examples.
Monday morning was overcast cold and raining. Dean and I left camp after daylight. There was some fog & low clouds on the mountain where we were going. We took the road through camp to its end. The trail from here is very steep, twisted and full of large rocks. Dean piloted the Argo up this trail with great skill. I was amazed at the capability of the Argo to transverse this terrain. It was seemingly too broken for a vehicle to travel. About 30 mins later, probably less we topped out. There is a knoll used for a lookout at this point where we stopped to glass each day we come up on the mountain by this route. Wind was from the east, blowing rather hard all day. Rain varying from showers to heavy downpour was on and off all day. I was dressed in Cabella’s muck boots, Dry Plus pants, Swazi shirt under a red wool Pendleton with Cabella’s Outfitter jacket. and a boonie hat. I was dry and warm with this arrangement except the hat proved my undoing during the day. The Argo had a small roof directly over the front seat which helped when the rain was coming down as opposed to blowing sideways. The hat dripped water down my back at some point soaking me when I stood. I learned to use the hood of my rain coat rather than a hat when it rained. I only wore the Outfitter jacket on good weather days due to the hat vs. hood problem the rest of the hunt. Keeping my glasses, binoculars and scope dry was a chore that seemed impossible. Glasses are a big pain in the posterior. With the Dry Plus anything that you have in the pockets must be sealed in plastic to stay dry.
We travelled to several places to glass for game. I was “lost” all day not knowing the country. We put up a cow moose shortly after the first knoll. This would prove to be a spot we encountered moose almost every day we came here. After several stops we were glassing a mountain side and long canyon that ran to the west when a bull caribou (called a stag locally) fed out of the fog directly behind us. He had a nice white front cape and mane, long main beams with good antler formation. He was still in the velvet and the antlers looked massive. I was interested in shooting this stag, however Dean said it was too early on the hunt and we would find a better one before the hunt was over. We watched this bull feed inside of 150 yards for at least a half hour before he wandered off to whence he came. We observed 8 Caribou four of which were stags over the course of the day. All were singles or pairs that were cow calf. We stayed out until dusk before dropping off the top. Late evening we went to a spot known as the Boar’s Back. There we located 8 moose four of which were bulls. The largest a 4 by 4 with a cow. Three of the bulls were within easy range. one 4x4, one 3x3, and a spike. The spike was feeding in some brush near where we had parked the Argo before hiking to the Boar’s Back. Dean called him into 35 yards where he stood broadside to us for some time. Dean called him back a couple more times when he would lose interest and wander off.
It is obvious Dean is a dedicated Moose hunter. Observed 19 moose over the day. Passed all the bull moose seen today as not large enough to take.
We had a flat tire on the left front of the Argo this morning. Dean had two spares. When he went to change the flat, the lug nuts were so tight he struggled to break them. Once the flat was off we found the spares to have the tread oriented for the right side for the vehicle.The spare when mounted slightly rubbed the second tire.
Tuesday. Heavy fog this morning. We started late and sat near the falls for about an hour glassing through the mist. When it looked to be lightening we went to the top. Worked on some road problems for another hour until most of the fog lifted. Observed one small bull and a cow moose in the vicinity of the Boars Back. After some glassing from different points Dean spotted a bull moose on the next mountain range to the south by the glint off his antlers. This bull had narrow palms and long points off the palms. This is the first moose we have seen that is hard horned. He is laying at the edge of the brush on a small bog. We move closer to evaluate. It is the biggest bull we have seen so far. Dean wants to drive the Argo over to the the next mountain so we can get a better look. Dean thinks this moose may be a little smaller than we should take but needs a better evaluation. We take the Argo off the mountain past the Boars Back, across the river and up the next range. The country is more broken that it looks from the other side. Rough trail that Dean has cut across there. At one point he strips the right rear tire off the rim. When we reach a good high point on the ridge we stop to get a better look at the Moose, eat a bite, and change the tire. Moose has moved but we locate him. He is feeding is a sharp cut on an not too far off ridge. We boil a kettle and have a bite to eat. Dean attempts to change the tire only to find the lug nuts are too tight for him to break even with me standing on the iron. We will operate on seven wheels the rest of the day.
Dean thinks the Moose will go between 38 and 42 inches. I am willing to take this moose if we can pull off a stalk. We plan a stalk and start off. There are a series of breaks between us and the bull. Each break proves to be empty of Moose although we can see some moose feeding in the bogs and river bottoms across the river. While we were eating the wind changed from a south wind blowing in our faces to a wind that shifts back and forth from North to Northwest. This will complicate our stalk and make it difficult to approach the moose. We hope we can swing wide enough to get to the south of the moose and approach from behind. Dean is still not sure we should take this bull. After some extended walking through thick low lying brush (tuckamoor) my rain pants are torn and full of small holes. Dean takes a shorter swing than we should, the bull senses us when we are about 175 yards out. We approach a small cluster of stunted trees for cover. The bull is standing in the cut with just his head and antlers visible looking directly at us. I try to get into a shooting position using one of the spruce tree tops as a shooting aid. The target is too small and I risk breaking an antler. The bull has had enough, turns 180 degrees, runs down the slot away from us leaving no target but the hump and antlers for a brief moment, then disappears. We hurry to a point only to see the moose appear momentarily on a knoll about 600 to 800 yards away. I do not shoot at game at these distances and we let him go. All in all the bull is probably 40 inches with tall narrow palms and long slender points off the palms. Had we executed a better stalk I would have shot him.
We have seen 8 moose including the bull stalked and 5 Caribou today. One caribou cow come right in to investigate us and lingers within 100 yards for about 30 minutes.
It is a long torturous route back. We arrive at camp just after dark. As we enter the camp we break one of the drive chains on the Argo. Dean will try to repair the Argo before our morning hunt. Turns out he is missing a small clip to finish the repair so we will have to use a different Argo on Weds.
Wednesday. It rained and blew hard all night The rain has stopped by daylight. There is a heavy wind today. Because Dean’s Argo is broken we are taking one owned by the outfitter. It has no roll cage and a broken seat frame. This will cause some extra difficulty riding as the passenger seat is awkward at best even without the broken seat frame. Steve is going to accompany us with his own Argo today as we will be traveling further into the interior in search of a good Caribou. I have made a point of stressing the importance of taking a good Caribou before any more moose hunting. We drive up top and see a cow with a small bull moose from the first lookout.. We travel east for several miles and turn to the north stopping to glass at various intervals. We see moose and caribou up feeding at every stop. The wind was cold and I had to add a third layer under my rain jacket to stay warm. We located a small group of Caribou and moved closer for a better evaluation. Two bulls and about five cows. The two bulls appear to have weak tops so I passed on them. We moved again and got within 75 yards of four of the caribou. One bull in this group still too weak on top to shoot. Dean and Steve glass the far mountains and spot two very good Bull Moose with what initially appear to be two cows. One subsequently turns out to be a small bull still in velvet. I am glassing on this side of the lakes on the lower slopes of the range on which we are sitting. I work the last ridge before the lake and spot a V shape pattern that is bright orange in color. After looking at it for a few minutes it moves. Now I can see it is the antlers of a bull caribou. I can just make out the top of his head and neck. He appears to be lying down just over the top of the ridge facing away from us. Dean walks back to advise me of the Moose they have located. I show him the Caribou and state that I will be happy with this one. The three of us spend about 20 minutes glassing the Stag. He moves his head to the right a few times so we have a chance to see the antlers well. This bull is just a bit better than the Stag I passed on the first day. The wind is in our favor so Dean decides we can do a direct stalk. There is a small timbered ridge between us and the Stag. The stalk is not terribly far so off we go. The timber is actually stunted black spruce combined with bushes taller than our heads. There are some moose trails in the trees so we slip through to a place on the other side where we can see the stag while the brush is only up to our shoulders. Steve ranges the bull 162 yards. I advise it is too far for me to shoot off hand. Steve hands me his walking stick. It has a V notch in the top to use as a shooting rest. There is a lever/switch on the side to allow the height to be set. I get it set for my shoulder height. As I start to move forward the stag stands head away from us. He begins to feed. I wait for him to turn sideways or move under the ridge line. He slowly feeds in an arc to the right. When he has exposed enough of the right side I shoot him in the chest. Steve hears the bullet impact with a thump. The stag shows little sight of being hit and turns full broadside. I shoot him again this time a bit further back. He steps about two body lengths to the right and goes down behind a low rock formation. We can see the tops of his antlers weaving about. I walk toward the bull. At the time I reach 100 yards from him he stands, turns back and walks clear of the rock. He then turns to face me front legs spread and head extended. I am on him with the scope waiting for him to go down or turn to give me a side angle shot. I finally shoot with the crosshairs on the inside of his left shoulder. The stag now turns to my right and I shoot him again in the chest. He walks away for a few steps going downhill out of sight. He falls in the brush a short distance from the place shot.
Dean arrived in camp late Sunday evening. We went up the road toward the mountains to the east to inspect and repair a bad spot in the trail. It was a deep steep cut through which a small stream ran. Dean cut a lot of small spruce trees which we used to fill in the cut. I was skeptical of the ability of the Argo to travel over this fill without issue. After filling the cut we drove the Argo over the trees several times to partially pack in the trail. It worked without a hitch. On the way out we observed a large cow moose standing about 400 yards off the trail. She watched us for some time before moving off into the timber. There were a couple of moose across the river on the mountain side to our south.
Food is abundant, typical comfort food. I had to make a special request for whole wheat bread and fruit. Breakfasts were eggs, sausage or bacon and white toast. We had blueberry pancakes one day. Eggs, canned boston beans and bologna on two days. Lunches are all sandwiches. Dean carried a kettle in the Argo for tea when we were in the vicinity of the Argo for a break or lunch. Dinners were basically meat and potatoes. On a couple of occasions Jerome steamed a pot with potato, turnip, carrot, and cabbage. Good assortment of vegetables and rather tasty. Meats varied by day and included roast beef, roast turkey, caribou stew, baked cod, and moose. Jerome cooked moose liver and onions one day in addition to the other meat for those who liked that fare. I had a small piece but am not a big liver fan. There was some form a desert each day; carrot cake or pies for those inclined.
Each day starts before dawn when Jerome get up to make coffee and cook the breakfast. He uses propane stoves and lanterns for this process. When the coffee is done it is placed on the wood stove in the great room. At this time Jerome starts the generator. This serves as the alarm clock for those who are not already awake. Breakfast is served, the hunters eat at a picnic table in the great room while the staff eats at a table in the kitchen. Hunters and their guides leave the camp in Argos or on 4x4 ATVs. Typically after dawn by as much as an hour. Jerry has the rights to a very large territory so travel can be short or hours long. Moose can be seen at any time and many are shot from the trail. This outfit is set up for the meat hunter who simply wants to fill the freezer. Trophy hunts are longer, 8 hunting days when booked in the early part of the season. As long as nine days when you have a guide like Dean and are camped out as opposed to hunting from the lodge. More than one moose tag is available for those who want more meat. Most hunters who can shoot accurately are tagged out by Wed and leave early. This gives the guides some extra time off and makes the cook’s work lighter.
The terrain is a combination of mountains and tundra. It looks very much like central Alaska where I hunted for Grizzly. The tundra has a lot of berries, Blueberries, Partridge berries, Crow berries and others. One looks very much like Sallal another grows from a flat leaf plant on a long stem. The berries are in a cluster and are bright metallic blue. No one could tell me what they were so I did not partake. There is also a cloud berry that the locals call bakeapple. It is usually gone by mid September but we did find a few over ripe examples.
Monday morning was overcast cold and raining. Dean and I left camp after daylight. There was some fog & low clouds on the mountain where we were going. We took the road through camp to its end. The trail from here is very steep, twisted and full of large rocks. Dean piloted the Argo up this trail with great skill. I was amazed at the capability of the Argo to transverse this terrain. It was seemingly too broken for a vehicle to travel. About 30 mins later, probably less we topped out. There is a knoll used for a lookout at this point where we stopped to glass each day we come up on the mountain by this route. Wind was from the east, blowing rather hard all day. Rain varying from showers to heavy downpour was on and off all day. I was dressed in Cabella’s muck boots, Dry Plus pants, Swazi shirt under a red wool Pendleton with Cabella’s Outfitter jacket. and a boonie hat. I was dry and warm with this arrangement except the hat proved my undoing during the day. The Argo had a small roof directly over the front seat which helped when the rain was coming down as opposed to blowing sideways. The hat dripped water down my back at some point soaking me when I stood. I learned to use the hood of my rain coat rather than a hat when it rained. I only wore the Outfitter jacket on good weather days due to the hat vs. hood problem the rest of the hunt. Keeping my glasses, binoculars and scope dry was a chore that seemed impossible. Glasses are a big pain in the posterior. With the Dry Plus anything that you have in the pockets must be sealed in plastic to stay dry.
We travelled to several places to glass for game. I was “lost” all day not knowing the country. We put up a cow moose shortly after the first knoll. This would prove to be a spot we encountered moose almost every day we came here. After several stops we were glassing a mountain side and long canyon that ran to the west when a bull caribou (called a stag locally) fed out of the fog directly behind us. He had a nice white front cape and mane, long main beams with good antler formation. He was still in the velvet and the antlers looked massive. I was interested in shooting this stag, however Dean said it was too early on the hunt and we would find a better one before the hunt was over. We watched this bull feed inside of 150 yards for at least a half hour before he wandered off to whence he came. We observed 8 Caribou four of which were stags over the course of the day. All were singles or pairs that were cow calf. We stayed out until dusk before dropping off the top. Late evening we went to a spot known as the Boar’s Back. There we located 8 moose four of which were bulls. The largest a 4 by 4 with a cow. Three of the bulls were within easy range. one 4x4, one 3x3, and a spike. The spike was feeding in some brush near where we had parked the Argo before hiking to the Boar’s Back. Dean called him into 35 yards where he stood broadside to us for some time. Dean called him back a couple more times when he would lose interest and wander off.
It is obvious Dean is a dedicated Moose hunter. Observed 19 moose over the day. Passed all the bull moose seen today as not large enough to take.
We had a flat tire on the left front of the Argo this morning. Dean had two spares. When he went to change the flat, the lug nuts were so tight he struggled to break them. Once the flat was off we found the spares to have the tread oriented for the right side for the vehicle.The spare when mounted slightly rubbed the second tire.
Tuesday. Heavy fog this morning. We started late and sat near the falls for about an hour glassing through the mist. When it looked to be lightening we went to the top. Worked on some road problems for another hour until most of the fog lifted. Observed one small bull and a cow moose in the vicinity of the Boars Back. After some glassing from different points Dean spotted a bull moose on the next mountain range to the south by the glint off his antlers. This bull had narrow palms and long points off the palms. This is the first moose we have seen that is hard horned. He is laying at the edge of the brush on a small bog. We move closer to evaluate. It is the biggest bull we have seen so far. Dean wants to drive the Argo over to the the next mountain so we can get a better look. Dean thinks this moose may be a little smaller than we should take but needs a better evaluation. We take the Argo off the mountain past the Boars Back, across the river and up the next range. The country is more broken that it looks from the other side. Rough trail that Dean has cut across there. At one point he strips the right rear tire off the rim. When we reach a good high point on the ridge we stop to get a better look at the Moose, eat a bite, and change the tire. Moose has moved but we locate him. He is feeding is a sharp cut on an not too far off ridge. We boil a kettle and have a bite to eat. Dean attempts to change the tire only to find the lug nuts are too tight for him to break even with me standing on the iron. We will operate on seven wheels the rest of the day.
Dean thinks the Moose will go between 38 and 42 inches. I am willing to take this moose if we can pull off a stalk. We plan a stalk and start off. There are a series of breaks between us and the bull. Each break proves to be empty of Moose although we can see some moose feeding in the bogs and river bottoms across the river. While we were eating the wind changed from a south wind blowing in our faces to a wind that shifts back and forth from North to Northwest. This will complicate our stalk and make it difficult to approach the moose. We hope we can swing wide enough to get to the south of the moose and approach from behind. Dean is still not sure we should take this bull. After some extended walking through thick low lying brush (tuckamoor) my rain pants are torn and full of small holes. Dean takes a shorter swing than we should, the bull senses us when we are about 175 yards out. We approach a small cluster of stunted trees for cover. The bull is standing in the cut with just his head and antlers visible looking directly at us. I try to get into a shooting position using one of the spruce tree tops as a shooting aid. The target is too small and I risk breaking an antler. The bull has had enough, turns 180 degrees, runs down the slot away from us leaving no target but the hump and antlers for a brief moment, then disappears. We hurry to a point only to see the moose appear momentarily on a knoll about 600 to 800 yards away. I do not shoot at game at these distances and we let him go. All in all the bull is probably 40 inches with tall narrow palms and long slender points off the palms. Had we executed a better stalk I would have shot him.
We have seen 8 moose including the bull stalked and 5 Caribou today. One caribou cow come right in to investigate us and lingers within 100 yards for about 30 minutes.
It is a long torturous route back. We arrive at camp just after dark. As we enter the camp we break one of the drive chains on the Argo. Dean will try to repair the Argo before our morning hunt. Turns out he is missing a small clip to finish the repair so we will have to use a different Argo on Weds.
Wednesday. It rained and blew hard all night The rain has stopped by daylight. There is a heavy wind today. Because Dean’s Argo is broken we are taking one owned by the outfitter. It has no roll cage and a broken seat frame. This will cause some extra difficulty riding as the passenger seat is awkward at best even without the broken seat frame. Steve is going to accompany us with his own Argo today as we will be traveling further into the interior in search of a good Caribou. I have made a point of stressing the importance of taking a good Caribou before any more moose hunting. We drive up top and see a cow with a small bull moose from the first lookout.. We travel east for several miles and turn to the north stopping to glass at various intervals. We see moose and caribou up feeding at every stop. The wind was cold and I had to add a third layer under my rain jacket to stay warm. We located a small group of Caribou and moved closer for a better evaluation. Two bulls and about five cows. The two bulls appear to have weak tops so I passed on them. We moved again and got within 75 yards of four of the caribou. One bull in this group still too weak on top to shoot. Dean and Steve glass the far mountains and spot two very good Bull Moose with what initially appear to be two cows. One subsequently turns out to be a small bull still in velvet. I am glassing on this side of the lakes on the lower slopes of the range on which we are sitting. I work the last ridge before the lake and spot a V shape pattern that is bright orange in color. After looking at it for a few minutes it moves. Now I can see it is the antlers of a bull caribou. I can just make out the top of his head and neck. He appears to be lying down just over the top of the ridge facing away from us. Dean walks back to advise me of the Moose they have located. I show him the Caribou and state that I will be happy with this one. The three of us spend about 20 minutes glassing the Stag. He moves his head to the right a few times so we have a chance to see the antlers well. This bull is just a bit better than the Stag I passed on the first day. The wind is in our favor so Dean decides we can do a direct stalk. There is a small timbered ridge between us and the Stag. The stalk is not terribly far so off we go. The timber is actually stunted black spruce combined with bushes taller than our heads. There are some moose trails in the trees so we slip through to a place on the other side where we can see the stag while the brush is only up to our shoulders. Steve ranges the bull 162 yards. I advise it is too far for me to shoot off hand. Steve hands me his walking stick. It has a V notch in the top to use as a shooting rest. There is a lever/switch on the side to allow the height to be set. I get it set for my shoulder height. As I start to move forward the stag stands head away from us. He begins to feed. I wait for him to turn sideways or move under the ridge line. He slowly feeds in an arc to the right. When he has exposed enough of the right side I shoot him in the chest. Steve hears the bullet impact with a thump. The stag shows little sight of being hit and turns full broadside. I shoot him again this time a bit further back. He steps about two body lengths to the right and goes down behind a low rock formation. We can see the tops of his antlers weaving about. I walk toward the bull. At the time I reach 100 yards from him he stands, turns back and walks clear of the rock. He then turns to face me front legs spread and head extended. I am on him with the scope waiting for him to go down or turn to give me a side angle shot. I finally shoot with the crosshairs on the inside of his left shoulder. The stag now turns to my right and I shoot him again in the chest. He walks away for a few steps going downhill out of sight. He falls in the brush a short distance from the place shot.
Needless to say I am very happy. We pull the Stag up next to a rock and take a series of photos. While we are here the cow moose runs off the mountain which contains the bulls. Steve speculates she is not in heat and does not want the attention of the displaying bulls. Dean and Steve go back and retrieve the Argos. We clean the animal, take the head off, and halve him at the rear of the rib cage. The entry wounds include one that breaks two or more ribs and shreds the lungs. A second also passes through the chest. I found two exit wounds on the off side and Jerome will recover one bullet when skinning the quarters. One round passed along the left shoulder making a furrow in the hide. I amazed at the vitality of this animal. All of the Caribou goes in the back of our Argo. This weight actually makes the Argo ride & handle better. We spend some time looking at the two big bull moose on the mountain side across the lake. Dean has not been that far in the 30 years he has hunted this area. The bulls are showing off to one another. They swagger right and left while displaying their antlers to the other bull. We do not see them come into physical contact with one another. One runs the small bull off into the timber to north. We do not have enough time to stalk the moose today. Dean and Steve plan an approach route for tomorrow. We will return and try to locate these bulls for our Thursday hunt. We manage to return to camp prior to dark. Parts for the Argo have come in.
Thursday. Dawn breaks with clear skies. We will have great weather for today’s hunting. We get a late start (about 1000 hrs) due to the Argo repair necessary to take Deans Argo. Steve has been talked into going out with us today instead of going into town. Up to the top and then across the open country to the east. We come around one small island of tall brush and stunted trees. I look to my left and see the head of a bull moose looking at us from less than 80 yards. Dean stops the Argo and we glass the bull. He is a three by three, too small to be of interest today. Dean calls to him. He looks back and moves to our right until we can see most of his upper body. The moose hangs around for several minutes before walking through the trees and off to the south. We continue on to a point where Dean has to break a new trail across the terrain. With a few changes we manage to travel to the foot of the mountain range that held the large bulls. After hiding the Argos, having some tea and lunch we climb the mountain until we are just on the lower edge of the long bog where the bulls displayed the previous day. We set up in the edge of the tall brush that was a perfect height from which to shoot standing. The guides brought an electronic call that Steve used in an attempt to call in the moose. After an hour or more using more than one call type we quit and then searched the area on foot. No moose. Not even the small bull could be located. We returned tot he Argos. As I approached them I spotted a large clump of the red and yellow lily type flower that are scattered in small numbers about the bogs. Going to take photos it suddenly hit me that these were pitcher plants, a type of carnivores plant. I did not know they were native to the far north boggy environment.
Thursday. Dawn breaks with clear skies. We will have great weather for today’s hunting. We get a late start (about 1000 hrs) due to the Argo repair necessary to take Deans Argo. Steve has been talked into going out with us today instead of going into town. Up to the top and then across the open country to the east. We come around one small island of tall brush and stunted trees. I look to my left and see the head of a bull moose looking at us from less than 80 yards. Dean stops the Argo and we glass the bull. He is a three by three, too small to be of interest today. Dean calls to him. He looks back and moves to our right until we can see most of his upper body. The moose hangs around for several minutes before walking through the trees and off to the south. We continue on to a point where Dean has to break a new trail across the terrain. With a few changes we manage to travel to the foot of the mountain range that held the large bulls. After hiding the Argos, having some tea and lunch we climb the mountain until we are just on the lower edge of the long bog where the bulls displayed the previous day. We set up in the edge of the tall brush that was a perfect height from which to shoot standing. The guides brought an electronic call that Steve used in an attempt to call in the moose. After an hour or more using more than one call type we quit and then searched the area on foot. No moose. Not even the small bull could be located. We returned tot he Argos. As I approached them I spotted a large clump of the red and yellow lily type flower that are scattered in small numbers about the bogs. Going to take photos it suddenly hit me that these were pitcher plants, a type of carnivores plant. I did not know they were native to the far north boggy environment.
We see the small band of Caribou with the weak top bull both going in and coming out of the back country. After traveling about half way out Dean loses the right brake on the Argo. We stop and go over the master cylinder brake lines etc. We restore brake. Off we go only to lose the brake again about 40 minutes later. Refill the right side master cylinder. Have brake again. this time it only lasts about 10 minutes. We repeat the process the rest of the way out each session is getting sorter than the last. Clearly there is a leak. We just can not find it. We finally manage to limp the Argo into camp a couple of hours late. Further examination shows the caliper is broken. No spare caliper in camp so the Argos is out of commission. We sighted very little game today. This would prove to be the standard for good weather days.
Friday. Morning has fog to the ground. We travel to an area south of the camp by a different route. Sat on top of a tall mountain in the fog until noon when the fog lifted. about 1300 we locate a bull and two cow caribou on a ridge to our west. Also observed a three by three bull cross a long open bog to our rear. Two cow moose fed in an opening to our left for about an hour mid day then bedded in the nearby timber, another cow crossed the open country to our front and bedd for the day in some tall brush with stunted trees. We also located a cow moose lying in an open slide far across on another mountain range to our front. That afternoon we went for a hike into the forested country on the face of the mountain to our front. We found a cow and calf then jumped one of the cows we had seen feeding earlier. Little else moved all day. By days end our count was 9 moose including the 3x3 and 5 caribou to include the one bull with weak tops on the ridge being us.
Saturday. Morning we have fog to the ground. Two locals drive by camp on their 4x4 ATVs. They are meat hunters looking for cow moose. We go up to the falls and try to glass the opposite mountain face. On the way up we jump a black fox from the brush along the road. Very hard to make out detail on the mountain in the fog. Eventually we go up top. The two locals have made the trek to the first knoll and are standing on the top. We pull up and talk with one of them for several minutes. We advise them we see moose here every day. If they will just stay on the knoll moose will walk by them within shooting range some time during the day. We drive through a muddy swale and up on the next rise. I look to my left and see a small horned bull moose looking at me silhouetted in the fog. Dean stops the Argo while I glass the moose. Dean is waving to the hunters to come over to us. The moose turns and walks behind a small timbered rise. The hunters come toward us. The moose looks out at us from the left side of the rise then walks into the fog out of sight. We advise the hunters of the sighting. If they will just wait he will return to walk by the knoll. We then drove on toward our days destination. We later learned they drove about a bit then went back off the hill and did not shoot a moose.
Further north we see the bull caribou that I passed on the first day. He has now shed his velvet. This bull is vey close to the size of the stag I shot on Wednesday. There is one more trophy hunter coming in the first week of October that has purchased the other remaining Woodland Caribou tag. He should see more Caribou including this bull. By then the Caribou will be bunching up for the rut. However the meat may not be palatable at that time.
We drive to the head of a large canyon which traverses back to the west opening into the country we were watching the day before. After glassing for a while we boil a kettle and have a bite to eat. We now climb to the top of the mountain range to the north. We try to pick a route of travel that uses as many bogs and rock tops as we can. The rest of the travel is through dark stunted timber and the dreaded tuckamoor. I am shedding layers due to the heat (83 F) and exertion. Locals feel the heat any time the temp rises above 19 C. With this humidity I can understand the feeling when climbing these mountains while fighting the thickets. We finally break out on top. The hunt from here is more or less smooth working into the wind in relatively short vegetation. I always take the opportunity to stop for a handful of blueberries when they are conspicuous. Canada geese are grazing on the mountain top. We work the mountain for an hour or more. Stop for a snack. While eating we see one lone cow moose emerge from the timber and drink at a pool further down ridge. She then feeds above the pool in the brush. We eventually get up and leave angling down the mountain to the stream below. Upon arriving at the stream we see another lone cow feeding in one of the large ponds along the stream. She is eating some type of vegetation off the bottom. We sneak within 75 yards or closer. I take a couple of photos then we sneak out and leave her to her afternoon undisturbed. We turn and work back up the stream slipping into the timber at times. Nice moose trails and many beds in the grassy areas. We did not see any more moose.
On the way back to camp we observed a couple of cow moose coming out to feed at dusk and one small horned bull. Total moose sighted 7 including the 2 small bulls.We are driving the company Argo today and it has no light switch to add to it’s other maladies. We just get back to camp at dark.
Sunday. Another no hunting day. Jerome and I are the only people in camp for most of the day. Dean has gone home to attend to his eel traps which are full and require harvesting. He will try to pick up the parts necessary for the repair of his Argo or our hunting will be limited in range. Jerome has moved me to the room adjacent to the front bathroom. that leaves the main bedroom area for the incoming hunters.
Late in the day a party of five frenchmen from Quebec arrive at the camp for their annual moose hunt. The five all speak french, a couple of them do not speak english. They have purchased eight moose tags. Jeff, the outfitters son, comes in with a pickup load of wood for the stove. We stack the wood in the main room between the stove and my bedroom wall.
The day started out with fog. It then partially cleared with sun shine. A light mist then showers through the day. By evening it was raining. It rained and blew hard throughout the night. Dean came in this evening. He was unable to obtain the parts for his Argo. We will see what that means for our hunting.
Sunday means roast turkey and steamed vegetables. Jerome also added some corned beef to the menu. They call it salt beef in Newfoundland.
Monday. Weather is cool, windy and overcast. The hunters and guides are late getting out of camp. Two hunters and two guides went up top, the rest will hunt lower elevations to the west and south. We were another hour leaving as Dean tried to clean the master caliper pistons to improve the drivability of his Argo. We finally drive a short distance around to the south and park the Argo. Now we cross a stream along a beaver pond then climb a mountain range south of the camp to a lookout called Dougie’s rock. On the way up we jump one cow moose and see one small caribou stag. This stag has an antler on one side only. It is a good climb. I am doing well having walked in increasing amounts over the last week. Sitting on the lookout we spot one cow caribou and one cow moose on the opposite side of the valley. About 1100 hrs Dean spots an antler in the timber opposite us on the next mountain range. Glassing shows there to be at least one cow and the bull feeding in some small openings in the dark timber. We watch the moose until they bed. Now a discussion regarding the size of the bull and whether to stalk him.
This moose has palms, but earlier in the hunt I would have turned him down. I have only one more day to hunt. and given our transportation problem we are rather limited as to the distance we can drive to hunt. I decide to stalk this moose. The wind requires we make a circular stalk. It looks like we have a good approach to a shooting position into the location the moose is bedded. I shed a layer and off we go. Down the mountain there is a series of bogs that make for a minimum of heavy brush and timber. We cross the stream a couple of times to reach a slide that will take us up toward our target area. Unfortunately this side of the mountain has much more thick brush to traverse. We fight our way up until we are on the same level as the moose. A quick check shows the moose is still bedded in the same spot. We now have a choice of climbing a small ridge to our front then turning left and approaching a shooting position directly. The route may require some crawling to remain out of sight. Dean decides to climb all the way to the heavy timber near the top and approach the moose from the top for better cover and wind direction. We climb up through the heavy timber then left along the ridge. When we angle down to our desired shooting location we have difficulty finding the spot. There are a number of small cuts with brush and timber along with points any of which could be the shooting location. We check several and can not locate the Bull. After a while we circle back down to locate the bull. When we find him we see he is up feeding and has moved a short distance. We watch him a short time and he lays back down. Now we circle back toward a good shooting location. I had chambered a round when we were on the points. Now we will have to go through some tall heavy brush so I decide to remove the cartridge from the chamber for safety. The round is resistant to extraction and when it does eject only the case extracts leaving the bullet engaged with the lands of the barrel. The powder spills out on the tundra moss. I now have a crises. I signal Dean and we discuss a solution. I bang the butt on the ground to no avail. I have no cleaning rod in my back pack. Dean takes a small dead tree top and begins to whittle a rod. I decide to try to take a bullet from a live round and breech seat the case. Eventually I find I can bite the bullet and twist the cartridge case in a circular motion while pulling down. It eventually removes the bullet. I now breech seat the case and engage the safety. This has taken about 10 to 15 minutes. We continue the stalk and come out on a knoll that should be directly over the bull. No bull. We carefully search the immediate area and see nothing. After this we sit and glass. About 100 yards in front of us is another timbered knoll on which we see a cow moose feeding. After 10 or 15 minutes she lays down. Dean indicates she has a calf with her. About an hour later a different cow feeds into sight and remains there for 20 minutes before feeding back around the face of the knoll. There are a number of small steep cuts in the terrain here all with good thick high cover. Dean cow calls for a while. No answer and no moose responds. Shortly after we hear the cows on the opposite side of the other knoll calling. They do this off and on for some time. About 1800 hrs we estimate we have just enough time to get back to camp without hiking out in the dark. Rather than stay until dark and risk injury we head back off the mountain. After working our way to the bogs lower down we scan the faces we could not see from the top. I spot the bull’s antlers moving in the timber. He is feeding below the cows on that same face. Dean Calls, the bull looks our direction but does not come to the call. We leave him there knowing he will stay with the cows in this area overnight. When we reach the beaver pond at the Argo I shoot the rifle to clear it…accurate. I got in this situation by not cycling every single cartridge I loaded through he rifle before leaving on the hunt. I had cycled the first four using those to set the OAL cartridge length in the seating die. I then tested a couple at random during loading. One was just slightly long and that is the one that stuck. Totals for today; 8 moose including the one bull we stalked, four Caribou including two very small stags.
The guides who went up top called in a 3x3 bull with the electronic call. He came on the run to within 50 feet. One of the Quebec hunters shot both moose. Cows are beginning to call and a few of the smaller bulls are coming to the call. Next week should even be better. Unfortunately another Quebec hunter wounded a couple of moose in the morning and another in the evening. They did not follow up on the shots. I find this unethical and disturbing. Steve saw one very large black bear up top. The bear was so large they thought it a large bull until they were able to get closer. Dean and I have not seen a bear the entire hunt. I am told this is rather unusual for this area.
Tuesday. This is my last day to hunt. We start earlier today. Argo still broken so will only take us to the nearby jump off point. I find I have forgotten to bring my binoculars. A real handicap, good glass is essential for a good hunt. We climb the mountain to Dougie’s rock. On the way up we see one small bull moose with a cow going up ahead of us. They go over a ridge toward the high dark timber. Dean guides us to a tall rock where we wait to see if they will circle left into our path. After a few minutes a cow moose steps up on a knoll about 150 yards in front of us. She stands in the open for a long time. My rest on the rock is solid and the moose is in the clear for a great shot. We are hoping a bull will follow her. After 10 or more minutes it is obvious this must be a different cow. She works her way to the left and beds on top of a small ridge facing back. We circle under a ridge and come up on top of her. We can ow see down into a place where several draws come together. There is another cow in this valley. The first cow gets up and feeds into the draw. There is some hostility between the cows. One of the cows begins to call. No bull shows itself. We stay here for some time hoping for a bull to show. The cows lay down in the timber. We move to the lookout. We have a bull caribou feeding up the ridge toward us. he meanders up here for most of the time we are on the lookout. Tops are a bit weak. In another year or two he will be very nice. About one hour glassing here and Dean locates a cow moose feeding in a timbered cut near the place we stalked yesterday. Concentrating on the are we eventually see three moose, presumed to be the two cows and the calf. Now to find the bull. He should be in the immediate area with the cows. Dean spots the antlers at the top of a steep timbered cut. The bull finally lays down and Dean marks him down by a dead spruce tree.
Wind is coming straight from the moose toward us to we can make a straight approach to the moose. Down the mountain we go. Take the same route down and part way back up. Other side is still just as tough. When we get under the moose Dean advise we would be better up on top of the knoll where we sat yesterday for better visibility if the bull gets up and moves. We circle left through the steep cuts and heavy timber. Hot, slow, hard going fighting the timber and brush. We come out on top of our knoll. Dean can see the timbered cut in front of us. we sneak over to another small rise with waist high trees. We are now about 90 yards from the dead spruce. Glassing shows one point of the bull’s antler sticking up over the vegetation. I set up in a kneeling position, Dean says he is going to call. About that time the bull stands. I shoot him in the chest. He moves down into the draw so I have to stand to see any of him. I can see his hump and antlers moving through the thick trees. A few more shots to try to add more wound channels although I know he is hard hit and should not go far. He walks about 60 to 100 feet then falls out of sight into some thick small trees. We wait a few minutes to see if he comes out anywhere, I reload. We circle up to the head of the cut and drop in. We find the bed then track the moose, no blood trail and not expecting any. As we come around the corner at a junction of two draws we can see his legs down on the moss. Moose down and dead. It is 1230 hrs on the last day of the hunt. Dean has to cut away a lot of branches to we can free the moose. We take some photos and then the real work begins. Dean forgot his axe along the way so we are limited to knife , scalpels, and small had saw. This gets the job done.
Friday. Morning has fog to the ground. We travel to an area south of the camp by a different route. Sat on top of a tall mountain in the fog until noon when the fog lifted. about 1300 we locate a bull and two cow caribou on a ridge to our west. Also observed a three by three bull cross a long open bog to our rear. Two cow moose fed in an opening to our left for about an hour mid day then bedded in the nearby timber, another cow crossed the open country to our front and bedd for the day in some tall brush with stunted trees. We also located a cow moose lying in an open slide far across on another mountain range to our front. That afternoon we went for a hike into the forested country on the face of the mountain to our front. We found a cow and calf then jumped one of the cows we had seen feeding earlier. Little else moved all day. By days end our count was 9 moose including the 3x3 and 5 caribou to include the one bull with weak tops on the ridge being us.
Saturday. Morning we have fog to the ground. Two locals drive by camp on their 4x4 ATVs. They are meat hunters looking for cow moose. We go up to the falls and try to glass the opposite mountain face. On the way up we jump a black fox from the brush along the road. Very hard to make out detail on the mountain in the fog. Eventually we go up top. The two locals have made the trek to the first knoll and are standing on the top. We pull up and talk with one of them for several minutes. We advise them we see moose here every day. If they will just stay on the knoll moose will walk by them within shooting range some time during the day. We drive through a muddy swale and up on the next rise. I look to my left and see a small horned bull moose looking at me silhouetted in the fog. Dean stops the Argo while I glass the moose. Dean is waving to the hunters to come over to us. The moose turns and walks behind a small timbered rise. The hunters come toward us. The moose looks out at us from the left side of the rise then walks into the fog out of sight. We advise the hunters of the sighting. If they will just wait he will return to walk by the knoll. We then drove on toward our days destination. We later learned they drove about a bit then went back off the hill and did not shoot a moose.
Further north we see the bull caribou that I passed on the first day. He has now shed his velvet. This bull is vey close to the size of the stag I shot on Wednesday. There is one more trophy hunter coming in the first week of October that has purchased the other remaining Woodland Caribou tag. He should see more Caribou including this bull. By then the Caribou will be bunching up for the rut. However the meat may not be palatable at that time.
We drive to the head of a large canyon which traverses back to the west opening into the country we were watching the day before. After glassing for a while we boil a kettle and have a bite to eat. We now climb to the top of the mountain range to the north. We try to pick a route of travel that uses as many bogs and rock tops as we can. The rest of the travel is through dark stunted timber and the dreaded tuckamoor. I am shedding layers due to the heat (83 F) and exertion. Locals feel the heat any time the temp rises above 19 C. With this humidity I can understand the feeling when climbing these mountains while fighting the thickets. We finally break out on top. The hunt from here is more or less smooth working into the wind in relatively short vegetation. I always take the opportunity to stop for a handful of blueberries when they are conspicuous. Canada geese are grazing on the mountain top. We work the mountain for an hour or more. Stop for a snack. While eating we see one lone cow moose emerge from the timber and drink at a pool further down ridge. She then feeds above the pool in the brush. We eventually get up and leave angling down the mountain to the stream below. Upon arriving at the stream we see another lone cow feeding in one of the large ponds along the stream. She is eating some type of vegetation off the bottom. We sneak within 75 yards or closer. I take a couple of photos then we sneak out and leave her to her afternoon undisturbed. We turn and work back up the stream slipping into the timber at times. Nice moose trails and many beds in the grassy areas. We did not see any more moose.
On the way back to camp we observed a couple of cow moose coming out to feed at dusk and one small horned bull. Total moose sighted 7 including the 2 small bulls.We are driving the company Argo today and it has no light switch to add to it’s other maladies. We just get back to camp at dark.
Sunday. Another no hunting day. Jerome and I are the only people in camp for most of the day. Dean has gone home to attend to his eel traps which are full and require harvesting. He will try to pick up the parts necessary for the repair of his Argo or our hunting will be limited in range. Jerome has moved me to the room adjacent to the front bathroom. that leaves the main bedroom area for the incoming hunters.
Late in the day a party of five frenchmen from Quebec arrive at the camp for their annual moose hunt. The five all speak french, a couple of them do not speak english. They have purchased eight moose tags. Jeff, the outfitters son, comes in with a pickup load of wood for the stove. We stack the wood in the main room between the stove and my bedroom wall.
The day started out with fog. It then partially cleared with sun shine. A light mist then showers through the day. By evening it was raining. It rained and blew hard throughout the night. Dean came in this evening. He was unable to obtain the parts for his Argo. We will see what that means for our hunting.
Sunday means roast turkey and steamed vegetables. Jerome also added some corned beef to the menu. They call it salt beef in Newfoundland.
Monday. Weather is cool, windy and overcast. The hunters and guides are late getting out of camp. Two hunters and two guides went up top, the rest will hunt lower elevations to the west and south. We were another hour leaving as Dean tried to clean the master caliper pistons to improve the drivability of his Argo. We finally drive a short distance around to the south and park the Argo. Now we cross a stream along a beaver pond then climb a mountain range south of the camp to a lookout called Dougie’s rock. On the way up we jump one cow moose and see one small caribou stag. This stag has an antler on one side only. It is a good climb. I am doing well having walked in increasing amounts over the last week. Sitting on the lookout we spot one cow caribou and one cow moose on the opposite side of the valley. About 1100 hrs Dean spots an antler in the timber opposite us on the next mountain range. Glassing shows there to be at least one cow and the bull feeding in some small openings in the dark timber. We watch the moose until they bed. Now a discussion regarding the size of the bull and whether to stalk him.
This moose has palms, but earlier in the hunt I would have turned him down. I have only one more day to hunt. and given our transportation problem we are rather limited as to the distance we can drive to hunt. I decide to stalk this moose. The wind requires we make a circular stalk. It looks like we have a good approach to a shooting position into the location the moose is bedded. I shed a layer and off we go. Down the mountain there is a series of bogs that make for a minimum of heavy brush and timber. We cross the stream a couple of times to reach a slide that will take us up toward our target area. Unfortunately this side of the mountain has much more thick brush to traverse. We fight our way up until we are on the same level as the moose. A quick check shows the moose is still bedded in the same spot. We now have a choice of climbing a small ridge to our front then turning left and approaching a shooting position directly. The route may require some crawling to remain out of sight. Dean decides to climb all the way to the heavy timber near the top and approach the moose from the top for better cover and wind direction. We climb up through the heavy timber then left along the ridge. When we angle down to our desired shooting location we have difficulty finding the spot. There are a number of small cuts with brush and timber along with points any of which could be the shooting location. We check several and can not locate the Bull. After a while we circle back down to locate the bull. When we find him we see he is up feeding and has moved a short distance. We watch him a short time and he lays back down. Now we circle back toward a good shooting location. I had chambered a round when we were on the points. Now we will have to go through some tall heavy brush so I decide to remove the cartridge from the chamber for safety. The round is resistant to extraction and when it does eject only the case extracts leaving the bullet engaged with the lands of the barrel. The powder spills out on the tundra moss. I now have a crises. I signal Dean and we discuss a solution. I bang the butt on the ground to no avail. I have no cleaning rod in my back pack. Dean takes a small dead tree top and begins to whittle a rod. I decide to try to take a bullet from a live round and breech seat the case. Eventually I find I can bite the bullet and twist the cartridge case in a circular motion while pulling down. It eventually removes the bullet. I now breech seat the case and engage the safety. This has taken about 10 to 15 minutes. We continue the stalk and come out on a knoll that should be directly over the bull. No bull. We carefully search the immediate area and see nothing. After this we sit and glass. About 100 yards in front of us is another timbered knoll on which we see a cow moose feeding. After 10 or 15 minutes she lays down. Dean indicates she has a calf with her. About an hour later a different cow feeds into sight and remains there for 20 minutes before feeding back around the face of the knoll. There are a number of small steep cuts in the terrain here all with good thick high cover. Dean cow calls for a while. No answer and no moose responds. Shortly after we hear the cows on the opposite side of the other knoll calling. They do this off and on for some time. About 1800 hrs we estimate we have just enough time to get back to camp without hiking out in the dark. Rather than stay until dark and risk injury we head back off the mountain. After working our way to the bogs lower down we scan the faces we could not see from the top. I spot the bull’s antlers moving in the timber. He is feeding below the cows on that same face. Dean Calls, the bull looks our direction but does not come to the call. We leave him there knowing he will stay with the cows in this area overnight. When we reach the beaver pond at the Argo I shoot the rifle to clear it…accurate. I got in this situation by not cycling every single cartridge I loaded through he rifle before leaving on the hunt. I had cycled the first four using those to set the OAL cartridge length in the seating die. I then tested a couple at random during loading. One was just slightly long and that is the one that stuck. Totals for today; 8 moose including the one bull we stalked, four Caribou including two very small stags.
The guides who went up top called in a 3x3 bull with the electronic call. He came on the run to within 50 feet. One of the Quebec hunters shot both moose. Cows are beginning to call and a few of the smaller bulls are coming to the call. Next week should even be better. Unfortunately another Quebec hunter wounded a couple of moose in the morning and another in the evening. They did not follow up on the shots. I find this unethical and disturbing. Steve saw one very large black bear up top. The bear was so large they thought it a large bull until they were able to get closer. Dean and I have not seen a bear the entire hunt. I am told this is rather unusual for this area.
Tuesday. This is my last day to hunt. We start earlier today. Argo still broken so will only take us to the nearby jump off point. I find I have forgotten to bring my binoculars. A real handicap, good glass is essential for a good hunt. We climb the mountain to Dougie’s rock. On the way up we see one small bull moose with a cow going up ahead of us. They go over a ridge toward the high dark timber. Dean guides us to a tall rock where we wait to see if they will circle left into our path. After a few minutes a cow moose steps up on a knoll about 150 yards in front of us. She stands in the open for a long time. My rest on the rock is solid and the moose is in the clear for a great shot. We are hoping a bull will follow her. After 10 or more minutes it is obvious this must be a different cow. She works her way to the left and beds on top of a small ridge facing back. We circle under a ridge and come up on top of her. We can ow see down into a place where several draws come together. There is another cow in this valley. The first cow gets up and feeds into the draw. There is some hostility between the cows. One of the cows begins to call. No bull shows itself. We stay here for some time hoping for a bull to show. The cows lay down in the timber. We move to the lookout. We have a bull caribou feeding up the ridge toward us. he meanders up here for most of the time we are on the lookout. Tops are a bit weak. In another year or two he will be very nice. About one hour glassing here and Dean locates a cow moose feeding in a timbered cut near the place we stalked yesterday. Concentrating on the are we eventually see three moose, presumed to be the two cows and the calf. Now to find the bull. He should be in the immediate area with the cows. Dean spots the antlers at the top of a steep timbered cut. The bull finally lays down and Dean marks him down by a dead spruce tree.
Wind is coming straight from the moose toward us to we can make a straight approach to the moose. Down the mountain we go. Take the same route down and part way back up. Other side is still just as tough. When we get under the moose Dean advise we would be better up on top of the knoll where we sat yesterday for better visibility if the bull gets up and moves. We circle left through the steep cuts and heavy timber. Hot, slow, hard going fighting the timber and brush. We come out on top of our knoll. Dean can see the timbered cut in front of us. we sneak over to another small rise with waist high trees. We are now about 90 yards from the dead spruce. Glassing shows one point of the bull’s antler sticking up over the vegetation. I set up in a kneeling position, Dean says he is going to call. About that time the bull stands. I shoot him in the chest. He moves down into the draw so I have to stand to see any of him. I can see his hump and antlers moving through the thick trees. A few more shots to try to add more wound channels although I know he is hard hit and should not go far. He walks about 60 to 100 feet then falls out of sight into some thick small trees. We wait a few minutes to see if he comes out anywhere, I reload. We circle up to the head of the cut and drop in. We find the bed then track the moose, no blood trail and not expecting any. As we come around the corner at a junction of two draws we can see his legs down on the moss. Moose down and dead. It is 1230 hrs on the last day of the hunt. Dean has to cut away a lot of branches to we can free the moose. We take some photos and then the real work begins. Dean forgot his axe along the way so we are limited to knife , scalpels, and small had saw. This gets the job done.
Hung up in the spruce tree, a nice bull moose for the last day of the hunt. Over the last few days we have covered many miles on foot stalking and hunting. Beautiful country with enough game to keep things interesting at all times. The hike out is a pleasure, I carry the head as part of the hunting experience. Later I learn that the guides want to do this and call it the “Guides Pride.” Something I will have to remember when hunting eastern Canada. Really pleased that I can still do these things at my age. This make the time spent at the range, in the shop, and at the loading bench all the more interesting.
Most of the meat was gifted to the guides, cook, and outfitter (for use in the hunting camp). I took the tenderloins from both animals and one short section of moose back strap. Each was individually wrapped and placed in a freezer. The packages were then wrapped three more times each and placed in an insulated cooler bag. This was placed in the center of my duffle in between my clothes and sleeping bag. The meat arrived in Reno still frozen. I had no problems with customs regarding transportation of the meat.
Most of the meat was gifted to the guides, cook, and outfitter (for use in the hunting camp). I took the tenderloins from both animals and one short section of moose back strap. Each was individually wrapped and placed in a freezer. The packages were then wrapped three more times each and placed in an insulated cooler bag. This was placed in the center of my duffle in between my clothes and sleeping bag. The meat arrived in Reno still frozen. I had no problems with customs regarding transportation of the meat.
| Cook: Jerome Renouf P O Box 284 5 Flat Bay Br. Rd. St. George’s. NL A0N 1Z0 Canada | Rifle; Mauser Mark X barreled 6.5-06 Remington cases CCI large rifle primer H4831 powder 140 grain Remington Cor-Loct bullet for the Woodland Caribou. 140 Grain Nosler bullet for the Eastern Canadian Moose. Burris Fullfield II 3x9 mill dot rifle scope. |
Trophies.. I wish to have both of these processed for European mounts. It took some time, several conversations, and a demonstrations to finally make the outfitters’s son understand what was desired. I simply requested they locate a local taxidermist who would process the heads and then ship me the cleaned and bleached heads. Ultimately I was advised there was no one in Newfoundland who provided this service and the Outfitter said he would do the work and arrange the shipping through one of his local contacts. I must research this issue for future hunts.
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