A Week in the Life...Loading up on Protein!

Last Monday I took Baker Hensley, a friend of mine from work, down the last 24 miles of the Swanson River. We spent one night on the river and had fun catching these big silver salmon that were fresh from the ocean. The weather was awesome and we didn't see a single brown bear. Although we were having an awesome time, I was in a hurry to get home so I could load a four wheeler and go moose hunting!
I loaded up and drove an hour and a half to the Caribou Hills to hunt moose with my good friend Justin Adolph. He met me in the parking area and we rode three miles into the hills to his cabin. The next morning we rode across the canyon to look for a legal bull. We saw a cow and a calf but no bulls so we rode back through all the muddy swamps to the cabin for second breakfast (moose hunting is a little like working on a platform, we eat like kings!!) Through a spotting scope we found a herd pf 8 or 9 moose including one bull. They were back across the canyon and close enough to the trail to be retrieved if we did get him so we loaded up and headed out for the bull. 30 minutes later we were within stalking distance of the herd so we took off our rain gear so that we could move more quietly and began to sneak in on the feeding herd. The wind was in their favor so we crossed a steep ravine to circle up the hill and get down wind of them. After some anxious waiting and watching the bull finally appeared and we were able to verify that he was a legal bull. Suddenly all the shooting and hunting experience I have acquired over the years went out the window and I made two of the worst shots in my hunting career. Evidently being that close to a 13 hundred pound ungulate has an affect on the nervous system. Well, despite my poor accuracy I was able to dispatch the bull and I had my first moose!!

After gutting the moose, we rode back to the cabin to get Justin's Dad and his "mud buggy". This thing can go anywhere!! We were able to get the buggy to within 30 yards of the bull and carry him out in one piece. After gutting, skinning and removing feet and head, the bull weighed 650 pounds. This is usually half the live weight.

My thanks to Justin and his dad Joe for letting me hunt with them and stay in their cabin, they are truly great people!