Moose on my Mind

Charlie Reade

July the 8th is a day that really changed the way I was approaching the 2020 hunting season, in a good way. For a number of years now, I believe 8, my father (who lives in Nova Scotia) and I have been applying for an early season Moose tag. July 8, we got lucky. We drew 1 of 53 awarded tags for my WMU, an area not known for its abundance of moose. But an area known to hold some monsters. My sights quickly changed from the few 150” class whitetails frequenting my trail cameras. To big bad bull moose. And one in particular.

Last year, I acquired permission to hunt 2 bordering properties which between them have more land than I could possibly hunt myself. It’s a dream come true in an area where permission often depends on your last name or who you know. During the bow season, while exploring that property I had my first real up close and personal encounter with what I consider a world class animal. Keep in mind, I’m originally from Nova Scotia, so moose aren’t my forte by any stretch. During late bow season, while my general bowhunting tag was still good. I literally stumbled upon a gigantic mature bull moose. The trail I’ve cut to a deer stand travels the east side of a very sheltered pond. It’s very thick spruce and willow clumps make it perfect bedding area, and the furthest I have explored it is by zooming in on a satellite image. It’s always been my thought that it’s a core bedding area for the deer I hunt, and have stayed out of there in an attempt to keep them comfy in there.

At about 430 pm on a beautiful September evening of last season, I parked the quad on a fence line. Packed my bag and gear, and headed into a stand that only days before I videoed a beautiful 4x4 white tail with matching drop tines. I was good with the wind, and feeling good about my odds. But about 300-400 meters into my walk, I came around a corner and there stood THE BELOW BULL (I know it’s not a great photo, but it shows how truly massive these animals are! Especially when you’re seeing doe after doe and then this guy shows up!)

He was staring at me, grunting. The kind of low tone I had never heard before, something unhumanlike. He was not moving at all. We were in a stare down at about 50 yards.

To this day, I don’t know what happened, but he stepped off into the willows, but not out of sight. Totally unprepared for the encounter and packed pretty heavy with 2 bows, filming equipment and a slug gun. I screwed up, I wasn’t able to get an arrow knocked without him making me. But I still tried. Long story short, my inexperience as a bow hunter came through and after a long intense stare down, he walked another 5 or 6 steps and disappeared.

I’ve spent a lot of time and effort since then, making sure I don’t make that mistake again. I’ve read articles and magazines, listened to podcasts and watched videos. And I’ll be more prepared this time, to not only film, but to make the shot as well.

I’ve been out hunting in the spot I envision calling a moose in twice, neither time did I see a moose. That said, I did hear a moose and see the trees shaking all around him. I’m almost certain it was the big guy I’m after, but I guess I’ll never know.

I’ve set up some trail cameras near where I want to hunt to monitor what travel routes he is most likely to take, and I believe I got a picture of him about a week or 2 ago, it’s not the greatest trail cam photo, but it definitely was a pleasant surprise after a thousand pictures of grass blowing and does (see above trail cam photo).

There are a few bulls hanging around, one yearling and a couple 3-4 year olds. Any of which will fill my freezer nicely. This guy diefinitely won’t get the pass with the amount of meat he would provide my family and others.

I’m writing this on the evening before I’m heading into the bush for 3 days. I plan on holding off for a bow harvest only this weekend if I can make that happen. If not, my dad is here next week and we are hunting October 1-4. He will be packing a .50 cal muzzle loader, and I’ll be packing both my recurve and my compound. I’ve always wanted to take a moose with a traditional bow, and if I can get one close enough, I’m all set up to do so.

Stay tuned over the next couple of weeks as I plan on keeping a detailed log on my moose hunt this year. I have been video taping everything and cant wait to share the rest of this story with you all…

To be continued.

Good luck and be safe out there everyone!

Charlie