FishyWishy Posted October 18, 2010 Report Share Posted October 18, 2010 Well that isn’t all true. I got back yesterday at 3am from a great week up north in WMU 28, (Kirkland lake/Virginiatown). One of the guys in our group held a bull tag…but not any more. After visiting with friends and family during a few stops on my trip north I rolled into my wife’s uncles house at 9:00pm Friday night. We promptly loaded my stuff from the car onto the ATV’s and trailer, picked up another fellow (Kyle) and headed out for our 50 minute ATV ride to "The Shack". Three other guys in our group would be riding out in the early morning, and heading back to town each night. Upon arriving at the shack we unloaded the gear and did the last little setup of camp. Then Uncle Rick headed off on his ATV to spend the night in his “treehouse” permanent stand, and me and Kyle got ready to hit the sack to be ready for the opening of moose season in the morning. Well we slept in a little bit, it was just about shooting light when we each woke up. I wasted no time with breakfast and packed my day pack, jumped into my hunting clothes and out the door I went, headed to my first watch, a 1 km hike. I took my time getting to the stand, walking in still hunting practice, 15-20 paces, then stop listen, watch, smell etc. Making sure to slosh through puddles, break sticks and brush on the stiff tall grasses. I checked each beaver pond the trail passed I was determined to get a moose . And by all the moose sign everywhere around it proved that, this is where the moose live and they are home today. Poop and tracks of all sizes were prevalent. Beds were evident in the grasses and raspberry bushes. When I got to the stand, just before 9:00, I took a moment to sit at the base of the tree. Things were quiet. I radioed my location to the others. Then I tied my rifle to the rope that was hanging and climbed 20 feet up the rickety old ladder. When I got to the top I gave the stand a good shake to test the integrity then hung my pack on a nearby nail and started to hoist up my rifle. I no sooner start hoisting when the silence is broken. I hear breaking sticks and crashes as something big was moving through the trees along the edge of the clearing . Staying within the concealment of the treeline a cow moose and her calf walked around the end of the clearing only showing themselves when they crossed the trail that I had walked in on, 200 paces (~200 yards) away. Well I still had my .308 hanging on a rope as I was hoisting it up . I radioed out my sighting and where they were headed. A few minutes later Kyle radioed from the next pond over that he had seen a huge cow “Wish that cow had horns, it was huge” he said. But didn’t see the calf that was with her. A few minutes later one shot rang out in the silence, then three more in rapid succession. Next Chris comes over the radio. “Don’t shoot anything I got a bull and he is down” Great the morning’s hunt is over. We all headed to the spot where Chris had shot the 1 ½” year old bull. Congratulations around, inspecting the small bull (and tagging of course), photos, and then started the planning on the best way to get the bull out. Ironically he was killed less than 50 yards from where I saw Rick put down the last bull we harvested there on my first hunt with these guys 8 years ago. The skillful shooter and his quarry (Check out the small rack...a 4 pointer deer would dwarf this ) Group shot minus me (behind the camera) Now the work started with field dressing & quartering Bullwinkle and clearing a bit of a new ATV trail to get the quarters out on the trailer. The rest of the day was spent bringing the game back into town to divide it and hang it, skin it etc. Chris and his dad (the tag holder) decided they only wanted 1 hind, me Rick and Kyle each would get 1 quarter. 3 quarters hung and skinned. Mmmmmmmmmmm Tender. That evening we had bacon wrapped tenderloin and fried potatoes. Delicious. Then we built another bunk in the shack for Rick…apparently the treehouse gets cold. The next morning (Sunday) we were in no hurry to get up, we had meat hanging, I had a week off of work and any calves would be bonus. But Chris and his dad had different thoughts. Chris was up for 4 days and wanted to get as much hunting in as possible. We were just waking up when Kyle got a call on his cell (Rick’s wife) Chris’s dad had shot a calf and we weren’t answering our radios (um they were turned off). Great day 2 and the .308 didn’t even make it out of its case. Off we go to pull the calf out of the swamp, field dress half it and haul it into town. This time Chris and his dad didn’t want any. So Kyle forfeited his quarter of the bull for the calf. Rick and I now have ¾ of the bull to share. Kyle now called it quits and only Rick and I remained for the remainder of the week. We brushed out the trails, built another stand, modified the shack, brushed out some clearings and shooting lanes etc, to keep up our area for the years to come. Monday we woke up to the sound of a chopper. We were curious to know what they were doing. Mineral surveys? Nah couldn’t see any gear hanging off the chopper. Then it occurred to us. They must be searching for someone lost. A while later when I was cleaning up breakfast dishes 2 OPP rode their ATVs up to the shack. They were searching for what they said to be a 55 year old from Renfrew on a red Kawasaki 350, he hadn’t returned to camp from a hunt on Sunday. I chatted with them a bit told them we hadn’t seen anything and we would keep our eyes open. They gave positive comments on our shack (which is illegally on crown land LOL) and were on their way. We found out later that the fellow was found pinned under his ATV and died when the ATV was removed due to internal injuries. Be careful out there guys. Among the work all week we also took some time to have some target shooting competitions with out high powereds and with the .22s. Oh and I got some of these with the .22. Almost a limit with the old "sure shot" .22 cooey. Ahhhh they're naked. mmmmmmmm, in the pan with some onions. Pan fried grouse with onions, french fries and deep fried grouse legs, (just missing the wing sauce) all washed down with Upper Canada Dark Ale. Mmmmmmmmm. Grouse numbers were good to excellent. They were drumming. They were on the gavelly trails during the day, in the trees late afternoon. That is where I got the birds above. The .22 makes them more of a challenge, especially with open sights (I won’t aim for a body shot). But I would have had limits if I had a shotty with me. All in all it was a great week. I had fun, we got moose, we got grouse, and I came home with a cooler and a half full of butchered moose hind quarter, a smile on my face and memories to last. Fishy Wishy with Uncle Rick. Also heard some good news Rick's son will be applying and joining us next year...and the beat goes on. Now starts the wait until spring turkey season. (Maybe I'll get out for some hardwater fun in between ) Fishy Wishy (Pics are now posted ... I got some more time to figure it out LOL) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smerchly Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 Congrats on your hunt ! It sure brings back fond memories of my moose hunting days . We would have moose liver with lots of fried onions & gravy to celebrate the successful hunt . My last hunt was one hr. long when I bagged a big moose with a 50" rack . Your young bull will be very tender , get lots of steaks ! The older moose make great burgers . Thanks for a well written and interesting post ....I felt like I was right there with you guys . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishkid Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 Great post! I enjoyed it thoroughly. And congradulations on the hunt! It sounds like the kind of trip that every hunter hopes and dreams for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishyWishy Posted October 19, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 Thanks for the replies guys. I now have the pics added. Sorry for the quality they were taken on my Blackberry. Also I can't figure out how to get them bigger Chilli, feel free to make them bigger if you can. Smerch the photos will help you relive it even more. It was a great time. Some of what I miss about living up north. And some of what I took for granted when I grew up in that area. FW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smerchly Posted October 19, 2010 Report Share Posted October 19, 2010 Yes......the first pic. of the camp put me right back to our camp which looks very similiar ! Those pictures are like thumbnails , don't think they can be made much better with any clairity , but they still help with your fine story . Bon appetite guys ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Scavo Posted October 20, 2010 Report Share Posted October 20, 2010 Now that's what I'm talking about.. Congrats... T>Scavo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishyWishy Posted October 20, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2010 Pics are bigger here: http://picasaweb.google.com/SDinel30/2010# Now that's what I'm talking about.. Congrats... T>Scavo Thanks Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smerchly Posted October 20, 2010 Report Share Posted October 20, 2010 Thanks Tony ....I can see clearly now ! Nice bull and good shot , I see a little bullet hole ! Lots of tender vittles there ,and the grouse look very inviting too . How did you cook the skinless grouse ? I rubbed butter on them & coated them with bread crumbs & added a few stips of bacon over the breast & into the oven with a little water in the pan (or white wine) to baste them occasionally ......mmmm & mmm ! Congrats again ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishyWishy Posted October 20, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 20, 2010 Thanks Tony ....I can see clearly now ! Nice bull and good shot , I see a little bullet hole ! Lots of tender vittles there ,and the grouse look very inviting too . How did you cook the skinless grouse ? I rubbed butter on them & coated them with bread crumbs & added a few stips of bacon over the breast & into the oven with a little water in the pan (or white wine) to baste them occasionally ......mmmm & mmm ! Congrats again ! I had limited kitchen resources at the camp so I deboned the breasts, adn into the pane with butter onions and a little S&P. The legs were deep fried...would have been good with wing sauce I bet...but had ketchup instead LOL. In the past (at home in the kitchen) we usually roasted them stuffed, butter & bacon across the top of the breast to discourage drying. I had a friend (worked in a fine restaurant) make them for us once in a herbed wine cream sauce. It was his forst time eating/cooking them and he did a fantastic job. He is still talking about getting a hunting licence 8 years later LOL. I want him to so I can take him on a moose hunt up north and hit some grouse like I did last week and maybe some bunnies...or hit the trout steams/lakes (open all year there) or fall walleye. Mmmmmmmmmmmm I was surprised when one of my wife's friends (whom I always though had more veggie leanings) asked if I would sell her some moose meat to try. I told her I would GIVE her some...and I'm inviting her to a little shindig where I will cook up some of this and other food for some friends. For me part of the hunting & fishing is sharing the bounty, and I have met a lot of unindoctrinated friends since I've moved here. FW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Andrews Posted October 20, 2010 Report Share Posted October 20, 2010 I finally got the time to read this post and I'm glad I did. That guy was smart trading his share for the calf. Probably the best eating. I'll look into the picture thing after my walk but picassa doesn't make it very easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FishyWishy Posted October 21, 2010 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2010 I finally got the time to read this post and I'm glad I did. That guy was smart trading his share for the calf. Probably the best eating. I'll look into the picture thing after my walk but picassa doesn't make it very easy. Chilli thanks for looking into it. Now trading for the bush veal was probably a good choice for Kyle...However the bull was pretty young too, 1 1/2 years so no old swamp donkey. The tenderloin was great. Just wish I had the other tenderloin to make moose wellington for an upcoming dinner I'm hosting. Oh Well moose sirloin steaks with bleu cheese topping will have to suffice...the misery of it all FW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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