BeauH
FNG
Well 2020 hunting season is a wrap for me. Was very fortunate and lucky to grab one of the Arctic Valley moose tags this year for an any bull. For anyone not familiar it is a non motorized access area and each entry point has its challenges but your looking at an average of 4-6 mile pack out with the last 2 miles being all up hill.
Knowing I had the tag I spent several days glassing the valley and was able to pinpoint an area that was holding bulls consistently each time we went to scout. Day prior to the opener we watched two bulls fighting in a particular area so we made a game plan to go after them the following day. Several miles later we gained elevation to get above this clearing when we seen a cow moose that was constantly looking behind her like she was being followed, but we didn’t have a good enough vantage point of the area below us so we moved another 200 yards. We found a great location and sat down to watch. My partner started moose calling but it wasn’t needed as he pointed out that there was a bull bedded down 150 yards directly below us.
The bull must’ve heard us and he stood up, my partner who also had this tag couldn’t get a good shoot so he moved left while I stayed put. I was wanting him to get the shot but he wasn’t able to get a good sight picture on the bull. Instead of walking away from us the bull turned back towards me and provided me a perfect broadside shot so I drilled him in the lungs twice surprising he still didn’t drop and slowly walked 20 yards where we both lost sight of him so I slowly walked around the corner and found him standing up not moving so i shot him another 2 times when he finally dropped.
We waited for about 20 minutes to let him expire and as we watched him he ended up trying to stand up again so we shot again killing him instantly. While butchering him out every single
One of my shots was in the lungs, he just didn’t want to die. I feel very blessed and humbled that I got the opportunity to hunt this year and that all my hunts this year have been successful. The bull ended up measuring 48 3/8 inches. It’s taken us two trips out of the valley to get him out of the field with 3 people with a lovely snowstorm in between pack outs. My legs are sore but my wife and I will eat well this winter and we will be sharing the rewards with friends. We still have 4 friends that have tags so now we get to focus on them connecting with one.
Knowing I had the tag I spent several days glassing the valley and was able to pinpoint an area that was holding bulls consistently each time we went to scout. Day prior to the opener we watched two bulls fighting in a particular area so we made a game plan to go after them the following day. Several miles later we gained elevation to get above this clearing when we seen a cow moose that was constantly looking behind her like she was being followed, but we didn’t have a good enough vantage point of the area below us so we moved another 200 yards. We found a great location and sat down to watch. My partner started moose calling but it wasn’t needed as he pointed out that there was a bull bedded down 150 yards directly below us.
The bull must’ve heard us and he stood up, my partner who also had this tag couldn’t get a good shoot so he moved left while I stayed put. I was wanting him to get the shot but he wasn’t able to get a good sight picture on the bull. Instead of walking away from us the bull turned back towards me and provided me a perfect broadside shot so I drilled him in the lungs twice surprising he still didn’t drop and slowly walked 20 yards where we both lost sight of him so I slowly walked around the corner and found him standing up not moving so i shot him another 2 times when he finally dropped.
We waited for about 20 minutes to let him expire and as we watched him he ended up trying to stand up again so we shot again killing him instantly. While butchering him out every single
One of my shots was in the lungs, he just didn’t want to die. I feel very blessed and humbled that I got the opportunity to hunt this year and that all my hunts this year have been successful. The bull ended up measuring 48 3/8 inches. It’s taken us two trips out of the valley to get him out of the field with 3 people with a lovely snowstorm in between pack outs. My legs are sore but my wife and I will eat well this winter and we will be sharing the rewards with friends. We still have 4 friends that have tags so now we get to focus on them connecting with one.
