Trad Gang

Well Sunday finally rolled around. I was fired up to say the least. I even skipped out a little early from church.

I headed out toward the high Uintas with the hopes of redeaming myself from last weekends debacle. When I got to Evanston WY I was wondering if fate was against me. There was a huge brush fire to the east, and I-80 was closed down. Lucky for me there is another way in. It involves driving on a terrible road for an hour and a half, lucky for me I left early.

The wind was blowing hard, I mean hard for even Wyoming's standard. Outside of Evanston I noticed the lid to my cooler had blown off! So after some retreival, I continued my journey.
I saw these guys on the way in. Man I sure missed hunting them this year!

 (http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h160/steadman_2006/2010Kaylabdayandmoosehunt052.jpg)

It is not fate that is against you when you skip out on church early.  :campfire:

I have been waiting for this one!!

You just kep telling it brother and I'll keep on reading it.

Thank you!

That is an awesome picture of Speed goats.

God bless,Mudd

PS: I still laugh when I think about... "I didn't pick a spot, I didn't even pick a moose!"...lol

What a difference a week made! I love this time of year in the Rockies. The leaves seem to change over night, the elk are screaming their heads off (at least when I'm not hunting them) and there is a chill in the air. The mountain scenery is spectacular, and my picture don't do them justice.

(http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h160/steadman_2006/2010Kaylabdayandmoosehunt008.jpg)

I little bird told me today about something Ryan    ;)    :thumbsup:

(http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h160/steadman_2006/2010Kaylabdayandmoosehunt013.jpg)

I got camp set up before dark, and had a quick bite to eat and prepared for the mornings hunt. Have you ever had a feeling that things were going to go good. I mean, extremely good? I've had the opposite feelings before, but never the good before a hunt. I was so fired up about the morning I couldn't sleep. Throw in the howling wind and the hopes and prayers that I wouldn't wake up sleeping next to a fallen pine tree!

After a few fitful hours of sleep, I got up and got ready to head out. I planned on headind around the large meadow to the other where I missed the cow a week earlier. But other things changed my mind, when I looked out to see Ole Split Ears feeding not 200 yards from my tent.
(this is the pic of her from last week)
(http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h160/steadman_2006/2010hunt019.jpg)

She was working her way toward the campground. I knew this game. She comes in, feeds on the hay, and whatever else she wants, then heads to the timber. I headed out into the timber without her seeing me and waited.

Come on Ryan I've been waiting for this! Get on with the story.

I kept an eye on her and made an educated guess about where she would end up. Well I was off by 60 yards or so. But due to the hurricane force winds, I was able to keep tabs on her moving through the timber without much of a problem. After keeping the wind in my favor (which wasn't hard to do for once!) I watched as she bedded down. I took my time and waited for gusts of wind to pick up to mask my noise, and after an hour or so was able to close the gap from 70 yards to 30. Now she was bedded with her head behind the red pine in the picture

 (http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h160/steadman_2006/2010Kaylabdayandmoosehunt018.jpg)

I even drew on her, but after last week wanted to close the distance a bit more.The problem was her calf was bedded to the right out in the open. The last ten or so yards would be in plain view of the calf. What a rush. It took me another 30 minutes of agonizing slow stalking to close the distance. I got 20 yards or so away and thought,"this is close enough, if she senses me I hope runs away from me, not towards me!"
I slowed my mind down and picked a spot behind her shoulder. The longbow came back effortlessly.

 (http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h160/steadman_2006/2010Kaylabdayandmoosehunt021.jpg)

The arrow was on it's way! A loud WHACK errupted as I watched my arrow skip harmlessly over her back! What the heck just happened. As she trotted away, I walked up and realized the problem. A few pine branches had reached up and swatted the arrow away, thus saving Ole Split Ears!
  (http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h160/steadman_2006/2010Kaylabdayandmoosehunt022.jpg)

In this pic my pack is where the moose layed and this is a close up of the life saving branches I had failed to see.

I was a little bummed, but at least my shooting had improved!   :biglaugh:  
Well the score is now me:0 moose:2
I spent the rest of the morning still-hunting and stump shooting.

I'm off to play with my little girl, who for some reason missed her Daddy. I will finish up tonight or tom. Hang in there guys!

(http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h160/steadman_2006/2010Kaylabdayandmoosehunt013.jpg)

OUCH!!!

Well bud, there will be another time, that is a serious stalk you did though to get that close like that.

Really looking forward to the rest of this one!

Just the stalk was worth it Ryan!  :clapper:

Hang in there Ryan!

You'll get it done!

Shoot straight, Shinken

Hoping to hear you get one. Moose is some good eating for sure.

Great story, it's 0-2 and the next match is about to start.

Alright, little one is asleep, so back to the story. I got back to camp, took a little nap, touched up some broadheads, and headed out. I was going to hunt the same drainage, just the other side (the east side). This is where my Dad had seen the moose last weekend and where the elk hunters had seen a couple a few days before.

(http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h160/steadman_2006/2010Kaylabdayandmoosehunt040.jpg)

Looks moosey don't it? So I head up the trail a mile and a half or so, then cut over to the west side. My plan was to hunt the east side, but when I reached the top, the wind had switched, so I headed over to the west side and drop down the drainage, then work my way back up into the wind. I saw some other moose hunters (bull) and decided to head lower than them so I didn't screw up their hunt. I worked my way lower down the river, looking for any moose or moose parts. When it was about an hour before dark, I cut across the river to go back to the east side of the valley. Ever so slowly I worked my way over. There! A spot of black out in the meadow. I put my glasses up to confirm it was a cow moose, only 80 yards away, and unaware of my presence. I circled up a little to get some more of the wind. There wasn't a ton of cover, but if I could get to the edge of the timber, I might be close enough for a shot. I was running out of daylight, but I couldn't risk going too fast or it would be all for nothing.

I reached the edge of the timber with about a half hour of light left. She had moved a bit further out into the meadow. At 40 yards, it was out of my shooting range. If she would just feed back toward me. As if I willed her to do so, she turned and headed back at me. If she kept her course, she would go through an opening in the trees, thirty yards away.

 (http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h160/steadman_2006/2010Kaylabdayandmoosehunt023.jpg)

As she passed through the opening, I made a grunt and she stopped. My finger was already at the corner of my mouth and the arrow was on it's way. It looked good (which should be the first indication that it's not) and dipped right under her armpit. She turned a little at the sound of the arrow hitting behind her. In the blink of an eye, and without my recollection, another arrow was on the Mohawk and sent speedily towards the moose. I remember picking the spot alittle further back due to the slight quartering away, then watching my arrow strike about 8" even further back than I had intended it.

As the arrow passed completely through her, without slowing down it seemed, she bucked and kicked at the thing that had stung her. I thought, oh no, further back than I wanted, but angling up. Paunch and liver hit. She only trotted 40 yards and layed down. This was a good sign.

I only had 10 minutes of good light left. Decision time. Now I have pushed hit animals a bit too early before, and now it was time to learn from that mistake. I backed out of there, marked the trail and headed back to camp for another long sleepless night.

AWESOME!!!

It has become THE TALE OF THE BLOODY ARRA !!!

WAY TO GO Ryan!

Lookin' forward to the rest of the story....

  :campfire:

Shoot straight, Shinken

At first light at found myself heading toward where I hoped to find a piled up moose. On the way, not a quarter mile from camp was a cow and a small bull standing in the trail. I approached to 15 yards before I realized they weren't going to move. Isn't that the way it goes!

I got back to where I saw my cow bed down. Nothing. I foung the arrow and confirmed my suspicion about the hit. But where was the cow? I nocked an arrow and slowly moved along the edge of the timber. I hadn't gone 40 yards from where I saw her bed, and saw her, very much alive, but not in good condition. I used ny glasses to confirm it was indeed my cow. The snuck up to 15 yards and sent another RFA 3blade on it's way.

She was laying in a weird position, and most moose I saw bedded layed like this. They seem to be tilted or their body is rolled a bit. And this angle made the second shot seem like a shot from a treestand. Anyhow the arrow sank to the nock. She jumped up, staggered another 20 yards into the timber and went down for good.

Congrats! And way to keep at it!

(http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h160/steadman_2006/2010Kaylabdayandmoosehunt033.jpg)

Here is a picture of my first shot. The armpit is to the left of the bh. You can see it was off by 8" or so, but due to the slight quartering, I was able to clip the liver.

(http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h160/steadman_2006/2010Kaylabdayandmoosehunt034.jpg)

Here is the second shot. You can see it is high on the back, but drove down through both lungs and lodged in the off shoulder.

(http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h160/steadman_2006/2010Kaylabdayandmoosehunt027.jpg)

Here are a few more pics.
 (http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h160/steadman_2006/2010Kaylabdayandmoosehunt025.jpg)

 (http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h160/steadman_2006/2010Kaylabdayandmoosehunt030.jpg)

Now the work begins!! I started working on her at 8 am. I brought the last load of meat into camp at 7 pm.
For those of you who have ever had to pack an animal of this size on your back by yourself, I tip my hat to you! I got her out in 4 loads total and she was between a mile and a mile and a half from camp. These animals are a lot of work, but worth it. Just as any endevor, it seems like the more work you put into it, the more it becomes a favorite hunt!

(http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h160/steadman_2006/2010Kaylabdayandmoosehunt048.jpg)

(http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h160/steadman_2006/2010Kaylabdayandmoosehunt040.jpg)

(http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h160/steadman_2006/2010Kaylabdayandmoosehunt032.jpg)

A couple things about my set up. I was using a Mohawk longbow that is 62# at my draw. Some barrel tapered cedars that are internally footed tipped with a RFA Phoenix Broadhead.

  (http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h160/steadman_2006/2010Kaylabdayandmoosehunt039.jpg)

These broadheads are new this year and made by a sponser here (Red Feather Archery). They are a very well made broadhead, but I was a little skeptical at first. I was hoping to shoot a deer or an elk before my moose hunt to see how they preformed, but it wasn't meant to be. But all my anxieties were put to rest at that first shot. That arrow went through 20-24" of moose, and didn't slow down. And the second shot was just as impressive. Those broadheads keep an edge and fly great. Kudos to Stan for such a fine product! It just goes to show that if you have a well tuned bow/arrow combo and a sharp bh, it will take down any big game animal in the U.S. if you put it in the right place.   :D

Once again great pictures and yes the mtns. are very beautiful this time of year. We will be waiting for the rest of this story.   :thumbsup:    :thumbsup:

Here are a few more pics. Thanks for tagging along. Mabey I can draw another really cool tag next year!

(http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h160/steadman_2006/2010Kaylabdayandmoosehunt038.jpg)

(http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h160/steadman_2006/2010Kaylabdayandmoosehunt031.jpg)

(http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h160/steadman_2006/2010Kaylabdayandmoosehunt037.jpg)
(had to give a shout out to my sponser   :laughing:  )

(http://i63.photobucket.com/albums/h160/steadman_2006/2010Kaylabdayandmoosehunt050.jpg)

I dont know what I did but I missed the second page. Congrats on the  hunt and thanks for sharing I guess you can tell us about the pack out how was it.    :archer2:

I still hurt Troy!!

Hey Ryan, absolutely awesome!  Great write up and great pics.  Congrats!  Moose just moved up a couple places on the bucket list.   :thumbsup:

Ryan,

OUTSTANDING my friend!

I'm sitting here in envy...

Thanks for sharing,

Todd

Sweet!

Awsome! Way to hold in there. Next year will be my year,now I wish I would have put in for the draw and not just a pionts.  :jumper:

Hey steadman. great story, wonderful pics!
Thank you, Sir!
regards
tj

Man I'm happy for you bro, congrats    :notworthy:    

Thank you!!

Great pictures and a beautiful animal!   :thumbsup:    :thumbsup:

Im super happy for you! Made my day reading this.Way to go and enjoy feast!

Congratulations!

Great moose and great story!

Thanks for taking us along

Congrats Ryan!

Ryan,

I knew you would stick with it!  Good for you buddy.  Thanks for taking us along and for the great pictures.  I have your shot of the Aspens set up as my wallpaper.  Even the shot of your arrow and broadhead is great...look at the grain in that cedar!

Great job Ryan! Wish I'd been there to help you pack her out.  Ben

Way to go Ryan, what a great hunt!  Love moose hunting.......


David

I am guessing that you know by now that we have all been pulling for you.In the same breath I will also tell you that I trust I would be correct in saying that we are also "very proud" of you as I know you have to be for yourself(rightfully so).

Congratulations!! Thank you for taking us along and sharing both the story and pictures with us.

God bless,Mudd

Yes, thanks for the moose hunting trip you took us on. And congratulations for sure!!

wow great story and photos this made my week thank You

Superb job man, I really enjoyed reading this.

Congrats! That story and pics were just great! Enjoy your moose meat!

:thumbsup:    :clapper:  

Ryan,

I knew you'd make up for the first hunt!  I've been dying for this adventure to continue....It keeps me excited (as if I need that) for my cow moose hunt in Maine in a couple of weeks.

Congratulations on your cow.  Great photographs BTW......they sure complimented the story!

Enjoy the fruits of your hunt.  Wouldn't it be great to live somewhere (like AK), where you could hunt them every year!?!  For most of us, it ends up being a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Your persistence paid off......well done!

Thanks for sharing.  Great story and pics.  Congrats.

Good Going Ryan!  :notworthy:    :campfire:

Great story, way to go! Congrats!

What is the weight of that broadhead? Width? Looks like a nice head.

Hey Tracy. I sent you a pm, but forgot to mention that these are 150 grains. I internally footed my cedars so I had 200 grains up front.
Thanks for all the comments guys.

Right on!

Congrats on a fine critter.

Stiks

Cool, congrats on the moose!

Well done!

Nice, as as my good buddy always says about the packing out "This is the work we do with a smile on our face!"

Way to go Ryan, thanks for sharing it with us!!!  :thumbsup:    :thumbsup:

Way to go buddy  :bigsmyl:  

Tracy

Great job, Ryan!     :clapper:

Awesome story and pics congratulations.

:clapper:

:notworthy:

Great story and pictures.  Thanks for taking me along. The West is fantastic place.

Never met a moose or elk I didn't like...right next to the taters and greens!

Congrats....Great read!!!

Very nice....that's going to be a great many fine meals for you and your family.

I'm interested in how you prepare the ribs.

Will you remember to show us????

Moose Ribs...yum, Keep getting a mental picture of the flintstones intro   :laughing:

Ray I took the meat off the ribs. I used the gutless method and had to pack the loads a mile or so. Only bones I had were the bones to help steady the load of the quarters. I will post pics of the meals if you want  :) . I was real tempted to bring the ribs out though!

Ryan, Congratulations, you done good!!!  Way to be patient.

Way cool Ryan, nicely done! Great pics

Nice job Ryan!!!!!  We will have to get together for  a game feast!!!!

That is one of the best hunt stories I have read.  Thanks for sharing it and congrats!!!

A really big congrats!   :thumbsup:    :thumbsup:    :thumbsup:

Congrats! GReat Story

chris <><

Wow! real nice pictures and story, congratulations on the fine moose.

Congrats!!!

The picture of you with your head lowered is truly fantastic! Thanks again for sharing the ups and downs through story and just amazing pictures.

Congratulations!! Great story. Thanks for sharing.

I know what you're talking about on worrying about waking up next to a pine tree. I've had that fear the last couple of years in Colorado. Man, there's a LOT of dead trees on them mountains. What are the locals saying about what will (or should) happen there? I always thought that if a fire ever got started only the good Lord would be able to stop it, but that was probably what would have to happen.

Don't mean to hijack and won't. May have to start another thread.

Congrats again!! Moose is my dream hunt.

quote:

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Originally posted by xtrema312:
It is not fate that is against you when you skip out on church early.   :pray: