Earlier this year, a fellow handgunner (gasixgunner) and I were able to acquire cow moose tags for the last season in Maine. To say we were happy would be and understatement (especially since we would be able to ride together making the 1400+ mile drive much better). The east coast fall colors were in awesome vibrant colors and made for a beautiful trip.
We met in north GA on the 24th of October and started our journey to Caribou, ME. We arrived at Back Woods Guide Service on the evening of the 26th, got our gear unpacked, and got to bed in preparations of an early morning scouting session the next morning. Sunday morning found us up at 2:00am preparing for our two hour drive to our Zone 1 hunting area. That morning welcomed us with cold temps and the moose were up and moving. Within the first hour of daylight, we had seen 15 moose: 10 cows; and 5 bulls - one bull being a stud! At this point, our confidence levels were above average! We couldn't wait till opening morning and was planning to be in our areas well before daylight to "claim our spot". The area we had tags for is a 4 million acre zone privately owned by a timber company and 125 permits were issued for this area.
2:00am Monday came early, but was not an issue with the anticipation of what was to come. The weather had change with warmer temperatures and snowfall! Hopefully it wouldn't impact Moose movement.
gasixgunner and I were both "planning" to take our cow's with revolvers - he had his FA83 41 mag and I had my SRH 480. I had been practicing almost every day for the month leading up to the hunt. I had a load of 390gr cast hollow-point over 14.5grs of HS6 that was shooting great and all my practicing had been from field shooting positions - mainly standing with shooting sticks and standing free hand.
Although my confidence level was great with my chosen iron, our guide (Jesse Cote) suggested bringing a backup gun capable of longer ranges. He said he'd do his best to make an iron sight revolver shot possible, but wanted us to know that realistically, it probably wouldn't happen. This is due to the rut being over, area we were hunting, method we would be hunting and last of the season pressured moose. I've always heard, "Don't guide the guide", so I packed my 270 encore and gasixgunner packed his 284 XP 100. Sunday afternoon we did our scope checks and for reasons I didn't have time to rectify, my encore was shooting all over the place at 250 yards! Knowing I couldn't hunt with it, gasixgunner was kind enough to let me us his XP 100 for backup, if needed.
Well, the warmer temperatures and snow had the moose locked down! By lunch time, we'd only seen 4 moose and they had some other place to be and was not interested in a ride in the back of our truck. After lunch, we decided to split up in two different vehicles and see if we could make something happen. Not long after departure, gasixgunner spotted a cow about 1000 yards away in a clear-cut and was able to put a stalk on her. At 389 yards out, he placed a 160gr Accubond through the heart of a 598 lb (field dressed) cow. She went about 30 yards and down. One down and one to go.
Meanwhile, we weren't having much luck. We seen three different cows, but couldn't make it happen with an iron sighted revolver - either too far or too thick. But, now that gasixgunner has tagged out, I'd be able to bring along his XP 100 for longer shots.
Tuesday morning brought more warm weather along with misting rain - the rest of the week wasn't any better with over two inches of rain forecasted. Tuesday had to be my day and the pressure was on. We we're back in our area better than an hour before daylight. As legal shooting time approached, we headed to an area were several moose was spotted on Sunday morning. It didn't take long and we spotted a cow. At 168 yards, I didn't hesitate grabbing the 284 Win XP 100 and the BogPod PSR. At first glance, the cow appeared to be bedded down and wasn't showing to be spooked. So, I got my video camera out and was setting it up when the cow took a step - she wasn't bedded! I put the camera in the control of the guide and got prepared to the shot... "Are you on her?......Yes......"Are you sure?...Yes...I settled the crosshairs just below center of the shoulder, focused on the crosshairs and started squeezing... BOOM!!! and the cow disappeared. I looked at Jesse and he said, She dropped like lead!"
The 160gr Accubond struck just where I hoped it would - high shoulder/top of the lungs so no tracking needed....7:09am on the second day and "tagged out"!
Well, my cameraman wasn't much of a cameraman and the hunt is on video, but it's not on video
If that makes since. So another words, the video will not be published.
I told Jesse that I was glad he was a better guide than he was a cameraman...
