Alces

[BrentD]

Yukon, last week. Damn tasty.

http://www.public.iastate.edu/~jessie/PPB/Moose/Moose%20and%20Ballard%20A%20small.jpg



http://www.public.iastate.edu/~jessie/PPB/Moose/Moose%20Killer%20Bullets%20small.jpg

[Garyshome]

Looks like a trophy to me

[Beerd]

Details man, we need details.
..

[BrentD]

There are a few more in the bp paper patch forum below but I'm putting something together for bpcr.net/forum (http://bpcr.net/forum). Might take a bit to get it done though.

[TXGunNut]

Very nice! Would like to hear more about your rifle, load.....and of course the hunt!

[BrentD]

The rifle is old and a .45-70. About 135 yrs and original from stem to stern except for the wiping rod. The load was that 483 gr bullet of my own design, the mould cut by Steve Brooks. It sat over 68 grs of Swiss 1.5 f and a few layers of wax paper and parchment paper, 0.12" of my own lube, and then a0.06" fiber or LDPE wad (can't remember which right now). The bullet is bore diameter when patched and cast of 40:1 alloy. I'm not really happy with the load.

The moose was shot at about 80 yds after being spotted from a boat unexpectedly and stalked for about 1/3 of a mile.

It takes 8 hrs for two guys to get a bull from the kill site to camp. It is not like any other animal I've ever hunted and killed.

[Mk42gunner]

I would say that eight hours is pretty fast time, given the size of that bull.

Robert

[OnHoPr]

That's a pretty big critter for maneuvering for such a great pic prop. Bravo on the hunt. Great nostalgia. Does there need to be a run to the appliance store for more freezer room?

[BrentD]

No maneuvering for the photo other than pulling the right antler out of the mud. Moose are not maneuverable at all!

I posted some more details and photos here
http://bpcr.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&p=32649#p32649

[Cornbread]

Well done! It always amazes me how much they can take mortal wound wise and look like they aren't going down before they just crumble. I've seen them walk 100 meters or so like nothing happened with a completely destroyed heart. I've tried explaining to people who haven't killed a moose what an all day thing it is to cut one up and get it into camp but until you've one it once the sheer enormity of the task defies adequate explanation.

Would you recommend the guide/outfitting service you used to other folks?

[OnHoPr]

No maneuvering for the photo other than pulling the right antler out of the mud. Moose are not maneuverable at all!

I posted some more details and photos here
http://bpcr.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&p=32649#p32649


Great story and pics.

What do you mean "No maneuvering". Don't those critters drag like a 4 pt? lol Back a few decades ago while in the UP I seen a statue of Paul Bunyan and from what I heard those were easy to drag for him.

[BrentD]

Cornbread, in a word, yes. But I would want to firm up two details before I do it with anyone again. 1 is the options for getting a full and unsplit skull and antlers out, and the other is the amount of meat that one plans to haul home. We were a little casual about that and, while it all worked out, we could have set it up better. It ain't easy, not any of it. We don't have the horns back yet, but it should happen any day now.

The outfitter was Papa Bear Adventures and they google easily and are on facebook too. Steve and Robin Powers are the owners and they run a first class operation. They will put you in good moose country with high quality equipment, no doubt about it.

OnHoPr, I'm not Paul Bunyan for sure. But the guy that flew us in, Boris, he is damn close. He came out to pick up Mark's moose and we staggered out to the plane with quarters in game bags - the two of us on one bag. Boris, while standing on one of the plane's pontoons reaches over, grabs the bag with one hand and lifts it up and over into the plane with no special effort. It was like I would life a bucket of water. He didn't look that strong but he was ridiculously stronger than either (or even both) of us.

Brent

[John Allen]

Nice and to top it off you got it with an old ballard.

[smoked turkey]

Great hunt and great short story. I will be anxious to see the longer version if there ever is one. As said, beautiful rifle. I must say your photo is top quality. Thanks for sharing.

[TXGunNut]

Thanks for sharing, nicely done!

[Gibbs44]

Very cool. Nice write-up on bpcr. Nice rifle also.

[35Whelen]

Great story......and yes they are monstrous beasts that defy description. You really have to be there to appreciate their sheer size. Biggest bull I ever shot dressed out cut wrapped and frozen, no bone in at 550 lbs of pure meat. Estimated the live weight at 1800 lbs. Buddy of mine has a pic of me inside the chest cavity cutting out the windpipe for ventilation and cooling overnight...all you can see is my rear end, the rest of me is up inside the chest. Great work, enjoy the fruits of you labour, those steaks will feed you and your family for a year.

[Yodogsandman]

AWESOME! Just.. AWESOME! Thanks for sharing the photos and story with us! Congratulations!

It's obviously a grand trophy but, did I miss the rack spread and amount of points somewhere?

[BrentD]

Yodog,
It has a 49 inch spread. As I recall, 13x14 points. The brow tines were three on oneside, 4 on the other.

Marks was 54 inches, and much more mass.

The racks are in Seattle, slowly winding their way here. They will smell a good bit by now

[white eagle]

outstanding man that sounds like a great trip
thanks for sharing

[dave roelle]

Outstanding Brent !!!!!!!!!!!!!! nothing finer on the table than moose.

Don't ya just love the old Ballards------------betcha thats the first moose collected with one and PP cartridge in a bunch of years.

Congratulations

Dave

[Idaho Mule]

Great job on the bog-trotter. They are fun, and big, and a lot to handle but every bit worth it. I just had moose steak for dinner tonight from the old cow I shot last year. Yours is a great story and I loved reading it, thanks. JW

[sixshot]

Nothing compares to moose hunting & doing it with an original Ballard, how sweet is that! I took my once in a lifetime Idaho bull with my Ruger 480 & it was a great hunt also, just wish I could do it again. Congratulations on a fine bull & a great write up. Bulls like yours are much larger than the ones we have here (Shiras) moose. I know what you mean when you say you are inside the body cavity, its unreal how big these bulls are.

Dick

[NavyVet1959]

I stumbled across one moose before up in Utah a few years ago near one of the ski areas. He was maybe 100 ft away from me. He just kind of looked at me and continued leisurely strolling up the side of the hill. I just looked at him and thought that it would be a lot of *work* to carry that much meat out of there even if I had been hunting.

[Cornbread]

Cornbread, in a word, yes. But I would want to firm up two details before I do it with anyone again. 1 is the options for getting a full and unsplit skull and antlers out, and the other is the amount of meat that one plans to haul home. We were a little casual about that and, while it all worked out, we could have set it up better. It ain't easy, not any of it. We don't have the horns back yet, but it should happen any day now.

The outfitter was Papa Bear Adventures and they google easily and are on facebook too. Steve and Robin Powers are the owners and they run a first class operation. They will put you in good moose country with high quality equipment, no doubt about it.


Thank you! The GF and I are looking to go in the next few years as she has never killed a moose before.

[Tom_in_AZ]

Awesome! Congrats!

[mariano]

great........simply great

[RugerFan]

A Great hunt and trophy!

[glockmeister]

Brent, thanks very much for the story and pictures. Sounds to me as this was one of your ''bucket list'' hunts. Again, thanks and take care, John.

[Geezer in NH]

Great job and picture!!!!!!!!!! Thanks!:-D

[koger]

Very nice, thanks for sharing the pics!

[mart]

Very cool. Thanks for sharing.