It was the second week of our Newfoundland hunting season, and we were heading to Marks Lake spike camp.
We were a group of 4, guide Dion and his hunter, myself and Phil.
Our intentions were to hunt our way down to the camp and hunt the evening and the following days from Marks Lake spike camp.
We were leaving that morning, from South Twin Lodge. We had packed everything on the Argos the day before and were ready to head out on daylight.
It was a beautiful crisp September morning with the scent of autumn in the air and a heavy frost, an excellent morning for calling.
After traveling about 5 miles into the wilderness, we parked the Argos, took our packs, and split up. Dion and his hunter went to the southeast, down toward the lake.
Phil and I walked down to the lower ground in the northwest corner of the bog ahead to do some calling. With the light wind in our favor, we had a good view of the country to our north.
There was very little wind and we quietly listened for any sounds. The grunt of a bull moose can be very subtle and can be easily missed if not paying close attention.
After about a half an hour to 45 minutes and no response we decided to move up to the east side of the bog and do some calling from up there.
The east side of the bog was on the higher ground, and we had to walk a half a mile before we could see the eastern tree line.
As we crested the high ground, we immediately spotted a massive bull standing on the edge of the wood line. He had apparently been skirting the edge and making his way toward our call.
When we first spotted him, he was over 400 yards from us and even though he had not spotted us, we had no cover to enable us to close the distance unseen. After closely scanning the area, I spotted a cow just ahead of him. I always pay close attention to the cows. They’re the easiest to spook.
Phil was not comfortable with a 400-yard shot. In order to close the distance in the open with no cover I told Phil the plan was for him to stay behind me stay as low as possible. We would move straight toward the moose without swaying from side to side. I have learned over the years that side to side movement will spook moose far more quickly then if you move in a straight line. It has helped me with success when bow hunting.
We dropped our packs, made sure we had extra ammo and cautiously moved straight toward the moose staying as low as possible. We were able to close the distance to 250 yards before running into quagmire which made it impossible to stay in a straight line. I was watching the cow. It obvious she was getting nervous and getting closer was not in the cards.
Phil is an excellent gunman and was far more confident with 250 yard shot. Since we were somewhat out of breath and there was no nothing to rest the gun on, I offered him my shoulder for his gun rest. He was shooting a 300 magnum, plenty of power for 250 yard shot. His first shot hit the moose low in the neck but did not hit bone, so the moose was still standing.
His second shot hit him in the ribs. I could see where he was hitting, and I thought at the time that it may have been a little high. The bull wandered out of sight into the low black spruce.
The cow ran across the back corner of the bog and the bull was not with her!
I think we covered those 250 yards across the bog faster than a moose could have. We found the bull just off the bog in the scrubby black spruce, a Newfoundland bull moose trophy of a lifetime.
Coagulations Phil on your successful Newfoundland moose hunting adventure!
A note to other guides: In all the excitement, I forgot to plug my ears when Phil took his first shot from my shoulder. My ears were still ringing 3 days later.
