JRABQ
Active Member
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No this is not another post by Paul
But another post by NM resident lucky enough to draw a Montana tag, thank you MT! Figured I'd post it here since not much activity on Montana site.
Also got lucky and found a nice bull on 4th morning of my hunt. I had seen one other bull on the first morning, and in retrospect I was "lucky" I didn't get a shot at him because he was not nearly as nice as this one. Anyway, I saw this one about 700-800 yards away, and closed the distance to ~320 and took the shot. I probably could have got closer but after having the first bull give me the slip I wasn't going to take any chances. He dropped at the shot but I could see he was still alive so I hustled over in his direction. Good thing because when I was about 150 yards away he stood up and took a step and was about to go behind a tree. Got the crosshairs back on him and fired and he disappeared. Turned out he died right there, but with the tall grass and brush it was an anxious few minutes before I got over there and found him. First thought was damn he's a big critter. I shot a younger Shiras moose in WY in 2003, and it really wasn't any bigger than a mature bull elk, but this one sure was. First shot hit him a bit forward in neck area, but he was able to recover and get up, 2nd shot in heart/lungs did him in.
Also good to have nice friends in Montana, I called up Pete from Bozeman and he came up and helped me break down the animal and pack him out. Pete helped me out on my goat hunt last year so kudos to him, again.
Pete with a backstrap;
And the head
Old guy with shoulder
It was just a few hundred yards to an ATV trail so that part was not terrible. I boned out all the meat and put it on top of my camper the first night to cool off, then back into 2 150 qt coolers in the AM, hardly any room to spare. This was in grizz country so I was a bit worried, but had my 45 in case I heard something on the roof, which was just a few feet above my head.
I had a deer hunt in WY I tried to do on the way home, but after a couple of nights of dealing with the moose meat I decided to drive home.
Back home in the kitchen, a large sirloin tip steak;
Winchester XP3 bullet recovered, 2nd shot. Apparently they no longer load this round, but I've mostly had good luck with them.
But another post by NM resident lucky enough to draw a Montana tag, thank you MT! Figured I'd post it here since not much activity on Montana site.
Also got lucky and found a nice bull on 4th morning of my hunt. I had seen one other bull on the first morning, and in retrospect I was "lucky" I didn't get a shot at him because he was not nearly as nice as this one. Anyway, I saw this one about 700-800 yards away, and closed the distance to ~320 and took the shot. I probably could have got closer but after having the first bull give me the slip I wasn't going to take any chances. He dropped at the shot but I could see he was still alive so I hustled over in his direction. Good thing because when I was about 150 yards away he stood up and took a step and was about to go behind a tree. Got the crosshairs back on him and fired and he disappeared. Turned out he died right there, but with the tall grass and brush it was an anxious few minutes before I got over there and found him. First thought was damn he's a big critter. I shot a younger Shiras moose in WY in 2003, and it really wasn't any bigger than a mature bull elk, but this one sure was. First shot hit him a bit forward in neck area, but he was able to recover and get up, 2nd shot in heart/lungs did him in.
Also good to have nice friends in Montana, I called up Pete from Bozeman and he came up and helped me break down the animal and pack him out. Pete helped me out on my goat hunt last year so kudos to him, again.
Pete with a backstrap;
And the head
Old guy with shoulder
It was just a few hundred yards to an ATV trail so that part was not terrible. I boned out all the meat and put it on top of my camper the first night to cool off, then back into 2 150 qt coolers in the AM, hardly any room to spare. This was in grizz country so I was a bit worried, but had my 45 in case I heard something on the roof, which was just a few feet above my head.
I had a deer hunt in WY I tried to do on the way home, but after a couple of nights of dealing with the moose meat I decided to drive home.
Back home in the kitchen, a large sirloin tip steak;
Winchester XP3 bullet recovered, 2nd shot. Apparently they no longer load this round, but I've mostly had good luck with them.
