Semi-live hunt with Mike's Outfitting
Moose
I will be hunting with Mike's Outfitting for moose 10/1-10/7. We have a group of 4 people. Three will be rifle hunters and I will be bowhunting.
I will update as often as possible with photos and the story as it unfolds.
Mike runs a very good outfit and is a sponsor here.
Have a great season.
Looking forward to tagging along, Good Luck!
Mike will be hosting a Wounded Warrior in November for Moose so I'll have the Wounded Warrior follow your hunt. Good luck. C
In terms of terrain and physicality, my understanding is that would be less strenuous than some others; is this fair to say? Thanks.
I will let you know but that is why we picked this place. Two of the guys I am hunting with are a 65+ and not in great shape.
Thanks! I hate to sound soft but just finished this morning at Ryk Visscher's outside of Edmonton. Tremendous experience, but tougher than I imagined on these made-for-watching-college football bones! Ha.
Good luck to all of you. You’re in good hands with Mike. Hopefully his neck issue isn’t bothering him anymore.
His neck is still causing him some trouble.
We have a total of six people hunting. 5 are rifle hunters and I am Bowhunting. We headed out about 4pm this afternoon. It was very windy. Tomorrow the wind is supposed to die down and it should be cold in the morning. Today my brother and I saw 3 cows with calves, 1 cow by herself, and a very nice bull right after legal shooting time. It was simply too dark. Our guide, Kyle judged it at 45" or so. We will be headed back there in the morning.
The other hunters saw some cows and calves as well. No shots taken this afternoon. Tomorrow morning should be perfect.
Life is good.
Mike, Kyle and crew run an awesome outfit.....first class in all regards!!
You are in good hands!! Enjoy and keep us posted!
Mark
Eric, Which are you hunting on .......private, leased, or public land? Good luck....
It is public land. It is crown land. It is a draw area for residents so there is not a lot of pressure.
We had a great day. My brother and one of my friends both took nice bulls with a rifle. The shots were 210 yards and 175 yards. One was 46" and the other 45".
I saw three different bull moose today, 2 cows and a calf, 2 bull elk, a 5x5 and a 2x2 and a huge owl.
It was my turn this afternoon and we got on a 40" bull in the middle of the afternoon. Kyle called him in to 70 yards before the wind shifted and that ended the game. We will be back after them tomorrow.
I will post some photos in the morning of some scenery and the owl. I am not sure if I can post the rifle kills or not.
Time for bed.
Here is a photo of my brothers bull. Kyle is our guide in the middle. I believe Kyle also is a sponsor here.
Oddly enough, Kyle's guide area is one I hunted around 25 years ago or more. I sat on the bait "Airborne or Airline" way back then and had a great bear hunt.
Time flies when you are having fun.
You are in good hands with Kyle, he is an exceptional guide. Congrats to your brother and good luck to you.
Great gray owl
Great gray owl
Here is a photo of Dale's moose.
Another one of the guys got a moose this morning. It was not as big as the others we have taken.
I had a slow morning. I only saw a whitetail doe this morning. The other guys all saw 10-12 moose each. One group saw 3 bulls and shot one. The other group saw all cows and calves.
I am hunting an area where we are doing a lot of calling instead of looking at open fields. I would like to get inside of 50 yards.
In any every, we are 3 for 6 in a day and a half.
My friend Jimmy tagged out last evening as well. His guide, Josh, called a bull in to 40 yards or so and he made a nice shot. There are two of us hunting and we still have several days.
I saw one bull last evening and we made a stalk to about 110 yards. He was a 2 1/2 year old bull.
It warmed up into the 60's in the afternoon and was very windy It cooled off over night.
Today should be a good day,
I saw 3 cows, a calf, and a year and a half old bull this morning. The wind died down and it is picking up.
Life is good.
Life sounds rough! Good luck to you!!!
I saw a cow and a black bear this evening. I believe tomorrow is the day.
The Wounded Warrior coming to hunt Moose in November is reading this thread daily! Pretty cool pics! Hope you get one! C
Eric just told me about this semi live hunt going on at my place. Here's one of the other bulls taken by Bill Fern, with guide Gerard doing a selfie on it along with a couple of the other hunters. Bill came up with his wife Heidi, they always wanted to get a bull moose.
A better photo of Bill and his bull.
I saw 2 bulls, 2 cows and a calf this morning. We got within 85 yards of one bull. The other scooted off before we got close.
We tried to get a little closer to th bull we were targeting. However, we only made it a couple of steps before the cow busted us and it was over.
It is just a matter of time. We have not had a bull grunt back at us yet. However, the bull my brother shot came in silently. We also had another bull come in raking trees earlier in the week, we could have got him if the wind did not swirl on us.
It is 70 degrees right now. It feels like alligator hunting weather.
Life is good.
We were entertained by a pine marten for a few minutes this morning. There was a nice bull killed by a truck last evening.
It was a slow evening. Very windy, warm, and a full moon. I hunted in a shirt sleeve t-shirt as the temperature was in the 70's.
I did not see a moose this afternoon.
We will get after them in the morning.
Here is a photo of Jimmy and his moose.
Here is a photo of Jimmy and his moose.
It was a slow evening. Very windy, warm, and a full moon. I hunted in a shirt sleeve t-shirt as the temperature was in the 70's.
I did not see a moose this afternoon.
We will get after them in the morning.
Jimmy Green's moose, rifle kill. Guided by Josh Harb, called into under 30 yds I think, Josh got some cell phone video of the shot and it looked close! Josh called it in from 500 yds away, across a wide open field, grunting the whole way. Very cool, exciting.
This was before the weather turned to crap, cool calm weather to start the hunt with a similar long term forecast then it changed to 30-40 mile an hour winds all day and night. I tell you don't book a moose hunt if it's going to be warm and windy that week! Oh yeah, you have no idea what the weather will be like. Just go hunt. Eric has a great attitude, no complaining, no coming back to the lodge early, he is hunting hard. Eric and guide Kyle have still seen quite a few moose, over 20 with several bulls just no bow shot opportunities. Dam bowhunters. Haha
It was a very windy, warm morning. We only saw one whitetail all morning. It looks like it will cool off tomorrow and it will be a better day. The afternoon looks similar to the morning.
The afternoon was very windy and a little warm. The wind slowed at the end of the day and animals started moving again. We saw a whitetail die this afternoon and that was all until the drive home. We did see several mule deer in the fields.
The weather should break tonight. It is cooling off and the wind is dying down. Tomorrow should be a good day.
There are two of us still hunting.
Hopefully, we will get it done in the morning.
The rut is on! Can't seem to call them in right now but this picture did confirm that the rut is happening. This little bull needed a step ladder to get up on the cow that was bigger than him.
My hunt is over. Once the wind picked up the moose were hard to find. We did not see anything this morning. We have it a good try but it was not to happen. Kyle worked his butt off.
I would not say we were unsuccessful, we just ran out of time.
Who knows, the moose may be my jinx animal. I have done a week in Maine, 2 weeks in Alaska, and a week in Alberta and have yet to shoot an arrow.
I have another 2 weeks in Ak next year. Maybe next year...
South Dakota whitetails are next.
Have a good season.
I know you've been doing the SD whities for quite a few years now. Safe travels and good luck! C
Thanks for the semi live moose hunt. Looked forward to it daily. Good luck in South Dakota. I'll be out there in a few weeks myself.
Thanks for taking us along!
Good effort. Have a great season and thanks for taking us along.
I have had many outcomes just like that including elk this year. I’m sure you’d prefer a shot but as you know success is measured in many other ways. Glad you had a good hunt, thanks for sharing with us.
Dang it. Kill early in SD and come down for dinner! I'll buy!??
HA, that bull looks more like he's getting a piggy back ride. funny.
I'll keep the thread going for those interested. We got 6 new hunters in today, 2 return customers and 4 new guys, all rifle, weather looks good for the week. Hopefully some swamp donkeys go down!
Kyle stuck in the mud on the first day!
Kyle stuck in the mud on the first day!
The first half day of the hunt with 3 guides and 6 hunters. Another very windy evening, saw zero moose in one truck, 1 in the other and 9 in the other, 3 bulls total. And guide Kyle got to test out the winch way back in the bush, worked great! No kills.
Finally, we get a cold, 25F, calm, frosty morning and we kill 3 bulls for 6 hunters! This is in the same area where we hunted for 4 windy days with one hunter trying to kill just one bull, sometimes with 2-3 guides searching. Dam moose are sooo weather dependent.
Pics coming soon, 3 hours after first light and hunters are still seeing moose.
Nice!
Bring on the pics Mike!!!
Mark
Correct that, killed 4! Moose in one morning. Guide Josh was keeping one secret till he got back to the lodge. One shot at 13 yds, the other one at 50 so we could have even killed them with bows.
Very Nice Mike!!! Keep putting em down!! Gat any pictures?
Tim Alt
Tim Alt
Here is hunter Tim Alt from Michigan with his first moose, 45 incher.
Jack Samkowiak
Jack Samkowiak
Here is the bull shot at 13 yards, Kyle called it from way out in a farm field back into the bush. It came on a string straight to them grunting the whole way! Jack was using standing shooting sticks and finally at 13 yards, Kyle whispered that he better shoot!! We prefer not to take a head on shot, even with a rifle but it became almost in self defence.
Would you take the head on shot on a moose at 13 yards with your bow?
Every day baby.
Nice Pics!
Only if he had at least 4 brows on one side, or was at least 50” wide!
Mark Ritola
Mark Ritola
Here is hunter Mark Ritola with his nice bull taken at 100 yards, called in by guide Gerard. We don't kill Alaska type bulls but we don't have the Alaska price either, physically easy hunt out of a lodge in farmland, you can drive right to the lodge and take all the meat home.
Brad Musser
Brad Musser
These were the 4 bulls killed the first full day of hunting, fairly representative bulls of our hunts. We could have everyone hold out for bigger 40+ inch bulls and have a 50-75% success but with this class of bulls we are usually 90-100% kill success. Most guys want to make sure they kill a bull and Trophy hunting has a greater risk of not getting one at all.
Hey Mike. Sent you an inquiry for moose/Elk for 2019 as I understand you are booked 2018? Cancellation list for 2018 would be great as well never know. Looks like you have a top notch operation. Like to come and experience it. Good luck hunting. Cary-MN My personnel info is included with the response I sent you off your newsletter.
How many bowhunters score each year on average.
Hey Cary, deerplotter, sorry for not getting back to you right away. I still have a house full of hunters, a screwed up neck, getting a new cook orientated and a whole list of guys to get back to since we put out our bowhunt report. Working my way through the list. I think I actually do have a spot open on the elk and moose bowhunt for 2018. One hunter is not returning my calls or emails. Getting me back for doing it to other people maybe? Haha. I'll call you right away.
And boubound, I don't take many moose bowhunters because guys can hunt them then with a rifle and rifle guys quickly buy the hunts first, they have no problem being 2 on 1 guided and are not picky about size, easy hunt to do for us.
We are always willing to take bowhunters on the hunt though with the same standards. We then focus on calling and walking. The truth is though if you are a fit guy who wants to Trophy hunt, go 1 on 1 guided there are probably better places to go. My hunt is tailor made for old, out of shape men who want a lodge based hunt, that's why the price is as high as it is. Or say a group of guys, we can easily run 6 hunters out of the same lodge. Bowhunters probably have a 50% success rate, too many dang cow moose so calling often isn't that great.
David Miller
David Miller
Dave and his brother Dan hunted with us in 2011, killed 2-40+ inch bulls and rebooked a group of 6 hunters for 2017 as a corporate retreat kind of thing. I told them not to expect to kill 40 inchers again, that they need to be be prepared to shoot the first 30+ incher they see. Well, I was wrong, they both scored on 40+ inchers again.
Dan Miller
Dan Miller
Dan's bull broke our long standing record of 49 1/2 inches at 53 inches.
Brooke Ukrainetz with Dan's 53 incher.
Brooke Ukrainetz with Dan's 53 incher.
My kids were getting in on the moose hunting action too.
Looks like an excellent hunt
Our next moose hunts are in early November when we will be hosting the wounded warrior through bowsite. We always hope for some snow and cold but not too much snow! If we get buried in 2 feet or more then the moose move to the willow flats where they are close to unkillable, wish us luck!
Big Bull!
Big Bull!
Dan's bull also broke a weight record for us for hanging meat, 803 lbs. I'm guessing that would mean a live body weight of 1200-1300 lbs?
Wowza. Can't wait till August
