Bucket list in the Bighorns
Moose
After all these years I finally have a story to contribute that I think the Bowsite gang would enjoy. It’s gonna take me a couple days to get it told so please bear with me.
Sounds awesome! Looking forward to it!
Couple of days as in the rest of the evening and tomorrow finishing up by 8:00? ;) J/K looking forward to it?
Enough with the teasing. On with the story ;)
This all started 24 years ago when I started applying for moose in Wyoming. I never thought it would take this long but I guess good things come to those who are patient.
At the 2011 P&Y convention in Minnesota I happened to meet Jason Stafford, we ended up talking about hunting moose in Wyoming and blacktails here at home in Oregon. He wanted to kill a black tail, I wanted to kill a moose. We could use each other’s help and cross a couple bucket list deals off.
Jason came to Oregon in 2013 and we didn’t connect on a deer, close dam close but no dead deer. I was a tough week when he was here but, we still got after it and had a good time. We also came up with a strategy on drawing a moose tag in the future for me.
Now let’s cut through the BS and fast forward to 2023 since you have a little bit of the back story. When results became available I was shocked to find out after 24 years I had finally drawn a tag. First text was to Jason to let him know I had drawn, second text to Ron Nizolek to also let him know of my good fortune drawing out finally.
You gotta love it when a couple stone cold killers tell you this is gonna be epic !
I have seen pictures....this is going to be WELL worth the wait....!
Talk about a loaded deck! This will be good.
When I let Ron know I had drawn he sent me the contact of one of his friends that had helped in my unit on a moose hunt a couple years prior.
Some guy by the name of Randy Giesey…..yep this story has another bow site killer involved in it, go figure. I got ahold of Randy and he had helped out yes and he said the hunt was gonna be really good. His friend he had helped out killed a nice bull a couple years earlier. I ended up talking to Randy’s friend another bowsite guy by the name of Mike Turner. He shared pictures of his bull and a few others he had seen scouting for his hunt.
Ooowww, "Bucket list in the Bighorns" sounds like a scene from Brokeback Mountain...8^)))
Sorry Willieboat, couldn't help myself, heard it was filmed there...8^) Am looking forward to your story...
Will be following along on this one. I’ve seen plenty of moose during my times spent in the bighorns. Having a tag would be special
Been looking forward to this story!
When I drew I was all excited that I was gonna finally get to hunt moose in the rut and be able to call one of these bad boys in and run an arrow through him. So as I was getting ready to schedule vacation at work I reached out to Jason and asked him when I should show up. I was mentally figuring last 10 days of September and first 10 days of October to do this hunt.
Boy was I surprised when I was told you really have have to be here for the opener on the 1st of September.
What wait September 1st ….. dam there goes my idea of calling a bull in and shooting him.
I've spent a lot of time hunting the foothills of the Bighorns. Beautiful country! I'm also on a moose kick having just killed a cow in Colorado. I'm looking forward to the rest of this story!
As we got closer to the opener I started getting pics of potential targets that had been found.
This guy had potential.
But there was a bull hanging out on the edge of my unit that happened to be one of the most photographed bulls in the Bighorns. I have a pic of him on the hoof but don’t have permission to use it so you might get to see him dead.
As we got closer to the 1st of September the text messages were awesome. Plenty of bulls to go look at but the photogenic bull probably was gonna stay put in his swamp and not cross the road into the unit my permit was for.
Doooooodddddd!
Dialed in and hoping for an early update…
So I got off work on the morning of August 29th and pointed the truck East for Wyoming. Stopped and picked up my hunting partners son Cooper to help with the driving since I had just pulled an all nighter at work, and the kid was begging to tag along. How could I say no.
We ended up making it to Bozeman Mt and stayed with a friend there for the night.
Up early the next day and headed to Cody Wyoming ! Got to Cody rounded up some last minute stuff and waited for Jason to get done with work for the day. Once he was done we headed for the hills.
Remember the most photographed moose in the Bighorns? I got a pic I can use and not piss off some pro photographers.
Gonna stop here for the evening since I’m 4 beers deep and the Mrs is giving me the eye.
4 beers deep? You’re only one beer away from the perfect story-telling buzz! Can’t stop now!
Keep it coming this is going to a great post!
It wasn't the Bighorns for moose, but Ron helped me for moose and elk!!
Who would you rather “get the eye” from, your wife or the entire Bowsite community? No need to answer I’ll check tomorrow for updates.
Awesome start to the story, can't wait to hear the rest!
Up this morning having my coffee, patiently waiting for Willieboat to continue this story….
Oh Man... Awesome start, and obvious congrats!
I guess I’ll go to work and take a break when Mike starts typing again.
So far three of the greatest vices....hunting ,liquor and women. Keep it coming
It's tomorrow now! I'll be checking back often today!!
Oh sweet! Looking forward to this!
Dang sure got me on the edge of my seat! Shaping up to be a great one!
All right I’m back for a little bit. I need to back up here and tell you a little bit about the photogenic bull. He had spent all summer in the bordering unit about a half mile from my unit. We were all hoping that maybe he would get tired of the swamp he was living in and leave it.
I got the text a couple weeks before season that it was highly doubtful he was going to leave his favorite swamp. So there were lots of back up bulls to look at, and a couple of them were very interesting.
As we were getting camp set up a fellow from the neighboring camp came over to visit. He had a moose tag also, for the unit that the photogenic bull was living in and he was hopeful he would be able to kill him opening day as he had been watching him most of the summer.
After a quick visit with the neighbors we took off to look at some bulls. The cool thing was we saw all kinds of things. Moose ,deer, and elk in some of the most beautiful country I have spent time in.
We had one more day to scout before season opened and it was going to be a real doozy.
Up early and off to go find a bull to hunt on opening day. We went out towards the west side of the unit to look around and see what we could turn up. Once again lots of game to look at but not quite what we were looking for. As the morning was slipping away Jason said let’s go take a look one last time at the photogenic bull and see if he is still in his swamp. So off we went.
Once we got to the bulls home swamp he wasn’t there !!! This is we’re things get interesting.
Just past the swamp was a road that divided the two units. We turned up it to have a look around. A little ways up the road Jason spots a cow and a calf up a side draw in a willow patch feeding and they seemed to be by themselves. Which wasn’t to surprising because it was still a ways from the rut. So we continued on up the road looking around and not finding much. By then it was getting kinda late in the morning and breakfast back at camp was sounding pretty good. So we got turned around and headed back to camp.
As we neared where the cow and calf were on our way up the road we were about to get one hell of a shock. There was the photogenic bull following the cow and calf out of the unit he had spent all summer in into the unit my tag was for !!!! We watched him as he followed the other two moose up into the timber. Hot dam hopefully he would stay on that side of the road and give us a chance.
The neighboring camp tag holder was also watching this all go down and was super cool about it. As in they didn’t try haze the bull back into their unit or so other stupid shenanigans.
Back at camp we had breakfast and started talking about going back in the evening to see if the bull had stayed on our side of the road or had headed back to his favorite swamp.
All this time I wasn’t feeling red hot. I am kinda prone to migraines and was coming down with one. Day before my hunt and this was happening, sometimes I’m down a couple days when this happens. I didn’t tell anyone that because of all the effort they had put into this and I didn’t want to be a disappointment. I went and got some sleep hoping this would help.
While I was sleeping Ron showed up in camp and also Jason’s dad Stan had made it from North Dakota as he had a deer tag also.
Late in the afternoon I was feeling better and off we went to go try and find the bull again. Thankfully he was still in the right unit bedded down chilling out. Dam maybe this really was going to happen.
Up early the next morning and the whole gang was rearing to go. Off we went to where the bull was the evening before. Hoping that no other tag holders had seen the bull the day before.
As it was cracking daylight Jason glassed up a cow and calf right where the bull was the evening before, he had to be there but we couldn’t turn him up. A couple more cows were turned up but still no bull. As all this was going on the neighboring camp tag holder showed up below us and could be seen looking into the unit my tag was for. After awhile they left….could it be we had went past the bull in the dark ?
The decision was made we had better go check it out and I’m dam glad we did.
Damn, this is what makes Bowsite fun!
Awesome , I cant believe you didnt bail out on him as soon as you saw him , but you must have had a reason other then breakfast !
Didn’t bail out on him because season didn’t open until the next day.
VAMtns... he didn't go after him that morning because he was scouting and it was the day before his season opened!
Great thread, I’ve seen pics of the bull. Hearing the story makes it better. Can’t wait for the finale.
Once we got down to where the neighbors had been glassing from there stood Mr Photogenic and he had a smaller bull with him in the willow flat feeding away without a care in the world. Little did he know the grim reaper was coming for him.
I grabbed my bow and range finder and proceeded into the willows to try and get close enough for a shot. This is where it gets interesting I have never stalked a moose and didn’t know how sneaky I needed to be? Is he as spooky as an elk or deer ? I was about to find out.
Pretty soon I found myself 47 yards from the bull and he was still munching down on willow shoots. I set my sight to the exact distance and promptly melted down and shot an inch over back…..OH SHIT !!!!
I figured he would take off for parts unknown but he wondered what hummingbird and just buzzed him and went back to feeding thankfully.
I decided to get closer so I slowly slid in a little closer and ranged him again at 37 yards. Set my sight and drew back and told myself bare down and pull through the shot, don’t hammer the crap out of the release. The shot broke and hit the back edge of his shoulder didn’t penetrate quite like I had hoped but was having an effect on him right away.The bull spun in a couple circles and I was ready with another arrow and as soon as he stopped that shot was on the way and was pure money, blew right through him like he wasn’t even there. He trotted a few yards and stopped the effects of 2 arrows was taking its toll on him, but if he was going to stand there I decided I might as well get my money’s worth and put another shot through him.
He made it about 30 yards and piled up…… from the first hit to him being down was maybe 30 seconds elapsed.
I was kinda in shock …..24 years and it was all over with 45 minutes into opening day!
The guys got to watch the whole thing go down and quickly showed up to offer congrats and start breaking down this incredible creature.
And if you have made this far here are some pics to go with the story
Great story telling. I’m roped into this one. Type faster.
Congrats again, Michael! You need to share more stories!
Friends for life ! Thank you Jason!
Might need to take him blacktail hunting again. ;-)
WOW! An incredible bull with some incredible company! Congrats sir!
Jason’s dad Stan directing traffic
Oh yeah Jason will be here in November for another go at a blacktail.
Remember me saying I stopped to pick up my hunting buddies son to help with the drive?
He ended up packing the whole dam moose out…thank you Cooper.
Cool colors in the velvet
Again I want to thank Jason,Ron,Randy ,Cooper and Stan for all the along the way. You all made this one hell of an adventure a real Bucket List deal!
I hope a few others enjoy the drivel I just wrote as this is my first attempt at something like this on Bowsite.
Oh and since I’m kinda into this part of the equation I used a 70 pound Mathew’s phase 4 33. 70 pounds 445 grain arrow first hit was a Sevr 1.5 second 2 hits Iron Will V-100
Congrats Michael what a bull! Are you leaving the velvet on the horns?
PS You need to take Jason on another Blacktail deer hunt in Oregon.
That was weird! Copied what I had typed in several hours beforehand!
What an amazing experience and stud of a bull! Congratulations!
Glad you finally drew the tag and got to experience that bucket list hunt!
Congrats Michael!
Congrats on an awesome bull! Great write up. He’s pretty dang photogenic on the ground too I would say. Love the colors in that velvet
Wow! Makes it sound easy, but I know it can't be. To wait that long for the tag is incredible. Congratulations, enjoy your success!
My hero does it again. Congrats again my friend !!!!
Wow good bull, still carries the velvet very cool.
What a beautiful Trophy!
Big Congrats, Willieboat!
This has been so worth coming back to throughout the day! Congrats!!!
Congratulations… great write up…
Congrats on an beautiful animal! Thanks for taking us along Did the other unit hunter get to check him out after you killed him?
That's really COOL! ;-) Never seen a moose in velvet! Neat coloration...................... CONGRATS Michael!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Congrats on a great bull Willieboat!
Congratulations and thanks for giving us the recap, it was incredible!!
"After all these years I finally have a story to contribute that I think the Bowsite gang would enjoy."
I'm pretty sure you could come close to filling up the main page with your exploits.
Awesome job on an amazing animal. You said it best when you said "Little did he know the grim reaper was coming for him."
Looking at Mike in camp he didn’t seem very old. My math with 59 elk puts him at around 103. Must be good at it.
Congratulations… great write up…
Great read, congrats on the bull!
Awesome Shiras for sure! Congrats on your bucket list archery bull! Opening day definitely turned out to be the right call. Jason knows his stuff!
Outstanding stuff right there! Many congrats and it seems to me that it was well worth the wait!
Totally fantastic! Congrats
Awesome Bull Halford! Congrats brotha!
Does anyone know if the white in his velvet is something he has had all summer or is that part drying out because he is close to shedding velvet?
Great looking bull, congrats on your success. Nice to have a little volunteer help for afterwards too.
JohnMC, I know my velvet BC bull from August a few years ago, the velvet looked striped just like that.
Wow! Congrats on a great bull, Michael! That 24 yr wait paid off in a big way, and got to share the hunt with some great company, to boot!
Also….you should share more of your “drivel” with us. That first dose was pretty good!
Great post Michael. I think you should do more of these about your elk exploits!
I was glad to finally meet up with you, share camp, beers and stories. Also we were all glad you brought Cooper for packing it too the truck!!
That’s awesome! Congrats!
Awesome hunt, awesome bull. Good going willie.
Love the handle. Nothing like Bowsite buds to make it all come together. Congrats
Awesome
Congratulations, and thanks for sharing!
Damn, no Coors Light pics. Congratulations again, what a great time. The bull’s velvet was striped all summer. It is pretty common here.
Guys thanks for all the kind words and compliments.
Really cool to finally have a story to tell that everyone appreciates.
Hopefully Jason gets a blacktail when he is here in November I believe if he does it will be the deer he needs for his deer slam. I believe it will be accomplished here’s to November the second half of this story.
Thanks again my Bowsite family cheers !
This hunt was sponsored by Coors Light and Matt Palmquist at whitetail properties;)
Congratulations on a great bull and having it all come together so smoothly. Thanks for sharing story and photos.
One heck of a story! Congratulations on fulfilling a dream and sharing the experience with friends!
Looking forward to Jason finishing off his NA deer slam this fall with you! Hopefully he gets one that tops mine!
Can’t wait to hear about part two.
I have a feeling the blacktails are in trouble!
Awesome story! Great bull!
Great story! Thanks for sharing and congratulations!!!!
Outstanding... congratulations. Ed F
Tremendous! Congrats Willieboat
Thanks for sharing! As others have said, please share more!
Yessir! Great Bull and write up, but Palmquist drinks skinny's!
Congrats , Thanks for the story
Holy-Molly---->
What a dandy.
Congrats,
Robb
Awesome bull and great write up, thank you for sharing
Great stuff Michael! Thanks for sharing and congrats.
Can't imagine a 24 years and finally getting to go. Unreal. Looks like you made good on it and with good company. That's what it's all about. Congrats.
Nice, that most definitely was a great story to tell. Wow, 24 years to draw that tag .... yes "patience" is a virtue, and well deserved at that!
So awesome! Thanks for sharing this with us. Congratulations!!
Great job with the story, and excellent bull. Never a doubt. Then you go kill...something like your 50th six point bull with a bow......a bull of a lifetime for most bowhunters. Ho hum. Amazing bowhunter you are, my friend! Thanks for the excellent story.
Big Congrats and thanks for taking us along. Can’t imagine what that must have been like after waiting that long for the tag….major league conversion! Quite the camp company you had as well!
^^^ yes, All Stars of Wyoming bowhunting. Like starting a wing in the BOW Hall of Fame. I'd have paid to tag along.
Congrats on a beautiful bull.
Big Congrats and thanks for taking us along. Can’t imagine what that must have been like after waiting that long for the tag….major league conversion! Quite the camp company you had as well!
"I was kinda in shock …..24 years and it was all over with 45 minutes into opening day!"
Does not seem fair that the hunt was over so quickly. Hardly worth the wait one might surmise but the end result was fantastic. A little help from your friends made it more special. Regardless of the 24 year wait, this hunt will last you a life time. Well done. My best, Paul
Thank you for taking us along, what a blast it must have been!
Great story! and a great bull to end a life long wait!
Great story, Great bull, Congrats!
Congratulations on a great bull.
Fantastic. Congrats on a great hunt!
Scott
Willie, congratulations on a great bull. I took this pic August 5th and it looks very similar to your bull.
Congrats man, thanks for sharing it!
Awesome bull and even better storytelling! Thank you for taking us along!!
