Tyler became the video guy with John and Jason packing their recurves.

That night a storm came in and left us with wind and rain in the morning.  It was time for biscuits and gravy for breakfast.  We listened  to the rain for a few hours, read, and discussed the plan for that evening.  As noon came and went Jason made a chicken vegetable soup for lunch.  About 2 the rain cleared and the wind laid down.  Jason and Tyler wanted to check out the wooded area upstream from the beaver pond and John and I went above camp and worked downstream in the trees calling every couple hundred yards.

Jason and Tyler found a lot of fresh sign and ended up coming back to the pond from uphill by following a major game trail.  The stopped by the blind and made a single cow call.  A bull grunted  and came at a dead run.  They had seconds to get ready before he burst from the trees and ran across the pond right into their lap.

He was another sub-legal bull that would not leave.  He hung around for a 1/2 hour between 15 and 30 yds.  Go figure.

Day 10 was a total bust in the morning.  No moose, no calls, nothing.  We decided to check out some more new territory.  John's surgically repaired foot and ankle were giving him some trouble so he headed for camp.  Jason, Tyler and I headed into what we now call the "enchanted forest".  This place had moose trails like cattle trails you see in the grazing country.  And then we ran into grouse.  .. many grouse.  And Jason kept hitting them with arrows and they kept flying off.  Ended up with only one.

Crazy.

Off to camp.  When we got down to the creek we found the cause of the moose being quiet.  Fresh  wolf tracks right in our tracks from yesterday.  Looked like a group of 4-5.

Usually when wolves hit your valley the moose hunt is over.  Moose hear a wolf howl and they head for the heavy timber and shut down.

We talked about it in camp that afternoon and decided to not only have the meat transported the next day but to ask if we could get out also.

We got up had breakfast and broke camp.  While waiting for the cubs to arrive we had a nice legal bull come out across the gravel bar.  Jason  tried to get into bow range but the bull had other ideas.  Well he's seed for next year.

here's a nice pic either Tyler or John took

Awesome! Thanks for posting a story after all Mike, there may not have been a trad harvest, but there was trad hunting for sure!

What an adventure-we'll done

What are the tent/tipi's.  Seek outside?

Great story, pics and adventure. Thanks for letting us tag along.

Would you mind commenting on the brands of boots, jacket and pants you used for this hunt?

Wondering how the boots did against the steep, rugged, and wet terrain? Same as to rain gear; was it tested against heavy rain and did it keep you dry? Looking for tips on what brands to shop for.

Great trip report. Thank you

Thanks for telling your stories. Moose must winter in your valley, and from the looks of the found rack, so does the wolves. Beautiful photos!! Mike

Very cool . That is BIG country . Looks like it is a long way to everywhere .

       

A word about gear.  Our tipis are a 12 man and 16 man Kifaru.  John has had the 16 man for a while and with up to 3 guys and gear for a 2 week hunt it's great.  John and I hunted out of the 12 man last year and it was good for 2.  We felt that with 4 guys and gear this year we'd take both.  It worked out great.  Everyone had room and we both had Ti wood stoves for evening and morning.

Clothing was all FirstLite.  

Mine was:

Corrugute Guide Pant    Fusion Camo   2
Uncompahgre Puffy    Fusion Camo   1
Uncompahgre Puffy Vest    Fusion Camo   1
Vapor Storm lite Jacket    Fusion Camo   1
North Branch Soft Shell    Pine           1
Dobson Boxers            Pine           4
Red Desert Boxers    Pine           1
Llano QZ             Fusion Camo   1
Chama Hoody            Fusion Camo   1
Chama Hoody            Pine           1
Allegheny Bottom    Fusion Camo   2
Halstead Tech Fleece    Dry Earth   1

I'll be picking up another Fleece and Llano this year.

I took 2 pair of boots:
Zamberlan mountaineering boots
Lowa Heavy hikers

Will go with one pair next year.  Probably the Zamberlans.

Thanks for sharing, love the pics and the equipment list.

Gilbert

Depending on temps I left camp with Allegheny bottoms Guide Pants on the bottom and either Llano or Chama base layer with the Halstead Fleece on top.  The Halstead Fleece quickly became my favorite top.

Jason and I both had the FirstLite Mountain Cold socks for the first time and loved them.

Thanks for sharing. Loving it n

I should also note that all four of us were running Kifaru packs.  Johns is an older Tactical frame and pack, Jason and Tyler had hunter frames and Longhunter packs with the new cargo nets and mine is a new Tactical frame with a Reckoning bag.

We were really impressed with the cargo net attachment.  It makes a large bag into a compressed day pack and also allows for handling meat bags and heavy loads much easier.