“No, but I’m parched. Let’s wash our mouth out and find a stream later.”
Dan looked down the narrow valley toward the lake we crossed that morning. “I’ll head toward the lake, circle back and push him toward those alders. He’ll probably go through, and into that open spot on the right.”
“I’ll be at the top waiting for him”, I said. “Give me about fifteen minutes.”
I got to the top of the clearing, discovered an animal trail going through a narrow cut into an adjacent valley, and climbed high enough to cover both routes. Ten minutes later I heard a loud report, then another, and then a final one. I waited to be certain the moose was not coming my way and then began walking in that direction. I found Dan near bottom, walking up toward me.
“Where is the moose?” “Further down. He damn near ran over me. I started up through those alders, but decided I was getting nowhere, so I swung further to the left and came to this opening. No more than rounded those bushes when he bolted out from the right - not ten yards away. Surprised the hell out of me - I didn’t think I was even close to him. I hit him broadside - right in the lungs. He went down on his knees, but popped back up again, so I shot him again. He got up again, but was all wobbly and staggering. I thought I’d try to herd him down through the clearing - like Natives use to do with Caribou herds - but he turned up hill, so I put him out of his misery. Wonder why he didn’t run your direction?”
That line of alders covers a ditch. He couldn’t get into the clearing. He might have caught my scent too.”
“There he is, next to that little stream.”
“That’s convenient. I think he fell a little too close though; he’s laying in a soft spot with his rack buried in the mud - going to be hell to turn.”
Dan stood over the fallen animal with his hand resting on a velvet covered antler. “He’s a big one all right, and the rack isn’t so small either. Its about the same spread as the one I got last year. The base is a lot heavier though. It may not have its full growth; the tine are pretty blunt.”“How big of a spread do you think it is?”
“About fifty-five inches; maybe sixty.”
“A lot of people would consider it sinful to leave the rack, but we’ve got too much to carry as it is. Lucky for us we’re not trophy hunters.”
“Yeah! Look at the bugs - it didn’t take long for them to find him.”
“They’re probably always with him, a regular entourage, like the sea gulls flying around the white whale in Moby Dick.”
“Let’s get busy. Its late already, and we still have a full day ahead of us.”
We worked till nearly 8:30 that evening. It took the two of us to drag the hind quarters to a nearby spruce and hang them from branches. Some meat remained on the carcass, but the animal was skinned and what remained would cool without problem. We were too tired to do more, and it was getting dark. We had to get back.
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