I ve been on several of big game hunts, but I have not enjoyed many as much as the recent unsuccessful moose hunt. It all started in 2004 when Rob and I decided to find an outfitter for a large game hunt. Up to this time we had only hunted Whitetail and Mule deer, bear, turkey and small game. But we had never hunted on a guided outfitted hunt. I was more inclined to find an elk hunt, but Rob was more interested in a moose hunt. We decided on a moose hunt and started researching outfitters. We looked in every state and providence and decided that Alberta had the best opportunities for the price of the hunt. We narrowed the search down to a few outfitters and called their references. After talking to the outfitters and their references we decided on Wild Kakawa Outfitters, in Grande Prairie, Alberta. But after making our decision, we called the outfitter only to find out that he had just booked his last hunt for that season. That year I was fortunate to take a moose with another outfitter in Alberta. However, Rob was unsuccessful and the outfitter and the experience was not one I would recommend. Since then Rob and I have both taken elk with an outfitter in Wyoming and I have hunted Caribou in Quebec and Antelope in Wyoming on guided hunts. Even though it is expensive to book a guided hunt as opposed to a do it yourself hunt, we think it is worth the extra expense if you can find a good outfitter that knows his area, is willing to work to get the job done and willing to make the trip enjoyable for his clients. Rob and I have been hunting together on guided hunts about every other year due to the expense and the time involved. As Rob s family is getting older and more involved in sports and 4-H they require more of an investment of money and time. Rob and I decided that this year instead of hunting elk as we had planned for our next guided hunt, we would instead hunt moose. We again researched outfitters in British Columbia, Yukon and Alaska and ones again decided that Alberta offered the best moose opportunities for the money. This time we again narrowed our search to a few outfitters and we were able to get the hunt booked with Wild Kakawa Outfitters. We would be hunting during the Alberta moose bow only season, which is during to pre rut. From elk hunting we had learned that the pre rut was a good time for calling a rutting animal in close for a bow shot. As we were planning the trip, due to time restrictions, Rob wanted to fly to Alberta, but I wanted to drive. I had flown on a hunting trip to Quebec and did not want the hassle of getting my gear on a plane and through customs and if we were both successful, getting the antlers, hide and meat back home. Also this year Pat and I both turn sixty, with my birthday being in September and Pat s in October. We wanted to do something special for our birthdays and also we had wanted to take another trip to Banff National Park in Alberta. Therefore we decided to drive and Rob would fly to Alberta. As Pat and I planned our trip the days continued to grow with a stop to see the grand kids and pick up Rob s gear in Nebraska, travel through Teton, Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks, then on to Banff and Jasper National Parks in Alberta.
Jenny Lake, Teton National Park Buffalo, Teton National Park Elk, Yellowstone National Park Park Black Bear, Teton National Old Faithful, Yellowstone National Park Moose, Teton National Park Mountain Goat, Jasper National Park
Bow Lake, Jasper National Park Big Horn Sheep, Jasper National Park National Park Lake Moraine, Banff
We had rented a condo for Pat to stay in the mountain town of Canmore during the time Rob and I would be hunting about nine hours further north. There Pat would be continuing to develop her new hobby of painting. We would be leaving home on September 4 th, two weeks prior to the date we were to meet the outfitter in Grande Prairie on September 18 th. Prior to our leaving we called the outfitter and he said to make sure to bring warm clothes since it had already frosted and they were expecting freezing temperatures during our hunt, perfect weather for moose hunting. Pat and I arrived in Canmore a week prior to the hunt and did a lot of site seeing and hiking in Banff National Park. We had schedule a horseback ride up high in the mountains above Lake Louise. The ride was scheduled in the morning, but due to freezing temperatures in the mornings we rescheduled it for the afternoon when it would be a more comfortable temperature. We called Rob and told him to make sure he brought warm clothes, other than just his hunting clothes because it was going to be cold. However each day as we would pull up the extended forecast on the computer, the forecast for Grande Prairie would be warmer. By the time Rob arrived for the hunt the forecast was to be near 80 degrees each day of our hunt. Pat riding to tea house Lake Agnes Tea House
The Hunt Begins I picked up Rob at the airport and we traveled to Grande Prairie. There we met up with Rickey, who would be our guide for the hunt. We traveled about 40 miles on gravel roads to the camp where we met Rickey s Dad Rick senior who is the owner for Wild Kakawa Outfitters and his mother and sister who would be preparing our meals. Also we met another couple, husband and wife, that were hunting elk and their guide. The camp was neat and clean and very comfortable. Rob and I moved our gear into a cabin and we were looking forward to start our hunt the next morning. After stowing our gear, Rickey asked us if we would like to get started hunting that evening. Of course we said yes and we were soon leaving out of camp with ATVs in tow on our first hunt. We drove about ten miles from camp and parked the truck along the road and hiked about a mile up though an area that had been logged years ago. We approached an area where we could look down through the woods. We went over a small hill and down though a small drainage area then back up the other side. Once on top of the next rise, Rob and Rickey stopped and Rickey make some moose cow calls. I was about 20 yards behind Rob and Rickey still in the small depression. Rob and I both heard a stick crack to our left side. Then we hear the faint sound of something coming through the brush. I m still facing Rob and Rickey and they are now turned and facing toward me. Then Rickey takes his gun from his shoulder and works the action to load a shell. He makes a slight motion to me, like come up here with us. Then he motions for me to just stay still. I wonder if maybe it is a wolf since Rob and I both had wolf tags. Maybe he was going to let me shoot it but instead decided to let Rob have the shot. I stood silent wondering what they were seeing, but knowing from Rickey s motions I should stay still. I was not aware that at that time a large grizzly bear was passing just 20 yards behind me. Rickey had his gun ready and Rob had his bear spray ready, but I was between them and the bear. Fortunately for all of us the bear just traveled on by. When we told Rick about the bear that evening at dinner, he said it was most likely an old bear in that area that had caused them problems by claiming a moose kill a few years back. The grizzly bears are protected here so they have little fear of man. Little did we know that for the next five days we would be seeing grizzly signs on almost every trail. Grizzly bear scat Grizzly bear marking post
After the Grizzly encounter we walked back to the truck and continued to a different location where we unloaded the ATVs and headed down a trail. I was driving one ATV and Rob and Rickey were on the other. After about a mile Rickey told me to turn the ATV off and we would coast down the mountain about a half mile silently to our hunting location. Once there we still hunted through the woods seeing fresh moose sign everywhere we went. As it became dark and evident that the days hunt was over we walked back to the ATVs in total darkness. I was glad that Rickey knew where the ATVs were parked because I had no idea. Day 1: The next day we were aroused by knocking on our cabin door telling us it was time for breakfast. After a large breakfast Rob, Rickey and I headed out for our hunt. Again we traveled about ten miles to the hunting location back in the same direction as where we had hunted the evening before. Rickey explained to us that their hunting area consisted of about a 40 square mile area. Of the twenty-six tags available in that area Wild Kakawa had owned twenty-two of them, two archery tags, sixteen rifle rut tags and four November moose tags. Other outfitters only had four tags and they do not hunt the same area as Wild Kakawa. However locals can hunt in the area. He told us we may see a few elk hunters but most likely no archery moose hunters. We passed a camper that Rickey said they had placed there the week before our hunt to discourage any locals from hunting in that area. We drove on pass the camper and parked the truck along the road at a trail. We walked up the trail as quietly as possible. We heard a moose grunt to the west and then thrashing the trees. He had heard us and was letting us know it. Rickey had Rob and I set up about 75 yards apart. Rickey set up to call about 60 yards to the east of us. As Rickey would call, the moose started coming in grunting and thrashing branches as he came. It appeared that he was going to come right in between Rob and me. If he did we would be almost shooting right at each other. Then his direction changed. He was headed in a line that would pass north of where I was standing. I was standing looking south so slowly I turned, as silently as possible, so I would have a shot to the north. I could now see him through a small opening in the brush. I would guess his antlers were 40+ inch spread and with nice paddles. He would make a nice bull with a rifle but a trophy with a bow. My heart was racing fast. He quickly moved through the small opening through some brush but only about 30 yards away. After that there was a willow bush and then an open broadside shot. My heart was racing. I tried to calm myself. I had the arrow knocked, the release on the string and the bow ready. Just five more steps and I would have a 15 yard broadside shot at a trophy on the first day of the hunt. He stopped behind the willows and stood there for a few minutes. Then just walked away so silent that I didn t even know when he left. Rob had been able to watch the whole episode. He had seen him at about 75 yards but had no shot. He could see him standing behind the brush and watched him walk away. Now my heart had slowed but my mind was racing Just five more steps, just five more steps. Maybe I had a shot at the first small opening. I don t remember, did I, did I do something wrong. Should I have been more aggressive, but how? I don t remember. For the rest of the day I beat myself up. I had it done. Did I blow it somehow? I wish it was recorded so I could see if I did something wrong. But if I did I don t know what I could have done different. After the moose left Rickey came walking up all excited. Just five more steps, that was fun, let s go find another
one and we went on down the trail to find another moose. We continued hunting along the same trail. We again saw sign of grizzly bear as we approached a beaver pond area. Rickey showed up where he had mounted a tree stand in an area where the moose often travel around the pond. He also told us about a grizzly that had charged him on the other side of the pond. He had shot in front of the bear to stop the charge. We continued hunting that morning with no luck finding a moose. We then walked about two miles back to the truck to go back to camp for dinner. Even though it was cold that morning by afternoon the temperature had reached near 85 degrees. This made for very tough hunting. Rickey decided that due to the extremely hot weather, causing the moose to seek shade and not respond to calls during the midday, we should hunt hard in the mornings, come in late for lunch then return about four in the afternoon and use the ATVs to do some scouting for fresh moose sign and hoping to locate a moose that would respond to our calls as the day cooled off. several miles down a trail past and area with beaver ponds. Past the ponds the trail was blocked several times with large logs which Rickey and Rob would cross or find a way around in the woods with the ATVs. During this hunt we again came across a large grizzly bear track. I laid my Garmin in the track to show some perspective of the size. Grizzly bear track Wolf track As we returned along the trail area at dusk approaching the beaver pond, we heard a moose grunt about three times. We setup for the hunt and Rickey tried to call it in but we did not hear it again. We continued to try to call it in until well after shooting light, but we did not get a response to our calls. Rob and Rickey waiting for a moose to respond to a cow call That afternoon we drove back to where the camper was parked and took the ATVs for Day Two: We drove to a new area parked the truck and hiked a trail that had not been cleared in years. It was a tough hike through heavy
brush. After a few miles of hiking we got to an area where Rickey said he had had a tree stand in the past by several beaver ponds. We continued to hunt and hike all morning and even though we saw lots of moose sign we did not get any response to our call. Again we returned to camp after about five miles of hiking for a late lunch. That evening we took the road south out of camp and hiked and hunted down to the river. The weather was in the high 80s and the moose were just not interested in our calls. Day Three: On day three we return to the area where we called in the moose the first day. When we got to the beaver pond area where Rickey had set up the tree stand, Rob suggested that one of us should stay there while the other one continued to still hunt with Rickey. Rob stayed in the tree stand and Rickey and I continued on to another area that had more beaver ponds. Beaver ponds and moose just seem to go together. Ricky and me listening for a moose to respond to cow calls When we got to these ponds Rickey called and a moose responded with a grunt about 400 yards away across the pond. Rickey showed me where to setup near a trail along the pond and he retuned back to the other end and setup a cow moose decoy and began to call. The moose would grunt but did not show any signs of coming to the call. Then Rickey made a grunt call and thrashed some bushed like a bull moose. This upset the moose and you could hear him making his way our way grunting and thrashing brush. He sounded mad and ready to fight the bull who had invaded his kingdom. I could not see him but if he continued on his current path he should cross right in front of me. I was on my knees hidden in some pine trees. As the moose approached I heard a stick snap just a few yards behind me. I wondered if maybe there were now two moose coming to the call. However the bull heard the sound too and I could tell he had changed his direction to the new sound. I could hear them just about 50 to 100 yards away. But they were not coming my way anymore. Soon Rickey showed up and asked me what was happening. I explained to him what was happening and he said it must have been a cow. We could hear them just yards away in the brush. Rickey had a shed antler we had found the previous day. He said to follow him closely with my bow ready for a shot and we were going to challenge the bull. He held the antlers over his head and we slowly went after the bull into the brush grunting and thrashing brush trying to challenge the bull to a fight. We came to a small clearing and even though we could not see the moose we could see the brush moving that he was thrashing. Rickey said for me to kneel there and he slipped back to the other side of the clearing to also thrash brush trying to call it out for a fight. However the cow moose busted us and took the bull with her. Rickey pushed me in front of him into the brush after the bull, but they were gone. We continued with the pursuit and the cow crossed a large meadow. Rickey was sure the bull would follow but we heard him going the other way. The hunt was soon over. We returned to where Rob was. He had already left the tree stand to return to the truck. When we
met up he told us that he had heard a bear bed down in the grass near his stand, just out of his sight. We had seen grizzly sign of a sow and cub in the area and needless to say it made him nervous to climb down from his tree stand knowing a bear was in the area. That evening we returned to the area where we had heard the moose on the first evening and hunted the area around the pond. Rickey described the area as moose heaven. There was bull moose sign everywhere with deep paths in the heavy moss made by moose. Trees torn up and several fresh moose scrapes. However we did not have any moose reply to our calls. It was just too hot, near a record 88 degrees. continued to call to the bull. At times I wondered we had another hunter calling instead of a cow moose. We made a large circular path thought the woods and soon arrived back where the truck was parked. After a short rest Rob says to me you want to know the bad news, we have to climb that hill again, and soon we were hiking back up the hill to another beaver pond area and beyond. It soon just became miserably hot and we stripped to our tee shirts and returned on the long hike back to the truck. That evening we went to an area where the elk hunters had seen a moose and then on to a long hike down toward some lakes that looked like good moose habitat. At dusk we had a moose respond to our calls with several grunts, but he was not interested in coming in. It was just too hot. Beaver pond Day Four: On day four we again drove about 10 miles from camp and parked by a pipeline cut. We hiked up the pipeline cut up a steep continuous hill. After we had hiked for quite a way we heard a bull moose grunt. We set up and tried to call it in. After several minutes of calling it was evident it was not coming to our calls, so we decided to try to get closer. Soon we realized that the bull had a cow moose with it and either she was taking him away from us. The cow moose was calling too just like us. As we continued to try to get closer and she Pipeline cut where we hunted Day Five: This was our last day to hunt. Time was running out. Rickey liked the Rut heaven area where we had hunted on two evening hunts. The sign was fresh and it was obvious there was a bull moose tearing the area up. We still hunted through the mossy area where we heard a bull moose grunt. It sounded close. Rob and I set up and Rickey set up the cow moose decoy once again. It looked like it was finally going to happen. But after several grunts
the moose became uninterested and just disappeared. It was just too hot and the moose were just not interested. Evidently they were making all of the moose sign during the night when it was cooler. That evening we needed to make it happen. Rick senior would go with me and call from beneath the tree stand at the beaver pond while the Rob would still hunt with Rickey. The evening was nice after the sun finally got behind some trees, but it was still hot. There was no activity until just before dusk when I heard some brush pop across the pond. Soon a small bull appeared. It first looked like he would come my way but instead he decided to stay on the other side of the pond 126 yards away. I was relieved he stayed on the other side so I was not temped to take a shot at a moose I really did not want to take home. Soon it was dark and the hunt was over. My view from the tree stand Conclusion: Even though we were not successful in getting a moose we had a fantastic hunt and I believe that if the weather had been more favorable we would have gotten the job done. We had potential of getting a moose each day of the hunt. The guide could not have tried harder and the camp, food and people were great. Overall it was a very successful hunt; we just did not get the trophy for the wall. The up side is hopefully we will do it again.