mjcmichigan
Handloader
- Dec 26, 2016
- 2,318
- 175
Bear tags In Michigan are hard to come by. 4-9 years is not shocking.
My 84 year old father in law hit the 2nd bear season this year. It started on 9/14.
At 84 years young, my father-in-law, added another item to his done that list. He's in the U.P. (secret location), Bear hunting over bait. The family is not worried about him bear hunting at 84 because he handles himself well and can run circles around many guys. We are thankful this year he had enough points to get a tag. Nothing puts more hop in his step than hunting and fishing. So midday on the fourth day of the hunt, he hears something between him and the bait. Hoping for the big bear he's waiting for..but no, instead, joining the game trail from a right angle, is a BIG BULL MOOSE. The moose looked up and down the gametrail, then locked eyes on the old man sitting on his bucket. It starts towards him and speeds up to a trot, and jumps a down spruce... at this point, Pops was past the oh nuts moment and he quickly scoots into a clump of big trees with his life and his rifle(99f in 308win). The moose did not try to take out the trees, but got danger close. He could smell the moose's breath. The moose towered over him. He realized at 6'2", the moose's back was a bit over 7' and was wet from a nearby body of water, except the top 10". The rack, he estimated at pushing 60". He did comment it was the fastest he's gotten off the bucket after hours of sitting. Speeding up the story, the moose eventually left, only to come back and take 2 more passes at him over the next hour. It left us wondering, will a Moose in Rut will run off bears in it's territory? We figured when he was sitting the moose probably thought he was a bear.
At this point, it's just a really memorable experience. If I was into golf, I’d say that counts as shooting your age. I hunt too, but am not expecting to encounter a moose in Michigan unless I go to Isle Royal. We are all happy he survived another episode in the wild, and are hoping he fills his tag before the bad weather sets in. He says if it happens again, he'll think to get pictures. This wasn't something you can plan on. I doubt he slept as excited as he was.
Happy Hunting!
P.s. no moose hunts in Michigan. Herd is stuck at 700 due to brain worm and habitat.
P.s.s.he does have bears coming in, just waiting for the right one...
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
My 84 year old father in law hit the 2nd bear season this year. It started on 9/14.
At 84 years young, my father-in-law, added another item to his done that list. He's in the U.P. (secret location), Bear hunting over bait. The family is not worried about him bear hunting at 84 because he handles himself well and can run circles around many guys. We are thankful this year he had enough points to get a tag. Nothing puts more hop in his step than hunting and fishing. So midday on the fourth day of the hunt, he hears something between him and the bait. Hoping for the big bear he's waiting for..but no, instead, joining the game trail from a right angle, is a BIG BULL MOOSE. The moose looked up and down the gametrail, then locked eyes on the old man sitting on his bucket. It starts towards him and speeds up to a trot, and jumps a down spruce... at this point, Pops was past the oh nuts moment and he quickly scoots into a clump of big trees with his life and his rifle(99f in 308win). The moose did not try to take out the trees, but got danger close. He could smell the moose's breath. The moose towered over him. He realized at 6'2", the moose's back was a bit over 7' and was wet from a nearby body of water, except the top 10". The rack, he estimated at pushing 60". He did comment it was the fastest he's gotten off the bucket after hours of sitting. Speeding up the story, the moose eventually left, only to come back and take 2 more passes at him over the next hour. It left us wondering, will a Moose in Rut will run off bears in it's territory? We figured when he was sitting the moose probably thought he was a bear.
At this point, it's just a really memorable experience. If I was into golf, I’d say that counts as shooting your age. I hunt too, but am not expecting to encounter a moose in Michigan unless I go to Isle Royal. We are all happy he survived another episode in the wild, and are hoping he fills his tag before the bad weather sets in. He says if it happens again, he'll think to get pictures. This wasn't something you can plan on. I doubt he slept as excited as he was.
Happy Hunting!
P.s. no moose hunts in Michigan. Herd is stuck at 700 due to brain worm and habitat.
P.s.s.he does have bears coming in, just waiting for the right one...
Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
