Moose Country 001

It is always a good day when you can spend time outdoors. A foggy morning in the fall is even better. The colors, the smells, the sounds of wildlife can restore your mental well-being.

MooseCountry

Moose Country 002

I got to experience that this week during a morning of moose calling with a friend of mine Travis Novitsky. We followed an old logging trail into moose country before sunrise. Started calling next to a clear cut overlooking a cedar and tamarack bog. It was such a calm morning that sounds traveled for great distances. My calls echoed across the opening. About fifteen minutes into calling we hear a moose crashing through the trees his antlers clanking on tree branches. We never were able to entice him out of the fog and soon there was silence.

MooseCountry

Spider Web

We continued down the trail to a second clear cut. Hundreds of spider webs were covered in dew making each strand look like a beaded necklace.

MooseCountry

Moose Calling

After taking pictures of the spider webs, we started calling again but weren’t expecting any action so we stood right out in the open and started talking to each other. I asked Travis if he would take a photo of me with the fog in the background. When finished he quickly pointed towards the pine trees behind me. I think he said something like “Moose” and I shouted back “What”. I hadn’t even noticed that a moose was working his way towards us walking right out of the fog. It was one awesome sight. The moose had been standing in the fog watching us. He came in completely silent. Not even snapping a twig.

MooseCalling

Bull Moose 001

We retreated to cover. I thought he was going to leave after seeing us but he just couldn’t resist the alluring calls of a cow moose. He walks to the top of the ridge about 75 yards from us.

BullMoose001

Bull Moose 002

We get to watch and photograph him for about 10 minutes before he decides we don’t look like a cow. Using my voice and a fiberglass megaphone I am imitating the sounds that a cow moose would make. It’s the sound that attracts the bulls in fall when they are in rut and it works.

BullMoose005

Bull Moose 003

I have been fortunate enough to have called in over a dozen bulls in the last few years. Each one is thrilling and definitely gets your heart a pumping, but this encounter was one of those memorable experiences that will last a lifetime.

BullMoose002

Moose Country 003

We continued down the logging road and encounter an even larger bull in pursuit of a cow. They head for thick cover and that is the last we see of them. We tried calling but since he had the real thing he wasn’t about to answer my calls.

Just down the trail we try calling again. One more encounter with a bull crossing the road in front of us. This one might have been the same bull we saw earlier. He goes into the thick cover and lays down. Nether one of us are bold enough to walk into the woods to get any closer.

In two hours on this beautiful foggy fall morning we have encounters with five moose. Outdoor adventures don’t get much better than that. On average though it is one in about ten times calling that it turns out successful at calling one in.

MooseCountry