Outfitter Hunt in Alberta Canada 2011

On October 29, 2011(6:30AM) I flew out of the Albany, New York airport headed to Spokane,WA.where I was to meet up with my son, Gary T. Lester, he lives in Moscow,ID. We were going on a ten day guided combo hunt in Canada, it was to start on November 1st and run through November 10th. As we drove back to my sons house we talked about the upcoming trip to Canada. We had planned on loading up the truck and departing Moscow on October 30th, drive half way (6 hr's), spend the night at a motel in Canada and meet up with our outfitter the next day, after another 6 hr's of driving, we bought our license and tag's and head into camp. Once we arrived at camp we went to the range and made sure our rifles were on target, I was using my T/C 30.06 cal. w/165 gr. ballistic tips, there were no problems from the long trip that we had traveled. We spent the rest of the day hanging out at the camp and meeting the other hunters(4) that were also there. We were all on combo hunts, three for moose and deer and three for whitetail and mule deer. Three of the hunters were from WI. and one from GA.

Day#1 November 1, 2011 Opening morning, Up at 5AM, cool outside, mid teens, couple of inches of snow on the ground, guides arrived at camp about 5:45 AM and we were off. Saw quite a few whitetail and a few moose during the morning and afternoon hunts but nothing worth shooting, after all, it was only the first day of a ten day hunt.

Day#2 November 2, 2011 same as day #1 but getting more interesting, seeing more game, a few mule deer (does), bucks are not in the rut so they are staying in the thick cover. When I was here in 2006 on a whitetail and mule deer hunt, I saw quite a few bucks and took a 170 muley, but not this year. I think it is due to the logging that had taken place earlier in the year and the rut hasn't kick in yet.

Day #3 November 3, 2011 we were up at 5AM, outside temperature at the time was 18 degrees (F), our guides arrived around 6AM and we were out the door and on our way. During the morning hunt I saw several moose, there were three bull's together, one partially in the open and the other two in the tree line. My guide said they were to far away for a shot and that we would have to get closer for a shot. We close the gap some but they were still several hundred yards out and starting to move. My guide said that I should take a shot before they moved to far, I set up and shot, my guide said, you hit him, hit him again, I fired two more time and he said you hit him again, by then the moose had moved into the woods and out of sight. By the time we got to the wood line and checked out the area, there was no sign of the moose or any sign that I had hit him. This was my second moose hunt and the second time that I had missed my chance at a moose, I was pretty down by this time. The guide said, "there has to be a reason why you missed that moose", I said yes,me! I thought back to the 2008 when I missed my first moose, I began to wondered if I would ever get one. I knew that it wasn't my rifle or anything like that, it was all me. Well enough of the down side, all hunters go through this at one time or another, i am sure of that.

When we returned to camp for lunch, the rest of the crew was there and we talked about the morning hunt and had our lunch. My son who had been hunting for whitetail told me that he had passed on a nice 5x5 in the morning. He knew that I was looking to shoot a 5x5 whitetail so he said I could hunt out of the tree stand he was in during the morning hunt. When we went out for the afternoon hunt I got into the tree stand that my son had been in, it was about 4:30 PM. I was only in the stand for about thirty mins. when two doe's came out to feed in the field that I was watching. The bucks were in full rut at this time of year and it wasn't ten minutes later when a buck came out of the woods and into the field. He started to chase one of the does. I put my binoculars on him, counted one side (5 points) and decided that, that was the one my son was talking about. I placed the cross hairs of my scope just behind his right shoulder and pulled the trigger of my 30.06. The buck was about seventy-five yard out in the field when I shot. He jumped into the air, kicked up his rear legs, humped up, put his tail down and took off. I watched him take off like he wasn't even hit, he went about twenty-five yards and did a nose dive right into the ground. A few minutes went by and I got down out of the ladder stand and headed to where I had shot at the deer. I checked the area and couldn't find any blood, by this time I was turned around and wasn't sure in which direction he had taken off towards. I knew I had hit him because i watched him pile up, it was starting to get dark and I was getting nervous because there are wolf's and grizzlies in the area and the buck would be consumed by morning or completely gone if I didn't find him. The outfitter said he had counted six grizzlies in the area this year and I had also saw one when I was hunting here in 2008. My son had also shot two wolf's prior to this hunt, one in 2006 and 2008 so I knew they were in the aea. We continued to search the area and my guide finally found him, he was about 30 yards from where I was standing, when I walked up to him I saw that the buck was only a 4x5, not a 5x5 like my son had mentioned. Once the buck was located we were able to back track his blood trail, he never started bleeding heavy until maybe two bounds before he piled up. When we got back to camp my son asked how I mad out, I told him about the buck and he came outside to look at him, one look and he said nope, thats not the one I saw this morning, the one I saw was a 5x5 and it had a bigger rack. I told him I was still happy with the one I got. No one ever did shoot the 5x5 that we know of, maybe I will see him this year(2012) when we go back to Canada, hope so.

Day #4 November 4, 2011, we were up by 5:AM, cloudy and 12 degrees outside, the guides arrived about 6:AM and we headed out. We were going back to the bog this morning, looking for moose again, this is a thirty minute ride by ATV, so you get pretty cold by the time you get there. It was just breaking daylight when we arrived at the bog, this bog is about three quarters of a mile across and several miles long with plenty of feed for the moose. This is the same bog where I saw the grizzly back in 2008, also triplet (3) bull moose traveling together, they were the same size with the same small racks. They were only about forty yards in front of us when they crossed the trail that we were on. I passed on these small moose, I thought, let them get bigger for next year, for someone else. It wasn't long after the three moose left our area that we saw the grizzly, it appeared that he was following the three moose, maybe looking for his lunch. This grizzly came within one hundred yards of us but didn't even stop and check us out. My guide at the time said he was going to get behind me if the grizzly came our way, in Canada the guide can not carry a weapon, kind of a foolish law I would think. Now back to my present story: As we moved across the bog there wasn't a lot of action, there was some snow on the ground but the wind was quiet and you could hear anything if it was moving. It was about 8:40 AM when my guide said, there's two bull's to our left by the tree line. I looked in that direction but couldn't see them, I said, where are they, he said do you see that light brown spot, I said yes and finally could make the bulls out with my binoculars. The guide said you want the one that's looking at us, when he turns take him. I started to get nervous as the moose turned, my guide said to take my time, the moose wasn't going anywhere. Once the moose turned I placed the cross hairs of my scope just behind his left shoulder and fired. The bull dropped rite there in it's tracks but I didn't see it drop because of the cold weather,gun powder smoke and my breath all at the same time. I asked the guide, where did the moose go as I was expecting to have to take another shot or two, he said no where, he is down, I finally had my bull moose. As we walked up to my moose, he didn't move but he was still alive and you could hear the blood in his throat as it was making a gurgling sound. The guide said shoot him in the neck, I put the muzzle of my 30.06 near his neck and pulled the trigger. The moose shook and the guide said shoot him again, for the second time I fired point blank range at the moose. This time the moose laid still. It took us over one hour to get the moose back to camp from where he was shot, all with the help of a 4x4 ATV and snow on the ground so it was easy to drag. When the guides finally skinned my moose they retrieved the two bullets from the neck,on the opposite side of the neck from where I shot him. Neither bullet went out the other side of the neck and I have the two bullets to prove it. I never realized that a moose had that tough a hide.

Added note: this was my first Moose ever, shot at 230 yards, wt. was 800+ lbs, and spread was 46"!

Day #5 November 5, 2011 Up at 5:AM, cool outside, mid teens, out the door around 6:30 AM with our guide, this day would be spent scouting for mule deer. This whole day was kind of a bust because the mule deer bucks are not in the rut as I stated previously in this story. We hunted hard but didn't have any luck finding a decent buck. We did see several bucks but they were small, 1 spike and 1 2x2, nothing I wanted to shoot. I was real happy with the whitetail and moose that I had already harvested. I wasn't in any hurry to fill my mule deer tag unless a decent one showed up, as I still had five more days to hunt.

Day #6 November 6, 2011 I was up at 5:am, still cool outside but most of the snow was gone, I just hung out at the camp, drinking coffee until 7:AM when my guide showed up. We covered a lot of area but didn't see much for mule deer this morning, it wasn't cold enough to make them move around and feed nor were there a lot of does out and about. We went back to camp,had lunch and hung out for a couple of hours. My guide and I went back out around 3:PM and around 4:05 PM we spotted a decent buck right at the edge of the woods,when he put his head down to feed you couldn,t even see him. He would not turn sideways so I could get a shot off,my guide said when he lifts his head again shoot just below the white spot on his chest. I had ranged the deer and he was only 107.5 yards out when he lifted his head the second time I pulled the trigger, he dropped in his tracks and my hunt was over. I tagged out in six days and was a happy camper.

I now look forward to our hunt in November, back to Alberta, Canada with my son. Grease Creek Outfitters is a great place to hunt and everyone treats you like family while you are there.

I Would like to take this time to thank God for our successful harvest of game, I tagged out with a Moose, a Whitetail deer and a Mule deer, my son Gary T. also harvested a Moose (52") and a nice Whitetail W/10" G-2's. Special thanks goes to my son who made this trip possible by his generosity. Thanks a million,until next time!