The 2008 Moose Hunt is over

Once again New Brunswick moose hunters have had a very successful season.Although the season is quite short at three day's,the weather leading up to the hunt was perfect.The temperature dipped down to the freezing mark for three days leading up to the hunt and this seemed to have triggered those big bulls into the rutting mode.I was very pleased to see some great bulls harvested this year,even though we were shut out of tags.Ken travelled to his cousins place to help them on their hunt and they harvested a young four pt. bull.Although their moose did not measure up to the one's in the photo's in this post,their moose will be great eating.As I told one hunter who was registering a young bull,any moose is a good moose,during this short hunt.Moose cover large territories and they can be here today and gone tomorrow,especially when all the hunters head for the woods at the same time while setting up their camps.Some hunters concentrate on one area and sometimes one specific moose,while others try to cover as much ground as possible in a short time.Both methods have advantages and disadvantages and the two moose shown in the photo's were each taken by the two different methods,so as you can tell by the size of these trophies,both ways of hunting work well at times.The large eighteen pt.on the trailer was taken by Ben Caissie of Bronson.Steven, if you are reading this out there in B.C.,your Dad was one happy camper after downing this great animal.This is not the first trophy bull old Ben has knocked over,along with pleny of nice deer through the years.Ben told me his last bull weighed in at eleven hundred lbs.and he thought this one would rival that bull in weight.But the DNR no longer weighs the moose when they are registered.They apply a formula by taking a measurement of the nose and estimate the weight of the moose.Sometimes this method does get a good estimate,but in Ben's case,he figures DNR's estimate fell short at seven hundred pounds.I have to agree with Ben.This was one very large bull!The bull pictured in the half-ton truck was taken by Phillip Roy of Minto.This bull is a true trophy,with a great rack that wiil take its place of honour on Phillip's camp wall beside the mount of a tremendous buck he took a few years back.These two fine bulls are just a sampling of the trophies taken in the first two days of the season.I saw at least four other bulls of this calibre on the first day of the hunt while making the short drive from Chipman to Doaktown.Although there is some controversy each year about the native hunt,which usually takes place the week before the regulated hunt,DNR has managed to increase our moose herd to the point where their numbers are starting to become a nuisance in some areas.According to Sterling C.,our liason man at DNR,there were approximately twenty-five moose registered at the cache in Chipman this season.So a tip of the hat to our NB DNR for doing a tough job and making it work. On a different topic,we are getting the rain we have been waiting for,but I don't think we needed quite that much.This will move the fall salmon up the rivers and will provide some great angling opportunities in the coming weeks.We have a large group coming in for the duck hunt on Oct.1 and we should have some good shooting by the looks of things.It seems our grouse numbers are down this year.I predicted our prolonged cool wet spring would take a toll on the chicks and it appears to have done so.But there will still be enough around to provide some good shooting,so don't let the lower numbers stop you from getting out there.Ken and I have been seeing some really good buck sign while setting out baits and placing stands.If the weather stays good,it should be a banner year for those big old Northern Whitetails.Ken and I can hardly wait to get our sports out there to knock over some of these big boys that usually just perish in the big woods and are never seen again. Until next time,keep the wind in your face and go slowly! We hope to see you out there soon!