The Nuse MooseBent over, I ran up on the skidder road hoping to intersect the moose before she got in the tangle of a clear cut on the far side. That is when I heard the beating of hooves. Oh no, had I spooked her. Listening intently, the hooves were a bit to regular. What is it about hunting that gets a guy who has hunted for 48 years and killed all kinds of critters, that gets his heart pounding so hard that it would sound like a 600 lb moose on the run. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Like all hunts, to be successful you have to do your homework. The number one factor is to hunt where the critters are. For big guys like moose who live in big country that means lot's for foot work. But first you want to narrow down the possibilities. Using my extensive network of local informants (eg the local retired game warden) I located a hot spot for moose near the Conn river on paper company land. I spent nearly a week learning the log roads and scouting for sign. Combining that with a good topo map, compass and GPS sped up the learning curve a lot.

But how did it happen that Vermont had moose to hunt in 2008? When I started as a game warden in 1971, moose had just started to show up in the area I was hunting on the NH Quebec corner of Vermont. They had been gone from the state since before 1900. Wiped out by unregulated hunting, and land clearing on a massive scale. In 1875 sportsmen got together and formed the Vermont Federation of Sportsmen's clubs. They pushed for game laws and wardens to enforce the laws, hoping to bring back deer, moose, beaver and trout. Vermont was 85 % open land, brooks were still chocked with sawdust from the stripping of the mountains and seeing a deer track was a big event. Thru the hunter's efforts deer and beaver were imported from Maine and NY and game laws passed. In 1904 the VT Fish and Game Service was created with a professional commissioner and paid game wardens. Gradually the clear cuts regenerated, hill farms turned to brush and the poachers were brought under control. By the mid '60's moose started filtering in from NH and Quebec. By then the deer herd had exploded under the bucks only laws and biologists predicted that the moose would be quickly infected with moose sickness caused by a brain worm that deer had with no ill effect but graduly killed moose. Heavy snow in '69 and 71 killed thousands of malnourished deer, especially in the NE kingdom allowing moose to expand. At the same time the paper companies were clear cutting the forest, creating huge patches of whipes that moose love, but with out the heavy softwood wintering areas, deer could not fully use. Al this fueled the explosion of moose. Over in my patrol area bull moose started showing up in the late '70's and causing problem s during the rut when they could not find any cow moose. They went for the next best thing, heafers and milk cows. They objected to farmers intruding on their love interests, so I was called in to mediate. I had some interesting times trying to keep both parties happy.1998 brought the first legal hunting season in over 100 years. 30 permits were issued and --- animals where taken. By then poachers were starting to shoot them, mistakenly thinking they compeated with deer and motorists were hitting them on the roads with disasters consiquenses for both moose and drivers. In 2008 over 1,000 permits were issued in nearly every area of Vermont. But back to the huntÉOpening day was c;ear and cold, Ingrid and I were in the woods in the near dark, headed toward a 15 year old clear cut that was full of fresh sign and trails. We didn't even make it to that location before coming onto a big fresh track in the frost. We tracked it thru some gnarly country for about 1/3 mile before I spotted a stump that upon closer examination had very big brown ears and started to lumber away. It turned out to be a good sized calf so we passed on the shot. About a 1/2 mile further we jumped a nice bull at the head of a beaver dam. Unfortunately, it was outside the area I had scouted and I didn't know how far it was to the nearest skidder road. One thing you don't want to do is kill a moose in a spot where you can't get it out. Ingrid had an OK shot, but we decided to passed. It turned out we were just down from a fairly recent clear cut and a passable skidder trail. Six miles later in the dark we headed back to camp tired but happy. The next two days we managed to not run into a moose, but got in some fun tracking and saw lots of hilly, boggy wild country.Ingrid had to get to work on Tues and I had a Fish and Wildlife Board meeting to attend. So we left camp for the outside world. Next morning I met up with retired warden Bob Baird and we headed into the same area. It was a beautiful cold rainy day - perfect for moose and ducks. It also made for quiet walking and good hunting. 2 1/2 miles from the truck and 4 hrs later we spotted a nice cow browsing on whips at about 125 yards. With the binoculars I saw the butt of another moose, but only briefly. After a quick conference with Bob, I decided to move forward at an angle to get closer and get a better angle for a shot. Using a blow down for a rest, I started to aim and found that my scope was blurry with rain. So I wiped it down and started to squeeze the trigger. About then the cow decided the twigs were greener on the other side of the mountain and took a few steps into the brush, leaving me no clear shot.So I cut to my right at a low run to get ahead of her. That was when I thought I heard pounding hooves. I came up on a skidder road and took a few deep breaths to slow my heart down. A few moments later, she stepped up into the trail. At the shot she disappeared. Bob saw her go down but I didn't. As I ran forward I heard some bellowing, then saw a large moose heading up the hill at 100 yards. I nearly panicked thinking I had missed. Then I saw my moose kicking on the ground - what a relief. After a finishing shot and a lot of congratulations I tagged her and Bob helped me dress her off. It is pretty amazing to see a 600 lb animal up close. The paunch alone was nearly as small deer and just as heavy. When we hung the moose a few days later it stretched nearly 16 feet from hoof to nose. We turned out to only be .2 miles from the end of a 4 wheel drive road. Early the next morning I a hopped in with the skidder operator who lived about 5 miles away. We clunked up the road for a few miles, chained her to the blade, raised the blade and carried her down to my truck. Easier than shooting a deer.Two days latter she was all cut up and in the freezer! A great hunt in great country. The day of the kill would have been great with Randy's fill crew, but the 3 days before would have been terrible. Lots of the moose trails you could barely slip thu. How the bulls do it is beyond me.Any way - that is the rest of the story. If I can ever get it to you, I've got some great mild and tender meat for you and the rest of the gang.