Email this page
Print this page
del.icio.us
digg
In my July 2005 Woods & Waters column I wrote: “I’ve resigned myself, after applying for 20 years, that the likelihood of being granted the opportunity to hunt moose in Maine is equivalent to that of winning Powerball.
Well, my number finally came up. My moose application subpermittee called me seconds after the winners were posted on the Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife website in mid-June and informed me I had been drawn for a bull permit in Wildlife Management District 28 (WMD) for the week of October 8–13. My first reaction was shock, and then elation, and finally the realization that I had better start planning right away.
A moose hunt is hardly your typical bird or deer hunt; it requires significantly more preparation and expense. Taking time off from work is required. Lodging needs to be secured in the area to be hunted and it’s wise to employ a knowledgeable and experienced guide. A trailer is mandatory to cart an ATV and to hopefully haul a big bull to the checking station. Past experience as part of a moose-hunting entourage has proven the need for a chain saw, electric winches, a cable come-along, and more. A butcher will have to be contacted and reserved for meat processing and a taxidermist for a mount if desired.
Things immediately started to fall into place and the stage has been set. I am self-employed, so there’s no real problem finding the time. It just so happens that my hunting buddy subpermittee is also a Maine Guide, and owns a trailer and a comfortable camp within driving distance of WMD 28. Another friend guides for bear and moose specifically in that area and has assured me he will be available to help us for several days that week. (He refuses to take any payment, but I hope to make that up to him by filling his freezer.) Winches and other moose-removal paraphernalia have been gathered or are in the process of being secured. And at the risk of jinxing my hunt, I’ve even made reservations with a butcher and a taxidermist.
But none of the above will be of any consequence without the right weapon for the job. In my case, this is an opportunity to break out an old rifle that has been passed down through my family, a circa-1930s, Savage Model 99 in the venerable .300 Savage load. It was first carried in the Maine woods by my half Mic Mac Indian great-grandfather Adwin Dow from Calais. His son, my great-uncle Clarence, was next in line to draw a bead on big game with this rifle, out of a one-room hunting camp in Waite. It stayed in the possession of my great-aunt Ruth for the longest duration and gathered little dust, since this sharp-shooting Maine woodswoman accounted for her share of deer and even bear. When it was handed down to me upon her passing, the bluing on the receiver was worn to a silver patina by generations of my ancestors and the wood stock bore the scars of many Maine hunts. My only capitulation to technology was mounting a scope due my over-40’s eyesight. I have other deer rifles, and could borrow a newer, and some might argue better suited, weapon for an animal the size of a moose, but none would possess the history of this gun. This marriage of steel and wood carries the mojo passed on by ghosts of the past and is destined to get the nod for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hunt a Maine bull moose.
As I sit here typing this column, my mind wanders to somewhere deep in the Maine woods where a bull moose at this very moment is belly deep in a beaver pond grazing on his aquatic salad and shaking his head to rid himself of bothersome flies. His antlers are wide and palmated and he has rubbed off most of the velvet. Will our paths cross? Maybe it was meant for us to meet soon; maybe he’ll respond to a cow call and come crashing through an overgrown clear-cut to investigate, grunting from deep down in his chest; maybe the old Savage will bark and the shot will be true.
But, in reality, that final act is just a small part of the entire production that makes up a Maine moose hunt. I’m just fortunate to have finally been granted the opportunity and to be able to share it with good friends. In a sense, I’m bringing along some family members, too: great-grandpa Dow, great-uncle Clarence, and that ridge runner, great-aunt Ruth.
Brad Eden is an artist, writer, Registered Maine Master Guide, and owner/editor of the online magazine www.uplandjournal.com.
Well, my number finally came up. My moose application subpermittee called me seconds after the winners were posted on the Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife website in mid-June and informed me I had been drawn for a bull permit in Wildlife Management District 28 (WMD) for the week of October 8–13. My first reaction was shock, and then elation, and finally the realization that I had better start planning right away.
A moose hunt is hardly your typical bird or deer hunt; it requires significantly more preparation and expense. Taking time off from work is required. Lodging needs to be secured in the area to be hunted and it’s wise to employ a knowledgeable and experienced guide. A trailer is mandatory to cart an ATV and to hopefully haul a big bull to the checking station. Past experience as part of a moose-hunting entourage has proven the need for a chain saw, electric winches, a cable come-along, and more. A butcher will have to be contacted and reserved for meat processing and a taxidermist for a mount if desired.
Advertisement
Things immediately started to fall into place and the stage has been set. I am self-employed, so there’s no real problem finding the time. It just so happens that my hunting buddy subpermittee is also a Maine Guide, and owns a trailer and a comfortable camp within driving distance of WMD 28. Another friend guides for bear and moose specifically in that area and has assured me he will be available to help us for several days that week. (He refuses to take any payment, but I hope to make that up to him by filling his freezer.) Winches and other moose-removal paraphernalia have been gathered or are in the process of being secured. And at the risk of jinxing my hunt, I’ve even made reservations with a butcher and a taxidermist.
But none of the above will be of any consequence without the right weapon for the job. In my case, this is an opportunity to break out an old rifle that has been passed down through my family, a circa-1930s, Savage Model 99 in the venerable .300 Savage load. It was first carried in the Maine woods by my half Mic Mac Indian great-grandfather Adwin Dow from Calais. His son, my great-uncle Clarence, was next in line to draw a bead on big game with this rifle, out of a one-room hunting camp in Waite. It stayed in the possession of my great-aunt Ruth for the longest duration and gathered little dust, since this sharp-shooting Maine woodswoman accounted for her share of deer and even bear. When it was handed down to me upon her passing, the bluing on the receiver was worn to a silver patina by generations of my ancestors and the wood stock bore the scars of many Maine hunts. My only capitulation to technology was mounting a scope due my over-40’s eyesight. I have other deer rifles, and could borrow a newer, and some might argue better suited, weapon for an animal the size of a moose, but none would possess the history of this gun. This marriage of steel and wood carries the mojo passed on by ghosts of the past and is destined to get the nod for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hunt a Maine bull moose.
As I sit here typing this column, my mind wanders to somewhere deep in the Maine woods where a bull moose at this very moment is belly deep in a beaver pond grazing on his aquatic salad and shaking his head to rid himself of bothersome flies. His antlers are wide and palmated and he has rubbed off most of the velvet. Will our paths cross? Maybe it was meant for us to meet soon; maybe he’ll respond to a cow call and come crashing through an overgrown clear-cut to investigate, grunting from deep down in his chest; maybe the old Savage will bark and the shot will be true.
But, in reality, that final act is just a small part of the entire production that makes up a Maine moose hunt. I’m just fortunate to have finally been granted the opportunity and to be able to share it with good friends. In a sense, I’m bringing along some family members, too: great-grandpa Dow, great-uncle Clarence, and that ridge runner, great-aunt Ruth.
Brad Eden is an artist, writer, Registered Maine Master Guide, and owner/editor of the online magazine www.uplandjournal.com.
