Bowhunting.net
Return to Newfoundland - Pt 4
By Roy Goodwin
Nov 15, 2005, 04:34
We woke early this morning to the unmistakable sound of hard
rain on the roof. I find it real hard to
get “motivated” in the morning if it’s raining out. I don’t know if it’s my age, the miserable
weeks I’ve spent hunting in the rain in Alaska,
or the fact that I worry about blood trailing animals in the rain, but whatever
the cause I’d much rather sleep in on mornings like this! Not one to miss breakfast, however, I got
dressed and followed the gang to the dining building. The hot coffee made things feel better, and the
hot cakes, eggs, and bacon sure hit the spot.
It is obvious we won’t be loosing any weight on this trip!
Around the dining table we discussed where we would all be
hunting for the day. It seems the guides
pull the straws down at their cabin in the morning before they come to
breakfast, as they always have everything worked out by the time they sit down
at the table. Everything sounded good,
except the idea of going out there in the rain!
I know, I’m a pansy, but I just don’t like hiking around in the cold
rain all day, and besides I already have a nice stag! I told the other guys I’ll stay back today
and give them all a chance to catch up.
Kevin and Corey were the first to head out. They left in a boat, but weren’t planning to
go very far. There is a good spot for
moose not far from camp where a stream flows into the pond from a system of low
bogs. They planed to motor over to the
stream and walk in along it for a while calling as they went. Seemed like a good plan! Larry and Aubrey headed out on foot back to
an area they hunted yesterday. It’s a
good spot about forty minutes from camp where I’ve had a lot of close
encounters with moose in year’s past. We
wished them both luck, and stayed behind hoping the weather would break.
Just before lunch Larry arrived back at camp ready to sit by
a fire. The rain was slowing, and the
rest of us were getting a little “antsy” hanging around camp. By the time lunch was over we all decided it
was time for a walk and went and rounded up our guides. They were great about it. Actually they were willing to go out first
thing in the morning, the rain not withstanding. They didn’t seem to mind the rest however, as
well as the warm fire. In ten minutes we
were all off in various directions looking for moose and/or caribou.
Try as we might, we couldn’t find a moose that would answer
a call. We saw a few caribou, but
nothing worth chasing. The sun popped
out and the air was especially fresh after the rain. It was a great afternoon to be in the country
with or without a shot at anything! When
we worked our way back to camp just at dark we found most of the others had
beaten us back. Kevin and Corey had
returned minutes after we left and spent the afternoon beating the chill out of
their bones in front of the wood stoves.
They had heard moose, but not seen them.
Mark hadn’t seen any moose, but did chase a few decent stags. We had seen one cow moose, but there didn’t
appear to be a bull with her. Ron had
just arrived before us and had a story to tell.
He and Lee were a few miles behind camp and ran into some
caribou. They got on one group real
quick, without time to carefully glass the stags to judge antlers. Ron was behind a bush when antlers appeared
real close to his location. He took a
quick look and saw double shovels, back points, and a couple top points on each
side. Everything seemed even at first
glance, so he stopped looking at the rack, came to full draw, and picked a spot
as the stag walked from behind cover.
The arrow found its mark and the stag went but a short distance. Everything was great…except for the “ground
shrinkage”! While the stag had all the
points, the rack was very small and there was no way it would come close to the
record book qualifier he had in mind when he arrived. I reminded him there were three extra caribou
tags in camp, so he could keep trying if he so desired.
 |
| Ron Rockwell with second day stag |
A short time later a very tired, but excited, Larry tramped
into camp. Seems he had all the good
luck today. They found a herd of caribou
bedded on a gentle hillside and made a stalk.
When Larry got fairly close the stag he was after stood giving him a
broadside opportunity at just about fifty yards. Larry had used Aubrey’s bow the first day, as
his didn’t make it to Gander
with everything else, however the float plane had delivered his own bow before
lunch and he was comfortable shooting out to fifty yards. The arrow flew true and the stag wandered off
seriously wounded. Just as his stag
started away, two much larger stags got up from their beds and ran out to about
fifty yards. Larry remembered that there
were extra tags in camp, and couldn’t hold himself back from taking a second
shot. The second arrow also flew true
and both caribou expired in a short distance, and in sight. The trouble was neither Larry nor his guide
wanted to be hiking back with fully loaded packs in the middle of the night, so
they left the animals until morning.
Larry was really pumped however and kept looking at the antlers from my
stag saying his were “much” bigger! I
don’t know how he’ll sleep tonight, but we all wished him well and got ready to
turn in for the night. Most of us will
go hunting tomorrow, but Larry will be capeing and humping trophies back to
camp. I almost feel sorry for him….well
I said “almost”!
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