Doug Crabtree -  2004 Canada Moose Bowhunt
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DAY #5
When we woke up the weather was 50 % and calm with fog on the lake. I could just feel that it was going it be a great morning for moose hunting. Owen, Coondog And I headed to Mon’s Lake before daylight. 

Dad was too tired due to Owens snoring and decided to sit this one out. We made it to our stands before sunrise and sat quiet letting things settle down before Owen started calling. 

At 7:45 Owen made his first set of Cow calls with no response. The bugs were not as bad as the day before but still let you know they were there. At 8:15 Owen again made a set of calls. 

As I listened closely, I thought I heard a grunt from a long way off from a bull from the north. Again I heard the distant echo of a bull. 

I told Owen that a bull had answered him and pointed in the direction it came from. The grunting continued. The bull was getting closer to us. 

In 10 minutes the bull was on the shoreline across the waterway from me. Coondog could also see the bull from his stand, as he stood motionless just along the edge of the lake.

Owen made a greeting cow call to the bull and he started working his way around the edge of the bank. Every step he took could be heard in the water. His grunting sounded like 2 bulls instead of one. It had a double tone sound. 

He crossed the waterway and was now just 50 yards in the pines to the north of my stand. I could see glimpses of him as he walked to the east. 

He wasn’t coming down the trail I was on but was circling towards Coondog. 

The bull stopped for a second and Owen again made a greeting cow call. The bull turned and headed straight for Coondog. I could see the trees moving as he forced his big horns through the brush. 

The bull went around Coondog and back in the water, but to the south of Coondog. The bull was on his way back to the north towards Coondog's shooting lane to the water. I had my fingers crossed that the bull wouldn’t bust him due to the wind blowing out of the north.
The bull stopped 10 yards from Coondog but so far he didn't have a clear shot.

The bull suddenly took one good whiff, turned and trotted away.  He had smelled us. 

Owen attempted to call him back in with no success. At 11:00 am we climbed out and headed for camp. Owen left after lunch and Coondog and I did our chores. All the bear baits were were hit except for one so it took some time re-baiting. 

Nap time.

The evening hunt was back at Dumbbell Lake due to what had happened at Mon’ Lake. We wanted to give it some time to cool off. The evening hunt was warm and the Black flies, Mosquitoes and no see-em’s were horrible. We hung in there but had no luck with Moose. Maybe Tomorrow.

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