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Topic Started: Oct 23 2011, 09:44 PM (1,306 Views)
Posted Image Rick Teal
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For the first time, a group I've been part of has gone on a calf-only hunt and connected. This year (as usual) there were only two of us, but on wednesday evening, my buddy Pat was sitting in a tree stand when a cow went by. He was regretting his bad luck when a second (much smaller) moose went by as well. After weighing all the features he decided it was a calf and shot.

The calf dropped and the cow stopped. Then he heard a noise to his right and a large bull was standing looking at him. After a bit the bull moved toward the cow, and then another noise announced the arrival of two more palmated bulls that were clearly smaller than the first guy and subordinate. These two spent a little time sparring, before the remaining four moose moved off.

After an evening that included some celebration, the next day dawned in a heavy rain (all week had been mostly rainy). We hung close to camp waiting for a break, when it eased up near evening. Pat and I decided to take short walks in opposite directions. When I was just a short distance from camp, the sound of a shot and a radio message that went something like "Rick: I think I've done it again." announced the end of our moose season.

This time the calf came into a clearing a short distance from camp, and Pat was weighing its haracteristics to see if it was a calf or not when the cow stepped into the clearing removing all doubt. A quick shot took this calf down as well. During our 3+ days of hunting we saw 10 moose and 1 bear. Pat saw 8 moose and I saw 2 plus the bear.

With the bear, I may be kicking myself for years for passing on it. I was looking for a trophy animal, and this very large one appeared across a beaver meadow tuesday evening. It never looked straight in my direction so I could evaluate the skull. I thought I'd have another chance when it went behind a small stand of evergreens, but it didn't come into the open again.

It was a very large animal, and the head looked small which is often the indicator of a trophy bear, but the ear placement and forehead are the critical items and I never saw them clearly.

Maybe I'll see him during the deer hunt.

It would have easily been my largest bear ever by body size. If I'd been more familiar with bear it may have been an easier decision for me to make.

If I'd shot it though, our 3+ mile trip out of the bush with two ATV's and two small trailers would have been much more interesting with a large bear and two moose.

One thing for sure is we could have used a couple more pairs of hands handling the beasts we had.

Here (hopefully) is a picture of Pat posing with his moose.


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Posted Image forkhorn


Way to go :cheers: A calf each is damn good ;)
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Posted Image Norma
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Congrats. :cheers: You will both eat well this winter.
Moe
"Only a dead fish goes with the flow"
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Posted Image dobber
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congrats
condescending twat
Someone who looks down on other people and is beyond arrogant
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Posted Image swampdogger
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congrat's, i don't know about the one on the left,look's aweful big compared to the one on the right,we also got 2 calf's , but no where near the size of the one on the left. Did you guy's get checked by M.N.R.?
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Renegade
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Congratulations. Yes the moose on the left looks very big. The calf on the right is further away and strung up higher and there can be large differences in calf size.
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Posted Image Archer Ontario
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Archer Ontario, Kingston Ont

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wardens made us take the calf tag off this moose and put a bull tag on it in 08 as they called it a yearling later i had the jaw aged and it was a yearling


must be very very careful one of those moose looks awful big
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Posted Image alf
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Bowmanville/Haliburton

Congrats Rick, :cheers:
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Posted Image baydog
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Congrats!
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Posted Image baydog
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Archer Ontario
Oct 24 2011, 06:17 PM
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wardens made us take the calf tag off this moose and put a bull tag on it as they called it a yearling later i had the jaw aged and it was a yearling


must be very very careful one of those moose looks awful big

Was it with a cow when you shot it?
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Posted Image Rick Teal
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swampdogger
Oct 24 2011, 05:59 PM
congrat's, i don't know about the one on the left,look's aweful big compared to the one on the right,we also got 2 calf's , but no where near the size of the one on the left. Did you guy's get checked by M.N.R.?

I've received a few comments on this.

Both were bull calves having unerupted nubbins about 1 1/2 inches long.

The one in the foreground is against a black tree and appears thicker from top to bottom than it actually is. Look carefully and you can see the stomach line of it curving to the left.

We halved both moose from front to back so they'd fit in the small trailers - which they did with ease. There was very little difference in size, but the darker one in the foreground may have been a little larger.

Pat is standing in a slight depression, making the animals seem even larger.

The only problem is with my photography.

Besides, two crippled up old farts like us couldn't handle halved adult animals the way we did - and I've seen and handled enough calves to know the difference..
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Impact
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Congratulations on your successful hunt!


<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>Life is too short to spend it indoors!</span>
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Posted Image Tony Scavo
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Congrats.......... Very hard to do thease days.. :allright:
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Posted Image Rick Teal
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Guess What!!!

I had a visit from a CO tonight when I got back from the gun show (which went great by-the-way). He had a copy of the picture I'd posted with this story, and wanted details of the moose hunt.

I happened to still have the jaws which I turned over to him (the check station guy didn't keep them), and gave him Pat's phone number.

I'm guessing that someone on one of the boards I posted this on decided that I didn't know what I was talking about when I said these were calves (I shot my first calf 45 years ago), and decided to play cop and complain to the MNR.

We're surrounded by idiots.
Hunting is Exciting!
Bolt Actions are BORING!!
Don't Mix the Two!!!
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Posted Image alf
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Bowmanville/Haliburton

Too bad, not fair to judge on just a pic, when the calves are hanging in 2 different positions.
Congrats once again on a couple of nice calves Rick. :cheers:
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Posted Image baydog
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Too bad, puts an unwarranted damper on an otherwise great hunt. Let us know how you make out.
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Posted Image Rick Teal
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As an additional note, we have rarely been able to weigh animals in our camp. A few years ago, one of the guys shot a bull calf that weighed 265 field dressed. The butcher charged us for cutting 189 pounds after the head, hide and legs were removed. The butcher charged us for cutting 182 and 162 for these moose - same ballpark.

Hunting is Exciting!
Bolt Actions are BORING!!
Don't Mix the Two!!!
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Posted Image Rick Teal
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Archer Ontario
Oct 24 2011, 06:17 PM
wardens made us take the calf tag off this moose and put a bull tag on it in 08 as they called it a yearling later i had the jaw aged and it was a yearling


must be very very careful one of those moose looks awful big

Archer Ontario:

I meant to reply to your post earlier.

I may have had the problem your guy did. By size it looks a lot like a calf. Closer examination leads me to observe that the snout is longer than is normal on a calf, but in the heat of the moment, who knows.

I've missed many chances at calves since the calf law came in because I couldn't make up my mind soon enough that the animal was indeed a juvenile - this happens when you hunt the thick stuff.
Hunting is Exciting!
Bolt Actions are BORING!!
Don't Mix the Two!!!
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you posted the pics on-line, you shouldnt complain at the added attention. More people should complain to the mnr, we police our sport because there are plenty of people taking advatage of the few mnr on the roads. Congrats on the moose.
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You only have a short time to field judge an animal. If there are mature moose around you use them to compare the smaller ones too. Calves come in all sizes twin animals tend to be smaller then single calves. If you go down the check list to identify a calf and you feel it is a calf you shoot. Its a tough call if there is a runt yearling.. you wouldn't be thinking that. Its easy to pick it apart after the fact and using the jaw to age it after its down is to late in IMO. Its pretty hard to identify the difference between the two animals... I would be thinking calf too. Even the one Archer Ontario got. I have shot a few yearling bulls and they usually have spikes at least. Pretty hard to see thoose numbs 100 yards away :yikes:
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Found
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Rick Teal
Oct 30 2011, 04:21 PM
Guess What!!!

I had a visit from a CO tonight when I got back from the gun show (which went great by-the-way).  He had a copy of the picture I'd posted with this story, and wanted details of the moose hunt. 

I happened to still have the jaws which I turned over to him (the check station guy didn't keep them), and gave him Pat's phone number. 

I'm guessing that someone on one of the boards I posted this on decided that I didn't know what I was talking about when I said these were calves (I shot my first calf 45 years ago), and decided to play cop and complain to the MNR.

We're surrounded by idiots.

So what was the verdict from the MNR? Was it a calf or not?
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Posted Image baydog
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Rick Teal
Oct 30 2011, 04:21 PM
I'm guessing that someone on one of the boards I posted this on decided that I didn't know what I was talking about when I said these were calves (I shot my first calf 45 years ago), and decided to play cop and complain to the MNR.


Could be, but I think MNR likely lurks on these boards. I know I would if I were a CO. Who knows, it puts a damper on a great hunt though....
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Posted Image Rick Teal
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Found
Dec 30 2011, 10:21 AM
Rick Teal
Oct 30 2011, 04:21 PM
Guess What!!!

I had a visit from a CO tonight when I got back from the gun show (which went great by-the-way).  He had a copy of the picture I'd posted with this story, and wanted details of the moose hunt. 

I happened to still have the jaws which I turned over to him (the check station guy didn't keep them), and gave him Pat's phone number. 

I'm guessing that someone on one of the boards I posted this on decided that I didn't know what I was talking about when I said these were calves (I shot my first calf 45 years ago), and decided to play cop and complain to the MNR.

We're surrounded by idiots.

So what was the verdict from the MNR? Was it a calf or not?

Neither of us have heard a word, so my assumption is that they aged the jaws, realized they were calves, and decided to let the matter drop.
Hunting is Exciting!
Bolt Actions are BORING!!
Don't Mix the Two!!!
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Posted Image baydog
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Rick Teal
Dec 30 2011, 12:24 PM
Found
Dec 30 2011, 10:21 AM
Rick Teal
Oct 30 2011, 04:21 PM
Guess What!!!

I had a visit from a CO tonight when I got back from the gun show (which went great by-the-way).  He had a copy of the picture I'd posted with this story, and wanted details of the moose hunt. 

I happened to still have the jaws which I turned over to him (the check station guy didn't keep them), and gave him Pat's phone number. 

I'm guessing that someone on one of the boards I posted this on decided that I didn't know what I was talking about when I said these were calves (I shot my first calf 45 years ago), and decided to play cop and complain to the MNR.

We're surrounded by idiots.

So what was the verdict from the MNR? Was it a calf or not?

Neither of us have heard a word, so my assumption is that they aged the jaws, realized they were calves, and decided to let the matter drop.

What a waste of time.........
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