Big Game
A Moose Hunting No-No
By Ron Spomer
It’s pretty obvious what’s going on in this picture. My young guide is roping up a moose so we can drag it out of the beaver pond in which I should never have shot it.
Most folks, even first-time moose hunters, know they shouldn’t shoot a bull in the drink. I was no exception. But this bull came to me on the last day of a long hunt in British Columbia. It was my last chance. And it was no more than a mile from camp where we had horses waiting to haul out the meat. But that was still no excuse for shooting it in the pond.
We saw the bull as we were hiking to an overlook. One minute there were trees and rain falling in the pond — the next instant there was a dark brown moose feeding in the water no more than 80 yards away. I’d already shot four moose over the years, and each of them took a long time to expire. A couple acted as if they didn’t even know they’d been shot. So I figured this one would turn at the shot and run to the closest shore, the one with the forest cover in which to hide. The one we were standing on.
I figured wrong. Instead he waded farther into the pond, eventually reaching the sedges on the far side before giving up the ghost. The horses and three more young helpers from the main camp made the recovery rather easy. Still, it took five of us plus the horse to roll him onto shore. If I’d been by myself or with one partner, we’d probably still be out there. The meat, as always, was incredible.
Next time you get a chance to shoot a moose in a pond, don’t.
Oh, I used a 4.5-pound custom Kifaru rifle in .300 WSM shooting 165-grain Swift Sciroccos, the most powerful cartrige I’ve ever employed on moose. It was no more nor less effective than the smallest. Moose aren’t hard to put down. It just takes a while. Locals in the north take them routinely with .223 Rems.