| stand. I look behind hoping to see a bull following, but nothing was there. The big lone cow walked by my tree and I watched as she moved on down the creek. Dan had seen the same cow and followed it for a ways trying to get a better look to see if it was a small bull. Then he headed back to camp and put on some coffee. It was still raining and we were collecting rainwater for coffee. The creek is starting to rise so we marked a spot to keep track of the depth. We cut some small pieces of firewood and built a miniature fire pit just under our over hanging tarp. It�s 4 P.M., Steve and Loren should be in Fairbanks and getting their stuff ready for a trip in with Candy tomorrow. We decided to call off our evening hunt. It is pouring and we had about an inch rise in the creek in the last hour. Dan has decided to call it quits and spend the rest of his vacation with his family. I was hoping he�d stick around to get his first moose, but the moose weren�t moving much and he had to leave in a few days anyway. Saturday the 4th, Dan and I hunted the morning. We didn�t see anything. We had some coffee and hooked the trailers to the king quads and headed for the gravel pit. Candy, Steve and Loren arrived in the gravel pit at around noon. Dan loaded the bronco and headed for home. Candy and I led an excited Steve and Loren back into our camp. We had another two trailers full of supplies. Steve and Loren had brought some tree stands and wanted to get them in that night so we unpacked and headed upstream looking for some likely spots. The evening is clear and cold. Candy is cooking some sloppy Joes and Steve and Loren are panning for gold. Sunday the 5th, We went hunting this morning and no moose were spotted. It has started to rain this morning. The rain stopped by noon and we cooked some steak and potatoes for lunch over the open fire. With our bellies full we took a long nap. Steve and Loren took the 4 wheelers and went exploring up the mountain behind camp. It was quite a climb and we saw Loren tumble off his one time. They went out of sight and were gone a long time. They saw lots of moose sign but no moose. Loren took lots of pictures. We all went to our hunting spots and stayed till dark. Still we haven�t seen any moose except for the cow Dan and I saw earlier in the week. It�s clear and cold. Monday the 6th, We got up at 6 A.M. and it was 10 degrees with frost every where. We all went hunting. We didn�t see any moose. I did see a snow owl and 4 birds. The coffee is great as we are all a little cold this mid morning. Candy heated up some chili for lunch. We all went back out hunting and stayed till dark, no moose. We turned on the propane radiant heater to warm up the tent before going to bed. Tuesday the 7th, everyone got up and went out hunting this morning. It was hard to get out of bed this morning. It was another cold morning and we haven�t been seeing any moose. 11 A.M. and were all back in camp cooking powdered eggs and corn beef hash. We are eating good and having a good time camping. Two Army guys stopped by our camp. They were towing a couple of trailers and wanted to camp up stream from us. We let them know we had hunting stands in that area so they decided to go back to Poole creek and set up camp. They found out about our camp from a guy named Pat Murphy who was lost by our camp last year. He recommended our spot to them. It seems our secret spot is not so secret anymore. I left to go to my tree stand early. Steve and Loren left early to explore more upstream before going to their stands, Candy would hunt close to camp in her stand. Candy loved this spot and at first I couldn�t see why. I just couldn�t see a moose coming through there. She had seen several there last year and a friend named Fred bagged a big bull there last year so it is a good spot. Candy had to cut her hunt short and Fred came in to replace her. He shot a big bull off her tree stand a couple of days later. It was a nice evening and I was just enjoying sitting there, looking at the great view. My tree stand is between two mountain slopes that come close together so I can get a shot on both sides. I bagged a 30-inch bull in this spot last year. Candy and I had a great time harvesting that one, so this spot has allot of memories. It�s 5:30 P.M. and I spot a cow and a calf running down the mountain to my left. She is definitely upset and keeps changing direction to get what ever is following her off her trail. She came down the mountain and has run right by my tree stand, stopping and looking back several times. I kept looking to see what was following. Nothing is there. The calf is running right behind her, just like his nose is attached to her tail. It was amazing. I called Candy on the radio and told her to be alert. I am guessing grizzly bear? Several minutes go by and nothing shows up. I keep waiting to hear something from Candy. She had heard my message but didn�t know what I was talking about. Steve had heard me too. This year we can carry radio�s for safety purpose. Candy was alert and concerned. The evening went by and I kept watching the slope to my left. I started feeling a little foolish for the false alarm. At 9:00 P.M. I caught a movement on the slope to my left. I put my binoculars up to my eyes and there was a bull following the same trail as the cow and her calf. It looked like he had a big rack and would run and stop and smell and pick up the cow�s trail. It was dusk, and his white antlers really showed. I started doing the mental check. I released the safety and slowly located the bull. He was angling down the slope and there were a couple of good openings. He passed through the first when I finally realized he was going to follow that cow. I put the safety back on. The cow came close by earlier in the open area |
| HUNTING 1999 PAGE 2 |