A hunter from Idaho

Wayne,

I just wanted to give you an update on our moose hunting. The area we drew our moose tag here in Idaho was not the greatest for holding large amounts of moose and most of the moose we did see were branch antlered bulls (no palms), they looked more like elk antlers than moose.

I just wanted to write to you and thank you for the help your videos, calling techniques and Bull Magnet® helped us. Towards the end of Sept. is when we were concentrating on our moose hunt since we had decided to only take a moose with archery equipment we were trying to get in on the beginning of the rut before the general rifle season started. Our plan worked out well since we hit the beginning of rut pretty well. In a 3 day period we called in 4 Bull moose to bow range.

My wife and I had been glassing a lake on a late evening hunt since I had shot a deer earlier that day our evening hunt was limited. I wanted to go check out a small pond below this lake where we had heard a cow and calf had been hanging out. As we were moving around the lake towards the lower pond I looked across the lake just as a nice bull was coming to the shore. After a quick glance through my binoculars I saw my first moose that actually looked like a moose. He had palms on each side and appeared to have a good spread. I told my wife that was the moose and if we could get into position I would take this one. We ran back the way we had come to get behind a dike that served as the lakes dam. My wife climbed to the middle of this dike and eased up to the top where she could see the bull. I kept moving to the end of the dike looking for a place to set up. Before I was ready my wife called to the bull. Using your fiberglass call she let out a long cow call. She had seen that the bull was beginning to move back into the timber and had called to try and draw him back, even though I was not ready and couldn’t see the bull I figured I had better make due with what ever setup I could arrange where I was, so I setup in front of a small buck brush. I had a good opening in the trees to the shore of the lake and estimated I would have a 30 yard shot if the bull came along the shore of the lake. In my haste to setup when my wife began calling, I had not noticed a dead branch sticking up which I ran pell mell into causing it to snap (or rather explode). Within moments I could see movement through the trees along the shore of the lake. “He’s coming I excitedly thought”. Just before he entered my opening in the trees I came to full draw on my Mathews bow, but to my horror the bull stepped into my opening facing me, giving me no shot and a slight shudder wondering what was going on in that bulls head. Lucky for me my wife also saw him turn in my direction and she called again to the bull. The bull turned and again began walking towards the sound of the cow my wife was so elegantly imitating. He was again behind trees and I slowly followed his movements with my sights knowing that the shore he was walking along met with the dike only a scant few yards farther where he would be within 22 yards and at a good broadside passion. Everything went as hoped and as he stepped up to the dike he stopped, My site pin found the spot I wanted behind his shoulder and the arrow was away driving deep into his side. Needless to say my wife decided with a huge bull moose barreling down the dike towards her she had better get out of the way so she snatched up her bow and gear and quickly shuffled down the dike and into bushes at the bottom. The bull ran within two feet of where she had been sitting as it ran down the dike of the lake. We recovered the bull and I have included a picture in this e-mail. I have not had him scored yet but I am told he has the average spread of a Idaho Moose at 36″ he is a 8×9. In my eyes he is a true trophy. Thanks for helping us be successful in this once in a lifetime effort here in Idaho.

Joe & Ilene B.