First big game with my Piledriver

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hybridvigor said:
It’s finally time to get the moose! I have the next month blocked off for the hunt. The season lasts until November 23 but I hope it doesn’t take that long. I have the boat and camper setup and I will start hunting in the morning. Wish me luck!
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Good luck.
Gotta like those month long hunting seasons.
Even if you need to go home for a few days it’s an entire month…..for 20 years I hunted elk all of December and usually the last two weeks of the month four feet of snow fall would drive the elk around and you could fill a tag. Moose hunting for a month!? I’m envious. With an air gun no less! How cool.😎
 
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My season actually runs from August 30 to November 23. I feel like a slacker to just
be starting to hunt this week but I was busy hunting in Colorado for a couple weeks this month. I am planning to stay until I get the moose. I’m not sure my wife is going to love it but she’s a good sport.
We have hunted one day and spent most of the time tinkering with the boat. Almost all of the public land is along the river and accessible by boat.
 
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hybridvigor said:
My season actually runs from August 30 to November 23. I feel like a slacker to just
be starting to hunt this week but I was busy hunting in Colorado for a couple weeks this month. I am planning to stay until I get the moose. I’m not sure my wife is going to love it but she’s a good sport.
We have hunted one day and spent most of the time tinkering with the boat. Almost all of the public land is along the river and accessible by boat.
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Here is a picture that I got this morning on the game camera. Looking better every day. It is very brushy and thick by the river. Hopefully the leaves will fall soon and should be able to see more.

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It was a tough hunt. My tag was in unit 63a in Idaho which is a short range weapon only hunt. It is legal to hunt with bow, muzzleloader, shotgun slug, pistol or rifle with pistol ammo, and air rifle. 85% of the unit is private property, irrigated crops. The public land is mostly accessible from the river so a boat is invaluable. We hunted for 9 days with a break last week to help out a friend’s family after he died from a stroke. The river has been dropping very fast in the last few days and is becoming treacherous to navigate in the jet boat. We got back to the hunting area on Sunday evening ( 8 hour drive from home) and headed out Monday morning. I had been seeing good sign on the island where my game camera is located so we started there. Just got the boat tied up and heard several shots from duck hunters. We baled on that island and went up the river a couple miles. We parked the boat and walked about 100 yards from the boat and started cow calling. Called for about 20 minutes when we heard a bull grunt. He was only about 60 yards but in thick brush. He hung up there and would come into the open. After a few minutes he decided he had enough and left. We snuck around down wind and called again and here he came! He came in to about 17 yards and I was able to get him to stop broadside. The Piledriver did the trick. I used 500 grain bullets that I cast myself. He went about 10 yards and stopped again broadside. I gave him a second shot. He just stood there for a bit then laid down. We watched him until he gave up the ghost. It took us from 9am until 5:30 to get him broken down and to the boat launch. It was just me and my wife until the last hour when we recruited a savior to give us a hand. Thanks Preston!!
He is in the cooler and we will take the head to the taxidermist tomorrow.
Sorry for the long post but I’m just hitting the high points.
 
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Fenian said:
How much was the taxidermist for the Bear?
What’s the meat like? Comparable to anything?
This is the first bear I’ve seen taken with an air rifle
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I don’t remember exactly how much the taxidermy was but about $500 to flesh and tan the hide. Last years bear was about $2000 for a 1/2 body mount. I never thought bear meat would be fit to eat. As a matter of fact Idaho doesn’t require you to take the meat. That being said, it’s surprisingly good, not game tasting at all. We made steaks, stew meat and sausage. My wife says that it tastes like deer. As a bonus we rendered the fat from him and it makes the flakiest biscuits and pie crust you’ve ever had with no added flavor. The fat looked like water when we put it in jars. My wife uses it anywhere she uses oil or shortening.
 
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