No Moostake

I told Taunya on the way back from our New Zealand trip, " You know I probably get drawn for a moose tag in Maine or and elk tag in Ky. We got home early Friday and just chilled. Then up to the hill Saturday to blow on the harp with to boys and show NZ stag and rusa deer pics. Having coffee when I remembered that they drew for the moose tags Saturday night. As I scrolled down the website I saw my name to my utter disbelief. I had drawn one of the most coveted hunting tags in North America after 13yrs of trying. I called Darren at Bulldog Camps almost immediately. I had hunted bear with him 10yrs ago and he told me get a tag and I'll get you a moose. Oct 14 seemed like and eternity from July 1. My little brother and I don't get to hunt or spend time together like we used to, so I thought he could come along and film. He was down and trip was on. I would be taking the Tenpoint as calling in a moose is a close range thing and love nothing more that hunting with my crossbow. Darren advised to bring a gun just in case, the 45-70 was the only choice. Mounted a new scope in case I had to shoot at distance. After a 17hr drive Rob and I arrived at camp. A new lodge had just been built and ironically we we're going to be staying in the old kitchen cabin. Darren then advises me that a tick infestation in last few years had killed off the moose population by more that half and that the rut came and went early so the bulls weren't responding to calling. We were going to have to take the gun and beat the woods to death to get a moose. Death alright, me, I never hiked so far, so much slash, up and down, thru muck, and stands of young trees that you could barely walk thru. Many time I thought if do kill a moose how and hell are we going to get it out of hear. We did stalk up on bull the first day, but Darren said it was too small, we should wait on a bigger bull. I reluctantly agreed, but it was hard with  30" bull standing there, clueless,  50yds away. Day one done with 7miles of hiking hell, legs like Jello, and very tired. Rob was so sore he went back to the truck early and had cramps to bad he couldn't go the 2nd day. No video.  Another beautiful and 2 1/2 mile morning hike before 9:30 when easing down and old logging road Darren takes a knee and says "Shooter". There before me was a bull staring us down at 50yrs. He took off to run down the trail and gave me 50yds broadside running shot. Bam, he didn't even flinch, Bam miss, Darren said " Take your time". Bam, shot to the back of head and his day was done.  The first shot had indeed hit him right thru the heart. He was dead on his feet and didn't even know it. A testament to how tough a moose is. The fact was, I was standing over a lifelong dream and beautiful Maine moose. Elation and sadness overcame in one fail swoop. I don't take taking an animals life lightly. A willow twig stuck in his mouth and whispering for forgiveness in his ear was first.  Pictures and getting this big bastard out of here was 2nd. A 2 mile hike to the truck and a 2 mile ATV ride back up the old road and we could hook on and drag it out. To town to check it in, weighed, and off to the butcher. Rob and I spent the next to days, skinning the head, shopping and hiking to couple waterfalls. Thurday picked up our meat and then headed to nearest Walmart to by more coolers for the meat. The 5 we brought weren't enough as we had 250 to 300lbs of meat. And if your wondering it's delicious, so far I've made keesh, chili, roast, meatballs, jerky, and sloppy Joes. I had a ton of fun with my little brother and was glad we got to spend that time together. That's no moostake.

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Nashville Cats

Well in early October I made my first run  to Lullville to see my friends. This new assignment has been tough. Not having a regular bar to hang out with, missing my friends, and not running a crew which itself isn't all that bad except I'm working for a complete idiot who has only been here a couple years. Positive thinking. Anyway it so good to see everybody, Amy Z, Roxie, Jewels, Heather, Kim, Gene,

Graham, and too may others to mention. So on a whim I told Brian lets take the Slingshot and head to Nashville to party on Saturday night. So we head out to Nashville at 3:30 in the morning, maybe not the best idea, but our idea nonetheless. As soon as we hit the Tennessee border I told Brian that he needed to put on a helmet. The helmet was on for a short time as he forgot to put on the chinstrap and WHOOF it a gone. Sucked off his head and off into the inky darkness.  We arrive in Nashville at daylight not thinking about anything being open and not being able to  get  into the hotel room until noon. So off to a park and what do we see at 6:30am a clown walking down the sidewalk, a quick u turn to see if that is what we really saw and he walked right across the street in front off us. No second look, too creepy. So a walk in the park, a quick nap at the hotel and off to night on Broadway St. The lights, the crowd, the music, and the women we a sight to see. We had a great time. Riding back to Lullville Sunday morning  hungover and 90+ ride in the Slingshot tapped off the weekend. Brain said it took him a couple days to recover. Good I did my job

Upsetting the apple cart

That's a phase I hear as I was a kid, and really never even seen an apple cart let alone seen one upset. But I'm upset. Our contract was terminated and I have to leave Louisville, The little neighbor bar that I hung out every day that I was there to escape the monotony of hotel life. The special thing about this place is it's nothing special. But on the inside it was something special.  I was overwhelmed that they has a going away party with this book that people signed and made comments. Really hard to process sometimes. This is why I made a totem pole for them. New day, new city, new fork in the road. Which way?

Kia Ora

Which is greetings in New Zealand and why is that important because Taunya and I just got back from a 9 day trip to this island paradise. It started in Auckland where my our guide Ed to drive us anywhere we wanted working our way down to Mountain Hunters in Masterson. Among the sights were Geothermal Mud pits, Hobbiton movie set the coolest,

an overnight stay at a dairy farm with a champion barefoot water skier, Huka falls, Maori dancers and feast, redwoods, old volcanos at sunset, and very bland food and NO AMERICAN BEER, SUCK. really the only downside and wonderful people. Once we arrived at the ranch the food and drink much improved. Still no American beer, they mad Coronas, and a New Zealand beer called DX Gold that I found enjoyable. The hunt was mainly for red stag and I managed to shoot 1 at 55yds with my Tenpoint Stealth crossbow. That left a day and a half for something else. My guide Harry suggested a huge  Rusa,deer they had that was missing a point and had been killing the other bucks. Mind you they haven't killed a Rusa deer off this farm in 2 yrs, now I'm going to try it with a crossbow. Well we finally found him on the last day, I took this picture from about 250yds easy shot with a rifle, but I was determined crossbow or bust. We watch him bed in some grass and the stalk was on. 1 1/2 hr later we had managed to crawl within 45yds. We watched for the next 1 1/2 hrs for him to stand up. When finally did he basically jumped and ran and with a quick shot the passed thru the ham and all the way the other side. After 300 yd track job I landed my the biggest Rusa killed with a crossbow even through it was missing a point. I can't thank my girlfriend Taunya enough for helping me make dream come true and believing in me. I am a very fortune man,