The White Mountains are awesome beautiful in late October. Alex snapped this picture while we hunted a large "regenerative cut" (otherwise known as a clearcut) on opening morning. There is very little logging in the WMNF, and except for the rare timber trails and various cuts, it's just pure wilderness. The best way to hunt, and to get around, is to follow along the old timber trails. The moose love to walk the trails, and their feed grows best where the forest canopy has been disturbed by logging or fire.

 

We found some old timber trails like this one that had been abandoned a few years back. We followed an old skidder trail that intersected this road, and followed that for a mile and a half or so. This trail was about as heavily used a moose thorofare as I've ever seen. Frequently, we could smell the moose!! Thanks to both the Saco and Androscoggin Ranger Stations for providing us with information about the WMNF and any logging openings. Sneaking along this road, looking for moose ....... as an old friend would say, SO FINE!!!

 

We'd had very heavy rain until just before sunup on opening morning. As we sneaked along this road about 9AM, we came upon some tracks that had to be very fresh, and we followed them, the moose clearly feeding its way down the road. At this time of morning, particularly on a clear day, the moose had to be looking to bed, so we knew we were likely getting close.

 

The tracks cut off the road into this very thick second growth. We stood at the edge of the road, trying to see into the shadows. We heard a couple of thumps and a big cow stood up only about 35 yards away. Alex had previously decided that we'd take the first adult moose that gave us a good shot. My own preference was actually for a cow anyway, just based on the typically better meat. I was hoping that Alex could pull the trigger, but, practical kid that he's always been, he was most concerned with bringing home some steaks and said whoever had the first clear shot should drop the hammer. It seemed to take at least 10 minutes to find an opening to shoot thru, both Alex and I working back and forth trying to find some tiny path to thread a bullet. Finally the old man had a clear shot at a section of the cow's head and down she went. This was my first shot at game with my new Ruger #1 in .375 H&H. Thanks to my buddy Mark Cromwell who handles Schmidt & Bender in the USA for a scope that could penetrate the dark shadows!!

 

What are the two sayings about moose hunting? "When the moose goes down, the work begins!" Exactly right. And, "What's the best place to shoot a moose? Near a road!!" Also exactly right. Our cow dressed out at 570 pounds, and was pushing 800 pounds on the hoof. Luckily, she fell only 35 yards or so from the logging road. Vehicles are not allowed in the WMNF, but horses are. We hired a draft horse who had no trouble at all dragging the cow a little over a mile back to our truck. The draft horse adds a terrific old-fashioned element to the hunt. We love moose meat in our house!!! And we've already tucked into this year's bounty.

Alex and I wore Frontier Shirts and Bunlite Pants for scouting and hunting. The temperatures ranged in the 50s and 60s, and we got rained on pretty good at times. The wool shed the water quite well, and we didn't touch our rain gear. The temps were plenty warm enough for other gear, including cotton. But one wrong turn could have had us wandering the forest for a long time. It's pretty big woods up there, and I wouldn't want to be wearing anything but wool.

One interesting side note was that we stayed in the town of North Conway, New Hampshire, on the main road through the WMNF. The town was swarming with visitors there to view the fall colors. When we got our moose out of the woods, the moose check station was closed, and we had to bring the moose to our motel for the night. Quite a few folks who are not familiar whatsoever with hunting came up to us and asked questions about the how and why of moose hunting, and took pictures of the moose. I think they all asked if moose was good to eat. They were friendly and enthusiastic and offered congratulations to us. One couple had come all the way from Los Angeles for the autumn leaves, and our moose, the only one they'd ever seen, was another part of the New Hampshire experience for them. If there were any anti-hunters among the "leaf peepers", we didn't get any sense of it.

We had a great time in New Hampshire and THANKS to a bunch of folks!!!