November Moose

Another opening day: this time the third week of moose. Paula St. Onge arrived at 3:30 a.m. to start breakfast for 11 hunters and three guides; we were all out of camp by 4:45 a.m., gassed up in Eagle Lake and headed for the Fish River gate house in the North Maine Woods. $130 to fill two trucks, $36 per truck to get through the gate, we were in it for $200 in gas and fees before we got started! Rocky Brook to Hewes Brook…and as the sky got brighter we were hunting. We saw three bulls, four cows, and two calves. Tom had two chances on cows but took his time in making the shot, which will pay huge dividends later. It’s early in the week so I’d rather my hunters take their time and make a clean kill shot than hurry and wound. Mid morning and we were ready for a snack. I reached in the bed of the truck for our cooler and it was not there…I looked behind the seat…nothing. Then I remembered it being in my hand when I walked out of the dining room and Mike asked for a thermos of coffee…a thermos of coffee…I must have set the cooler down, made up the coffee, handed it off to Mike, and then left, without our cooler of food. So, without hesitation I announced we would be eating lunch in Portage. Why not – my mistake – I’ll spring for lunch and snacks… While we were out of the woods for lunch Randy bought a 12-pack of beer for the end of the day, or to celebrate with should we find success in the afternoon. We stashed it in an icy stream to keep it cold, considering unseasonable temps that day hit 54 degrees! We radioed Wayne and his crew to meet us at “Beer Brook” for Happy Hour at quitting time. That beer tasted so good after a long, hot day on the dusty moose trail. We shared our observations and moose sightings of the day and made a plan for Tuesday. Back at the lodge for dinner we learned Mike’s hunters had seen only one small cow. Larry Jr. passed on it, remarking he’d rather wait for a “trophy cow.”

We were all up early and headed for the gate house well before sunrise. I guess everyone was on the exact same schedule as there was a huge bottle-neck of hunters checking in. Despite the delay we were still on schedule to be where we wanted to be at daybreak. At the first intersection I radioed Wayne to tell him we’d split up – I’d check the mountain with my hunters so he could get ahead of us on the road along the stream, then we’d fall back in line if we found nothing up there. Coming down off the mountain I heard Wayne on the radio. He announced they had a bull down. “A bull down, or a bull DEAD?” I asked. “A bull DEAD!” he exclaimed! We found them moments later where they’d spotted the 47” bull on the edge of the road feeding on saplings. Matt got out, loaded his gun and got a shot off before his father Don could even get his gun loaded! The moose then ran down a steep embankment, across a stream, and went down on an “island” in the stream. It wasn’t a long drag, maybe 200 feet, but it was steep! I dropped off my hunters to watch a clear cut not far from where we were working on the Ware bull. I’d hear my hunters if they shot and if not, I’d continue to help Wayne get that bull out. Using my truck for an anchor, we rigged the bull and pulled with Wayne’s truck. I stayed with the moose and kept in radio contact with Wayne up on the road, telling him when to pull, stop, or when we had to move rigging. We took pictures, set up rigging, dragged, gutted, and loaded the moose all before 9 a.m. Wayne and the Ware party headed to the Ashland tagging station and meat cutter in Mapleton, then they came back to bird hunt and look for cows for us. Our plan was to meet at Beer Brook at dark if we didn’t run in to each other sooner. Mid morning snack time came and we’d found no cows. I decided to try a different spot we’d scouted a few weeks prior. The ride over would be a good change of scenery and a new area might change our luck. But as soon as we got to our “new spot” we started running in to discouraged hunters who’d seen nothing in a day and a half of hunting, most had cow tags. Oh well, I’d have to make the most of it since we’d taken the time to drive over and I knew there were cows in there – we’d seem ‘em! Driving in on the fourth branch road off the main branch, there behind a rocky outcropping, silhouetted against a clouded sky, was a grazing cow. I stopped, the guys got out of the truck and loaded their guns as tried to point out the moose. Before they could see her she wandered off behind the hill. I sent Randy up a twitch trail to the right for a closer look. I reminded Randy we had all afternoon to do this so please, don’t hurry and get busted. Tom stayed with me incase she should spook and break out across the road. Moments later we heard a shot, then another, then “I got her!” Randy made a very nice 140 yd. shot as the cow wandered down off the hill on to the trail. She ran about 40 yards and dropped. It was 1:00 p.m. We had our cow but also had our work cut out for us. I gutted the cow and began the painstaking drag with a winch. It was a very slow process inching the cow along, pulling cable, pulling the cow, pulling cable…By 3:00 p.m. we had her loaded and were on our way out when we ran in to the first group of hunters we’d seen on that branch road. They were surprised we had the cow since they’d seen nothing all day. I left them with a few words of encouragement and hints on where to look.

It helps to know what you’re looking for. We’re used to finding moose 12 months a year, we’ve learned to see them in the woods, we’ve learned high percentage areas to look, and we’ve learned to get off the beaten path. The unsuccessful hunters we ran into were reluctant to venture off the main branch roads where traffic beats the moose back in to the woods and when you’re not used to looking at moose it is sometimes difficult to see them. I suspect they’d driven by cows that were there but that they didn’t “see.”

We rushed back to meet Wayne and his hunters, radioed them to tell them we’d quit early – that there was always tomorrow, and that we were headed to Beer Brook. We parked the truck facing the direction they’d arrive from. We didn’t tell them we had a cow in the bed. When they arrived we let them relive their moose hunt and tell us of their bird hunting adventures when Don exclaimed it had been a “super day!” I agreed, indeed it had since not only did they get their bull, we had a cow too! Cheers and laughter erupted, then congratulations all around as we enjoyed our beers and the camaraderie of our new friends, under a rising full moon, along the bank of a stream in the woods. Back at the lodge we found a cow moose hanging on our game pole – Larry got his “trophy cow” and it weighed a whopping 743 lbs.! It was the 2nd largest cow tagged in Fort Kent for the season! Tom Cloutier, John Tangway, and David Tome stopped by to celebrate with us. They too had filled their cow tag. Yes, it had been a super day!

A reward for filled tags is sleeping in a bit the morning after, then skinning and cutting or delivering moose to a local meat cutter. The Wares took Gracie bird hunting for the day. Wayne took Randy deer hunting, and I stayed at the lodge to help the other hunters who were still out if they need it. The Bombaras were seeing deer, a good sign in this deer-sparse area of the state.

By week’s end, all had filled their moose tags except do-it-yourself hunter Pete Lebel. His party departed a day early, satisfied with their hunt and the good times they’d shared. Pete left us with a mess of quahogs – growing up on the coast, we love shell fish. Now it is a special treat for which we were grateful! An unexpected commitment kept Gloria Curtis and Diane Chouinard us from our annual reunion with the Bombara family. We enjoyed a very relaxing meal on the last night of their stay but missed our friends Gloria and Diane.

Well, that’s all folks… Another much-anticipated season at Fish River Lodge came to an end in mid November. It was our 6th season. We returned to our regular jobs, with regular hours, and days off. In the coming weeks we will enjoy the relaxed pace for a while then we will begin to miss our guests, miss the joy that comes from making memories with others. We’ll find ourselves stoking the woodstove more frequently as the days grow longer and colder, then moving to a cozy cabin for the winter, taking reservations for our 7th season, anticipating ice-out, mud season, and moving back up to the lodge. For now, it’s just Wayne and I, finishing deer season, looking forward to Thanksgiving, Christmas, and a new year.