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Moose Hunting in Maine – Robert Fickett – Moose Hunting Podcast
237 Plays13 days ago
This week on the Tricer Podcast, Drew sits down with Robert Fickett, an experienced Maine moose guide, to discuss everything you need to know about hunting moose in the rugged wilderness of the Northeast. Robert shares his expert insights on the challenges and rewards of chasing moose, as well as essential tips for non-resident hunters, including how to navigate the application process. Whether you're an Eastern or Western hunter seeking a thrilling adventure, be sure to check out RF Outdoors and the Moose Hunting Podcast for more on this unique experience.
ROBERT FICKETT – MOOSE HUNTING PODCAST
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Website - https://rfoutdoorsllc.com
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Transcript
Introduction to Tricer Podcast
00:00:01
Speaker
You are listening to the Tricer podcast, where we talk all things hunting, gear, and the great outdoors. Before we begin, let's start things out right and put God first. Lord Jesus, I thank you for Tricer, and I ask that you can use this podcast as a way to bring joy to all of our listeners.
00:00:17
Speaker
We lay Tricer and this podcast at your feet. Amen.
Guest Introduction: Rob Fick
00:00:22
Speaker
All right. Welcome to the treasure podcast. Got another one here coming from the polar opposite corner of the United States. I'm in San Diego and I've got Rob Fick from the moose hunt podcast.
00:00:34
Speaker
Um, And he's all way up in the top right corner of the country in Maine.
Moose Hunting in Maine: Opportunities and Challenges
00:00:40
Speaker
And he is a moose hunting guide who hunts moose every year in the lower 48 in Maine. And I was like, man, I'd love to have Rob on just kind of talk about opportunities of moose hunting in Maine and, you know, what you guys are all about. So Rob, what's up, man? Hey, man, how you doing?
00:00:58
Speaker
Doing good. i'm a little, ah little drowsy. I got like five hours sleep last night. I got home from Washington. i actually got on this pod little bit late. I slept in, so I'm not known for being late, but this morning I was late. na I'm like, I'm wiping the sleep. got my, you know, I threw a hoodie on and ran back to my office and wore pajama pants and no one fell.
00:01:18
Speaker
So, but I'm here. We're podcasting, dude. Hey, like yeah. So, uh, Yeah, man. ah Tell me about you. me about what you back there. what you do back there Yep. So I'm a hunting guide here in Maine.
00:01:34
Speaker
um And like I was telling before we started this, Moose Hunt Podcast is basically one giant group um of guides for an outfitter here up in northern Maine. OMM Outfitters is the outfitter.
00:01:47
Speaker
So we're just a bunch of guys that love moose hunting and we became guides so we could do it yearly. um So moose hunting in Maine is not really something everybody could do yearly. It's a lottery based system.
00:01:59
Speaker
um So some people can go 30 years without drawing a tag. So even residents? Yeah. Yeah. So there's – they give about – I think last year was like 4,400 tags.
00:02:10
Speaker
um But you have almost 80,000 applicants. Really? the odds are getting drawn are – 80,000 residents or non-res? It's both. It's both. Like ne everybody. Okay.
00:02:21
Speaker
So they – The majority of the tags are residents. um Then they give a certain percentage to non-residents. And then also there's a certain percentage of overall permits that will go to um lodges and outfitters. They call them lodge tags, which are ones that people can actually purchase.
00:02:38
Speaker
So you could moose hunt if you didn't get drawn in the lottery. You could purchase a lodge tag from a lodge. It's a guaranteed tag, um but they get pretty pricey. so mean what's What's pricey, like $15,000 or more? ah Most of them are around $20,000 to $30,000.
00:02:54
Speaker
um And then if there if it's a lodge that's not well-known, they'll start to lower the price once the deadline gets there, you know just so they can sell it. so I've seen some of them go for about $10,000 to $12,000. still Still more than I want to spend. Oh, yeah. Still wicked pricey.
00:03:10
Speaker
Still pretty high. I like that he used wicked, man. There we go. Now we know he's from Maine. Yeah. so So are you guys like a straight lottery system? Like there's no – point system back there? Like it's like- Yeah, so there is points. You could build up points every year. You can even also just put in four points and choose not to be selected for a tag.
00:03:32
Speaker
So you can just keep building points, points, points. So once you get to a certain age i and a certain amount of points that you have, you can automatically get one. But that's like, you know, in your 60s and 70s. So, but yeah, it takes a while. Yeah.
00:03:45
Speaker
So the like the first, I think three or four years you put in, you'll get one point for every year that you put in. And then once it gets, I think you're five, you'll get three points every time you put in. So it adds up that way, but it takes a lot of years to get max points essentially.
00:04:00
Speaker
Yeah. So, but it's still a strictly random. It's not a bonus. So meaning like if you have five points, you don't have more chance. You don't have like, you're not preferred over the guy with three points. You just have five opportunities to draw versus yeah guy who has three opportunities.
00:04:17
Speaker
So it's very similar to Nevada. don't know if you do i where I'm out West. Like I apply all these states. Right. So, so you're listening to guys. Like, so everyone has a chance. If I apply this year, i have a chance. Yep.
00:04:29
Speaker
for one chance versus the guy who has potentially 10 points, which would be like somewhere around like 20 something points. Cause he started tripling at like certain point or something. Exactly. The cool thing about non-residents too, is actually non-residents, you can purchase as many points as you want. You could buy them in like packages of five points. So it's actually, that's the cool thing about non-residents. So there's actually a lot of non-residents that will get drawn the first year they put in.
Types and Methods of Moose Hunting
00:04:55
Speaker
Really? Yeah. Yeah. So, and what stinks because regular residents can't do that. You just have to put in and you get what you get. So I could go on and buy, like, you don't know what that costs, right? Like, I'm just curious. Like, is it.
00:05:08
Speaker
I actually don't know for sure. I could look it up over on this, but I don't, ah I don't actually know the full price. and Yeah. You can buy as many as you want. As as you always give them the money, I mean, it's probably couple hundred bucks or five points or something to to put in. That thought is out here if you want to put in for a certain species, 50 bucks a species or yeah some of the state lottery stuff.
00:05:27
Speaker
You know, they they do like governor's tax stuff. And then you see, then you're putting the draw to do it. so So does that mean that non-residents can't build points then? No, they can still build points. yeah and you um So when you purchase the the points package, that's just for that year.
00:05:42
Speaker
Just for that year. Yeah, but you still retain your your like your single point or your three points or however long you've been putting in for. ah Okay, so no matter what, you're going to get a point because you're putting in for it, I i assume, and then you can get a point package.
00:05:54
Speaker
Huh. Yeah. Now, what are you guys...
00:06:00
Speaker
What are you guys hunting back there? Are you guys hunting Shiras? They're not Shiras, right? Eastern Canadian moose. Eastern Canadian moose. But... these aren't like giant Alaska moose, right? Or how big are these moose? Like, no. So like, let's say the trophy size would be 50 inches. So we have, yeah. we have moose there that are up to, you know, 60, like with, with us, our outfitter alone, we've shot, you know, 65 inch, but that's like, you know, the rarity.
00:06:27
Speaker
um So we consider trophy 50 inch and bigger. And I would say the average, average main moose, like a good quality one that anybody would want to shoot is in its forties.
00:06:39
Speaker
okay so it's still bigger than like a shire's moose yeah mean think about here um just not quite you know alaska but alaska i mean know a lot of moose that size too so you're getting now how are you guys hunting these things it's not like big open country you guys are like thick i've been there once it's like thick stuff swampy um are you guys kind of, are you calling these things in or how all the above spot and stock? Are you sitting in blinds? like so no So I haven't personally sat in blinds. I know some people that have, especially if they're like,
00:07:15
Speaker
mobily incapable or whatever some people hunt in blinds or tree stands but we're we're we're trying to get up close and personal so we're doing a lot of calling and a lot of just still hunting you know stuff like that so but the cool thing about maine well it's cool and it stinks at the same time but there's roads everywhere from the logging so you could pretty much drive everywhere and whatever patch of woods you're trying to hunt, there's most likely ah logging road on the other side of that.
00:07:46
Speaker
So it's, ah you could get pretty close to these things. So is there a lot of public land there? Cause like we're ah like a big, like out West, we're big public land guys. We DIY. So if you draw this tag, do we pretty much then need to go hire like a moose outfitter? Like you guys to do it or can we just out and hunting?
00:08:06
Speaker
um So like 90% of land in Maine is privately owned, but it's available to the public. So pretty much how Maine works, if the land is not posted, like properly posted, you can hunt it.
00:08:19
Speaker
You can recreate on it, I should say. So all the land that's like up north, especially within moose hunting, that's all owned by logging companies and stuff. And so they leave it open for you to recreate on um because it lowers their taxes.
00:08:33
Speaker
So it's in like recreational use. So, yeah, ah anybody anybody can come here and hunt it. You don't have to hire a guide. That's awesome. you can go up there and do it. um And now when you're hunting them, are you mostly – mean, is there a ton of moose? Like is this a like if you draw that tag, something that's really hard to draw, is i don't want to say is it an easy tag to fill, but what is it like, a one-week season – Yep, so there's actually three different seasons. So there's September bull season, which is usually the last week.
00:09:04
Speaker
Well, last year it was the second to last week of September. about the last week of September, which is like peak rut. That's when the rut is. And then there's a second bull season, which is usually the second week of October, right around um Columbus Day.
00:09:18
Speaker
And then you have the cow hunt, the cow season, which is the last week of October. Okay, and now the cow tag... do you put it for that? Is it separate from the the bull tag or is it like a same thing? You put them for the bull tag, you put him in. If you draw the cow tag, you lose your bull points.
00:09:38
Speaker
How does that work? Yeah. So when you're applying on the application for the lottery, um you can select if you want bull only, or you can select if you will accept a cow tag. So if you select, you'll accept a cow tag and then you get drawn for a cow tag.
00:09:53
Speaker
Yeah, that's it. That's your tag. You lost those points. And then you, you can only apply for points for the next three years. So you can't be in the lottery for the next three years after you draw a tag.
00:10:05
Speaker
So honestly, like me looking at it, I'm kind of like, Yeah, I don't know. I'm kind of like, if I'm just buying the dang points and buying five point blocks, I'm kind of like, I'll accept any moose tag.
00:10:16
Speaker
Yeah. Because like, I wouldn't mind just going and shooting. I mean, they're giants, they're giant cow goose. Like, I mean, out here to draw a cow moose tag, it could take you 15, 20 years anyways. Yeah. Some the states that allow it, like Utah and stuff.
00:10:29
Speaker
And I'm like, if it bumps my odds up to go hunt moose, like that'd be pretty cool. Like I would be a tag I want to go do. Yeah, and there's actually Maine does a cool opportunity where you can swap tags with people.
00:10:41
Speaker
So there is instances where people will select ah to draw any tag and they'll get a cow tag. And there's actually websites set up to trade and swap tags. So the people that have the bull tag that will trade for a cow tag will probably ask you for money.
00:10:57
Speaker
But you can you can trade tags if you want. So if you draw a cow tag, you can trade it for a bull tag. Oh, really? You can like sell a tag back there if you wanted to. like it's Only trade yeah you can't yeah trade. You can't say you're selling it, but you're trading it.
00:11:12
Speaker
So I could trade it, but they're probably going to want like five grand. Yeah, people will do it for less, actually. Really? So if I draw a cow tag, this is, I'm learning something here. I like playing the gray area.
00:11:25
Speaker
Yeah, definitely a gray area, but it's doable. If I draw a cow tag, I then potentially could trade it, air quotes, For something.
00:11:39
Speaker
And then a couple grand maybe yeah to some guy back there. Yeah. or Okay. That's a good. Yeah. And people will actually trade. So like your tag isn't for statewide. It's for a certain zone.
00:11:53
Speaker
Okay. So we're set up by um wildlife management units. And so let's say somebody gets drawn for a zone five moose and they have a camp in zone seven.
00:12:05
Speaker
So they'll try to trade their zone five or zone seven back and forth for somebody else that has one that that they want. A lot of people will do that to better your odds of getting drawn. If you go into, if you actually research, go into Maine Inland Fisheries Wildlife's website, look at last year's harvest or last year's, um the amount of tags that they gave out. You look at which zones gives out the most tags.
00:12:29
Speaker
You can kind of play the system a little bit with that and greater your odds of getting drawn. And then if you get drawn, you can trade it for a zone that you actually want to hunt.
Logistics and Costs of Hunting in Maine
00:12:39
Speaker
Gotcha.
00:12:39
Speaker
Gotcha. This is opportunities. And know, one of my buddies last was like, we got to apply for me. And I'm like, bro, come on. Like, play it doesn't hurt. I mean, it's just a little bit of money once a year. and But if you, if you apply one year, get the points and then you don't apply the next year, you lose the points. You know, you got to keep applying to keep. Every year to game. Yeah.
00:12:59
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. Or just spend the money. Can't skip it. If you skip it, you, you kind of lose yourself. Okay. Out here. It's like, if you miss one year, you get a warning and then the next year you lose them in some States like Wyoming and stuff. I don't know how it works. I think like California just happened forever.
00:13:14
Speaker
oh really? That would be sweet. Yeah. So, but it does kind of suck like Wyoming. I mean, whatever. I bag on Wyoming all the time on this podcast, but it's like, dude, your guys' points are so flipping expensive. And then if you don't apply, you lose them.
00:13:26
Speaker
And it's just like, oh my gosh. But um yeah, i mean that's pretty awesome. So that's like definitely a state. So I have to think of how I would do it. I would probably have to like fly back.
00:13:38
Speaker
I think you fly into like Connecticut, right? Is there airports? ah There's airports. Yeah, yeah. but So Portland, Portland's an international airport. Okay, fly to Portland. There you go. um Or you could, so there's actually an airport in a town called Presque Isle.
00:13:50
Speaker
um They have, I forget who they use now. Maybe it's JetBlue. Anyways, they only have one one airline company there that flies into there. And it usually comes from like New Jersey or something like that.
00:14:01
Speaker
Yeah, it's I'm sure it's a jumper. A jumper airport's up there. I've been to Portland, but I flew i drove up from New York. cause I was doing a shop tour. I was looking at all these different shops. I did Connecticut, did Boston, did the whole thing. yep um So, yeah. So, I mean, I have to figure out how I'm going to do it. So, like, if I – I mean, now I'm already assuming that I'm already drawing this tag this year, right?
00:14:21
Speaker
Yeah. You'd be surprised, man. happens. Well, then, if I go and buy – mean, it depends how much they man. If I could go buy 20 points every year, I mean, I'd probably throw 400 bucks. don't know what it costs for five points, but I'd throw 400 bucks at that.
00:14:35
Speaker
So, anyways, i would probably have to fly back, rent a truck – And then drive said truck home. Like if with the animal, right? Like that's probably what do. Cause like, I don't want, we're talking from San Diego to you. You could not get, I live at the freaking border of Mexico. You live at the border of Canada, the opposite corners of the world. mean, I know like I was talking when back there. I mean, you guys use the F word so eloquently back there. It's pretty wild.
00:15:04
Speaker
Never heard women. I've never heard women cuss so much in my life. Oh yeah. They go out, they go out their snowmobiles. Right. And they, You ride up into Canada all the time, right? Or they smuggle beer up to their buddies up there and stuff. because they' so I remember that, but it's far.
00:15:18
Speaker
So mean, I guess if I were to rent it, if I were to fly back, rent a truck, kill a moose, drive the truck back, I think it's probably how I'd have to do it. He's like, I'm not going to fly that moose back. I mean,
00:15:30
Speaker
um So those actually so um the client that I had last year, he i he flew in and actually bob brought four empty coolers with him. Like the medium-sized Yeti coolers whatever.
00:15:43
Speaker
And so we have our own butcher shop up there. So he actually had the meat butchered with us. And then it was frozen overnight, like in our freezer trailer. And he stuffed his four coolers as full as he could get them, duct taped the crap out of them, and checked him his luggage on way home.
00:15:59
Speaker
Really? That's probably a way to do it. It's probably cheaper than running a car and driving too. i do I do these. They're called kill bags. Yep. So my buddy owns kill bag. It's like a foam like ah vinyl cooler. They weigh nothing. So I fly with those all the time. like He's got another one.
00:16:15
Speaker
He just made a 48-incher for me. We should call it the Drew bag because I'm the one that fought to get this bag. It's like the perfect flying size, right? Yeah. um So I've got one of those actually I've got go pick up today. But, man, if I brought, like, three or four of those, which have, mean, you can put 100 pounds in each of them, even though it costs me, like, 150 bucks, like, for the overweight. Like, who cares, right? Like, I can just fly slow your back. I mean, you're probably getting lot more than 400 pounds meat out a moose, though, mean, how much meat do you get out a moose? That depends on the size of the moose. So, like, case in point that – that gentleman last year. So we, we quarter everything in the field, which is I'm sure what you guys do out there anyways.
00:16:51
Speaker
yeah So we, you know, bringing the quarters back to the butcher shop and then weighing on the scale. um I think with the four quarters and the meat bag, I think we had like 489 pounds. So that's still bone in the quarters. So you pull the bones out and you're probably going to kind of grind it, throw fat. yeah So you're probably going to be in like the three.
00:17:11
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's what I'd say. And, but this, this, You know, you can have 1,000-pound moose. This was probably only, you know, 750-ish, maybe. So you guys, your moose are a little bit smaller than like, I mean, I don't i don't want to throw numbers in there, but i think the one the moose of in Alaska are like 1,200 pounds. i mean, they're big. Oh, yeah, yeah. I mean, they just look gigantic compared to ours. I mean, you're just still freaking seven foot to the shoulder, right? I mean, they're so giant. Oh, yeah.
00:17:35
Speaker
Oh, yeah, they're big. They're big. So hu it's very doable, folks. Actually, everyone listening to this podcast, don't apply for moose in Maine. Yeah, there's no moose here. Don't hunt here. No, there's no moose there. If you want to have, I'm just thinking like opportunities for me. That's like a great opportunity. This a little bit of a hidden gem for us Western folks. And if I could fly back, I mean, if they use of even if I were to hang out for a couple more days, but yeah like, yeah, even I killed on like the last day,
00:18:03
Speaker
I can just be like, hey, process my moose for me. yeah pay you next year I'll pay you an extra $300, whatever it is tip to get it done in one day, which most places is have like a rush fee. Whatever it is, wait for it freeze, put it in the coolers, fly home, versus driving home, having to get ice everywhere I go and have like four coolers and you know and return that car. mean That's going to cost you more than that anyways. That's just going to be a pain in the butt to drive the whole way anyways.
00:18:29
Speaker
It'd be a freaking trip, right? I just want to tell my wife, okay, I killed a moose. I'll see you in whatever. a week. idiot I mean, you could probably bust it in three days, but it'd be a long three days. That's a lot of Red Bull.
00:18:44
Speaker
That's a lot of that's a lot of sugarree sugar-free monsters out here. You guys are Red Bullers back there. But you know you guys do have? And I want to keep talking hunting with you guys. and more but like What you guys do have back there that is also a main thing only is lobster rolls.
00:18:59
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we're known for a lobster. So. Yeah. So, and like, I guess like, so if you guys are lobster roll is I don't want to, don't want to do it injustice. They have like little shacks on the side of the road everywhere.
00:19:12
Speaker
oh yeah. I want, I want to call it like a hot dog bun stuffed with like mayonnaise and lobster and butter and stuff, but I don't want to. That's exactly what it is. So I mean like, go, i mean like, I don't want to, i don't to, so what's, what's a lobster roll? Cause they're everywhere back there.
00:19:25
Speaker
That's essentially what it is. It's just a cooked lobster and just it's all chunked up. It's almost like a like a tuna salad or like a chicken salad mix, but with lobster instead, essentially.
00:19:37
Speaker
a lot A lot of places just stuff them into the white, you know, the white Wonder Bread hot dog buns or whatever. But a lot of places will actually use like bulky rolls. But yeah, like little known fact about Maine is like lobster in the back of the day was like for like the prisoners, right? Exactly. Yeah. Isn't it weird?
00:19:58
Speaker
Yeah. Right. Like i I don't, I'm probably butchering that as well. I remember just like things I'm remembering. I'll tell you when I was there cause I remember now. Um, but yeah, they, I guess like the governor never decided like to make it like the food of prisoners.
00:20:12
Speaker
And then it was like a, it's like a poor man's food. Cause he was like ex exactly in a crustacean. And then like, can't remember the story of how it got really popular. But all of a sudden now, like you want to go get a freaking lobster, it's 80 bucks. At one point, they're just feeding those things to a bunch of freaking, you know, thieves and murderers.
00:20:28
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know where that transition came from. But I mean, lobstering is this the biggest industry here in Maine. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And I know you said that Portland's like despised by you. I'm sure that's probably like a liberal stronghold of. Yeah.
00:20:41
Speaker
Yeah, it is. I'm sure it is. That's kind of like we had deal that here. Like it was kind of cool when I stayed in Portland. Like I said right there i' like and like, yeah, like the brick, like the the red brick cobblestone roads or whatever. They're still yeah really yeah old, old port style, which I'm sure you guys are like, that's where all you freaking yuppie tourists go. That's exactly where you were though. It's called the old port.
00:21:00
Speaker
Is it called the old port? Yeah. If you're talking about the the old bricky roads and stuff. Yeah. Yeah. I stayed right there. I got a hotel on the bricks and did that thing. And when they, at ate dinner on like the wharf, went out there and did that whole thing.
00:21:13
Speaker
So dude, I'll tell you when I was there, we're going to get more into hunting, but I want to tell, we're going to side notes when I was there. don't remember the exact year, but I can tell you was the year of the Boston bombers. And this is why I know.
00:21:24
Speaker
So we did this whole tour. We went from like, uh, we went from Jersey to, um, New York City, Connecticut, did all these shops. I went to Portland, Maine, and then down into Boston and see all these different shops. I was running my dad's company.
00:21:38
Speaker
Well, I wanted to go. like i have like I like visiting baseball parks. I'm out of town. I've been to a
Personal Stories and Experiences
00:21:44
Speaker
few parks. and I was like, I really want sit on the Green Monster. That's my goal, sit on the Green Monster, watch the Sox play.
00:21:50
Speaker
um Plus, I'm not a big fan of the Yankees. my My former at the time was a big Yankees fan, so I just wanted rub it in. So I buy tickets. I buy four tickets on the Green Monster. I remember it was like $800 at the time. So it's probably $1,500 now, right? oh yeah Oh, yeah. It's not cheap. It's on the Green Monster. I think every tourist like me wants to do it.
00:22:07
Speaker
So anyways, I get tickets on the Green Monster. And we are staying down there in in Boston on that road. like They have that road, right? like the the They have like the 10. There's like 10 historical landmarks, right? Yep.
00:22:22
Speaker
we're staying in that hotel. It's of those landmarks. Right. And, uh, it was the night they, they, they caught the Boston bombers. Oh, wow. So it was a night where they come in the, so they canceled the game.
00:22:36
Speaker
And I remember like, we went down and went to this Irish pub and we're sitting there as me and actually my partner today from Tracer. Um, we were young and, uh,
00:22:48
Speaker
we're sitting in the this Irish pub. We look up on the TV and there's just like thousands of college kids. It's like singing the national anthem and like swing American flat. It looks like patriotic thing you ever seen in your life.
00:23:00
Speaker
And I'm like, where's that? And the guy's like around the corner, you know, he's like, that's my worst Irish accent, right? Whatever. Around the corner. And so we're like, we go down there to this patriotic party and on Fox news, it looked very patriotic in real life.
00:23:19
Speaker
It was a bunch of freaking college kids just getting wasted, smoking weed. And they were singing Old MacDonald. They didn't care what they were singing. Any song they could. So on the news, I'll never forget that. On the news, it looks so patriotic. Flags.
00:23:33
Speaker
When you're down there, it was just a bunch of kids, excuse to get to party. It's a giant wave in the middle of the streets. Well, that was nice. They killed the one brother and they caught the other douchebag. And they canceled the game because they're chasing them all over Boston. And they finally caught them.
00:23:47
Speaker
And that's my Boston story. And then so I had to give those tickets away to somebody cause I had to fly home. So I still never sat on the Green Monster. Oh, geez. They didn't even refund you?
00:23:59
Speaker
No, dude. Like, it is they just redid the game. um Right? Yeah. da So they would have they would have let you use those tickets again some other time. Yeah. It was like, hey, this game's been changed to a doubleheader or something like that. i don't know what the whole deal is.
00:24:11
Speaker
But I do know that how it went to the game, I probably would be telling that story today. So it is, like, probably a better memory. Yeah. Right. So I did that whole thing and you know, whatever, that's my story. So whatever year the Boston bomber, you guys can like put it down in the show notes, whatever year the Boston bombing happened, I'm not going to look it up.
00:24:28
Speaker
Um, it had to be like around like 12 or 13 or something. Yeah. That sounds about right. Those guys are douchebags. I'm glad they shot the one. And ah yeah, they should have done the other one too. The other one too. You know, I see they're like trying to get the guy out all the time. So he's still relevant, which is crazy to me.
00:24:42
Speaker
Yeah. Freaking D bag. So anyways, I digress. Back to hunting in Maine. So the moose thing is very intriguing to me.
00:24:53
Speaker
i'm I'm into that. um When did this start snowing there? ah So when not you say that, so we have snow in October, like my cow hunt this year, ah the first day of the season. So the Monday before the end of October, we were hunting in snow.
00:25:09
Speaker
There was like two or three inches of snow on the ground. Okay. Yeah. That's not it's not common. and That doesn't happen every year. It's not like covered in snow like September up there. So it's like no it's more going to be later like the rest of the country later the year. Okay, gotcha.
00:25:25
Speaker
All right. And then ah I like the idea that mostly it's like air quotes public land because it's all open. yeah I'm sure Onyx has that on their mapping system or GoHunt, whatever you're using. You can look it up.
00:25:38
Speaker
and see where you can go. do you guys use on X back there or anything? yeah Yeah. That's almost exclusively what we use is on X and it's not because we prefer it over anything. It's just what we have. And so everybody can share their waypoints and stuff essentially.
00:25:50
Speaker
Okay. Now what if I like, what if I did draw and wanted to hire your moose company to do this? Is it how much is that to get hired? You guys. go ah So this sh, Oh, geez. You're going ask me that question. I'm not part of all that.
00:26:05
Speaker
um But I think i think we're 9,000 this year. And that include like lodging and everything? yeahp Yeah. That's lodging, food, your guide. um Basically includes everything but the butcher fee and taxidermist.
00:26:21
Speaker
Okay, so, but if I wanted to come back and DIY it, and I wanted to come back and, like, bring my tent, yeah I could do that. I could backpack. It sounds like a lot public lands. I could potentially, like, if I were to do this hunt, I would probably do it how i do lot of Western stuff.
00:26:34
Speaker
I'd put everything into my backpack and, Like I was backpack hunting out here. I'd fly back there and I'd just camp in my tent out in the hills and do it. And that'd be fun. Yeah. Yeah. You probably, it's, it's funny. Cause ah like I said, there's roads everywhere. So you probably wouldn't be alone the whole time. You'd probably still see people.
00:26:51
Speaker
um That's, that's the crappy part about having roads everywhere, but you still do it. Well, it's fine. I mean, whatever. like I can bring like I can bring like one of my seek tents and a stove and have like a little wood fire, you know, wood fire stove there. Be warm. cause I imagine it's cold back there.
00:27:05
Speaker
don't know. In the end of September and October, the nights can get cold. We usually get our first frost around then end of September, beginning of October. So some mornings or or some nights are in the twenty s So I can just DIY it and I can just like bug you and be like, Hey Rob, where's the butcher? Where's the butcher? Cause I, in my mind, I'm like, I'm um i'm killing like day one, but ah no, it'll probably a stride. Every, ah every, I just say how it goes. like whenever you leave your home state to go hunting, you're like, it's going to be just, there's a moose everywhere.
00:27:38
Speaker
so Yeah. And then it'll be Saturday morning. You're like, man, I still haven't seen a moose yet. Yeah. What do you call her to moose? Meese or moose? Just moose. ah Yeah. Just moose. Just moose. I don't know.
Moose Hunting Techniques and Gear
00:27:49
Speaker
Just dumb dad joke for you. All right. So that sounds, it sounds intriguing. Like enough to where I'm probably going to have to apply for it. I wonder when the draw is for this.
00:27:58
Speaker
ah So application period starts beginning of April and ends end of April, beginning of May and then the actual lottery. So the cool thing about how Maine does the lottery system is we actually have like a lottery festival.
00:28:10
Speaker
So we'll do the drawing live. So like this year it's, I think June 21st and they change the location of it every year. So this year it's in a town called Farmington, Maine. Last year it was in Fort Kent, which is actually the most Northern town of, of essentially almost the country.
00:28:25
Speaker
Um, But yeah, so the drawing is usually in June, second, third week of June. Gotcha. Now, when I'm shooting these moose, it seems like it's pretty thick timber. and there's ah Is it a lot of clear cuts or is it like you're pretty much shooting within 50 yards?
00:28:42
Speaker
So the average shot probably is 50 yards. I'd say yeah zero to 100 is usually the most common. um But I mean, we've shot them at 13 feet before, so.
00:28:53
Speaker
So I'd probably like, it'd be fun to bring like a lever action 4570. Oh yeah. oh yeah Like I'd be, I'm doing this, I'm on this whole kick this year. I'm doing a open site lever. I'm flying to Alaska. I'm going to sick to black tail with open site lever actions. I can bring a bow and my, I think I'm bringing my bow.
00:29:13
Speaker
I'm definitely bringing a lever action. I bring an open site lever action, 30, 30. My buddy Ben's bringing his 45, 70. But if drew this moose tag, like I'm like, I'm not going to bring like a 30 Nosler or something giant. That's going to be, that I don't need that for this.
00:29:26
Speaker
I'd rather honestly, like we just shot a Buffalo a couple weeks ago, like 40 yards and like seeing what that thing does to a large animal. I feel like in a big 45, 70 would be a phenomenal moose hunting bullet, uh, moose hunting gun for back there. I mean,
00:29:42
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, what do you guys shoot at him? I'm like, if a guy shows up at the Creedmoor, are you guys calling him gay or what? Yeah, which is funny because i used to be a Creedmoor guy for for deer, for whitetail. For deer, for deer, it's fine, dude. It's a great deer. It's a great deer cartridge. I just like look at it and like everyone who's like trying to justify it as an elk or moose cartridge like, oh gosh, dude. No, it's it's definitely not. At the end of the day, everybody's going to argue with shot placement, but...
00:30:04
Speaker
Just use something with some knockdown power. Like I think actually how we even got linked up to do any of this. I think I commented on one of your posts about a 30 odd six. Oh, yeah. yeah what the but With the Barnes bullets. I mean, like the Barnes TSX in a 30 odd six, you're going to demolish those. So, yeah, I mean, that's phenomenal. Like that's my thing. Like, right. Like we can be controversial right now.
00:30:24
Speaker
If I'm going to shoot a large animal, I want to shoot a solid, like a mono metal bullet or potentially like a, like an Acubon or something like that, you know, or or, partition, you know, you're probably only shooting less than hundred yards. Anyway, so you PCs don't matter.
00:30:40
Speaker
i definitely don't want to be shooting an ELDM or a burger or a you know, whatever the Sierra tip match King that everybody's shooting. Like, i don't want shoot that at a moose. I want shoot that salt that's going to all the way through. yep Cause damage, cause destruction. Honestly, a lot of frontal diameter on those things.
00:30:57
Speaker
Like, I can tell you right now, like, I won't post the videos. I'll talk about it. We shot this bison in, mean, it was a canned house. My father-in-law shot a bison down in 77 years old. He shot a bison down in Texas a couple weeks ago with a 45-70. Full pass-through.
00:31:12
Speaker
full passthrough giant hole and when that thing was dying and there's him before it would breathe and it would be a mist of blood like six feet in the air oh that's awesome right and i'm sure you see that with moose too i bet you see that with moose and i was like man like that is a formidable cartridge for this distance i don't think other than a bigger diameter bullet I don't think any of the 30 cals would be better than that bullet for killing a bison, that 45-70. I mean, it just did the job. why when you tell me it's less than 100 yards, I actually will guarantee you that when I draw this tag this year, my first year of playing, I'm bringing a because it'd just be cool. Do it, man. I'd probably bring it i probably bring it open sights and just do it. You know, you don't need much more. I think the size of a freaking, mean, don't want to say the size of a Volkswagen, but um it's taller than a Volkswagen, right? Oh, yeah.
00:32:03
Speaker
I think I can hit that thing, you know, at that distance. So I'd bring a 40 by 70. So you're you're a big monometal bullet guy, huh? Yeah, for the most part, for that at least.
00:32:14
Speaker
Yeah. For that. Yeah. Okay. So you're doing like the bars, the TSXs or TTSXs. Yeah. Yeah. For whitetails, I personally honestly use like Hornady interlocks. for white tails and stuff. Cheapest ball you could find. Yeah. I just go out and buy the Hornady America white tails. I just buy a bunch of those boxes for white tails. I wouldn't use them on a moose, but... Yeah, see, that's a difference. So so out here, we have so... Like...
00:32:38
Speaker
We're always shooting 300 yards, you know, two, three. I say that I shot a mule deer at 20 yards this year, but we're, I mean, like, it's not uncommon to be stretched to my kids on his bucket 385 this year. And like, wow. i don' You probably have to like go to the one range in Maine to find one that goes that far. You know what i mean? Yeah. Yeah. It's funny. Cause most of our gun range is like a lot of them don't even have a 200 yard range on it.
00:33:00
Speaker
There'll be like just a hundred yards. Yeah. So, I mean, like, honestly, at that range, it really doesn't matter. And honestly, those, like, flat-tipped lead bullets are going to just freaking pound.
00:33:12
Speaker
Yeah. know, they're going to mush them up and just crush those whitetails. But we have to worry so much more about VCs, et cetera. But...
Other Hunting Opportunities in Maine
00:33:18
Speaker
um back there i mean i i get it you're shooting closer range and so let's talk about the other opportunities to hunt in maine besides just the moose because the moose thing is intriguing and i we didn't really blow it for you guys it's a lottery we're gonna this pump money into your state yeah so let's talk about the other opportunities to hunt back in maine besides just moose yeah so uh moose is the only lottery system um they're used i think there used to be a lottery for turkey but now it's just
00:33:45
Speaker
part of it it's just a season for it so yeah we got fall and spring turkey obviously we have a whitetail deer season um in the fall like usual what's your whitetail season look like see i still haven't shot a whitetail i was my father last week yeah because don't have them in san diego it's weird to the hybrid you know and i don't know i always just go chase mule deer coos deer i've shot whitetail coos deer Yeah, and got a handful of those.
00:34:10
Speaker
So what is your whitetail look like back there? Is it like unlimited, like 16 does? Or is it like, you know, you can shoot like what your your license, your your big game license comes with with one, just a buck.
00:34:23
Speaker
um okay And then you can. OK, so I lied. I guess there is still a watery system. It's almost guaranteed depending on what zone you put in for. But you can get a doe permit as well. um You put in for that.
00:34:34
Speaker
And that's given up by zones too. But it's usually the southern part of the state because they say we're overrun with deer down here. So they're trying to get rid of them a little bit. ah So you can get a doe tag for Southern Maine, but if you bow hunt, you can go to certain zones in Maine. They're called expanded archery and you can buy an extra buck tag and they call them antlerless tags, not doe tags specifically. But yeah, so you can, if you bow hunt, you can hunt those expanded archery zones and get another buck and you can buy unlimited antlerless doe tags.
00:35:07
Speaker
Really? So, and now, Again, like let's say I want, as a non-resident, I wanted to go back there and hunt on the the air quotes public land that you guys have, the but private land that's open to public, um are there deer on that land?
00:35:25
Speaker
There is. It's in the northern part of the state, so they're not as plentiful as they are in the southern part, but they're they're there. If you find the pockets, if you could find the pockets of the does, you're going to find bucks.
00:35:38
Speaker
But they're more sporadically spaced than they are in the southern part of the state. So mean is there is it worth putting in for a tag as a non-resident that doesn't want to pay to go like go hunt on a ranch or hunt on a lease? Is it worth doing it or is it like there's just not that much land to go hunt? It depends on what you so think is worth it. If you're just in it for the kill, then maybe not because chances are you might not.
00:36:05
Speaker
um But if you're in for the adventure, sure. I could probably figure it out possibly and do it and go get one killed and fly home with that. It's a long, i mean, that's a long flight. I'm just trying to, I mean, there's maybe you're in Colorado and you want to hunt whitetails every year and there's an opportunity to do it and you don't want to go hunt at least the property.
00:36:22
Speaker
Now, are you guys, when you guys are hunting these deer, are you guys still doing the same still hunting? Are you guys getting up in a tree saddle? In the northern part of the state, um it's a lot of it is we do a thing called tracking. So if there's snow, we'll basically track them.
00:36:36
Speaker
um Really? But other than that, it's a lot of still hunting, um hardwood ridges, bogs. Basically, if you find some beaver dams, you're probably going to find some deer around them. Really? Why is that? Because there's water there?
00:36:49
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's just why it's just crappy area, bedding area. um They can just get away and secure for them. uh, the Southern part of the state, lot of tree stand hunting. Tree stand hunting. Yeah. I, uh, I'm part of a company called timber Ninja now.
00:37:05
Speaker
Um, And so we have tree saddles. so Oh, sweet. like and Timber Ninja. Okay. That's a unique name. Yeah. They're back there. We're in North Carolina. So, um, soon so what about beavers? Can you hunt those back there or trap them? Uh, trap them.
00:37:21
Speaker
There's a trapping season for them. you're shopping season for him So that's cool. There's a ton of beavers, i assume. Oh, yeah. Especially in the northern part. um I mean, even down here there is too. But in the northern part, the the logging companies actually will try to find people to come trap beavers because they just destroy the roads, flood them, flood in areas, flood in areas. They're trying to, you know, have the trees grow well.
00:37:42
Speaker
all right so I mean, your big game is basically moose and deer. Are there any other big game species back there? Uh... Not really. Coyote. You can do a lot of coyote hunting if you want.
00:37:53
Speaker
But I would say i'd say our our biggest things that draw people to us would be definitely the moose. Bear. We do. Yep. So that's another big game. there yeah Yeah, yeah. Our our black bear. I'm sorry. Our black bear numbers are are through the roof. so you know Really? Yeah.
00:38:09
Speaker
And that's ah is that a hard tag to draw or...? No, that's ah you just buy the bear tag, essentially. Really? Do you have a spring season or just a fall season? No, the natives, so um like the Indian territories and stuff, they have a spring season.
00:38:26
Speaker
And they will they will sell those sometimes or have people come on, but it the over-the-counter tag is in the fall, usually last week of August. And then... That's for over bait.
00:38:38
Speaker
And then the bait season ends, oh, 30 days after that, I think. And then it goes into hounds. Okay, so like someone's a non-resident, I'm probably not going to bait because I wouldn't even know where to start with like buying chugs of bait and doing all that stuff. Yeah, you'd most likely go through an outfitter or a guide, lodge. You'd go through outfitter. If I drew it, go through a lodge and do it. so But it would it be worth it if I had a deer tag to buy over-the-counter bear tag the same time? Do you run into them? it's possible.
00:39:08
Speaker
It's possible to see that. the more The more north you go to do that. Oh, yeah. So they're out there. so i bought if i so So if I do get a moose tag, I'm definitely going to want to buy a bear tag just have my pocket just in case I run into a moose up there.
00:39:23
Speaker
Yeah, I'd say it's worth it. Oh, man. Dude, I am like intrigued to go to Maine. It's almost like going to a different country for me, right? It's fun. This is like I could actually get to some countries much faster than I get Maine.
00:39:37
Speaker
could get to Canada faster than Maine. I could get to... ah bring mexico in 10 minutes so yeah man like fuck i'm kind of into the moose thing i'm probably gonna put him for it i don't know if i'm gonna do the whitetail thing it seems like a lot of work for a for a whitetail think i can get a whitetail a lot closer yeah i mean but still kind of cool still intriguing and possibly actually maybe i could because i'm sure the whitetail seasons and the moose seasons overlap correct they do yep So maybe if I'm putting in, I do put it for my tail as well. And I have both in my pocket.
00:40:13
Speaker
Yeah. So it's um so during the moose seasons, it's archery season for whitetail. So it's it's funny that you say this. So during my cow hunt last year, um you know, taking the client, we're hunting an area and stuff. And we ended up seeing 11 does.
00:40:30
Speaker
10 does, sorry, we saw one box. Ended up seeing 10 does in this, you know, one area. And then we we eat lunch, we get done eating lunch, and we we start hunting again. And there's this giant eight-point standing on the side of the road just staring at us eating. And in my head, I'm like, why don't I have a bow right now?
00:40:47
Speaker
Somebody could have slung that thing. He did not care we were there. So now is that... that whitetail tag is it statewide or is it by zone statewide oh so it's statewide so i can hunt anywhere in the state of maine with a whitetail tag yeah the buck tag is statewide and then your antler list tags are specific to certain zones huh very cool what was i gonna say there there's something gonna ask about that oh man oh that's was gonna ask um
00:41:18
Speaker
Are there specific seasons for the moose, like as in like weapon seasons? like Is there an archery season? or is there Nope. is it just It's just open season on the moose. You can use muzzleloader, bow, rifle. However you feel like killing it.
00:41:33
Speaker
Now, in that situation, i mean i feel like a bow wouldn't be a bad choice. It doesn't seem like going to that no There's a lot of people that do it every year.
00:41:44
Speaker
Like, uh, um, the main state archery record was actually broken this past year with a bow, obviously archery record. Um, so it's possible.
00:41:57
Speaker
So you have a week to do it. You want to bring a bow, you can bring a bow. And the way we hunt them here, and because it is so dense and everything, you can get them in pretty close. Like I said, we shoot them sometimes at like 13 feet.
00:42:11
Speaker
So it's possible. Now, are you calling to get them in that close? a lot Yeah, a lot of calling. yeah There's a lot of calling. So I'd have to figure that out. So when I draw this tag I'm going to call like, what do I need to buy? And what do I need to sound like to do this?
00:42:25
Speaker
Yeah, you don't even really need to buy calls. i don't know if that's what you were speaking of. but I mean, we just do a lot of calling with our mouth. I'll do a rip one right now. by Like a cow call?
00:42:35
Speaker
Whatever, sure. Sure, so like...
00:42:42
Speaker
So that's like a cow call. and No re's, no reads though nothing, just doing it like that. No like funnel, no... Yeah, my wife hates it. Yeah. Yeah,
00:42:57
Speaker
yeah there you go You just did it. You probably just called in the next state record bowl. just called in a bowl. Wow, freaking moose swing easy. I'm going to just do it this fall. It's so much fun, man. It sounds fun. it sounds kind of like, honestly, lot of the Western elk hunting.
00:43:12
Speaker
Yeah. And there's an opportunity to do it. I mean, to draw a bull tag out here is very hard and it's probably very hard back there as well. But in my mind, I'm like, this is such a far place. it's like, why not put in for it?
00:43:23
Speaker
and pra I don't know how expensive it I wish I knew the... Yeah, actually, I'm going to... Maybe I won't look it up right now, but...
00:43:31
Speaker
Yeah. So, I mean, I don't know how much it costs, but it sounds worth it to me to put in for it few hundred bucks or something. I mean, um can't I can't imagine being more than three or four hundred bucks. I assume you probably have to buy a license to do it.
00:43:44
Speaker
i mean, maybe not. Not to apply. You just need to have the license to get the tag. Yeah. So when you apply, um ah i don't know what it is for a non-resident. would think it's still the same price to apply, but it's like 15 bucks to apply.
00:43:58
Speaker
And then if you get drawn, that's when you got to pay for the tag, which really right here it says if you get drawn, the permit fee is $585 for a non-resident.
00:44:10
Speaker
yeah That's it. and five and then And then the big game license is $114.
00:44:16
Speaker
That's it. yeah Wow. And that's only if you get drawn. So that's not to apply. to apply, i think it's like 15 bucks or something like that. Maine hasn't learned how to screw non-residents like every state out here west. is like We want you to come here and spend your money, man.
00:44:28
Speaker
Oh, dude, I wish. Out here, it's like, dude, if I want to draw a bull tag right now, it costs me for a, they call it a special tag now Wyoming. i don't always bash Wyoming because it's just on my mind.
00:44:39
Speaker
It's like 2,200 bucks, dude, for a bull tag. Wow. And then your license, like just to apply, you have to buy a license, you know, like Arizona, it's one 65. Oh, just to apply, you have have a license. You have to license just to apply. So every year, it's like you're looking for most states somewhere in that, like one,
00:44:57
Speaker
eighty 80 to 300 range to apply in most Western states. You apply in eight States, you know, you're looking, you're looking like, you know, two to three grand just to apply every year just to apply. you're not going to draw with moose tag. You're probably never going draw. It could be 20 years. Crazy. You're talking, you know, what's 20 years times 300 bucks. You know, it was always six grand. and You told me it was, it was, you know, 20 grand to buy a tech. So that's why we do it. But, um,
00:45:22
Speaker
So yeah, man, that's how main is the hidden secret of the lower 48. Don't tell too many people. Yeah, only the, I get like a million listens a week on this podcast. So not really. I don't know. know I don't know. We get stuff without a million, but that's pretty cool. That's I'm excited.
00:45:38
Speaker
So how many, but how many moves have you personally killed? Have you drawn a tag? I have. I drew a cow tag. Three years ago. Three years ago? Four years ago? um And i it's we were just talking about the forty five seventy with the open sights. That's what I wanted to shoot mine with.
00:45:55
Speaker
um And I didn't end up – I should have. I should have shot a lot of them. I ended up just watching a lot of them. I don't know why. But, yeah.
00:46:06
Speaker
So you didn't go in. So you still don't have your bull. Nope. And you've been applying every year since you were like 10 years old or something probably? oh i actually, I didn't start applying until in my 20s. So like maybe 10, 13 years ago, I think is when I started applying. How many points do you have now?
00:46:24
Speaker
Right now, I only have three because I drew that a couple years ago. When you drew, how many points did you have then? like Oh, I actually have no idea. Because it compounds, right? Yeah, so I don't i don't know. On your 30. Huh. Yeah, something like that.
00:46:39
Speaker
So you're saying you're kind of raking my heart now because originally I was thinking I was to draw this year. You are, dude. That's what I'm saying. Non-residents, you can give yourself a better chance because you can buy the more points. I wonder how many points you can buy. Is there a limit on that? I'm sure there is. sure oh I'm sure there is. There might not be. Maybe they just want to get all your money.
00:46:56
Speaker
Maybe I can just go and buy a hundred points and be like, ha. I've been, I'm in, but even with a hundred points, like you don't, you're not guaranteed to draw. It's not like you're getting so a strict bonus point thing. It's just a lottery.
00:47:07
Speaker
It's more, more raffle tickets in the bin. Yep. But you know what? I'm intrigued. All right, dude. Uh, I guess let's end this thing with a hunting story from back there. Moo story. Maybe a client, I guess, killing a bull.
00:47:23
Speaker
It's good. It gives us a moose story and a
Hunting Stories and Rifle Discussion
00:47:25
Speaker
cool one. It could be a cool one. could be a moose charging in and you shot him at five feet. I don't care. It could be a moose, you know, whatever. give It was a hunting story.
00:47:34
Speaker
Yeah, I'll just, I'll go with, um let's just go with this past season, which is actually, it it was a cool hunt. So I've had the the pleasure of two years in a row guiding a hunt that's put on through Kuyu and Three Rangers Foundation. It's it's a Gold Star family member program.
00:47:51
Speaker
Anyways. So we hunted hard all week. We had multiple chances. just couldn't Just couldn't get it put together. Couldn't get it put together. Thursday morning, and it's dumping.
00:48:02
Speaker
And we're like, you know, we're still going to go out. We're going to get it done. Tried to at least. So we did. Anyways, so we're hunting this one area. It's called the Old Winter Road. It's where they log it in the winter. So in the summer, you know, with the grass in the road is like, you know, four feet tall or whatever. It's undriveable, I should say.
00:48:19
Speaker
Anyway, so you're hunting this winter road. We're going, it's rainy, it's windy. Your call is probably only going 10 feet. So nothing's hearing you. So we get going and and it's a spot I've never been to before. So i'm looking at my Onyx and the road, you can either go straight, you can take a left. And I was like, you know, let's take a left. There's some hidden cuts over there.
00:48:39
Speaker
let's Let's try it out. yeah crossover like Are you looking for clear cuts? Is clear cuts like a a strategy? Yeah, yeah, yeah. ah Like, back edges of cuts is where you want to hunt and stuff like that, yeah.
00:48:51
Speaker
Sorry, I digress. Go ahead. No, no, you're all good. You're all good. So, you have to cross over this beaver dam and, like, this blown-out culvert, and you're getting up to this spot, and we cross up over this hill, and it's, like, just just flat...
00:49:07
Speaker
floating black spruce like mess. It's like, it's like when you're walking on the moss and it's floating. So it's almost like spongy. Yeah. yeah And it's still raining. And I'm like, you know what?
00:49:17
Speaker
I'm just going to let out the loudest cow call I can and see if I can get something fired up. So I just let out like this 30 second drawn out cow call. And to our right, a bull grunts.
00:49:30
Speaker
And you're like, oh man. All right. Sweet. So we wait a little bit. see if he grunts again he doesn't grunt again but i'm looking at onyx again and i'm like you maybe if we go around this uh this wooded area and get the wind in our favor because when he grunted the wind was not in our favor so try to go around this wooded area to get the wind in our favor we get over there ah let out another cow call and another bull grunts in the opposite direction and so now these two bulls are grunting at each other and they're trying to come for us uh because we're trying to be the cow anyways so we're standing there a little bit and these bulls are coming to us which is what we're trying to do and i let out another cow call and
00:50:17
Speaker
more bulls grunt further behind the bulls that are coming to us. So now we're like in this, for some reason, we just found this great area that had a bunch of bulls. And I don't know it happened, but it did. So we're standing there waiting and we're trying to to get a look at these bulls that are coming in.
00:50:30
Speaker
And my client, um Mike was his name. He's like, there's a moose right there. And I'm like, what are you talking about? There's no moose in front of me at all. Like we're still waiting for him to come And he's like, no, he's right there. There's a bull staring at us.
00:50:42
Speaker
And he's like 50 yards away. So I turn around and I'm looking. And all I see is a spruce tree. And I'm like, dude, I don't see anything. And he's like, there's a moose right there. like There's no moose, man. He's like, I'm going to shoot it. And I'm like, well, make sure it has antlers because I can't see it.
00:50:57
Speaker
And so the bulls are still coming at us behind us. And so I'm trying to like look over my shoulder to see if this one is better than the one that he's looking at. And so then this bull just keeps meandering in front of us.
00:51:13
Speaker
And my client, he, um, he has like his wind checker in his hand. We're trying to stand still. Cause he's 40 yards in front of us. Just staring at us now at this point. And he has his wind checker in his hand. And his he has ah like the kafaru um like gun tie up or whatever it is. Like it kind of like it lets your rifle kick up and you can kind of tie it right there.
00:51:31
Speaker
And he has this wind checker in his hand and his guns tied up. And this bull is like 40 yards in front of us. And he's like, I can't get my gun down. And I'm like, let me see your wind checker. So I take his wind checker, put it in my pocket.
00:51:44
Speaker
Anyways, he finally gets his rifle up. And he's shaking so bad, but the smooth the ball is like staring right at us. And he's just trying not to move, trying not to move. Doesn't have a good shot yet. And he's just shaking so bad. shit It was so funny.
00:51:58
Speaker
And then finally, gives us a shot. I think i think the shot was 40 yards. And anyways, this is, yeah, I'm going to go into this. All right. So this is with a 300 PRC.
00:52:10
Speaker
And I'm not a fan. So at 40, at 40 yards, too fast at that distance. I'm sorry. Yeah, no, absolutely. Absolutely. got Not the guy I'd bring for that distance. I would be 45, 70 slower bullet.
00:52:23
Speaker
Yeah. Mushroom done. Yeah, so so he finally gets he finally gets around into this. The first shot definitely killed. The first shot clipped the top of the heart. And so here, we believe in ah fire superiority. Keep shooting until it's down.
00:52:39
Speaker
hundred ah yeah A lot of people don't believe in that, and I don't know why. they shoot until they're down. Big animals, shoot them until they're down. That thing, run off and die in a freaking swamp, and then you're screwed.
00:52:50
Speaker
Yeah, so he he he puts one into him. Perfect broadside shot. He starts running. And as soon as he fires that first time, i just start yelling, shoot him again, shoot him again, shoot him again.
00:53:01
Speaker
So yet he shoots again. i think he missed the second one. And the third one, that the the bull is running away from us. So you're almost trying to do a Texas heart shot at this point. So his third shot, it hits him you know straight on into the top of the lung. And you can see the big air poof come out of it.
00:53:18
Speaker
And this is why I wanted to go into the 300 PRC thing.
00:53:22
Speaker
So we we were like, all right, sweetie, he runs out of sight. We don't see him anymore. And I'm like, all right, we'll wait a little bit. Go look for blood. We're trying to look for blood and we can't find blood anywhere. And I'm like, I watched you drill this thing two times and we can't find blood. End up finding a speck of blood. It was like the size of my pinky nail.
00:53:43
Speaker
And, you know, he's getting all nervous. He's like, oh, man, did I make bad shots? and I'm like, no, you drilled this thing. He's got to be here somewhere. He ended up going like 50 yards and piled up in this this cluster of spruces.
00:53:55
Speaker
But when we were we we were caping him out and quartering him, we ended up finding the two bullets stuck in the hide on the other side. So they never blew through. He was all internal bleeding.
00:54:06
Speaker
so that was So that to me sounds like more of a bullet choice situation versus a versus a 300 PRC thing. So the problem with 300 PRC... Maybe I'm not a fan of precision hunters. Maybe that's what it is. Yes.
00:54:20
Speaker
so So an issue you can run into is some of these hot cartridges, right? So, like I mean, that's not even super hot, but 300 PRC is probably pushing a bullet, you know, 3,000 feet per second to the size bullet. It's going so fast when it hits that you'll have, like, catastrophic stuff, especially if you're shooting, like, a... you know look kind of bullet you're shooting?
00:54:38
Speaker
The Hornady precision hunters. Oh, so he wasn't shooting like, man, if I'm shooting a bull, like I'm going to make sure to sp shoot like a really high-end bullet. So he was shooting a shoot to cheap bullet. that So that's the issue.
00:54:51
Speaker
That bullet was going so fast at that range, that it was just coming apart when it got into the bull. Like it was coming in the bull and it's coming apart versus like getting to do what it's supposed to do because there's kind of like ranges on bullets. People can get pissed off in the comments, whatever.
00:55:05
Speaker
Like there's like a range, like a sweet spot for a bullet. And I tend to say it's like, 27 down to 1900, it's kind of like a really good sweet spot for a bullet. If you put a bullet in an animal, like third, 300 feet, like say like I'll shoot, like this is a stupid example versus a moose.
00:55:22
Speaker
Like i remember shooting like copper bowls will do it. They're famous for it. If we're going too fast, you'll pencil, right? Like I penciled a D I use a six, my PRC in Hawaii this year. And I penciled, both deer I shot, it sucked because I was shooting, i don't want to say what kind of bullet it was.
00:55:37
Speaker
It was a mono metal bullet that wasn't a Barnes. The first time I was using him and I was penciling because the bullet was going so fast at those close ranges. It was going right through and not expanding. Really? and The same thing will happen with like, especially shooting like ELD or something.
00:55:50
Speaker
It's going so fast that it'll explode. on impact versus getting to go and mushroom up and do it. I'm guaranteeing this would happen with that one is he was shooting that thing at 40 yards.
00:56:01
Speaker
So it was, if we'd say it was a, mean, a 180 grain bullet. I don't imagine it was a 220. So that thing is probably, I bet you that thing was ripping like 3,300 feet per second.
00:56:12
Speaker
It hit that bull at 3,200 feet per second. It's only 40 yards away. And it just didn't do what was meant to do, which is mushroom and penetrate. So what happens it loses all that mass.
00:56:23
Speaker
And that's what he got on the offside shoulder because at 40 yards, no reason why a bullet doesn't go all the way through exactly yeah a moose, you know, even a freaking, you know, I would, I would almost wager to say a two 43 with a copper bond to the one all the way through that moose so at that range versus, you know, using a, you know, a soft jacketed lead core bullet.
00:56:43
Speaker
That's really light with a high speed gun. Like that's why i would, I would be more apt to use a 30 out six or a three Oh eight. Yep. My situation at three Oh eight. is more than you need at that range.
00:56:56
Speaker
Honestly, people get pissed off me. You probably could use a 300 blackout yeah and at that range, have the velocity, the same velocity that your PRC would have at 400 yards, you'd have at that range on that thing. A 300 blackout would have done the same damn thing and probably penetrated all the way through.
00:57:13
Speaker
Um, I'm not recommending 300 blackouts or moose, but at 40 yards, you're, you would say your bolt was going, i don't know what a man. I'm probably to get yelled at for this. Let's say you can get it. Let's say you can get 150 barns going 2400 feet per second out of a 300 blackout.
00:57:31
Speaker
Well, ah but that bolt will work down to 1,900 feet. It will work a little less than that. I would say 1,900 feet. Well, at 40 yards, you're probably still going to be in that threshold to hit that thing and get that full penetration impact, right? Because that's yeah look at. People look at these things like, I need this hot gun.
00:57:48
Speaker
Well, that hot gun, this is my gripe on these guys. Everyone's watching a 30-06 this year. That hot gun really doesn't come into play until 600 or 700 yards. Yep. So like you still have the same, like that, let's say my kids shooting, my kids shoots is a great example, but I have a big 308 fan. People hate it.
00:58:07
Speaker
Big 308 fan for my kids that my kids shoot their 308s at like 2700 feet second 168 grain barns.
00:58:15
Speaker
Well, out to 400 yards, it's a beautiful gun. It's still getting its velocities it needs. It's still going 2,100 feet per second. It's fully penetrating. I don't need more gun than that. Now, where I would need more gun than that is if I wanted to shoot it 600 yards out west and I still want to hit that 900 foot, that 1,900 foot threshold, 1,900 foot.
00:58:34
Speaker
uh, feet per second threshold, Cause you need that velocity for these poles to work. Right. I know everyone, I like talking about energy as well, but everyone gets all pissed off. I won't talk about energy cause I know energy antiquated, buth blah, blah, blah. Um, I, so that's kind of why went to the 30 out of six. I looked at it and i was like, man, you know what?
00:58:51
Speaker
Prove it 500 yards. This is all I need. You don't need more than that. Like, and I mean, I'm sorry, Hornady. I'm sorry, every gun maker out there, all my friends who build guns. Like you just don't need more than that to that range. You get it done. You just need to hit that threshold and people get so caught up in like, I need this giant cartridge.
00:59:09
Speaker
And honestly, it hurts a lot of people because honestly, most of your shots like this year, my farthest shot was 300 yards. I shot a buck at, Yeah, 300. My kids shot a buck at 385. We shot a buck at 420. But like my personal bucks, I shot five of them and none of them were more than 300 yards.
00:59:30
Speaker
Yep. Like 3.6 is perfect, right? It does the trick. And what happens is, is you're overgunned, right? and yeah Like I'm a big guy that I like to play the averages. I don't like to like...
00:59:42
Speaker
like but even with the my kits and stuff, I like to like prepare for what 95% of the time is not for 5%. And when you're bringing a 300 PRC out there, it especially into an area where it's totally timbered, you're over gunning yourself and you you're probably doing you have less odds of killing that bowl than you do with 30 at six at that range. And that's what people don't understand because the bullet's going too fast.
01:00:09
Speaker
And there's a bullet choice thing as well. Like he probably could have went to, uh, I would say I'd want to go with TSX on that, right? Not even not even a TTSX.
01:00:20
Speaker
you You know, bullet choice, or maybe even like some of these like sledgehammer type hammer bullets that are really open-faced, made for those shorter ranges. That's going to catch a lot of meat and expand, like, because it's go full penetration and expand.
01:00:32
Speaker
Because you almost, at that range, going so fast, like I said, if you're using a pointed tip bullet, you're not going to that expansion. So like there's this different choice you could do, or even at that range, maybe go with a, I mean, I don't know. Nevermind.
01:00:43
Speaker
It's going too fast. he did it's He's overgunned. I agree. Overgunned. overgunned. I'm talking too much about this. Yeah. You can overgun yourself, you guys, and you don't need to do it. Like honestly, the same thing with five PRC. Like I gripe on the Creedmoor.
01:00:57
Speaker
I'm building my kid a Creedmoor right now. i shoot a, I shoot a two 60 Revington. Like you don't need a six, five PRC unless you're going be shooting past four or 500 yards every single time. And a creep more honestly is a, I would say for elk, a three to three, four hundred yards is pushing it.
01:01:14
Speaker
But, um, For deer, it's a 500-yard gun all day long, depending a bullet choice and what you're doing. um But you've got to play the odds, and you don't need that PRC.
01:01:26
Speaker
You don't need the extra velocity until you get out to 600 or 700 yards. And honestly, go shoot a match and see what it's like to shoot 600 or 700 yards. right I just did a thing with GoHunt last week. It's so embarrassing my bipod.
01:01:37
Speaker
And I missed three out of five times. Wow. Wow. It was a 10 by 10 plate and it was like 320 yards. and it was a speed thing and I just sucked. But like, what I'm saying is like three yards is typically a chip shot for me. I was pretty shocked that I missed, uh, I'm still going off of that. Brady bent my barrel hunt or or something. honestly, I think what it was is I was shooting my match gun all weekend at a competition And the triggers like, you know, one and a half pounds. And I went to my factory Browning 30 out six with Brady.
01:02:07
Speaker
Cause they're rounding guys. They always Browning and the triggers like six pounds or something. So it was like, I was pulling the, I was jerking the gun. So I was like missing, like just right, just left. and it took me like a couple of shots. it It was like cold bore.
01:02:19
Speaker
We didn't get, so I took me like three shots to get the gun. Like, Oh, now I'm realizing what I'm doing. I'm pulling, I'm yanking this. I'm pulling the trigger. It's not going off and I'm jerking the gun, but whatever. Um, I digress.
01:02:30
Speaker
My point is you don't have to overgun yourself. You don't have to cut up it. The gun you have works. That guy probably, and I shouldn't knock That like, let's listen to this his podcast, but he probably went out and bought a gun for this, bought the 300 PRC because needed that for this hunt. And people think they need to have the biggest boomstick out there.
01:02:46
Speaker
And you don't honestly, like if I'm hunting that thing. i at that range, I probably could do it with a Barnes 30, 30, There's tons of people that are slamming with 33. At that range, i mean I might even just bring my 33. I'm going to draw the tag this fall. already told you guys. going to draw the tag this fall. Stay tuned. I hope you do, man.
01:03:04
Speaker
Stay tuned. i know I've said it before this podcast. like i'm going to I'm going to Kenya for missions work from like October 23rd to like November 7th, which is like prime Western hunting dates.
01:03:16
Speaker
So I'm really hoping God just like blesses me with a, uh, awesome tag. Maybe it's just moose tag in Maine, dude. I don't know. It's the hidden gem of the lower 48 for moose.
01:03:27
Speaker
So man, Rob, where can we find you guys?
Podcast and Social Media Information
01:03:31
Speaker
You know, how do we listen to your podcast? How can we help you guys out? Yeah, absolutely. ah So Moose Hunt Podcast, we're available on all podcast listening platforms, Spotify, Apple, Amazon Music, whatever. Just search Moose Hunt Podcast.
01:03:44
Speaker
ah Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Moose Hunt Podcast. We're a little late to the game on getting on the social media. we've been We've been doing this for three years now, and...
01:03:56
Speaker
We have a ton of listeners, but we never had our own social media. I just started those turn of the year. So we've got to build those numbers up. But Moose Up Podcast, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram.
01:04:07
Speaker
It sounds wicked awesome. Yeah, it's good stuff, bud. There you go. Hey, thanks, Rob, man. i appreciate you coming on, dude. ah Let's do it again sometime, man.
01:04:18
Speaker
Yeah, absolutely. it Sounds good. Catch up at the end of the year. Maybe I'll jump on your podcast, talk about hunting out west and what it's like to shoot animals. yeah Yeah, talk about some out west stuff and and some tripod stuff. Oh, yeah. Well, my new HK tripod, dude, it is made for you guys. Full kit. like You guys are probably running like the bogs and stuff back there.
01:04:35
Speaker
yeah Yeah, so yeah Boggs and the old school like Jim Shockey trigger tripod. It's so loud. Your guys' is stuff, like what is what is offered to the eastern states is so gimmicky.
01:04:49
Speaker
My new HK tripod is essentially a competitive competition tripod for $500, full kit. Comes with a tripod head and a gun clamp for $519. It'll be out in May. and it is going to You guys out east don't even know what you're missing when until you get this tripod. You're going to so stoked on it.
01:05:05
Speaker
So do it. Let's jump on one with us sometime. We'll talk about Let's do it. I'll be, let's jump on next month or something. a couple weeks. All right. Thanks, Rob. Yeah. Appreciate buddy. Thank you for listening to the Tricer podcast.
01:05:16
Speaker
Do us a favor and like, and subscribe on whatever platform you're listening on. Give us a follow on Instagram and Facebook at Tricer USA and go and check out all of our innovative gear at www.tricerusa.com.
01:05:29
Speaker
Until next time, shoot straight, have fun, and always put God first.