COW ELK DECOY FULL

We hoped to get some more close-range moose action, like the year before. As we set up our tent, the excitement was building. In 2022, Darryl and I were back at it again, and we had located a bull and two cows hanging around a long, narrow lake. On September 19, 2021, the bowhunting script finally played out perfectly for us, and Darryl got to check a box off his bucket list. When he looked over and gave me a thumbs up, I knew he was ready.įor adventure bowhunters like Darryl, this is about as good as a picture can get! I got settled into a good calling spot, and then waited until I could see Darryl get next to a stand of small trees directly across from me. We had plenty of time, and they weren’t going anywhere. The moose were close, and we didn’t want to risk spooking them. Before we parted, I emphasized to Darryl to take his time and go extremely slow. This would put Darryl in the best possible position for a shot once I started calling. Darryl’s job was to stay in the water and continue another 40 yards along the shoreline, at which point he was also going to climb up the grassy hill. My plan from there was to slowly and quietly climb a short distance up from the shoreline and then set up to call the bull. Upon reaching our predetermined spot, we stopped. Had we attempted to sneak closer in the thick brush, I am certain the moose would have heard us. Walking in the water made our approach completely silent. When we finally made it around the lake and were within a couple hundred yards of where we thought the bull was bedded, we both donned waders before easing into the water at the lake’s edge. Without even discussing it, Darryl and I both knew what we had to do - backtrack all the way around the lake to approach this bull from the other side. It was doing the same exact thing as on our previous failed stalk, and we feared a carbon-copy result if we approached any closer. When we were about 500 yards from the two moose, Darryl and I noticed that the wind was slightly different. The wind dictated that we stalk toward this bull from right to left, so we navigated around a large lake to get closer to the bull. The topography of the land was funneling the wind toward the moose, and it didn’t take long before the gig was up.Ī couple days later we were blessed to be looking through our binoculars at another nice bull, also accompanied by a cow. Just when we were both feeling like, “we got this,” I felt a slight breeze on my neck. Our plan was to stalk a little closer, then for me to call the bull into bow range of Darryl.

COW ELK DECOY FULL

The rut was in full swing, and the bull had a cow with him. Darryl and I had located a good bull and snuck to within 300 yards. That hunt didn’t lack for adventure and excitement. In 2021, my good friend Darryl Amason was able to realize his goal of arrowing an Alaskan moose.

Cow elk decoy