Yesterday I achieved a new milestone in this year’s moose hunt. Suddenly, the process took an incredible step forward. Instantly, things don’t look quite so bleak.
I actually saw a moose!
We had to go to town yesterday, and hurried across the bay in time to cross the creek before the tide got too high. We’ve had torrential rains that day and the night before, so the creek that cuts through the bay was swollen, and our normal crossing height altered. We rushed across, barely making it through the creek before it topped our boots.
Climbing up on the far bank, we took a moment to catch our breath, to cool off and recollect ourselves. We began to look around. The tidal flats at the head of the bay are prime moose pasture. I carried my rifle, even though we were headed to town—a precaution I’d learned from last year’s experience. We were ready to drop our town errand in a moment, should a legal moose appear.
Michelle looked across the flats and calmly said, “There’s a moose.”
In the trees and shrubbery on the edge of the bay, a beautiful moose browsed, its humped back barely visible, blending well with the surrounding foliage. It raised its head and glanced our way, then turned and walked into the treeline.
It was a cow (illegal). It stood in a fringe of trees lining the road (illegal to shoot from or toward a roadway) and it stood very close to the edge of a neighbor’s yard (illegal, and downright un-neighborly).
We would not hunt this particular animal, but after recent, discouraging news about the current hunt, just seeing one of the species was a great boost. Also, the hunt coincides with mating season, so the boy moose want to go where the girls are. I’ll be back there today, taking another chance at getting a moose this year.