It was a bright and early morning on a crisp and cool fall day in October and we were out hunting for moose. Waking up before dawn we dressed quietly, trying not to make any noise as we made our way to the meadow. We didn’t have high hopes, as we had tried the previous night with no luck, but we were ready to try again.
As we approached the meadow, I did a quick moose call, hoping to hear something back. We knew we were in a good spot, as there was a moose wallow nearby. The wallow is essentially the bull moose’s version of a dating app, as through its smell it contains information about his strength, age and virility.
Soon enough, a cow moose appeared, frantically looking around for the bull moose she thought she heard. Soon two more cow moose followed, all of them eagerly searching for the bull. Finally, we heard his call from a long distance off, and soon enough he appeared, slowly walking out of the forest and across the meadow.
The bull moose stopped every few yards to grunt and rake his antlers against the willow, taking all the time in the world, while the three cows watched on with anticipation, calling out to him and waiting for him to come closer and choose one of them to be his mate.
But the big bull moose was in no rush. He walked slowly and with purpose, never stumbling or running, but moving with precision, confidence, and grace. stopping occasionally to rake and show off his strength and antlers. When he finally arrived at the females, he gave none of them more attention than the other. Looking a little bored, he turned and walked slowly back to where he came. This time never stopping and never looking back. I couldn’t understand why he didn’t choose one of the cows to mate with. As he got farther away, the three cows watching him leave, with a look of longing in their eyes, suddenly bolted after him. We watched as all three cows ran after him to his forest home. What a magnificent animal, and he reminded me of the story of the old Bull and young bull sitting on a hill, watching a group of cows at the bottom. “Let’s run down there and breed one of those cows.” exclaimed the young bull. “No” replied the old bull. “Let’s walk down and breed them all.” lol
We let that big moose go, like I’ve often done. A younger bull may be better eating anyways. To tell you the truth, the real reason in this instance… I just didn’t have the heart to shoot that big bull…not with the day he was gonna have. Good luck buddy, enjoy!
