I have posted this thread on CanadianGunNutz & AlbertaOutdoorsmen forums.

If you've already viewed this thread over on those sites, please indulge me for sharing it here.



Start. 8 moose racks, 16"x24" pine blanks.


I traced the plaques using an old plaque as a template. It's just visible on the router table.


Scroll saw...


Milled the edge with a Router.




My wife sanded the plaques and we stained them; 'Ipswich Pine'.


I made 'keyhole' plates for the backs. Secured these with 3/4" #8 Robertson screws.




These racks span 1987 to 2012. Four of these were 50" when first shot. Still a couple are 48"-49" but none are 50" now.


On every one I got a plate made up with the date, location and who my hunting partner(s) were, plus each has a sort of title on it that has some significance.
Like "The Fighter", which that bull was shot at point-blank range, while fighting with another big bull.


"Point Blank" Oct. 3 1996.



"The Fighter" Oct. 6 1994.


"Flat-out Charged" Oct. 4 1987.


"Morning Encounter" Oct. 11 1988.


"The Third Bull" Sep 29 2012.


"Last Minute Luck" Oct. 6 2006.


"Glen & Kidd Paid A Visit" Oct. 9 2005.


"Twilight Fury" Oct. 4 2004.


A lawn of moose racks...


My new 'Trophy Room'. Lol! I paneled the garage wall with cheap 1/2" Spruce plywood.




I wouldn't say I'll never hunt moose again, but it's looking like that's possible. I still put in the 999 Code Antlered Moose draw, the hunting skill is still there, still fit (enough). but the herd in Swan Hills is just decimated. I pretty much feel sorry about the thought of shooting one now.

If I do go out again, I could see myself just doing it for the camp experience and the thrill of calling.


Anyway, I hope you enjoy the pics.


Demonical

Demonical-
Very interesting and informative post. Thanks for posting.

Really nice looking sets of antlers. I have hunted moose one time on Newfoundland and shot Bullwinkle.

I would really like to get one more chance to shoot a bull that had a rack like any of those you have killed.

Great pics and that's a lot of moose! Sucks about the population decline in your area.

Thanks for the replies guys.

Over the years I personally shot 20-something bulls, and the other fellas in our camps took another 20 or so.
There were several other of these 50" class moose that went home with some of the other fellows.
I suppose I gave away or threw away a bunch of moose racks.

The moose decline here is due to a combination of severe winters, too many wolves/bears, unregulated hunting by Indians.

The Indians hunt them year round and shoot cows, calves without regard.

Unless this changes (which it won't), the moose have no chance of recovery.

I was out spring bear hunting a few years back; June 4th. Way in the hell in the middle of nowhere. I came around a corner on the trail and saw 3 ATVs.

It was 3 Indians, hunting moose. June 4th!! They had a cooler of beer, a big bag of weed and not a care in the world.

Nice fellas, really.

But it makes no sense...

sounds a lot like what's happening here in Ontario.

Demonical does have a bit of an edge. Lot of people are reluctant to eat the moose from the Swan Hills, cause of the presence of the toxic waste destruction plant there. Govt. has issued a caution on eating moose meat from there. Locals love it. Won't harm you, but don't eat it.

Wild Game Public Health Advisory
The wild game public health advisory for the Swan Hills area –
originally issued on December 13, 1996, by the Provincial Health
Officer – has been revised as a result of more extensive wild game
testing. While recent test results confirm that eating wild game from
the Swan Hills area poses no immediate threat to human health, it is
recommended that individuals limit the amount of wild game eaten.


Grizz

Very interesting post. Excellent plaques. Wish we had moose in Kentucky!

Good looking bunch of bulls!

Great accomplishment .
Full time just dusting them haha.

.

What a fun post. Enjoyed reading it. Thanks.

Do you have any pictures of the bulls from when you hunted them ?

Congrats on a fine collection.

Charlie

.

Much the same problem and devastation of game populations is happening in BC, as the predator pops. are higher than at any time I can recall in 53 hunting seasons.

Grizzlies, are so abundant that they now often wander into cities and towns and Black Bears, Wolves and Coyotes are everywhere. The crap spewed by the various George Soros funded "eco" groups is simply false and our governments are playing the "greenie game" while doing very little for real conservation.

Indians, I better not go there as it is just 04:00 here and I must avoid more hyper tension..........

The comments about Indians, reminds me of the story the guide I hunted black bear with in central Idaho back in 2010 related to me.

There are some meadows along the Clearwater River, the area I hunted, and ion late spring a year or so earlier a cow moose brought her that years calf out to graze every afternoon.

The locals got to going out and watching them, then one day in mid to late August when the calf had got some size to it, two Indians driving a Nez Perce tribal vehicle pulled up and right in front of everyone, shot the cow and calf.