Well we did our float trip!! It was lotsa fun and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Didn't get my moose- well to be honest I missed a broadside shot at 15 yards. I've literally done that shot with my eyes closed while practising with the bow. Yea I know it's as big as a piece of plywood and how could I miss. I think I subconsciously (sp) missed. It was a nice sized moose but the antlers weren't much to look at. Anyway I'll be back during rifle season and I'm not bummed out about missing. If I would have been hunting alone I probably wouldn't have taken the shot to begin with. Hunting with another person puts pressure on a guy to "close the deal"

A couple of thoughts:

mad dog rain gear from Candian tire surpassed my expectations. Hell the pants and jacket were only about a hundred bucks, much cheaper than some high tech stuff. And they were totally dry and reasonably quiet.

I used my 30 buck kamik rubber boots with felt liners constantly for the week. Other than getting a little smelly they were great boots. Easy on the feet and good ankle support. Buddy had cabellas high end neoprene lined rubber boots and they failed miserably.

I brought chest waders and luckily didn't need them.

The hiking boots stayed tied in the canoe in case I upset and needed boots to walk out in. Additionally basic survival gear was kept on our person at all times-especially while canoeing.

I had an RCMP style of fur hat and damned was it nice!! Didn't get toque rot in my hair and it was comfy enough to sleep in. For a rain hat I used an east coast style "fisherman's" hat and it was great too, also good to sit on and keep my backside dry.

I used my cheapo hunting blanket wrapped around my neck inside the sleeping bag. It kept the cold air from getting in-even though I use a mummy bag there is always air leakage. I brought a small pillow as well and it was sure nice.

We didn't call from the canoes, just used them to get into areas that were inaccessible to the quadding folks.

We brought pack frames to pack the meat out with. One of our biggest arguements was-we need to get closer to the moose in order to call them in. My arguement was "to hell with that I'm gonna call them to the river bank and shoot there." We finally took turns and the caller decided on the set up and location.

We were treated to a "moose sex party" and I learned a lot more about their vocalizations. I'm damned good at cow calls but not so good at bull grunting. My beef shoulder blade raked on the branches sounds uncannily like a bull rubbing his horns, and the sound carries well. It's also hard to screw up this call.

My buddy calls loud and I call low we both call moose you know. But I think too much calling is a sin. Also we didn't have enough time to really stay in one spot and call for an extended length of time. A week wasn't quite enough time on the river.

I brought 2 decoys I had made out of black landscape fabric. One is a side profile and one is a rear profile. They worked like magic and the moose that I missed the shot on was drawn like a magnet to it. We had one bull across a finger of water one night and our scent was drifting directly in his direction. He could obviously smell us but still stayed around for 20 minutes because his eyes were tricked but his nose kept him from coming any closer. I wish I had taken by spray bottle of moose urine, it would have been the perfect opportunity to experiment.

Cheers

the chef

Sounds like you had a good time. I have been threating to try the moose decoy it sounds very effective. My moose was a little less exciting, launched boat proceeded down the river and saw two cows. Stopped and warmed up (those boat trips in the morning are cold)let out a few calls, nothing. Carried on, saw bull with cow and friend shot the bull. Bull ran and died in a small creek, two hours of creative pulley work and it was on dry land. 60 meter pack to the boat. Moose was 58" and is probably between 210 and 220 B&C.

Congratulations!! It's a little different with a recurve bow in your hand.

quote:

I used my 30 buck kamik rubber boots with felt liners constantly for the week. Other than getting a little smelly they were great boots. Easy on the feet and good ankle support

I use these boots all the time when i'm hunting. They are kick ass in the mud/water and your feet stay dry and warm. Anyway sounds like a good wet trip, you'll probably hammer a huge bull during the rifle season.
Good Luck