On top of that, I was drawn for a bull tag in Zone 12 in western Maine. Not an area loaded with moose but again it was like the perfect storm of good luck. A good friend of my dad's from town had moved up to Maine years ago and in his retirement has become a registered Maine guide and lives in Zone 12. He donates much of his guiding service to Hunt of a Lifetime and offered host us in his beautiful log home and guide for us.
Our guide Jeff had done a lot of homework before the season and found a great spot full of fresh bull sign. After 18 hours sitting in a blind watching the old cut and Jeff calling periodically with his birch bark call, the bull which we knew was in the area finally came out. My son and I took this beautiful bull and my father was with us to see it. We both fired and hit the bull in the chest before it fell.
Before I get too far, here's the three generations with our guide.
For those into numbers, the bull dressed at 821 pounds and had a 45" spread, 15 points, and 10" palms. While not a world record, it was the trophy of a lifetime for us. The guide said it was the perfect bull, a respectable trophy but also young enough to make some good eating.
My son turned 14 just before the hunt. He got a week out of school and loved being in hunting camp. He shot the old Model 700 308 that I used to shoot my first deer with a rifle. It's been his rifle for a few years now and he's taken deer with it.
And here I am so you can get a better look at the levergun. A Savage 99 from the early 50's in 300 Savage. I shot Hornady Superformance 150 gr ammo. Hat tip to Hornady here because that stuff shoots super well from this old rifle.
I had to "borrow" this Savage from my younger son. I wrote up this rifle in a post a few years ago.
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Since I was already on nostalgic bent, I endeavored to get this old rifle into shooting shape. I pulled the foggy old scope that came on the rifle off and replaced it with an old steel tube K3 wideview Weaver that I'd been saving for the right rifle. To make a long story short it was a more involved project than I thought because the rifle was not factory drilled and tapped. However, because I love to tinker with old guns anyway, I was able to get the scope mounted correctly and it's right at home on this old Savage.
To top things off, we were able to get in a day of bird hunting at the end of the week. This was the first time my son had ever been hunting for birds that weren't stocked and he loved it. He said that while nothing compares with the thrill of shooting a bull moose, upland bird hunting on a beautiful fall day was more fun than sitting on a stool in the brush for 18 hours waiting for a moose.
Keeping with the nostalgic trend, the old double is the Fox Model B 20 gauge that my grandfather bought my father as his first shotgun. My dad had moved on to over and unders and said he hadn't shot a bird with the old Fox double since the early 70's. He was nearly in tears when I took a woodcock with it.
We were also able to spend some downtime shooting classic 22's off the porch at the cabin. Again in keeping with the trend, I left the semi-autos at home and we took one of the old Winchester pumps do to some plinking.
This was the perfect hunt and was truly the experience of a lifetime for all of us. Being drawn for a tag, in a zone where our guide friend lived, actually taking a beautiful bull with my son- with my father watching us and while shooting classic and nostalgic rifles was just the perfect storm of good luck.
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