Syracuse.com - Liverpool hunter gets moose during his "hunt of a lifetime" in Maine

[HuntingNY-News]

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"I drew a moose tag for a Bull in Maine’s moose lottery this year. I never expected to," he said.

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<p><strong>Mike Pellizzari, of Liverpool, shared the following hunting tale with me. </strong></p>

<p>He wrote: "I drew a moose tag for a Bull in Maine’s moose lottery this year. I never expected to.</p>

<p>"There are 10s of thousands people in the lottery and somewhere in the neighborhood of 3,000 permits issued and only 10% of those for non-residents. I presumed I’d build preference points (you get these if you are not drawn and they go in for future chances) for a future hunt – maybe.</p>

<p>"I drew in Wildlife Management District (WMD) 17 which is nearly in the middle of the state and nor particularly note for Moose. Maine allows one swap between permit holders. I was able to swap with somebody who had a Bull Permit for WMD 4, an area further north and much better for Moose. </p>

<p>"I did my homework and found husband and wife guides Troy and Cheree Conrad of Sunrise Ridge Guide Service and Sporting camps (www.sunriseridgeguide.com) out of Bingham ME. I couldn’t have been more pleased. This was my first guided hunt, a hunt of a lifetime for me.</p>

<p>"WMD 17 is remote, the Maine North Woods. The towns have names like TR7 R17 WELS. Much, if not all the land is owned by paper and timber companies. We drove past Pelletier Brothers Camp. (See the Discovery Channel American Loggers).</p>

<p>"We stayed in large wall tents heated with wood stoves.</p>

<p>"Monday September 24th was the first day of the hunt. By 5:00 AM we were scouting logging roads in a pickup. While it was still dark, Troy spotted a large Bull and a Cow in the road. I caught a quick glimpse with the binoculars just before they ran into the woods. We drove a ways past where they went in and parked to wait for legal shooting time. Troy had a plan. We would go back to where they went in and “go after them aggressive”. I’m used to hunting whitetails so it was strange to make plenty of noise. Troy beat the brush with a moose shoulder blade; looks like the blade of a canoe paddle. He also called with a birch bark Moose call and broke branches. I had my compound bow; Cheree carried my 30-06 unloaded. (Guides cannot carry loaded weapons for clients). By the way legal implements for Moose in Maine are rifle, shotgun, muzzleloader, handgun, bow and crossbow). </p>

<p>"We broke into a clearing and Troy said “Get Ready!”</p>

<p>"A Bull Moose stepped into view with about 54” -56” spread, double brow tines and went in excess of 900 lbs. He slowly swayed his huge antlers from side to side challenging the other “Bull” he heard to a fight to defend his cow.</p>

<p>" I had a bow sling on my bow. In my excitement, I put the sling on wrong and could not draw my bow! The Bull had enough of my nonsense and left me standing there at 12 – 15 yards!</p>

<p>"While I was disappointed in my blowing the chance to shoot a really nice Bull, I was thrilled to have such a fantastic hunt. It was unbelievable!</p>

<p>"As the balance of the next couple of days went by, I turned down a couple of “small” bulls in the 40” range.</p>

<p>"Wednesday September 28 rolled around and I was wondering about the “small” ones I let walk. I could hunt until Sunday but had decided I’d look to take a nice Bull. I would know what that was when I saw it.</p>

<p>"With 25 minutes left in legal shooting time, we spotted a Bull in a cut at about 75 yards. I got onto my shooting sticks with my Remington 760 pump in 30-06 and fired. The Bull barely reacted! In my excitement, I managed to jam the rifle. Quick as thinking, Troy told me to give him the rifle, cleared the jam and handed it back, “Take him!” The second shot put him down.</p>

<p>"What a wonderful feeling! What a spectacular animal! I will treasure all of the hunt and the new friendship I made with Troy and Charee.</p>

<p>"I mentioned it was a hunt of a lifetime for me. Well, the next week Troy and Cheree donated a real Hunt of a Lifetime to a 7 year old boy, Wyatt Newhard, who is terminally ill with cancer. (Maine donates 2 Moose tags each year to Hunt of a Lifetime They were Successful with Wyatt and he got a nice moose. That is the kind of people Troy and Cheree are.</p>

<p>"As for the “numbers” of my moose, he has a spread of 36” seven points, and an estimated live weight of 750 pounds. The table fare is excellent."</p>

View the full article on The Syracuse Outdoors Blog