The chess match of September

Moose season is like a chess match for me. It’s a game of close calls and trying to be in the right spot at the right time. I’ve come close a couple of times to what I believe is a legal bull, but always right at dark.

It always seems that the moose come out when it’s the hardest time of the day to see and the most difficult to determine legality. Trying to count points against a dark backdrop is challenging and I for sure do not want to make a bad call and shoot a sublegal bull. It’s always been a battle for me to call a bull in before dark.

The other issue that I face, and what causes my stomach to turn, is trying to get to the spot before too late in the evening. Several times I have arrived at my location to find the moose already moving where I would like to be. Only once have I showed up to the spot late to find somebody else already hunting where I want to be and forced to try elsewhere.

Twice now I have come within 50 yards of a young bull that I believe to be a forked horn, which would be legal to harvest in my area. But every time I see him, it is right at dark and I cannot make out any exact antler configuration. I’ve passed on him each time, once at 20 yards. I know that if I keep returning to my spot for the rest of the season, it will only be a matter of time until he makes a slip when it’s still light enough to see.

Yesterday was the first time that I really felt that the rut was on. I was standing on the ridge, scrolling on my phone when I heard a soft grunt out in the burn below me. I began to call and rake with my canoe paddle and the bull returned the challenge with more grunting and more raking. I thought he was on his way to me for several minutes as we went back-and-forth and his sounds got closer and closer.

After 15 minutes, the bull got quiet and stopped returning my calls. I could hear him moving around in the brush and snorting every now and then, but he would never close the gap within 300 yards. I decided to sneak down to where I thought he was but could find no sign. I stayed there until dark and right before last light I heard him grunt a couple more times, still another 200 yards off. I backed out last night and made my way back to the truck.

With all the commotion I left in there last night, I’m really looking forward to this evening. Hopefully, something will happen before dark this time.