New Hampshire Hunters Bag a Really Big Bull Moose

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Today, Wednesday October 23, 2013 and I haven’t heard a thing about the Moose Hunt so I decided to take a drive with my Nikon camera to the New Hampton Moose Registration Station just south of Plymouth NH to see what’s happening.

I arrived around 11:30 AM to observe a Moose being checked it.  It was huge!  It had a whopping 53 inch spread. The hunters were Dave Deluca who made the first kill shot and Alan Michalowski with a follow-up shot to the neck.  The Moose fell dead right there.

Dave and Alan were up  for the past 16 hours and either gutting,cutting, dragging, or caping out this monster with no sleep.

What a terrific hunting team they made.  Dave credits Alan with his excellent taxidermy prep. caping skills. They seemed no worse for wear as they were all smiles as I snapped photo’s and took video while getting their story. The NHFG Biologist’s were very helpful and informative to all of us. Listen to the initial video clip below. You can maximize the clip by clicking on the box at right in the clip.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3LC1IrEgXI

Oct 23 2013 Moose at New Hampton check station 1

The bulls live weight is estimated at 800 pounds. Antler spread was a whopping 53 inches.The age is estimated at 4 1/2 years.

Rifle/Cartridges for Dave was .270 Winchester with 150 grain bullets and for Alan a .308 Winchester with 180 grain Silvertips. Nice! (Editor Note: Go to my June 2013 Archive to read more on Moose and Cartridges).

Below the NHFG Biologist says Ahhhh and ages the Moose by its teeth. If you can see the red bar in his hands he is prying the mouth open wide so he can get a good look inside.

DSC_0425

A local high school biology class was there to observe too. I promised the teacher, I would send photo’s of her students in observation of the Biologists. Not shown as she needed to get permission for me to use them.

THE HUNT STORY

The Hunting story as Dave and Alan recall it was Yesterday October 22, 2013 at 3:40 in the afternoon in Unit G.  Dave and Alan were hunting in the same area that this duo shot another giant Bull Moose 10 years ago. Wow!

They crested a rise deep in the woods and there in front of them was a 4 1/2 year old monster bull bedded down about 70 yards away. It was Dave’s tag but instead of shooting right away he began to fiddle with the HD Camera attached to his rifle according to his partner Alan. Alan was getting nervous with the camera fiddling that Dave was doing. It was around that time that the saw the other two monster bulls bedded beside the one they were going to shoot. What! Let me say that another way. There were three bulls all about the same size bedded together. Yes Really!!! Here it is in their own words in the youtube clip below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWi8dC131Qk

Initially, Alan and Dave only saw the one Bull directly in front of them. I can’t say that I blame them, he was huge! I suspect when the other bulls started moving antlers that the hunters were truly shocked.

Dave shot first while the Moose was still bedded. Then all heck broke loose and Alan followed up with a neck shot and the Moose fell dead. I assume the other two Bulls left in a hurry. Alan says he has the info and photo’s of their last Moose Hunt so we will post that story too. More to come!!

 

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About Ed Hale

I am an avid hunter with rifle and Bow and have been hunting for more than 50 years. I have taken big game such as whitetail deer, red deer, elk, Moose and African Plains game such as Kudu, Gemsbok, Springbok, Blesbok, and Impala and wrote an ebook entitled African Safari -Rifle and Bow and Arrow on how to prepare for a first safari. Ed is a serious cartridge reloader and ballistics student. He has earned two degrees in science and has written hundreds of outdoor article on hunting with both bow and rifle.