FROW - Moose Crossbow

by Ernie Rollason
I have a great passion for the outdoors and hunting. I grew up learning to trap and hunt from my father and have now been enjoying if for 30 years in the same area. I started bow hunting about 6 years ago and my first bow that I purchased was a compound. After success shooting a bull moose with it, I knew that I was hooked on bow hunting. It gave me that extra challenge and excitement of hunting that I wanted. I wanted to continue bow hunting, but I found I did not have the time to spend practicing with my compound, so two years ago I purchased my Excalibur Vixen Crossbow. I would still be able to bow hunt and be confident with my shot.

I had been out hunting on Sept 17th for 3 days with no success. I had been to a few areas calling and had heard moose but did not get one to come in. I had to return to work and was planning to get back out hunting again on the weekend. On September 22, I was at work and had heard that it was going to be cold that night and frost so I went to my boss and asked for the afternoon off and the next day also. I knew that with the first good frost of the season I definitely wanted to be in the bush. I left work, went home and packed up all my hunting equipment, and headed out for the night.

On my way to my cabin I had noticed moose tracks in an area that I had not seen the last time I was up, so I decided that tomorrow morning I would hunt there. I liked the area I was going to as I had been there many times before and knew the surroundings well, It was a place that always had shown sign of moose especially during the rut. I wanted to be up early and have myself in a good place to make some calls. I was taught many different techniques to hand calling when I was young and over the years I have developed my own ways and have changed my techniques depending on the situation. I prefer hunting on the ground so that I can either move towards the moose or down wind depending on the aggression of the moose. It definitely takes time and patience and a lot of nerves.

In the morning when I woke up I put on my camouflage clothing, my scent away deodorant and sprayed my clothing from head to toe with Hot Moose attractant (mare in heat urine) to mask any human scent. I made myself a coffee and headed out at around 7:30 am. I arrived at my hunting area at around 7:45 and observed my surroundings; checking for wind and listening carefully. I knew where I was going to call from but I wanted to be sure I had a plan of where I would position myself for a good shot for any direction that a moose may come in from. It is very critical when hunting from the ground to be aware of the surroundings and to be alert. I made my first cow call and just sat and listened for any response, it was cool and quiet, no wind, not even a squirrel chirping. About 15 minutes went by when I heard a crash to the south of me. I walked up a little hill to be sure I was where I could get a good shot. I could see the lake in front of me and to the left came more noise and crashing in the bush. He was coming. I now changed my call to make two soft bull calls. I broke some branches and kicked up the ground. Just after that I heard a grunt, but the grunt was to the north of me, and the crashing in the bush was coming from the south of me. Just then the grunts got louder and I realized I had two moose coming in, one on either side of me and I was in the middle. I walked back up the little hill a bit and spotted the moose coming in from the north of me. My heart nearly stopped; he was massive!

My heart was racing. The moose to the south was grunting a lot and still coming. I knelt down; he was grunting deep short grunts and was about 60 yards away from me and the other moose was getting louder but could not yet see him. I was right in the middle of these two moose calling back and forth... (for the rest of the story, see the 4th Edition of the Big Game Records of Ontario)