This morning I headed out to a west side gate to do some
bushwhacking, with hopes of finding an antler shed. I wasn’t twenty minutes into
the hike when I looked up and there stood a moose about seventy yards out
looking at me. Only carrying my point and shoot today,
I decided I would trial
this moose for a while and see where it takes me. Was I surprised when a topped
a small ridge and there were seven moose beds in close proximity to each other,
and another three beds a short distance away.
One of the distant beds had
specks of blood visible outside of the depression made by the snow from the moose’s warm
body. Long shot but I thought maybe a bull might have had some blood loss with
dropping an antler. Tracks were plentiful but looking carefully I was able to
stay on this particular track following it backwards. It took me about a
quarter mile to an area that was very thick with saplings. Plowing through this
thick area for a while sure had me focused thinking I might find an antler
hanging from a sapling branch. No luck today. I marked the location on my GPS.
With that much sign in a relatively confined area, it’s sure to have an antler
or two to be found.
Looking at each bed you could clearly see where a cow and
calf had been laying. If would guess that three or four moose are using this as
a wintering feeding & bedding area. If moose dung was worth money I would
hit it big this morning!
Tracks of deer, coyote & moose where plentiful.
I did
see where a porcupine has been making a regular visit.
Jim
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