Interesting morning today, we managed to sneak up on a cow moose in the number one muskeg. Matthew was trying to use his rangefinder binoculars to get a distance while I quietly coached him to take the shot. He was determined to get a reading first, and just as he was struggling to get the distance —out of nowhere—a young calf stepped into view, completely changing the moment.
A few days earlier, we had talked about this exact situation. I told Matthew that I didn’t want him shooting a cow that had a calf. I said if he did, I wouldn’t be around to help gut the moose while that little one cried for its mom. I guess the message stuck, because the second he saw that calf, the hunt was over.
Proud doesn’t even begin to cover it. He made the right call. Letting that cow and calf walk means one more step toward keeping the moose population strong and healthy for years to come.
