Chasing a Dream - Maine Moose Hunt

That's so great - a Down East Bull for A Deep South Guy!

Glad to see you got the obligatory back-of-the-pickup and meat-pole shots - wouldn't have been a true Maine experience without both of those!

I miss Maine...
 
Back in June I was working a long weekend when I received a message on my phone informing me that I’d drawn a Maine bull moose permit. I’m pretty sure I audibly whispered “No way”. It was a cool moment but this dream started a long time before that. My mom is from Northern Maine. She and my dad moved down to South Carolina before I was born. Every summer or 2 our family would load up in our mini van and make the 20+ hour drive up to visit my grandparents. I really really enjoyed our trips to up there. My grandpa was a fantastic woodworker with a whole basement full of tools so I would get to work with him and he’d always give me a new tool to take home. Another reason I really enjoyed my time in Maine was because I always got to go fishing and I always asked to go look for moose. I knew I wanted to hunt them one day.

In 2012 I began applying. I told my mom I knew it was a long term goal, but I hoped I could draw while I could still walk. Well in 2018 I did draw. I drew a cow tag in an area just north of where I used to go with my family and see moose. I was so excited for that cow tag. My buddy and I went up and scouted for 2.5 days. Opening morning I killed a big beautiful cow. The hunt was amazing and the meat was phenomenal.

Maine has a penalty box when you draw a moose permit. You’re not allowed to be entered in the draw again for 3 years, but you are allowed to purchase a point. Every year I would buy my point and enter my wife in the draw. Last year I started applying again, but this time I would check the box saying I would only accept a bull tag.

That brings us back to the beginning of my story. I drew a bull tag in Northern Maine in a phenomenal zone. I couldn’t believe it. I started texting people and I received a plethora of responses most of which remarked on my Irish Heritage and Leprechaun ancestors ☘️. One of my friends is good friends with a bear/moose guide in the area I drew. He spoke extremely highly of him having multiple successful hunts. I was fully planning on doing the hunt diy but the guide offered me a good deal with a new nice log cabin to stay in. I felt like it was too good of a deal to turn down. I was very confident I could kill a bull, but I didn’t know what my odds of finding a big bull would be. Size wasn’t the most important thing on my hunt but I wanted to do the hunt justice and kill a mature bull. I decided I would spring for the hunt and book with him. My buddy, Greg, told me he would come out from AZ and go with me. Our plans were set.
I have been applying in Maine for over 20 years and the closest I have come to drawing I was chosen as the number 44 alternate. Always fun applying and hoping.
 
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