Big Moose Story

[chaffmj]

Check out the link for a picture in the startribune.

http://www.startribune.com/462/story/1471213.html

Just an hour into a five-day moose hunt in the northern Minnesota wilderness, Jack Weix came face-to-face with a giant bull moose. And a little bit of Minnesota history.

Weix, 38, of St. Paul, bagged the moose Sept. 29 — his first ever — then found out later that it might be a record-breaker. The animal, which weighed an estimated 1,200 pounds, had antlers that measured 5 feet from tip to tip.

The rack scored 236½ inches under the Boone and Crockett measuring system, easily besting the state record, 227 1/8 inches, set in 1985. Weix’s moose rack still must dry to get an official score, and it likely will be somewhat smaller, but probably will be a new state record.

Record or no record, Weix doesn’t care. “It was the trip of a lifetime,’’ he said.

And that’s no exaggeration. In Minnesota, hunters apply for a very limited number of moose licenses, and if selected, get only one license in a lifetime.

Weix and partner Pat Flynn, of St. Paul, his brother-in-law, were paddling a small stream near Moose Camp Lake in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness north of Ely when they rounded a bend and surprised the moose, just 25 yards away.

“It was amazing. I wasn’t sure if he was going to charge us or bolt,’’ said Weix, who was in the bow of the canoe with his .338 caliber rifle while Flynn paddled in the stern.

“It was about 45 seconds of me staring at the moose and the moose staring at me,’’ he said. “I wasn’t nervous.’’ Weix finally fired twice, dropping the big animal.

“We went up to it and said, 'Oh-oh, this is huge.’ I was shaking,’’ he said. But shooting it was the easy part.

He, Flynn and two other non-hunting partners who were along on what was supposed to be a five-day trip, Eric Johnson of St. Paul, another brother-in-law, and Johnson’s nephew, Scott Rosario, of West St. Paul, field dressed the moose. They then loaded the meat in one canoe and put all their gear and the moose head and huge rack in the other.

“The canoes were almost ready to sink,’’ he said. “We paddled really carefully.’’

They had to lug the moose meat and gear over several portages the next day. “It was the hardest day of my life,’’ Weix said.

[JustinG]

Wow! Thanks for the article Chaffmj! That is one big moose!

[finnbay]

I'm assuming they were on the creek between Moose Camp and Fourtown. That stretch of water can seem like climbing a mountain. That had to be a real job getting it out!

[Kallista]

Sorry but i had to LOL

Yup. I went ahuntin' and got me a Moose. Then this fellar down at the fillin' station gives me this recipe. Hoppin' yea like it!

time to make 9 days 15 min prep

1 moose (antlers removed)

8 gallons ketchup

5 1/2 gallons bob's moose marinade

3 tablespoons dry mustard

1 bay leaf

salt, if yea want

pepper, if yea want

3 six-packs beer

1. FIVE EASY STEPS:.

2. Make sure moose is dead.

3. Put moose on skewer or ina a very, very, very large skillet.

4. Cook over medium-high heat until done, about 9 days, basting occasionally with all the other stuff mixed together -- 'cept the beer.

5. Drink the beer.

6. Serve the moose with Potatoes Anna and a asparagus souffle.

I used the skewer method, but the limbs were done WAAY before the carcass, so they were a loss. (The Husband is thinking of making a stool or something with them) I couldn't find any Bob's Moose Marinade (that dang store!) so I used Don-Joe's instead, which I know isn't as good, but what could I do? The beer was okay - but we had to fill in with a couple shots now and then since it was taking more like ten days. My souffle fell, and the potatoes burned to a crisp about Day Two, but of course, that has nothing to do with the moose, which was quit flaky and delicious once you got the skin peeled back. Had a nice smoky flavor too, in spit of the fact that the neighbors called the police on Day 5 and we had to haul our act indoors. Thanks!

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[Surface Tension]

Thanks for the article chaffmj.

[chaffmj]

Here is an update on the Moose story from the Timber Jay.

Reports of a possible new state record moose were apparently premature. The bull shot near Moose Camp Lake, north of Ely on Sept. 29, was big, but not record big, according to Jack Weix, the St. Paul man who shot the animal just an hour into the season.

The bull, which was registered in Ely, had originally been green- scored by an Eveleth taxidermist, who tallied 236 1/2 inches on the Boone and Crockett scale. That figure would have easily topped the current record of 227 1/8 inches, shot by Donald Blake in Cook County in 1985.

But Weix began to have doubts after reviewing photos of that record, and other near-record moose. “They looked bigger than mine, so I asked Boone and Crockett to send someone to measure it,” Weix said. The Boone and Crockett representative came to Eveleth on Monday and tallied a total score of 182 5/8 inches. Weix said the taxidermist had mistakenly added tine lengths to the score, which accounted for the inflated total.

“It’s big, but it’s not a record,” said Weix.

But Weix doesn’t sound the least bit disappointed for the experience. While he’s been coming to the Boundary Waters for years, he said this was his first time in the wilderness in the fall. “It was absolutely spectacular,” he said.