Our moose hunt actually began in 2008 when after only three years of applying, I was fortunate to draw a non- resident New Hampshire either-sex moose tag. My great friend, Mike Koenig, told me the news one day at work that I had been drawn. I honestly didn’t even know where New Hampshire was on a map. Mike is one of my best friends, and we often joke about being on each other’s “Favorites” list in our phone contacts. We made a pact that if one of us were to draw, we would go together as permittee and subpermittee as New Hampshire lets two hunters hunt for one moose.
Weighing our options, we decided to hire a guide as neither of us had been to the state. We chose Travis Williams, and after many phone calls throughout the summer, we finally met Travis after driving to the east coast from Wisconsin. The three of us hit it off right away, and on the first evening of our hunt, I was able to shoot a huge bull. The 55" bull was the third largest in the state that year.
Our friendship continued as Travis and his father, Bob Williams, came to bowhunt whitetails and stay with us in Wisconsin the following fall. Staying in contact through the years with cards and phone calls, we continued to apply for moose tags. Fast forward to 2020. Again, I was at work and Mike came over with the news that I was on the alternate list for the moose drawing. I had checked the draw results earlier but had failed to look at the alternate list. New Hampshire had only given eight non-resident moose tags, but my name had been drawn as the first alternate should an applicant defer. Right then, I told Mike that we were either “the first losers or the last winners.” I called Travis to tell him the news, and he couldn’t believe our luck.
I knew at that moment that if I was given the opportunity, I would accept the tag and give it to Mike as it had been his dream hunt. Mike has had many hardships over the last few years, including losing two brothers, his mother, and beating cancer. He never showed signs of giving up through the chemo, even taking his IV bag in his backpack while bowhunting deer that fall. His positive, unwavering attitude was like nothing I had ever seen before in a person. I remember visiting him in the hospital and leaving, thinking to myself how hard it had to be both physically and emotionally, but Mike stayed the course. With many prayers, he has been cancer free for three years.
As the summer went on and the final acceptance deadline drew near, I received an email that a tag had been turned away after initially being accepted. I immediately accepted the tag and gave the news to Mike and Travis that we were going to be moose hunting again come October. I fist pumped so many times that day that I should have pulled a muscle. I told Mike that this was his moose and that I wouldn’t be taking a gun on this hunt. We would share the cost of the hunt just as we had in our first hunt as well as the meat should he get one.
The summer seemed to drag on forever, but with the moose hunt on our horizon, we had a lot to look forward to come October. Travis reapplied for his guide license and started scouting for Mike and me, spending all of his free time in our unit. He often carried his one-year-old daughter on his back while scouting every fresh cut in the area. Travis even went as far as to fly over the unit in a helicopter to view it from the air as well as secure permission on some private land. Unit D is not known as the greatest unit, and it is quite difficult to hunt with many small parcels of huntable properties mixed in a rural type setting.
The area is not known for holding numbers of large bulls, so Mike had decided to set realistic goals for the course of our nine-day hunt. We decided that for the first three days we would look for a big bull, days four through six any bull, and the last three days he would be happy with any moose.
Arriving the day before the opener, we were able to scout potential spots for the morning and even saw a few moose that first evening. Opening day came and went with a fresh snow and more sightings as Mike held out for a big one.
Day two came and went with a missed opportunity at a shooter bull that heard us in the crusted snow. The third day, we had a chance at a small bull early and then messed up an opportunity at a very big bull later in the day. We were getting closer as each day went by, and on the morning of day five in the early light, we spotted a cow and calf in a cut 600 yards above us. Through my binoculars, I spotted a bull with them in the timber. In a single file line, we snuck closer. At 400 yards, the cow had enough of us and began to trot up the mountain with calf and bull in tow. Mike wasted no time and found a rest on an abandoned piece of machinery. He dropped the bull with his .30-06, which had been given to him by his late uncle.
We gave the bull time to be sure that it was down and began the long uphill walk to see it. As we neared the bull, Travis and I stopped in respect of Mike as he closed the final yards to the bull that he had always dreamed of. We realized that this bull was one we had seen earlier in the hunt. The moment was very emotional for me as Mike called his son to tell him that he had taken this great animal. The three of us began the celebration early, and Travis’ entire family came to celebrate with us for a moose dinner that lasted well into the night. Being with great friends and working as a team had paid off for the most deserving person I know.
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