At 77, he's still got the touch
November 4, 2009 by Phil Livingston
Blue moon moose
Seventy-seven year-old man uses 83 year-old gun to bring home a big one
by Phil Livingston
outdoors@livingstonnews.com
Groveland’s Fred Ingalls has always wanted to hunt a moose, so a couple of months ago he told his son, Fred Jr., that if he was ever going to go, he’d better get going pretty soon.
“It’s always been a dream of mine,” said Fred, “so I figured that I’d better do it before I got too old.”
That prompted Fred Jr. to go online to find an outfitter, and within a span of two weeks they were on their way to Newfoundland.
“It was just like that,” said Fred Jr., “a spur of the moment, last-minute thing.”
Their journey began on September 25th, and included a 20-hour drive to Nova Scotia, along with as a seven-hour fast ferry ride to Newfoundland.
“We got to the ferry at 11:30 p.m.,” said Fred Jr., “but we had bunks reserved so we slept the whole way.”
After landing, they had another six-hour drive to the Victoria River. To cross it and reach the camp, they had to use a rope-tow raft.
“It was right out of (the Clint Eastwood movie) The Outlaw Josey Wales,” laughed Fred Jr.
The next morning they took a boat up the river, then hiked to a bog deep in the wilderness. Along the way they spotted trees that had bark stripped off them at about eye level, and Fred asked the guide what the cause was.
“Rabbits,” he replied.
“Rabbits?” asked Fred. “What kind of rabbits do you have around here?”
“The same kind you have,” he replied, “we just get snow that’s five-foot deep.”
That’s because the temperature in Newfoundland is, on average, 15 degrees cooler than here, although on the day of the hunt it was 82, while it was in the 40’s here. That didn’t make for a comfortable hike, but once they got to the bog they found some shade and set up overlooking a thicket.
The guide brought out a bull moose call, which was nothing more than a plastic coffee can with a small hole drilled in the bottom. To make it work, he pulled a wet shoestring through the hole, and according to Fred Jr., it made a hellacious racket.
“I couldn’t believe the noise that thing made,” he said. “I about jumped out of my skin the first time he heard it.”
After a couple of hours a curious cow showed up, and started jogging across the thicket about 120 yards away. Since Fred wasn’t there looking for a trophy, he decided to take it.
“I got both bull and cow licenses,” he said, “because I figured this was my one and only chance, and you never know what’s gonna come your way. I would have preferred getting some horns, but the thing with them is that you can bake ‘em, you can broil ‘em, or you can fry ‘em, and they still taste like horns.”
So he pulled up his 1926 30/06 that had been passed down through the family, drew a bead, and fired twice.
“We thought about getting a new gun,” said Fred Jr., “and we tried one out, but the old one shot better, so we just got a new scope for it. I also bought Dad a shooting stick, but he didn’t use it for his first two shots.”
After both missed their mark, Fred grabbed the stick, set up on it, and drilled the cow through the lungs. It dropped quickly, so it wasn’t long before he was face-to-face with his first moose.
“I was amazed at how big it was,” he said. “I tried to pick up the head for a picture but it was too heavy.”
After they dressed it, the outfitters came back with a vehicle to haul it back so it could be taken to a processor and frozen. Since they had booked a week at the lodge, they used the remaining time in search of wildlife to photograph.
They saw bear tracks, but no bears, although they did see a caribou, and miles and miles of pristine wilderness.
“It’s really no-man’s land up there,” said Fred Jr. “You don’t see another hunter, or another nothing as far as you go. It’s unbelievably beautiful.”
When it was time to leave, they packed the meat in three 120-quart coolers and headed home.
“We’ll be in moose burgers for a while,” he laughed Fred Jr. “I had to get a freezer for my garage to keep it all in.”
.
GROVELAND, NY — Groveland’s Fred Ingalls has always wanted to hunt a moose, so a couple of months ago he told his son, Fred Jr., that if he was ever going to go, he’d better get going pretty soon.
“It’s always been a dream of mine,” said Fred, “so I figured that I’d better do it before I got too old.”
That prompted Fred Jr. to go online to find an outfitter, and within a span of two weeks they were on their way to Newfoundland.
“It was just like that,” said Fred Jr., “a spur of the moment, last-minute thing.”
Their journey began on Sept. 25, and included a 20-hour drive to Nova Scotia, along with as a seven-hour fast ferry ride to Newfoundland.
“We got to the ferry at 11:30 p.m.,” said Fred Jr., “but we had bunks reserved so we slept the whole way.”
After landing, they had another six-hour drive to the Victoria River. To cross it and reach the camp, they had to use a rope-tow raft. “It was right out of (the Clint Eastwood movie) The Outlaw Josey Wales,” laughed Fred Jr.
The next morning they took a boat up the river, then hiked to a bog deep in the wilderness. Along the way they spotted trees that had bark stripped off them at about eye level, and Fred asked the guide what the cause was.
“Rabbits,” he replied.
“Rabbits?” asked Fred. “What kind of rabbits do you have around here?”
“The same kind you have,” he replied, “we just get snow that’s five-foot deep.”
That’s because the temperature in Newfoundland is, on average, 15 degrees cooler than here, although on the day of the hunt it was 82, while it was in the 40’s here. That didn’t make for a comfortable hike, but once they got to the bog they found some shade and set up overlooking a thicket.
The guide brought out a bull moose call, which was nothing more than a plastic coffee can with a small hole drilled in the bottom. To make it work, he pulled a wet shoestring through the hole, and according to Fred Jr., it made a hellacious racket.
After a couple of hours a curious cow showed up, and started jogging across the thicket about 120 yards away. Since Fred wasn’t there looking for a trophy, he decided to take it.
“I got both bull and cow licenses,” he said, “because I figured this was my one and only chance, and you never know what’s gonna come your way.”
So he pulled up his 1926 30/06 that had been passed down through the family, drew a bead, and fired twice.
After both missed their mark, Fred grabbed the stick, set up on it, and drilled the cow through the lungs. It dropped quickly, so it wasn’t long before he was face-to-face with his first moose.
After they dressed it, the outfitters came back with a vehicle to haul it back so it could be taken to a processor and frozen. Since they had booked a week at the lodge, they used the remaining time in search of wildlife to photograph.
“We’ll be in moose burgers for a while,” he laughed Fred Jr. “I had to get a freezer for my garage to keep it all in.”
See complete story in our Nov. 5 print edition.
