| I would like to start by first thanking Jim and Dan, owners of USOC, Denis and Laurel owners promoting the great outdoors and providing the every day guy the opportunity to participate in some incredible trips. Denis and Laurel could not do enough for us to make our trip more enjoyable and Eric was very knowledgeable about the almighty moose. My brother in law and I joined USOC and agreed to share any prizes we may be lucky enough to win. In October 2010 Max won a bottle of Invisible Hunter which we used during the deer season. In February Jim and Dan called and informed me of winning the moose hunt, from which Max and I just returned. I pick on Max that now its his turn to win a bear hunt. The phone call from Jim and Dan could not have come at a better time for me. It was the same week I found out I would having my second total shoulder replacement and the thoughts of the trip got me through alot of tough times during the next seven months. We left Central Square, NY at 4:00 am on Friday 10/14/11 after stopping for breakfast and gas we arrived at Bryson Lake at 2:00 pm. The trip there was littered with beautiful scenery with the leaves changing to hues of red, orange and yellow. We traveled 50 miles on a dirt road once we left Fort Colunge, our average speed was about 18 mph., at times it felt like we were traveling in a dry river bed. Once we arrived at the lodge and got settled into our camp, our guide Eric took us out to some of the areas he recommended we hunt. These stands provided us long views of the bogs and when you were in them it was like every minute you expected to see a moose, the areas looked that good. On the way back to camp Eric pointed out fresh tracks, these moose things are BIG!! We were up long before daylight to get ready to go moose hunting, the biggest problem we had all week was the weather. It got warm, with lows in the 50's to highs in the upper 70's ALL WEEK!! We hunted the entire week in those temperatures, we would sit on watch until 10:00 am go back to camp have breakfast and then cruise the lake shore looking for moose which may be out for a cool drink or a swim to cool down. The lakes were perfect, we did take time to fish for about two hours, Max caught 5 speckled trout 1 1/2 to 2 inches each, which he cooked for breakfast the following morning along with scrambled eggs, toast with peanut butter and mugs of coffee. A breakfast fit for a king!! We saw a bald eagle and to many ruffed grouse to begin to count. The grouse had absolutely no fear. We wondered if they had ever seen humans before? It is hard to describe the scenery, the fog burning off the bogs, or seeing the sun come up over the trees, or the moon rising as we sat on watch those last few minutes each day. It was hard to believe we hunted for a week and never saw another human or truck or ATV or even heard any. Bryson Lake Lodge encompasses 80 square miles of territory, between Max and I we spent 56 hours on watch and hours in the boat looking for moose, but we did not see any. The sights and sounds and distinctly fresher smelling air and all of those things that a hunter experiences, that you can't explain made for a GREAT trip. Did we kill a moose? NO Did we have a successful hunting trip? Absolutely!!! I would once again like to thank Denis and Laurel and Eric from Bryson Lake Lodge and Jim and Dan and USOC for allowing us such a great opportunity. I would be remiss if I didn't say a special thank you to my brother in law Max, because with my physical limitations without his help i could not have made this trip. Kindest Regards, Fred Barnhart Jr PS: If you do go moose hunting think twice about taking moose poop home to your young nephews unless you don't want their momma to like you. MY BAD |
