Bethel, Maine Native Takes First Ever Moose

Jane Ryerson, a native of Bethel, Maine, collected her first ever moose while on a hunt with her husband and son in the Upton area around C Pond. Jane relays the brief sequence of events to me in an email:

“1st picture is of myself with my very first moose. We were at this cutting in Upton near C Pond, when this moose that was bedded down got up. We were 200 yards away. I spotted it while Craig and Keith were glassing in the other direction. When I got their attention, Keith could see he had antlers and told me “It’s a bull, shoot it”. Craig was on my permit with me. So he said “get down on one knee, and use it to steady your shot”. I did, I focused in right behind the right shoulder and shot the 300 mag which was his. He said “reload”, and by that time, he had gotten two shots off. The moose was hit with my first shot, but Craig wanted to make sure he didn’t go anywhere. I got my 2nd shell in the rifle and the moose was turning away when I aimed a little higher. That shot had him dropping to the ground and he never moved after that. Bullets taken from the butcher were the two I shot and 1 of Craig’s. It was a great hunt, over in 10 minutes. Craig was able to drive his truck right up to the cutting, to the moose and we hauled him out by the hind legs to the landing, where Keith and Craig dressed him out. (Craig doesn’t like to dress them in the woods because if you drag them out dressed, they will get full of dirt, leaves and junk.)”

[A brief explanation for readers not familiar with Maine's moose hunting permitee and sub-permitee system. The applicant names another person as a legal shooter to one permit. In this case Jane was selected as the permitee in the Moose Lottery drawing and she had named her husband on the permit application. Therefore, he was legally eligible to also shoot her moose.]

As a bonus, Jane sent along an additional photo, I assume she took. Following is her brief descriptions. Again, the photo is immensely more enjoyable enlarged. Please click on the photo to enlarge and make sure to check out the expression on the face of the young bull in the left of the photo. Excellent photo!

Jane’s caption:

“The 2nd picture is of a cow and 2, 1 and 1/2 year old baby bulls in Wentworth, NH. I was on my way up to Dustan’s Country Market to pick up my moose meat and they were standing in this swampy area next to the road for over 1/2 an hour.”

Tom Remington