There's a small island in the middle of a lake in Quebec that became my whole world for the better part of a week. I didn't plan on it being camp. It just turned into that.

My dad, my brother Kurt, and I went up for a two-week moose hunt, leasing a stretch of ground through an outfitter, a little over 10 square miles, and running it completely DIY out of a cabin from there. No guides, no hand-holding, just us figuring it out. They ended up hunting other parts of the ground, so most of my week came down to that one island. Derek came along behind the camera. Shooting a bull moose has been a dream of mine since I was a kid, and this was the trip I finally got to chase it.

The first few days were quiet. I found tracks early, sat a wooden stand overlooking a crossing, and heard cows and bulls talking most mornings and evenings without ever laying eyes on one. At some point I paddled out to the island, mostly to get a better vantage on the back side of the bowl, and ended up making it my spot. Carved out a seat, built a footrest, cleared shooting lanes. It just felt right.

Day five is when it came apart. I'd heard a bull grunting off toward another part of the lake the evening before and second-guessed the whole setup. First light, I ran a calling sequence, and within five minutes I heard sticks breaking. The bull came out of the timber, hit the water, and started heading across to the other side. I was able to get a shot off quick along with a follow-up, resulting in him dropping in his tracks. Wolves were howling within two seconds of the shot.

Getting him out of the lake was its own project. Pulley systems, waders, and a generator that caught fire in the process (that one's still unexplained). But dying in the water actually cooled the meat down fast, which is more than you can say for most kills.

What I keep coming back to about this hunt is how little I forced it. I had two weeks, let the wind and the moose dictate the plan, and it unfolded exactly how it was supposed to. A dream since I was a kid, finally on the ground, with my dad and brother there to see it. That's the kind of thing I'll be talking about a lot longer than this post.

I hope you enjoy the film.

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