accompany Gillis to an area near camp that had been harboring a big bull. Carlton, a well-known elk caller, guide, and wrangler, was astonished when his guide introduced him to his method of transportation.

my cameraman grabbed his gear, ready for action. Phil kept telling me to hurry up and shoot. I had practiced a lot between 20 and 50 yards, but 125 yards was just a bit more than I could handle.
    "Being the first bowhunters in Gillis' camp was beginning to take its toll. The experienced woodsman was accustomed to calling big bulls within rifle range and thought 125 yards was reasonable for an

day's encounter with game was a bad omen. The mercury dipped below freezing at night, the daytime temperatures soared to the mid-70s, and the skies were sunny—poor weather for calling and hunting

Accustomed to the smooth gait of a mountain horse, Carlton was puzzled by the British Columbia guide's choice of mounts—four-wheel all-terrain cycles. If he thought the choice bizarre for the normally silent art of bowhunting, this was only a foretaste of the unique thrills and frustration that would culminate in a new Pope and Young Club world-record Canadian moose. 

bull moose.
   "For four days we rode up and down cut lines trying to find some fresh moose sign and calling to get the bulls to come to us," Carlton said. "We heard several moose grunt a response to our calling, but invariably the wind would turn and carry our scent to them. As one moose was turning away from us, I remembered someone telling me that moose were dumb and

    "We hadn't been out of camp more than 15 or 20 minutes when Phil went around a curve and over a rise ahead of us," Carlton said. "When we caught up with Phil he was frantically signaling for Derek and me to shut our engines off. I looked past Phil and saw the reason for all of the commotion—a bull, and a big one at that. I grabbed my bow and

archer, too. Gillis then asked Carlton how close he needed to be. "I could see his eyes roll like he'd been hit with a big stick when I told him 40 yards or less, " Carlton said with a chuckle. "I had the feeling we were in for it."
    It didn't take much whispering and pointing to convince the 55-inch bull to look for an area with more privacy. "When that moose took off he ran like a good trotting horse, just gliding over the ground," Carlton reminisced about his first moosesighting. "He was so smooth."
    The next four days were later marked as some of Carlton's toughest hunting experiences. The seasoned woodsman and game call maker wondered if the first

staggered around like klutzes. He compared the sport to shooting cows in a stockyard. I've taken a lot of elk and deer and other critters, and moose rank with the best. I did find out later that bulls lose their caution when they get mad. If you get in their way, they'll run over you, too.
    "All of that riding on a Honda four-by-four going up and