Hunting Product Feature Articles
On the Hunt for Shiras Moose
For big game hunters in North America, moose are often near the top of the bucket list for hunts. After all, these animals are the largest members of the deer family. They have long legs, huge bodies, impressive antlers, and tend to inhabit tough land to hunt.
There are several subspecies of moose with the Alaska-Yukon moose as the largest. The most wide-spread moose is the Canada moose, also known as the woodland. It is broken into the Western Canada and Eastern Canada subspecies, and inhabits most of Canada, as well as parts of the norther United States. The subspecies of moose that inhabits the Rocky Mountains through Montana, Wyoming, Utah and Colorado, also inhabits the dreams of many hunters – the Shiras moose.
For most, the Shiras moose occupies a special place in their dreams. It is an elusive creature that inhabits some rough country, making hunts often difficult to be successful. That’s if you can draw the tag in the first place. For one such dreamer, it only took 18 years to draw a nonresident tag for Montana. As if drawing the tag wasn’t hard enough, this hunter planned to try to fill it without a guide or outfitter.
Brandon Butler, an acclaimed outdoor writer and filmmaker, currently lives in central Missouri but became acquainted with the Shiras years before after an encounter in Yellowstone National Park. From there, the dream of hunting one was spawned.
Years of planning and applying for a tag finally paid off. Getting the notice that he had drawn the tag set all of Butler’s plans into motion. It also set another idea into reality. As a filmmaker, and storyteller, this adventure lent itself to naturally be filmed, resulting in the film Shiras, Nonresident Montana Moose Hunt, which you can view here.
Accompanied by friend Jesse Deubel, Executive Director of the New Mexico Wildlife Federation, Butler set out for what could have been a 12-day adventure glassing, scouting, calling, and praying for a legal Shiras bull to come into view. The two made a stop to see Dave Ring, the Unit Manager for Stillwater State Forest. The Stillwater area is the prime spot for moose in the state of Montana and Ring said that it seems every hunter that is lucky enough to draw the prized tag stops to see him and learn about the area. It seems, however, according to Ring, very few of those hunters are successful in filling the tag.
A special rifle
Like many of us around that certain age, Butler’s Great Grandparents bought him U.S. Savings Bonds when he was a child. Butler waited the full 35 years for all the bonds to mature before he cashed them in. He wanted the money to go for something special that he would always cherish and would connect him to his great grandparents and how he was raised to enjoy the Great Outdoors. Drawing a once-in-a-lifetime Shiras tag calls for a special rifle, and that is exactly what Butler spend the bonds on.
“I bought the nicest rifle Savage had at the time for what I wanted to do, which was hunt big game,” Butler said. “So I bought this .300 Win Mag, and now when I carry this rifle, I feel like I carry a piece of my past along with me, and I’ll always know what those gifts were spent on.”
There is one addition to Butler’s rifle that helped make the hunt and his shooting experience more enjoyable – A BANISH Backcountry suppressor.
"Being new to suppressors, I trusted the team at Silencer Central to set me up with the right model for my needs,” Butler said. “I told them I wanted the suppressor for a .300 Win Mag I'd be using on backcountry hunts. The staff recommendation was the BANISH Backcountry. I had no reason to object, and I'm glad I didn't. The suppressor was flawless on my moose hunting adventure."
Hunting with a suppressor has many benefits. The noise reduction helps to protect your hearing and the hearing of those in your hunting party. The suppressor also helps to reduce the felt recoil from your rifle. It also acts as a bullet stabilizer, improving your accuracy. Butler used Silencer Central for his suppressor, as well as other services, such as barrel threading and our free trust setup. To learn more about Silencer Central’s services and simplified purchase process – CLICK HERE.
The hunt
While Butler planned for 12 days of hunting to fill his treasured public-land Shiras tag in Montana, he only needed two. If you’ve ever been in moose country, you know that it doesn’t take much cover to completely hide these gigantic animals. They found a low area with a bog and scattered tree cover – just the kind of terrain a moose would inhabit. While they worked to position themselves to a spot to glass and call, Butler’s hunting partner uttered the words every moose hunter longs to here, “There’s a bull moose right there.”
Butler quickly shifted gears to getting set with shooting sticks. They got the moose into frame with the camera and a single shot from the Savage, quieted greatly from the BANISH Backcountry suppressor, and the bull was down.
This is the point where, as they say, the real work begins. Cleaning and packing out a moose is no small task. Butler had a special knife that belonged to his grandfather that he used for the job. If you’re sensing that there are many elements about this hunt that were special to Butler’s heart, you’re correct. It is one of the many wonderful things about hunting.
Hunting connects us to our past in ways that other sports simply cannot. To be honest, most of us don’t truly see hunting as a sport, but more as a way of life. It’s not just about the animal and the meat, although that plays a major role. It connects us to our ancestors and to other hunters, whether they be lifetime hunters, or someone entirely new to hunting.
The flip side
As Butler said, “hunting is a privilege and being able to come to Montana and hunt a moose is a very special experience.” He repaid the state with his license fees, which added up after many years of applying for the tag. He also used a local meat processor, hide tanner, and taxidermist. This helps the local economy as well as further connecting the hunt to the area and Butler’s memories. All the money spent on this trip helps the local economy and funding conservation efforts in Montana.
The conservation aspect is one of the reasons Silencer Central supported this adventure and film. We are passionate about conservation and preserving our hunting and shooting heritage. Get more information about our simplified path to suppressor ownership today.
Cover Image by Brandon Butler.
