Kevin McKenzie was so amazed to see several bull moose respond to his son’s calls that he plans to apply for his own moose permit next year for the first time.
The experience rejuvenated his passion for hunting, his son Caleb McKenzie said.
The bull moose they shot came out 16 minutes into the first day of the hunting season in Zone 1.
The moose hunt was part of what became Caleb McKenzie’s grand slam — the killing of a turkey, moose, bear and deer in one year.
That McKenzie made his father a subpermittee speaks to the importance family has for the 39-year-old man from Farmingdale.
“I split my time between my parents when I was growing up. It was special to have [my father] there. We never did a moose hunt together. It was special to see his face,” Caleb McKenzie said.
McKenzie did not start out his big game hunting season thinking he would try for a grand slam. He had already gotten his turkey and a deer and had a moose permit in hand when the idea came to him.
McKenzie shot his turkeys with a 12-gauge shotgun. He kept the fan, beard and spurs for a mount, but also the memories of the experience with his children.
McKenzie’s son, who was 4 at the time, was with McKenzie when he shot one of his two Tom turkeys in the spring, and his 8-year-old shot her first turkey with a .410.
He shot his deer on Sept. 12 in an expanded archery hunting zone, using his compound bow. The doe weighed 110 pounds and was shot from five yards away. He butchered it for the meat and didn’t save anything for a trophy.
He said he hunts a lot during expanded archery, but he reserves deer firearms season for time with his family, especially his father and his kids who are 8, 6 and recently 5.
He and his dad always hunt together for opening day of firearms season, he said.
McKenzie, who is a guide for Maine Experience Guide Service based in Bath, said he guided bear hunters before the moose hunt began and was allowed to sit on the stands after guiding to scout for Maine’s largest game animal.
There was a bull closer to the hunters on opening day, but the one McKenzie shot tried to fight the nearer animal to win favor with a cow moose. McKenzie shot the bull at 100 yards with a 30-06 rifle.
Usually McKenzie quarters the animal and carries it out in pieces, but the moose fell 10 yards off the road. The men were able to drag him out whole.
The moose weighed 721 pounds and the antlers had a 41-inch spread. McKenzie plans to do a European or bare skull mount of the moose’s head.
Getting his bear was the last and most difficult part of the grand slam, McKenzie said.
He hired a houndsman to help him track a bear. The idea is to let one dog loose to establish the scent track, then release the rest of the pack. The dogs follow the scent to the bear. The houndsman pulls the dogs back and the hunter shoots the bear.
The first bear went 3,000 feet up a mountain. The second bear backtracked on the first bear’s path. And the second bear’s smart move confused the dogs.
Half went after the first one and half figured out what the second bear did and eventually treed it. McKenzie shot the bear with a 30-06 and the men carried it out in pieces on their backs.
The bear, which had a white patch on its chest, weighed approximately 300 pounds. McKenzie will have a taxidermist do a quarter mount of the bear.
McKenzie’s grand slam recognition will not be his first patch. He received a Big Buck patch in 2018 for his 6-point 214-pound buck.