Local couple bag big moose in Cape Breton Highlands

BY FRED LAWRENCE

The Hants Journal

NovaNewsNow.com

One county couple had the luck of the draw for a moose-hunting license and came home to Vaughan with a 1,200-pound bull.

Byron and Pam Chandler of Vaughan, Hants Co., have been hunting together for many years, but never for moose. Last year Byron won a draw to hunt for moose in Cape Breton, where he came home with a prize cow.

This year the couple both entered and Byron’s wife, Pam, won through a bonus draw. “The chances of both of us winning two years in a row are probably about the same as winning the lottery,” Byron said.

Pam said unlike many couples, where traditionally the man goes off with his buddies to a hunting camp, she’s welcome to go along too and take part in a passion for the outdoors and the quest for big game. Bagging her first deer last year, Pam said this year she “really wanted to get a big moose.”

The couple drove to Cape Breton and ended up by Meat Cove (the most northern tip of the province) near a small village called Aspy Bay. “We were there for three days and went up a few days before that to scout out possible locations,” Byron said.

“But we never thought that after only 10 minutes in the woods hunting we would come across a cow and a bull.”

Byron said his wife didn’t see the large bull initially; she focused on the cow nearby. “I sat my rifle down and tried to show her where he was standing behind some trees and help her take aim, but she didn’t want to shoot unless she was absolutely certain she saw her target, and that’s just good common sense.”

Byron picked up his .308 rifle and downed the animal with a single shot. “It got up and started to come toward us, so I had to finish it off. Pam was a bit startled then because a 1,200-pound animal coming at you in the woods is a fairly frightening scene if you’ve never been there before,” he said.

Hunting isn’t just for guys

“There aren’t many girls into hunting,” Pam notes, but she’s determined to change that. For the past decade she has been going on regular hunting trips with her husband and the couple say it’s one way of spending quality time together.

Byron adds that his wife has hunting ‘in her blood’. “Her grandfather was a big hunter. She was always going out with him and still has a keen interest to this day. She loves the outdoors as much as me and we get to spend more time together, which is hard to do these days when you’re both working and trying to raise a family.”

“I think it’s a male-dominated thing and a lot of woman are scared of the woods, but it shouldn’t be that way,” Pam said. “I think it would be awesome to have a bunch of girls in a camp during hunting season. Hanging around guys during hunting season is, well, boring. I’d like to have more fun with it and have something for women hunters only,” she said.

After shooting a four-point buck last season, Pam is getting used to the nickname ‘GI Jane’ and takes a little ribbing in stride.

“Usually when I go out hunting I go by myself, and the first couple of times I admit I’m a little nervous until I get used to where I am and know who is in that area. Once I know that, I’m all right,” she said. “After all, I’ve had my hunting license longer than I have had my driver’s license.”

Pam said younger girls could learn a lot more about the outdoors, survival skills and getting out to enjoy nature and if they take an interest in hunting, Pam said they’ll need their mothers and friends to encourage them.

“I wish a business would sponsor a shooting competition just for woman to prove we can do anything a man can do, and to try and encourage more woman to become active in hunting. It would be a lot of fun.”

The 14-point bull moose dressed in at 600 pounds, which will help keep the Chandler freezer full this winter, and deer-hunting season opened last week.