Father and son, Craig and John Watt stop for a pose following a successful moose hunt in late 2010. ~Contributed Photo
Courtesy of Moosehead Matters June 11, 2013
By Jonathan Pratt
GREENVILLE – In October 2010, John Watt was able to experience something few get the chance to do. On his first-ever Moose Hunt, at the tender age of 10 years old, Watt successfully brought down a bull moose. By his side was longtime family friend and guide, Jim Young, as well as his father, local businessman Craig Watt.
Considering his age, it was Watt’s first time eligible to put in for a moose permit. Knowing his name was drawn in his first lottery just added to the fortunate feeling for the youngster.
As he tells it, John and his co-permittees left on a Friday afternoon to scout the area where he would be hunting. “Of course, we couldn’t hunt on Saturday and Sunday, so we took time to scout the area.”
After seeing a few potential targets here and there over the weekend, the trio was ready for the real thing by the beginning of the week. “When we went out on Monday, we didn’t see a moose!” Watt added.
On Tuesday, they spotted two cows and one small bull, but it wasn’t really within hunting reach of the group. “It was really cold that day, and by that night we were getting pretty down.”
By Wednesday morning, they were tired from traveling and hunting, and were hopeful for a successful day in the field.
Up before dawn, watt and his crew came up over a big hill near the Bean Brook Road and, sure enough, there stood three moose. Among them, one bull that appeared ripe for the picking.
Watt continued, recounting the next few minutes, “We sat in the truck for a few minutes, waiting for legal light.”
“Then, we got out and army-crawled our way up over the hill. We got just high enough to shoot and then we dropped him.”
He went on to describe how the other moose glanced at their competition for a moment, before heading off for the safety of the woods. “After that, we grabbed the moose, went back to camp to take pictures and call everyone back home.”
When asked how he felt in the moments leading up to the kill, Watt described feeling very cold, but intense. “We knew the moose were there, we could hear the talking to each other.”
“I just had to stay as calm as possible.”
Watt went on to ad, “It felt awesome knowing I’m one of the few people who is successful their first year. I was very lucky.”
Of course, he added a big bull moose appeared near the trio following the successful kill of the first bull they sighted. “That was okay, I was just happy to get the one I did. I’m very fortunate.”
He also claims to be very excited, and hopeful to hear his name at this year’s Moose Lottery, as he was unable to enter his name until now. “The first hunt left me ready for another one.”
The 15-point bull weighted in at roughly 750 lbs. and the “European Mount” the family purchased for John now adorns the family camp near Elm Pond. “The moose was very healthy”, Watt commented, and “dad was very happy to see me get my moose.”
As his mom Leslie put it, “He is a true sportsmen.”
