Caribou Gear Tarp

Moose Season

Got tips, strategies, ideas??

Things that work for me

Still hunt, we spend hours glassing. Wooded areas I've done well in tree stands. I prefer high country, where we can spot for miles. Spot and stalk. If no legal moose for a few days, then we hike/scout to find them.

Calling works. Scraping and grunts early season(Sept) and on. Cow call early and late in the day, one or two. Had a bull three miles away on a hillside one evening. At sundown gave a long cow call. Same at first light. After reaching our spotting hill, that bull was standing exactly where I had last called from. A cow call will stop and turn a spooked bull. Moose don't see clearly it seems, but they have radar ears! When approaching it is difficult to come in unnoticed, bush noise, snapped stick. I try to sound like a moose, grunts and scrapes, then pause. I carry a white scraper/megaphone and carry it high. Moose will see that.

Moose call.jpg

Once he's down the real fun begins. Early days I brought a come-along and some rope to roll a moose around. Two, three guys is a plus.

IMG_1065.jpg

A "meat hook" or "butchers hook" is very handy for skinning/meat handling. I use typical skinning knife and Havalon. A 10 x 10 cut of visqeen or tarp keeps the meat clean while you break him into manageable pieces.

MeatHook_.jpg

The bull a few post up was a mile off on the edge of heavy timber with the sun coming up. Looked to me like he was headed for cover. I let out a long cow call, he looked my direction. I pulled a paper towel out of my pocket, opened it and waved it slowly. Thinking my chance was slim, I hiked down the hill anyway. Sneaking up a ridge in the area, nothing to be seen. I hung out and after twenty minutes a small paddle bull, in full velvet comes strolling down the next ridge. Just playing, I bull grunted. Suddenly 80 yards below to my left, a huge swamp donkey busts up from the brush. All I could see was antlers, with strips of velvet hanging from the tips. My Moose! To my left at about fifty feet was a small spruce tree, that looked a much better vantage point. Crouching low, I held my rifle barrel in the left hand, and used the butt to scrap brush as I moved to the tree. It was the perfect rest and shot.
 
Also heading to newfoundland last week of sept. first time there though have killed 2 moose in quebec
 
Things that work for me

Still hunt, we spend hours glassing. Wooded areas I've done well in tree stands. I prefer high country, where we can spot for miles. Spot and stalk. If no legal moose for a few days, then we hike/scout to find them.

Calling works. Scraping and grunts early season(Sept) and on. Cow call early and late in the day, one or two. Had a bull three miles away on a hillside one evening. At sundown gave a long cow call. Same at first light. After reaching our spotting hill, that bull was standing exactly where I had last called from. A cow call will stop and turn a spooked bull. Moose don't see clearly it seems, but they have radar ears! When approaching it is difficult to come in unnoticed, bush noise, snapped stick. I try to sound like a moose, grunts and scrapes, then pause. I carry a white scraper/megaphone and carry it high. Moose will see that.

View attachment 85713

Once he's down the real fun begins. Early days I brought a come-along and some rope to roll a moose around. Two, three guys is a plus.

View attachment 85714

A "meat hook" or "butchers hook" is very handy for skinning/meat handling. I use typical skinning knife and Havalon. A 10 x 10 cut of visqeen or tarp keeps the meat clean while you break him into manageable pieces.

View attachment 85715

The bull a few post up was a mile off on the edge of heavy timber with the sun coming up. Looked to me like he was headed for cover. I let out a long cow call, he looked my direction. I pulled a paper towel out of my pocket, opened it and waved it slowly. Thinking my chance was slim, I hiked down the hill anyway. Sneaking up a ridge in the area, nothing to be seen. I hung out and after twenty minutes a small paddle bull, in full velvet comes strolling down the next ridge. Just playing, I bull grunted. Suddenly 80 yards below to my left, a huge swamp donkey busts up from the brush. All I could see was antlers, with strips of velvet hanging from the tips. My Moose! To my left at about fifty feet was a small spruce tree, that looked a much better vantage point. Crouching low, I held my rifle barrel in the left hand, and used the butt to scrap brush as I moved to the tree. It was the perfect rest and shot.


Bearfoot, thanks for the tips and insights, please keep them coming. I almost ordered a meathook then realized I have an old one hanging in the garage. Never used it before but it's going with me on the October hunt. The prospect of field dressing and cutting up a moose in the willows by myself is a little daunting (I'm 5'3"), even though I handle elk every year. Our Shiras bulls are maybe 300 lbs. larger than a mature bull. I may have to get a new come-along.

I'm going to make the best of my once in a lifetime Colorado bull moose hunt. It's already begun as I'm scouting every day for the larger, more mature animals. This morning I watched a younger bull forage on aspens in our yard. I'm seeing plenty of yearling and 2, 3 or 4 year old bulls but larger ones seem few and far between. I need to practice calling.
 
BearFoot - I'll echo Humer's comments +1. This will be my second DIY trip to AK for moose, and it's certainly a different ball game than deer or elk. I ate the tag last year, but it was well worth it. I've dismissed most deer calls as snake oil, but your comments have me thinking I might give it a try on a moose.
 
My Colorado bull moose rifle season begins Oct. 1, so I'm scouting the potential moose areas. This morning I explored a drainage that I'd found on Monday to be full of fine moose habitat. It was extensive willow carr with shrubby cinquefoil and patches of aspen surrounding. I climbed the canyon to timberline and saw plenty of deer, elk and moose sign. Pungent, fragrant elk.

On the way back I busted a young bull moose from his bed in the willows at about 20 feet. Told him I wasn't there for him but he followed me down the hill for a couple hundred yards. That was a little concerning.

Check out his spike antlers, about 11" on his right and 8" on his left side. He's just a little fellow, about the size of a mature bull elk.


Yearling spike moose 9-13-18.jpg

Young-bull-moose-9-13-2018.jpg
 
Awesome stuf I am from GA and noe live in Idaho and drew a moose tag here in my home state. Go out for my first trip this weekend
 
Today I drove five miles in on a rugged, narrow 4wd road to scout moose country just east of the Continental Divide. I climbed the Buchannan Pass Trail calling every 50 yards or so. At the junction to Red Deer Lake, I looked down into some willow parks from 10400' and heard a faint bull moose grunt. I called again and he answered with a snort and a grunt. If I hadn't called I would never have known he was there. I let him grunt several times before I responded. I couldn't see him but realized he was moving up the hill grunting repeatedly as he climbed in my direction from the basin below. Soon I caught a glimpse of a big bodied bull with some very nice antlers. In five minutes he sauntered up the hill that would have taken me twenty minutes to hike. I dug the camera out of my pack and took some hurried snapshots until he was within 40 yards. I would like to have gotten some better photos but I didn't want to be too close to an aggressive, horny bull moose so I hustled down the mountain and into another drainage.

How exciting, I called in a bull moose! It's the most fun day I've had in a while.




Buchannan-Pass-Red-Deer-Jct.jpg


Red-Deer-Bull-called-9-17-1.jpg
 
Today was the CO moose rifle opener. This morning I found a decent bull at first light but decided to pass on him for something bigger. He had nice points and tines but not great spread. A woman came in to kill a cow he was with. I then went up the drainage a couple miles and called in a bull. Turns out it was the same one. This fellow was grunting and thrashing antlers in the vegetation. I stopped calling and he circled around me to get a better view and scent. When a bull moose comes in to a call he's raring to fight. There's an element of dangerous game hunting. Very exciting and a little scary.

Here's a couple pics from this morning. Any guesstimates on his spread?


Caribou-Flats-bull-10-1-18.jpg

Caribou-Flats-bull-10-1-201.jpg
 

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