Priority 16 moose, 402?
 

Was thinking about this high priority I have in moose. When I initially began banking on a certain area, 16 years ago, things often change. Zones that were great then are now over run, or humans have encroached. It's like long term stock investments.
I had originally started applying for 402, back up in the Pass. At the time you needed about 5 Prefference points, lol.
Many years ago I had seen two incredible mountain bulls that made my jaw drop.
I'm getting no younger, and life has been tough and reminded me that time is precious. it's time to begin my search for a giant bull.
I know there are not many bull tags given, 14. Looks like a 17 is required last year, so make take a couple more years to draw.
Has this area gone down in regards of quality? Are there still B&C buls roaming the divide up there? Or should I be looking somewhere else?
I will be dedicating the entire bow and rifle season to this tag.
Any ideas sure would be appreciated!

I see a fair bit of nice bulls bit most in places I wouldn't shoot a moose. Area gets hit hard by natives as well.

Seen some crankers in 316. The general archery tag was pulled 5 years ago so less pressure for sure. Solid grouse population also.

Ive got pics of a huge bull I seen there, this was after the general tag got pulled so He may still be out there! Ill try and dig up the pic.

316
 

Yeah but 40 tags are given and you can draw that zone with a priority 5.
Maybe a prairie bull is what I should be looking for?

Many of the far southwest zones have a lot of moose but still have well over a decade of draw priority because of legal, undocumented moose kills.

I was drawn in 402 two years ago on P17. I got a bull that scored 170. There are B&C Bulls in the zone. It's a tough area. If you don't find the one you want during the rut then your chances of getting a big one are greatly reduced. Them Bulls live in the middle of no where and there's tonnes of bush for them to hide. Do you have horses? If so I totally recommend 402. I would take an unsecessful hunt in 402 over any prairie hunting. But that's just my preference. If you do draw the tag in 402 and you want a helper PM me. I know zone better than anyone else I know. And I have horses. The other nice thing about 402 is there will be only 10 other moose hunters to compete with.

I have hunted that zone a lot and know it very well. There are some Booner Bulls there for sure. It will be a tough hunt but very rewarding.

Do you find a lot of griz in there?

In 402 you will be hunting shiras moose the small country cousin to the larger Canadian moose. Suggest you go furthur north if you want large antlers.

Bulls
 

I used to spend a lot of time in the zone 15 years ago, logging was heavy, as we're the bears and dirt bikers. And stopped going. Its a beautiful place. Unfortunately I don't have horses, but maybe a guy could pay someone to pack out an animal.
I sure appreciate the info!

Depending on what happens with the Castle there could be a lot more traffic pushed into 402.

There are some great bulls in the mentioned zone of interest. It is a big zone and there are numerous pockets throughout that have moose.Horses would be ideal for such hunt. The number of grizzly bears in a few of the areas I know consistently house moose would deter me from shooting a moose where a guy would have to pack it out. Many people I know often get their moose driving roads. The difference being they can hunt every day, and are often more concerned about meat. Anyway, whatever you decide good luck!

It's not up in the air, we know what will happen. All zones neighboring Castle will see increased pressure.

I think 402 would be a good place to target a large bull moose. My buddy waited 18 years to draw his tag in 400 last season. We saw many moose, although not many biggins.
Seems like every other time we go out quadding we see moose.
I'll be there a lot this summer and if you need any help, let me know.

Great
 

Great, thanks to everyone!

No sir. They don't consider any thing north of oldman Shiraz. I wish or else mine would be book. So I guess half the zone is shiras. Lol

Won't matter for moose. Only 10 tags available

Yup!! But I've never had problems with them around a kill and I have had to leave a few dead animals over night.

Hunted that zone for 26 years. Never seen a moose worth burning 16 year priority on. Seen some good ones and even been on a couple good kills but nothing that great. Head north.

I was going to say a buddy of mine was goose hunting around provost, he said the amount of moose around there was just unreal. Lots were big too.

[QUOTE=bucknaked333;3534747]Hunted that zone for 26 years. Never seen a moose worth burning 16 year priority on. Seen some good ones and even been on a couple good kills but nothing that great. Head north.[/QUOTE. What do consider good enough for P17 ?

Is this worth 17 priority points?

Yes
 

There's a great bull. Can't see the fronts that well on my phone, but a real stud of a bull! Thanks for posting!

What year was that taken?

Sept 26 2015. And by pure luck I did shoot him by the road. Was able to put him in truck whole. I have seen larger moose in 402 but I couldn't pass on this one. It's my first moose.

That's a great bull. Good work. Not a bull you could expect to harvest realisticy. Blue bronna outfits up there and you could check out his website and see the bulls they average. Nice 45" bull is the norm. There is a few monsters in there for sure but you need to be lucky. I think I know a couple guys that were with you when you shot that. Old man?

WMU 300 and WMU 160 would be good choices.

Buddy and I saw what I'd call a monster last September abt as high upslope as you could go in 402. Big enough to make me consider the 16/17 year wait.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

last time I hunted there was .... 20 years or so ago . biggest moose I ever saw harvested and bulls everywhere . Times change , people come , haven't been since . best of luck with whatever you choose . Seems bull moose could be a once in lifetime draw so make it count :)

Last years draw report shows all bull tags in 402 were drawn using 17 points.