I’ve learned a few things over the years, and made a lot more F ups than I care to admit.
1. Water, call near water. Moose love water and it’s their safe place, feed and drinking fountain. I particularly like beaver ponds intermixed with creeks and marshy area.
2. If it’s hot, they like to bed in cool, thick shade. Think tamaracks that the sun can’t shine through where the ground is shady and cool, again, near water. Find the sign with these features around it and you’ll find moose.
3. Wind is everything. 99% of the bulls will try to get your wind before exposing themselves. Try to call in a spot where they’ll have to expose themselves to see you. At the same time, if you call on the edge of a pond they will often circle it using cover to get in close. I have had success in small openings just off water that they feel more comfortable in. Open birch stands near ponds are a great spot to setup in.
4. Calling, cow calls are key to getting a bull started I find. Don’t over call, a good 1-2 minute session every 20-30 minutes is all you need. I’ll call in one spot for 45 minutes then move 400 yards or so. I like to call again where I can still see the first place I called from and have it upwind of my last call. Lots of times a bull will sneak in without making a sound where you had just called from.
5. Once a bull is grunting and coming, you’ll most likely experience the “hang up” once a bull is grunting hard and coming, I shut up and just listen. He’ll grunt a lot of the way in then stand there often. I’ve had success enticing him to commit with a few soft grunts or raking trees lightly. Think about setting up a fake scenario in your head where there’s a cow bawling for a mate and you have that bull coming but he’s not fully committed. Lots of times if he thinks another dinky bull is hanging around and he doesn’t want to lose that cow he’ll come in to assert to the little bull that he owns that cow and the small bull better back off. It hardly has to be anything outrageous just tickle the willows with a paddle and maybe a few soft grunts. Repeatedly cow calling at him makes him think something weird is up, small very LOW VOLUME cow calls mixed with light raking will often send him over the edge and he’ll commit.
6. Be ready to move. If he’s coming and you hear him getting downwind you have to be willing to move, try and cut him off. If there’s a caller and shooter make sure that shooter has kill mode switched on and be willing to get between that bull and the caller to make a shot opportunity happen. Standing in one spot repeatedly cow calling will sometimes yield success, but not often. Set the scene for him so he wants to come in. And then get in a position to kill him.
7. Don’t limit your shot by standing behind a big tree or bush. Moose use their noses and ears mostly, stand in front of a bush so you’re blended in and you have shooting lanes, don’t ruin the one opportunity you may get by hiding behind a bush you can’t shoot through.
These are just things that come to mind. Big lessons I’ve learned are calling too often, calling like a robot expecting the bull to just beeline in to me after the same cow call over and over, and calling in an area that either isn’t conducive to getting a shot, or too big and open that no matter what you do the bull won’t be comfortable coming in (too open, too big of a lm opening to cross etc). Sometimes they are so shy they won’t even come on a cutline and just handrail it instead. Be ready to think outside the box and move into a position to kill the bull. Always, always be aware of the wind/thermals when you’re calling.
I’ve been moose hunting for 20+ years and now I guide moose for archery only. I call in lots of bulls but sometimes it’s hard to get everything to line up. Nothing beats calling moose in the rut. It’s a rush!!! Good luck and have fun!!!!
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