520 moose

[bruce47]

we got a couple bull moose tags in wmu 520, never hunted this zone before and am wondering if anyone has any advice ? thinking of coming into the zone east of nampa on the harmon valley road, travel it until we find a good spot to camp on crown land hunt from there. i was hoping to find some kind of rustic accommodations like a couple cabins to rent but no luck looks like i will be driving the motorhome up and using it ,

[huntinstuff]

Are you thinking of hunting near the North Heart river?

Do u have machines? Quad, sxs,?

[bruce47]

Originally Posted by huntinstuff

Are you thinking of hunting near the North Heart river?

Do u have machines? Quad, sxs,?

like i said dont know the area although looking at the ground thru google earth i am thinking of hunting the crown close to the farm parcels and yes the river would be in that area, we hunt from a suzuki truck and the kids use quads if needed.

[huntinstuff]

Id be inclined to go North on 88 and hunt just north of the loon lake reserve

The main road from st isidore will just take you thru the indian reserves. Nice people, just no hunting for you

If youre going all the way there id use highway 88. Thats just me. Quite a few lines to walk/quad once you get north of loon lake area

[Dubious]

Had terrible luck in that zone for moose. Did the loop from red earth creek to loon lake? Camped at haig lake the year we had the moose draw we seen 0 moose in 14 days in in the zone we didn’t have any quads or sxs and I think that killed us we seen Lots of whitetail and about 20-30 black bear a day. I won’t ever be back there for moose. Fishing was really good at haig I would go back for that.

[bruce47]

Originally Posted by huntinstuff

Id be inclined to go North on 88 and hunt just north of the loon lake reserve

The main road from st isidore will just take you thru the indian reserves. Nice people, just no hunting for you

If youre going all the way there id use highway 88. Thats just me. Quite a few lines to walk/quad once you get north of loon lake area

i thought taking 88 in looks like the access most would take into the southern edge of the zone maybe a little busier ? more leases and trails for sure when compared to the western side (harmon valley road access point) still undecided

[bruce47]

Originally Posted by Dubious

Had terrible luck in that zone for moose. Did the loop from red earth creek to loon lake? Camped at haig lake the year we had the moose draw we seen 0 moose in 14 days in in the zone we didn’t have any quads or sxs and I think that killed us we seen Lots of whitetail and about 20-30 black bear a day. I won’t ever be back there for moose. Fishing was really good at haig I would go back for that.

from your post it looks like you were much farther north than i plan on going ,sorry to hear about your luck ,maybe the population is low there maybe not,
i was out a couple weeks ago for 5 days hunting elk with a party of 6 , i seen one moose a few deer in 5 days my son seen 5 bull moose 4 cows and a herd of elk
i might have thought it was not a good area if i did not have his feedback although there were tracks all over

[Ice Fishing Maniac]

Maybe try up the DMI / Mercer East Haul Road north of the Three Creeks Grazing Pasture. Lots of newer cutlocks and clean cut lines. Just remember the Haul Road itself is a wildlife sanctuary . Need to be +\- 400 metres fro centreline of road to be shooting.

South of Red earth on HWY 88 has some new power lines and other access. Might be good

Sawn Lake area might be another . Newer access when the big pipeline went thru the area a few years back

[moose maniac]

Originally Posted by Ice Fishing Maniac

Maybe try up the DMI / Mercer East Haul Road north of the Three Creeks Grazing Pasture. Lots of newer cutlocks and clean cut lines. Just remember the Haul Road itself is a wildlife sanctuary . Need to be +\- 400 metres fro centreline of road to be shooting.

South of Red earth on HWY 88 has some new power lines and other access. Might be good

Sawn Lake area might be another . Newer access when the big pipeline went thru the area a few years back

Don’t waste your time on the DMI haul road the place is a zoo

[yamaha 1]

I have hunted the Harman area a few times not that great of area lots of wolves, and very little sign of moose. The oil field traffic was unreal at that time but since covid hit it might be down a little. I know the DMI hale road is busy but if you get off the beaten track the hunting is good, you can get in the woods for miles lots of clean lines and blocks.

[AS350J]

Done two week long trips up the DMI Haul road in the last 5 years. Managed a bull one of those trips. Was late season in early November. Get way off the road. Took us 12 hours too get our moose out of the bush. Some decent whitetail up there also. Second trip just seen lots of cows no bulls. Can be a mud pit up there also. Hopefully you have quads. Good luck!

[bruce47]

By all accounts it looks like a tough area to get a bull , and we have two tags....
Most likely if it cools off well leave on the wk end
And yes we have the tools to get us off the roads.