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Old 08-08-2020, 09:41 PM
CutterRMH CutterRMH is offline
 
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Default Moose hunting tip

So this year I was able to pull an antlered moose tag is a fairly promising zone. I’ve been waiting a few years to pull it and was really excited that I did. Problem is that I’ve never hunted moose before. I’ve watched a ton of videos on YouTube and hunting shows but I wonder if I’m missing something? Hard work doesn’t bother me at all as I’ve been in there scouting and set up a few trail cams. I am fully prepared for after the animal drops but it’s the part about getting in close with my bow(bought a new one with this hunt in mind). I don’t live in an area where moose are all that abundant and have never even been along with anyone hunting moose.

I think I’ve got the calling figured out, but their home range can be huge and the number of scouting trips I’ll be able to take are somewhat limited.

I guess what I’m really wondering is, for a first time moose hunt, how steep is the learning curve??

I’ve hunted deer by rifle and elk by bow just for background.

Any tips or general knowledge that you’d care to pass along would be appreciated!!

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  #2  
Old 08-08-2020, 10:09 PM
sillyak sillyak is offline
 
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On my first moose hunt, a week long raft float trip, we called and hunted for 4 days without seeing anything. Although it was hot that September so I think the rut pushed back a bit.

Ended up having a bull stroll down the riverbank, while we were eating lunch and not being quiet at all, and stand broadside to me at 180 yards.

So my advice is to find a riverbank and talk loudly while eating.
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Old 08-09-2020, 07:07 AM
35 whelen 35 whelen is offline
 
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Dont be in a hurry at calling sites ,when i was guiding moose we would sometimes call from same spot all morning ,then return next day .
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  #4  
Old 08-09-2020, 07:36 AM
BC7stw BC7stw is offline
 
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If you decide to call, you need to stick it out for a bit. Sometimes they respond right away, but most times it takes a bit of time to fire them up. I’ve had a moose respond on the first call and not walk out in the open for two hours. I’ve also had them come crashing in in a few minutes. Each day is different, each moose is different.

The wind is your enemy, set up so if they try to circle down wind they need to step into the open, I’ve tagged more than a couple this way, they didn’t make a sound, then just silently appeared down wind.

Good luck
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Old 08-09-2020, 08:39 AM
Big Grey Wolf Big Grey Wolf is online now
 
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"Walk slow and carry a big shooting stick"
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  #6  
Old 08-09-2020, 10:14 AM
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3blade 3blade is offline
 
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Depends what you are after. I waited 7 years to pull my first bull tag in a zone with many 50” bulls and a legitimate shot at 60”...the only time I’ve ever really trophy hunted....with one bow zone cow moose under my belt. Passed a bunch of small ones and a few 30”s. Drew on 3 shooters never had a clean shot, followed an absolute monster for 3 days. Killed a wt doe and spike buck for meat in the last week of nov. No moose. Nearly threw my bow in the river.

What I learned:
-they don’t have to care about any terrain. They will go up/over/through anything.
-They will ALWAYS circle down wind of the caller. As far as they can, often 2-300 yards. Makes solo bow hunting very difficult.
-they will bed with the wind covering their back, and facing where they can see
- they will always j-hook before bedding and watch their back trail.
-when you find good fresh sign, figure out the wind, walk very slow and use your binos. Often they hang in the same area for a few days.
-you can draw when they are looking at you. The won’t spook the way deer do
- do not try to call a bull onto a narrow cutline or trail. When he comes out he will either be facing towards or away-no shot. Get into the bush 20-50 yards where it thins out and you have shooting lanes.
-the little guys act rutty first. The big guys only show up in peak rut, first week of oct.
-moose run towards water when spooked. If you’re hunting by water, you’d better have a way to get one out.

This year I have a bull tag and the first legal bull will get it.
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Old 08-09-2020, 11:39 AM
Sooner Sooner is offline
 
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Start cow calling in late Sept, see what answers. Our first trip out on my sons tag and we called a nice 4 yr old bull to 12 yrds. The wind is your best friend or enemy.

Make sure your out there as much as possible during the rut. I found sitting in areas with good sign and lightly calling was better than sneaking around. Seemed like every time we decided to "check" another area(cause we got tired of sitting), the trail cam showed moose came by after we snuck out. Bulls can be so quiet coming in, sometimes all you hear is their antler hitting a branch or a branch breaking when they step.

Use a Birch call from CT, they carry further and has a deeper sound. When the bull is coming and he won't commit, use the grunt to make him think he has competition. Sometimes you have to grunt and walk straight to them if nothing else is working.

My friend uses those wood Moose paddles and they work great when a bull is close. Have a range finder. Practice practice practice to get comfortable shooting further out with the bow.

Now you got me all excited. Good thing 2 friends have a moose draw this year and I will most likely be on a couple rut hunts with them. Love when you hear that first grunt and know he is coming in.

Good luck with your hunt
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  #8  
Old 08-09-2020, 07:10 PM
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Badone20 Badone20 is offline
 
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Patience is #1 in my mind. Find a spot with good sign off the beaten path, set your self up so you have some good shooting lanes and good cover, and call. Then wait, wait, and wait some more.

Don't over call and don't give up and move too soon. Keep your eyes and your ears open as lots of times depending on where you are hunting, they may come in silently. Moose have great senses that protect them well, that nose and those ears serve them very very well.

Make sure you aren't fidgeting around or carrying stuff that makes unnatural sounds like food wrappers and plastic bottles that crinkle. I always unwrapped my bars and stored them in a single Ziploc ahead of time to avoid making all that noise in the bush when you want to open one. Its unbelievable how much noise those plastic foil wrappers and bottles can make in the dead silence of the bush.

Move slowly and deliberately when you must and make sure you have looked hard around you before you do. Moose have an unbelievable way of dialing right in on your position when you are calling and come right to it. It has blown me away more then once to look around and see a moose standing and looking directly at my position, when they weren't there a few seconds ago, and I heard absolutely nothing. I like to refer to them as ghosts, because they can move so silently and effortlessly through the bush that it is amazing.

What WMU are you hunting?

Last edited by Badone20; 08-09-2020 at 07:30 PM.
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  #9  
Old 08-09-2020, 08:15 PM
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huntinstuff huntinstuff is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 35 whelen View Post
Dont be in a hurry at calling sites ,when i was guiding moose we would sometimes call from same spot all morning ,then return next day .
such great advice

Moose dont care if you only have 5 days to hunt They are on "moose time"

Some will come charging in like theyre at a Boxing Day sale

Some will feed, sleep, walk, sleep and take their fine time. Maybe even the next day!

You need patience. And also some patience....maybe try being patient too....lol

If its warm out and im in cutlines, i will check for tracks. If they go into the bush, i will circle the whole block looking for exit tracks. If i dont see any exit tracks, hes in there. I may cow call if its cold out but if its warm, i will go back to where the tracks entered and i will walk in after him, following his tracks. Slowly. Like six steps, pause, look, six steps, pause look, until i hit the next cutline or kill him.

youd be surprised how just taking 6 or 10 steps changes your view in the bush.

Wind can get goofy in the bush. I like to believe moose lay down with their back to the wind. That way they can see whats ahead of them and smell whats behind them

Then again Ive been sitting eating lunch and a moose walks up and looks at you......
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  #10  
Old 08-09-2020, 08:30 PM
dfrobert dfrobert is offline
 
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Look for areas that hold both big mature poplars and are still near water, especially small isolated pot hole lakes.

Then make sure you find good moose sign, rut sign even better. Put in lots of time. You’ll get your bull.
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  #11  
Old 08-09-2020, 08:58 PM
TrapperMike TrapperMike is offline
 
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Moose are where they are, no rule of thumb. You can hunt long and hard and not see one or you could be getting out of your truck and have 5 walk out in front of you. Wife’s grandmother was camp cook out west of Caroline. All the guides and hunters were out looking for moose and when they returned to camp empty handed she waited till they were all sitting down before she announced that when they were done they could go hang up her moose that she shot as it came into camp. Lol
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  #12  
Old 08-09-2020, 09:02 PM
CutterRMH CutterRMH is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Badone20 View Post
Patience is #1 in my mind. Find a spot with good sign off the beaten path, set your self up so you have some good shooting lanes and good cover, and call. Then wait, wait, and wait some more.

Don't over call and don't give up and move too soon. Keep your eyes and your ears open as lots of times depending on where you are hunting, they may come in silently. Moose have great senses that protect them well, that nose and those ears serve them very very well.

Make sure you aren't fidgeting around or carrying stuff that makes unnatural sounds like food wrappers and plastic bottles that crinkle. I always unwrapped my bars and stored them in a single Ziploc ahead of time to avoid making all that noise in the bush when you want to open one. Its unbelievable how much noise those plastic foil wrappers and bottles can make in the dead silence of the bush.

Move slowly and deliberately when you must and make sure you have looked hard around you before you do. Moose have an unbelievable way of dialing right in on your position when you are calling and come right to it. It has blown me away more then once to look around and see a moose standing and looking directly at my position, when they weren't there a few seconds ago, and I heard absolutely nothing. I like to refer to them as ghosts, because they can move so silently and effortlessly through the bush that it is amazing.

What WMU are you hunting?

Patience is something that I’ve been building toward for the past number of years. From the sounds of it, I will probably treat them a lot like I treat elk.
I’m hunting in 242 in the Ministick lake bird sanctuary. I’ve done a bit of scouting in there but it’s a really big area that will take a few more trips to get a handle on.


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  #13  
Old 08-09-2020, 10:20 PM
Frank Grimes Frank Grimes is online now
 
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Like others have said, be patient when calling. Have a comfy spot.
Also they like water and swamps. Moose retrieval can be a nightmare. Make sure you know what’s in the area, chances are if they don’t just drop when your shoot one it will head for water or swamp.
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  #14  
Old 08-09-2020, 10:47 PM
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Moosetalker Moosetalker is offline
 
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Lots of swamp in Ministic and not hard to get a bunch of it between you and wherever you are parked. at least that was the case when I hunted it pre 2001.

Too close to road and vehicle noise will make listening for bulls coming in or answering calls harder.

Many short legged moose shot in there that the hunter came to the conclusion maybe better they make a lean to and eat it where it dropped. No ATV use allowed to get it out either. Hope you can call on a few strong backs to help.

On a retrieval perspective 936 Blackfoot at least has nice trails for carts and wheelbarrows to ease recovery woes.
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  #15  
Old 08-09-2020, 11:18 PM
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huntinstuff huntinstuff is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CutterRMH View Post
Patience is something that I’ve been building toward for the past number of years. From the sounds of it, I will probably treat them a lot like I treat elk.
I’m hunting in 242 in the Ministick lake bird sanctuary. I’ve done a bit of scouting in there but it’s a really big area that will take a few more trips to get a handle on.


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Nice

I skidoo Ministik every year. Great place
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  #16  
Old 08-10-2020, 05:25 AM
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DeadEyeGardner DeadEyeGardner is offline
 
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Default Hunting ministik lake bird sanctuary

Well I’m glad I saw you’re going to Ministik, I hunted moose for over 20 days in there just last season. For starters, I’ll say this- during archery season you will be one of the very few people in there, I spent almost all my days in there during archery.. The first day of rifle season, you’ll be one of maaaaany people in there- and the whole ATV rules are total BS. I chose to hunt moose at ministik last year because I wanted to hunt somewhere that was foot access only and close to the city. Well I Soon learned that foot access only is only just a guideline. It’s also not enforced by F&W as they do not have jurisdiction in there, it’s regulated by the county and the county also doesn’t enforce it. I was told by F&W and the county that “it’s ok to take a quad in there to retrieve your downed animal”..... well that’s certainly interpreted differently by different folks. Like I mean it only is a disadvantage for everyone who hasn’t got an animal and who actually wants to entirely hunt on foot. A couple weeks into rifle season and the trails are all hammered out by ATVs. I had multiple trail camera pictures of guys on quads, sometimes dragging animals out and sometimes just riding around with buddies. So that’s that...

Secondly, there’s lots of nice animals in there, and it’s a nice place to hunt. There are some places you can’t get atvs into and that’s where I eventually got my moose after 3 days during November, but like mentioned above, getting a moose out of these areas is no easy task. It took me and two friends several Hours to get mine back to the truck, we completely broke it down on the ground, used two jet sleds and one frame pack. In one gruelling trip over deadfall, up and down banks- we earned every inch. It was a lot of fun and an awesome adventure.

Like all hunting trips, you learn more than anything else. Mostly about yourself and the areas you venture into, but also the good the bad and the ugly. Hopefully I’ve shed some light on what to expect as I google searched my face off for info on ministik and no where did I find information on the reality that I found myself in on November 1st 2019.
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  #17  
Old 08-10-2020, 09:50 AM
Big Grey Wolf Big Grey Wolf is online now
 
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Default moose

Cutter, trying to hunt your first moose with a bow, is like having one hand tied behind your back. Have seen many experienced hunters fail to shoot their moose with bow. Suggest you start with rifle until you establish some valuable hunting knowledge or you will waste many moose tags.
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Old 08-10-2020, 09:57 AM
35 whelen 35 whelen is offline
 
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Think positive, if that is your goal try your best and enjoy that you can hunt moose in this great hunting province.GOOD LUCK.
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Old 08-10-2020, 10:26 AM
CutterRMH CutterRMH is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Big Grey Wolf View Post
Cutter, trying to hunt your first moose with a bow, is like having one hand tied behind your back. Have seen many experienced hunters fail to shoot their moose with bow. Suggest you start with rifle until you establish some valuable hunting knowledge or you will waste many moose tags.

I’ll still be bow hunting as it allows me to hunt the rut. If nothing else, I’ll learn a lot during that time that will be even more valuable during the rifle season. I’m not really looking to take a monster bull, unless one crosses my path.
Hunting the rut will at least give me the best opportunity with my bow as calling seems fairly effective.


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Old 08-10-2020, 10:27 AM
CutterRMH CutterRMH is offline
 
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Originally Posted by 35 whelen View Post
Think positive, if that is your goal try your best and enjoy that you can hunt moose in this great hunting province.GOOD LUCK.

Thanks. Keeping the positive mind frame can be difficult at times, especially when you don’t see any fresh sign.

Thanks 35 whelen.


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  #21  
Old 08-10-2020, 10:49 AM
Brbpuppy Brbpuppy is offline
 
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Well since you plan on hunting the rut, try and scout where there's cows Chances are, that's a good area for a bull!
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Old 08-10-2020, 11:04 AM
CutterRMH CutterRMH is offline
 
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Well since you plan on hunting the rut, try and scout where there's cows Chances are, that's a good area for a bull!

That’s the plan!! I have a few cameras that I set up on some fairly fresh sign. I’ll be checking them this weekend and will try to post pictures.


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  #23  
Old 08-10-2020, 11:09 AM
Brbpuppy Brbpuppy is offline
 
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Originally Posted by CutterRMH View Post
That’s the plan!! I have a few cameras that I set up on some fairly fresh sign. I’ll be checking them this weekend and will try to post pictures.


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Perfect, looking forward to some!
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  #24  
Old 08-15-2020, 07:45 PM
CutterRMH CutterRMH is offline
 
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Originally Posted by Brbpuppy View Post
Perfect, looking forward to some!

I think I’ve found a potential target for this fall. Had a few pictures of some smaller bulls but this guy has been sticking around one particular camera.


Time is right but date is wrong by 5 days. This is getting me more excited for hunting season.


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  #25  
Old 08-19-2020, 09:06 AM
vic1 vic1 is offline
 
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Just the word of advise!
If hunting in Ministik in bow season, be aware that there are card holders with high power rifles that may not see you in full camo. I had a rifle pointed at me from the a truck while a was in my tree stand last season.
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Old 08-19-2020, 09:15 AM
CutterRMH CutterRMH is offline
 
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Just the word of advise!
If hunting in Ministik in bow season, be aware that there are card holders with high power rifles that may not see you in full camo. I had a rifle pointed at me from the a truck while a was in my tree stand last season.

Thanks for the advice!! I’m at least a mile and a half from the nearest road so truck traffic shouldn’t be an issue.


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Old 08-19-2020, 09:23 AM
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7magtime 7magtime is offline
 
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Nice looking bull OP, there's still good numbers of moose in there. If you know how to call and play the wind right, you should get some action the last week of September or the first week of October in there. Good luck!
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Old 08-20-2020, 02:08 PM
Billy The Kid Billy The Kid is offline
 
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Cover lots of ground until you find an area with lots of activity. Don't be afraid to make lots of noise when calling, snapping lots of big branches, etc. They're not real difficult to hunt once you figure them out
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  #29  
Old 08-21-2020, 08:17 AM
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Quote:
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Just the word of advise!
If hunting in Ministik in bow season, be aware that there are card holders with high power rifles that may not see you in full camo. I had a rifle pointed at me from the a truck while a was in my tree stand last season.
Anybody pointing a rifle at anything in a tree is an idjit if they cannot tell the difference between a bear and s como'd up Hunter .
They likely would have pointed the dammed gun at you even if you were wearing orange.
Cat
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Old 08-21-2020, 08:59 AM
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58thecat 58thecat is offline
 
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just have a safe fun time....you got cam pics find the cows too....lots of calling...well into dark then leave....sometimes they come to that area and mosy around can get'em first light then....we had a camp one hunt about three or four clicks from one intended area...get up at night to pee...call...sounds odd well a bull was in the area next day...
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