Moose hunting techniques

[Pheroze]

I am heading up to northern Ontario for two weeks beginning November 21. We lucked out with a Bull tag. I am practicing my calls, but read it is effective in the rut, which I think is over by late November. I thought I would reach out for any last minute tips to getting this bull in range? A couple years ago I got close to a nice bull but had a cow tag!

My land is fairly densely forested. But the is logging in the area too.

 

[WAB]

Focus on good browse areas. They need a lot of food as the temps drop. As much as they live aquatic plants, there is not likely to be new growth on them that time of year.

 

[BRICKBURN]

............. A couple years ago I got close to a nice bull but had a cow tag!
.......

What @WAB said. If it is really cold; find the willow browse. They have to eat.

Where did you see the bull last year?
Location, time of day, etc.
Temperature, what time of year?

Good luck.

I had a little guy at twenty five yards two days ago.

 

[Pheroze]

What @WAB said. If it is really cold; find the willow browse. They have to eat.

Where did you see the bull last year?
Location, time of day, etc.
Temperature, what time of year?

Good luck.

I had a little guy at twenty five yards two days ago.

It was mid-october at the edge of a clear cut. He was very content to stand there and check me out. It was not much below freezing, if at all. But we had some cold nights that week. The clear-cut was actually by a busy area. I was very surprised to see him there.

 

[BRICKBURN]

I'll send you a PM.

 

[deewayne2003]

I would look for browse just as others have said, but especially browse that can be viewed from a higher elevation if possible - So basically your trying to find an elevated position that will allow you to see as much browsing/feeding area as you can; throw in some calling for good measure and I think that's really all you can do.

I hunted Confusion lake North of Vermillion Bay a few years back for moose; 3 of us hunting for 10 days and ended up with one small bull.

Good luck to you, as Moose is the finest meat on earth as far as I'm concerned.

 

[Mekaniks]

Moose hunting 101-
Call moose, Here Moosey Mooosy

See Moose

Shoot moose

Work Starts

Celebrate

 

[ldmay375]

I hope you have a very successful hunt !
I think that calling / scraping can be beneficial in non-rut times also.
I believe they are curious creatures and like to size up potential competition in their area. I have definitely had curious bulls, in full velvet come in to calls and scraping.

I am heading up to northern Ontario for two weeks beginning November 21. We lucked out with a Bull tag. I am practicing my calls, but read it is effective in the rut, which I think is over by late November. I thought I would reach out for any last minute tips to getting this bull in range? A couple years ago I got close to a nice bull but had a cow tag!

My land is fairly densely forested. But the is logging in the area too.

 

[dobber]

depending on the snow they will be moving and herding up, calling won't be much use right now, the rut is over

 

[Pheroze]

There is obviously a split decision here. To look at it another way, I don’t think calling would be detrimental??

 

[ldmay375]

I can only speak to the area and season that I hunt. It opens in late August and closes in late September.
I would doubt that moderate calling or scraping would be detrimental. I still believe they are curious creatures. The prior high activity bulls may have more interest in recuperating than engaging in conversation.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

I have a post rut hunt planned for 2021 in BC, northwest of Ft St John, so been watching this thread to gain some useful tips. We'll be hunting Oct 15-25.

I found these articles with some interesting nuggets of wisdom

Late-season moose: Where they go after the rut • Outdoor Canada

Finding a prime post-rut hot spot is like hitting the jackpot. Here’s how to do it

www.outdoorcanada.ca

The other article, the link won't post but Google Wayne Kubat and read some of his tips and tactics.

 

[dobber]

I think light calling wouldn't hurt, but the type of calling i would do in late Sept/early Oct would likely not work. Its like calling in early season before the rut really comes in, doesn't work nearly as well as thrashing a bush only
Majority of the water based plants are gone, so its 2-3yr old cuts and in crappy weather a nice Hemlock swamp

 

[ldmay375]

Pheroze,
I look forward to your hunt report.
Best of luck and success!

 

[Longwalker]

Calling moose in November will do nothing but alert them of your presence and scare them away. The rut is done by mid October. After that the bulls will concentrate on feeding, and replacing the body mass and condition that they ran off during the rut. Tracking works well if you are skilled enough to do it while being absolutely silent in thick cover. And pay attention to the wind. And realize where a moose is likely to bed, and approach those areas with extreme alertness. A fascinating way to hunt but my skills usually aren't up to the challenge. That's what I was doing a couple days ago. The moose won. Again. It was fun though. You could get together with some buddies and push bush. Crude but effective. Spot and stalk is about the only other alternative.

 

[1dirthawker]

get up high where you can see/glass and look for feeding moose, you can hunt them if close enough or wait for them to bed down and then hunt them up.

 

[Pheroze]

I followed this guy and ended up pushing him past a buddy who was set up down the road. Unfortunately neither of us got a look at him. It was our last afternoon as the fellow with the tag went home. I am staying around for deer and fishing. But, actually spent all day on the phone with work today sadly.

 

[Whitetailer]

Young Bulls will respond to Cow calls and brush scraping even past the rut. The older mature Bulls less so as they have done their breeding and they are trying to recover lost weight to survive the coming Winter.

 

[Pheroze]

We hunt after the rut. It is certainly harder after all the hunting during the rut. But, I like it. I tried to grunt to see if the fella would get pissed off but no luck.

 

[Pheroze]

*since we hunt after the rut ....