2018 7-25 Moose Hunt Overview

Hey Fellas

Last year 2018 we were drawn in 7-25 for a group bull moose hunt our trip was from Oct.26-Nov.6
I’m from the island and going up with two LEH tags felt promising we decided to go late in the season in hopes to avoid heavy hunting traffic possibly not as much pressure on the bush which was the case when we arrived we had the place to ourselves for the most part
we hunted Northwest side of Stuart lake.with 4 guys and day after day came back very disappointed for the whole trip between our group we seen 5 moose total two of which were small immature bulls which we managed to get one, others were one dry cow and a cow with her calf, moose sign was very poor hardly any tracks over a lot of area we covered by hiking with snow on the ground, but what we did find was predator tracks abundant everywhere countless sets of wolf tracks, grizzly, and black bear I have never seen so many sets of predator tracks every area we hunting was polluted, we were fortunate to get the one small bull but the moose population in this area from my experience would appear to be suffering, the wildfires were very close to this area as well possibly smoke pushed them out? It sure didn’t push out the predators so what’s the cause of this?, predators, overhunting, poaching anyone else experience these issues on their B.C. moose hunts this year?

I've only spent a bit of time up in that specific area, but after living in PG for a few years the sentiment was that general moose hunting around the Prince George/Fort St James/Vanderhoof areas is really poor due to habitat loss from over logging of pine beetle, significant wolf kills, and winter hunts from "special interest groups".

However, I'm sure people will chime in saying they got their moose in those areas. They're still around, just in hidden pockets and very spooky due to the amount of pressure they see from two and four legs.

If you're up for a bit of a longer drive the moose get better farther north or west.

It’s a similar story in lots of areas right now. Moose numbers are down, predator numbers are up. I’ve been seeing more wolf tracks than moose tracks most times out.

Oct 26/nov 6 is very late to be hunting this area.25 yrs in that area has shown me the very best time to be in there is during the rut,you were a month too late.I shot a large bull on the 27th,just like every other yr in there the bulls generally come down into the valleys around that time.We didnt see much for pedator tracks but theres no shortage there believe me,some area's are littered with bones from wolf winter kills.
FN was very active in our area as well,moreso then normal,had another hunter stop in to tell us to keep an eye open as they had troubles and theft,and on the way in we had a rifle waved out the truck window towards our truck.
Next time go in earlier youll likely get that big bull

takla

Really not that terrible. Your group got a moose, late season the big bulls are in tiny remote pockets or already dead. My guess is the odds were really low for that draw? No body likes seeing tons of predator tracks however they are living off of something..... A lot of tracks are just the same preds making the rounds over and over. Ya gotta make the best out of those once a yr trips far from home regarless of the action. Bring a gun for grouse, shoot predators, have a party at night, have great big fires, have a nap, and cover lots of ground by truck of atv so you can find a spot worth burning boot leather in.

Also the winter weather never showed up until after the late hunt. After the rut is a tough hunt if they have not migrated and bunched up.