Is a mineral lick worth waiting for?

[umos]

Long time lurker, first time poster, so....

Q: Is Google male or female?
A: Female, because it doesn't let you finish a sentence before making a suggestion.

It sucks to ask for advice without yet having contributed anything to HBC, but you need to start somewhere I guess.

A bit about me. I have basically no hunting experience, but I am a pretty competent person. I moved to Canada a few years ago and for the past three seasons I have been heading out solo trying to bag a moose. I know this is ambitious/stupid, but I am loving it.

The last two years I headed up the east side of the Rockies from Chetwynd, driving in then hiking out to spots that looked interesting on google earth (max 1km from road). I came across a small wet mineral lick last year. It is about 6-10ft by 40ft, about 1500m elevation, and has a pretty decent trail network coming to it, mostly from higher up the mountains. There is no ATV access, tree stands or other signs of hunters, and the road accessing the site seems to get about one truck every day or two during the any bull (while I was there anyway). I camped beside the lick the one night (I now realize this was stupid), and a moose came out just after nightfall next to my tent before getting spooked and running off.

I am pretty time constrained (young kids at home), and I am trying to decide between heading back to this spot this year, or instead heading further north to explore new ground in 7B. I guess I am asking if a mineral lick without hunting pressure is a great find for the any bull or antler restricted rut, or not really. It seems like it is to me, but there is this paper that has some data on mineral lick use in the MK, and they find only 11 male moose in 246 hours of observing wet licks. So maybe wet licks actually aren't great for moose, and aren't worth waiting for? http://web.unbc.ca/~parker/MKReports...%20revised.pdf

What do people think? Any help would be appreciated, as I don't really have hunting mates to bounce this question off, or experience to draw off.

Thanks

[rocksteady]

As good of a place as any. The luck will attract moose year round. If its a favorite of theirs they will return. Just depends if its daylight or dark..

[srupp]

Hmm for moose I would go a different route..
I would concentrate on the rut..Sept 26 ...to Oct 15.
I would concentrate on openings..medows" Cut blocks back from main traveled roads..
I would pick 4 or 5 such locations.
I would spend an entire day at each location..calling every 15 minutes as LOUDLY as possible..using a calling horn..
I would hang up a tampon with buck expert moose in heat juice..
Oh yes bring a good knife.
If you PM me I am willing to answer any more questions.
Cheers
Srupp

[huntingfamily]

If the OP is near Chetwynd, moose are closed for hunting Oct 1-15. I would hunt near the lick, just camp away from it and glass the area for mr moose.
Do some scouting beforehand and set up a trail cam or 2 on active trails. Good luck!

[Downtown]

What you found is about as good as it gets for hunting near a Road. Go back to the same spot pre season and if at all possible build a small stand like a Ladder 15 ft up and out of the Wind with a seat overlooking the Meadow.
Call for Moose 3-4 times before going to Bed, Moose call can be substituted by a Coffee Can and Rope.
Be up 2 hours before legal shooting light, try to make as little noise as possible hike to your Stand and call softly once every hr. Chances are Mr. Moose is already there. Use enough Gun and shoot low. If you are not sure where the Hearth of a Moose is look up Diagrams on the Internet. After your fist Shot lets assume your Moose goes down immediately, cycle a new Shell into the Chamber, be ready and do not take your eyes of the Place where the Moose went down. Give it 10 minutes before you come down from your Stand.

Be sure you have a plan to recover the Moose.

Good Luck & Cheers

[moosinaround]

Good spot for sure, 1500m elevation is where the bulls will be during the any bull season, and away from the bugs down low. My bet is though, you are not the only person who knows this spot! I'd head up there this summer, drop in a trail cam or 2, and see what is showing up! Moosin

[walks with deer]

share me the cordinates i will tell you if its a good spot.lol

[two-feet]

I would work it but not make it the focus of my whole hunt, you should be working multiple spots. If I go to an area I like to have about 10 spots mapped out, some will be worth going back to multiple times and some will not.

[Stone Sheep Steve]

I know successful bow hunters in Alberta that hunt wet licks in the early season with good success.

Trailcameras are your best friend.

SSS

[wos]

If the area is littered with fresh tracks and looks like a moose highway put in a serious effort on the lick. If not I wouldn't invest a whole lot of time.