Spike/fork moose season

[Looking_4_Jerky]

So the Region 8/southern Region 3 Nov 1-15 Spike/fork bull moose season winds to a close this weekend. I spent a couple of days scouting and then the first 8 days of the season hunting. Having only seen 9 antlerless moose over 8 days was quite discouraging, given that I am hunting areas where seeing 3 or 4 moose a day might be closer to average. On two occasions, I saw cows bedded down within a half hour of first light, which I also found strange.

By all accounts, others I have talked to who hunt the same areas are seeing very few moose too. With the lack of snow, it's difficult to tell if there were moose around but not showing themselves, or if there are way fewer moose in this area.

So I'm curious to hear of others' experiences who spent a chunk of time in good moose country over the last few weeks. Would you say what you saw was typical of what you know of the area? Were guys seeing lots of moose? Very few? Tracks but limited to areas of cover? Do things seem "normal"?

How have Nov 1 LEH tag-holders been doing?

Would love to hear others' observations, or better yet, successful hunt stories!

Cheers,
Jerky.

[Warcry]

I have a group leh in 8-9 . Same here lots
of cows 1 calf with no spikes. Lots of wolf tracks as well. It could be the pressure of the spike fork season driving them to hide or it could be my complete lack of skill so far lol. I've received multiple texts/calls about Bulls running in 8-12 . Trying to move to the south end of 8-9 tommorow and search around a but

[Warcry]

Some one said they are In rut. This possible because of our late winter?

[Looking_4_Jerky]

No chance the weather pushed peak estrus off a month and a half, but maybe a second estrus if breeding was fairly incomplete the first time around.

[TARCHER]

8 of us in camp within an hr of PG for 8 days. Same as many previous years. Starting oct first we had two warm days and a lot of scouting not much of any sign. Day three rained, windy shitty day. I actually commented to my bud it sure doesn't look like many moose around. Day four was to be clear and below zero in am. I rallied the troops as this would be good and it was. We shot a nice mulie buck in am and a bull moose in pm. Next day second bull down. Rut was on. Day six third bull (spiker) down. Been many many years since we had 3 bull moose in camp. that's how it ended. Very similar to last year where it took a lot of scouting large area to locate what seemed to be moose convention. having confidence and knowing area is a BIG part of it.

[HarryToolips]

From my observations, you will see far less animals this time of year in areas near roads or heavily hunted areas, I believe it's just them having 2 months of hunting pressure that they've become accustomed to..

[Vladimir Poutine]

Got 2 spike fork this year and helped a bud get a calf on a cow draw on Tuesday. Saw 8 bulls near home this year. Up from 0 last year. The wolves have moved a bit but there are pockets remaining. All in Region 3.

[tooley]

I have always found moose generally harder to find In November. Rut is over and they seem to hunker down somewhere away from hunting pressure where there is food and they don't travel very far from their secret spot. Sometimes this spot can be an acre or two in the back corner of an older cutblock, you just need to find it and you will fill your tag.

[Coachman]

I've hunted the same area of region 8 for 6 years. Seen lots of moose every year. This year, NOT ONE.

[Husky7mm]

I think a spike fork is not something you plan for it just happens when your in the right place at the right time. Always good to have a tag, they fine eating. It helps when you live in the area, repetition helps allot.

[Fisher-Dude]

Just started to see the moose the past week, 4 in 5 days. Usually, it's the other way around, we see them in Oct but not Nov.

That's the way it goes. The coincidental bumping into moose can happen at any time.

I draw no conclusions from my small sample set except to say I wish the small one would have given us a better look at his headgear before hitting the pine thicket! The 4x5 sauntered around like he owned the place, 50 yards off the road...

[DGM33]

Was about a month ago now, but on a four day hunt in region 8 we were seeing moose everywhere we went- a number of nice bulls and an absolute monster of a spike included.

[Vladimir Poutine]

That's the way it goes. The coincidental bumping into moose can happen at any time.

When you really sit back and think about it, what are the numerical odds that you as a hunter is randomly moving about in a large area and you bump into an animal that is randomly moving about at exactly the same time? You'd get better luck in Vegas.

[Rob Chipman]

Hit the bush in Region 3 with my wife's draw October 2nd. Called in a bull and dropped him the morning of the 4th. By called in I mean I called for a couple hours the evening before, and then he turned up next morning, and I called him out of the timber into the meadow. (Awesome, btw. Sunny morning, at least 15-20 minutes of screwing around with him. Lot's of fun). Saw two cows on that trip as well.

Went to the same place last week. No shooting opportunities but saw four bulls. 2 big, 2 small. With a broken range finder we passed up what google earth later indicated what was about a 375 yard shot on an immy. However, we saw lots and lots of evidence of moose. Mind you, this is a good walk from the last place the quads could go, and involved sleeping outside at -15! :-)

I'm a believer that length of day triggers the rut, not temperature, but weather certainly influences how much the animals move around vs. stay bedded or in the shade.

It was nice seeing as many moose as we did in the November hunt. We figured that they would band up and go a bit higher, so we went further up the valley and lo and behold, 3 bulls together, with the two big guys almost touching each other as they fed. Just like the books say.

[Warcry]

Hmm heavy snow in the higher elevations of 8-9 today. Wonder if tommorow I'll fill that damn curse/blessing of the all mighty Leh tag

[Bushy]

Found that less or no cloud cover at night kept the moose feeding at night and into the timber by sunrise. Lack of snow kept tracking difficult except higher elevations a few times that the snow did fall but melted quickly.
Good numbers of cows but mature bulls were not seen as much.
Could of dropped 3 immy's id-ed during October but unable to locate them the past 2 weeks, one was an absolute beast, regenerated bull?........ with 2 massive tines on each side.
cow leh did ok, bulls no.
Region 3

[coach]

Got 2 spike fork this year and helped a bud get a calf on a cow draw on Tuesday. Saw 8 bulls near home this year. Up from 0 last year. The wolves have moved a bit but there are pockets remaining. All in Region 3.

Poacher, eh?

[northernbc]

I saw that also????

[Sofa King]

I saw piles of moose this year.
saw piles being cleaned out as well, by them that have no rules.

[boxhitch]

saw piles being cleaned out as well, by them that have no rules.No pics? , I call BS

[Vladimir Poutine]

Poacher, eh?

Jumping that quickly to conclusions will get you hurt. We got 2. My son and I. Happy now? Boy, the brain trust on HBC.....

[Looking_4_Jerky]

Jumping that quickly to conclusions will get you hurt. We got 2. My son and I. Happy now? Boy, the brain trust on HBC.....

When I saw Vladimir's post I guessed that he meant he was in on 2 kills. I would assume that if someone had taken the liberty of grabbing an extra bull they wouldn't be advertising :)

Went out in the first good snow yesterday and didn't cut a (reasonably fresh) track!!! I think a new moose area is in order!

Thanks for responses everyone. Even with this info, I'm still not totally sure if the season was out of the ordinary, or quite normal. In some discussions with our local ungulate bio, I was told that once moose were in their winter coats (probably by Nov 1), they were subject to some level of heat stress in temps in the 0C to -5C range. I was wondering if our abnormally warn early Nov made it such that the moose were seeking thermal cover early in the day hence not being as visible. With the lack of snow, it was hard to tell if that was the case. I certainly spent some time in some areas with lots of scat, but of course it's tough to tell if it was from a few local moose hanging around for a long time, or lots of moose using the area.

The bio also told me that a few of the moose they have collared hunkered down so long that the "inactivity alarms" were triggered (if the radio collar is in one spot long enough it sends a signal, as it is most likely a mortality, and getting there quick helps determine the cause). They went to retrieve the collar only to see the moose running away!

[Sofa King]

No pics? , I call BS

go look at my pics and vids in the other thread.
saw tons of moose this season, pretty much every trip I was out.
and I know without doubt, not just that many were cleaned out, but by who as well, because I was present.

[RadHimself]

seen lots of moose this season, mostly singles randomly. although i did see a nice big mature bull with a cow/calf opening morning of mule season. bedded on the edge of a cut by a stump


i saw 2 immy's in october.... pulled the unicorn act come november... although, strangely enough i noticed WAY more trucks putting around in early NOV this year then i did all of october... bizarre indeed

[coach]

Jumping that quickly to conclusions will get you hurt. We got 2. My son and I. Happy now? Boy, the brain trust on HBC.....

Smashed the bait like a coho jack on roe.. Even managed to threaten me. Well done. :smile:

Sorry, Vlad - obviously you didn't poach and post about it. I should have used an emoticon..



Back to the original topic - particularly the bedded cows - I've spotted about 50% of November moose bedded. A big reason for this could be attributed to snow on the ground and very few leaves making a large black / dark brown animal easier to see. It could also be related to the fact their main focus at this time of year is on eating and resting and, unless pressured, they have little reason to move far from their food sources.

Regarding pressure - the big decline in LEH opportunities combined with the short (two week) season sure made our local areas busy. November 1st was the busiest hunting day I've seen - ever. A friend of mine hunting the same area encountered 32 vehicles. I didn't bother counting. Great to see people out and I'm in no way complaining - but it was busy!

[fozzy]

I saw a total of 5 Moose this year in region 8, the most moose I've seen in one year since I started hunting there. Three Bulls, one young cow or calf (seemed pretty small at 200 yards) and one that I couldn't see whether it was a cow or Immy, defiinety wasn't a big bull.
One bull was just barely too big it had very small palms, a 3x3. One bull had about a 10" single tine on the left side, I had him in the scope broadside at 300 yards but he didn't turn for a 100% confirmation.

[coach]

Fozzy - do you mean you were unsure you were looking at a spike on that side?

[Vladimir Poutine]

Smashed the bait like a coho jack on roe.. Even managed to threaten me. Well done. :smile:

Sorry, Vlad - obviously you didn't poach and post about it. I should have used an emoticon..



Back to the original topic - particularly the bedded cows - I've spotted about 50% of November moose bedded. A big reason for this could be attributed to snow on the ground and very few leaves making a large black / dark brown animal easier to see. It could also be related to the fact their main focus at this time of year is on eating and resting and, unless pressured, they have little reason to move far from their food sources.

Regarding pressure - the big decline in LEH opportunities combined with the short (two week) season sure made our local areas busy. November 1st was the busiest hunting day I've seen - ever. A friend of mine hunting the same area encountered 32 vehicles. I didn't bother counting. Great to see people out and I'm in no way complaining - but it was busy!

See how that can go sideways? No threat was intended. You read it wrong. I should have been more clear. or used an emoticon or taken a breath. How "bout a hug? Kumbaya maybe? We're all touchy at times I suppose. Have a good one:lol:

[wideopenthrottle]

after your exchange on the "got 2 moose" thing, it made me think of the guy who had posted "sept 15 elk down" when he meant Oct 15...heheheh it is the kind of stuff that makes noobies not want to post for fear of accidentally/wrongly stating something that incriminates themselves....heheheh

[Vladimir Poutine]

after your exchange on the "got 2 moose" thing, it made me think of the guy who had posted "sept 15 elk down" when he meant Oct 15...heheheh it is the kind of stuff that makes noobies not want to post for fear of accidentally/wrongly stating something that incriminates themselves....heheheh

I think new ones won't post sometimes because of the immediate responses that will call them down without the courtesy of getting the facts.

[wideopenthrottle]

I think new ones won't post sometimes because of the immediate responses that will call them down without the courtesy of getting the facts.
yes exactly