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/FINAL%20LICK%20REPORT%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

http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=7977&stc=1

[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.

[Walking Buffalo]

I used to camp right next to a high mountain stream, with a mineral water seep fifty feet from the stream.

All night long there was a parade of different critters wading through and past the creek to drink the mineral water.
Moose, mulies, goats, sheep, bears....

[umos]

Thanks for all the great replies. It looks like there is general agreement that a mineral lick is worth waiting for, at least for some time. I will head in sometime in July to set up a stand and then give it a few days of effort for the any bull in August. The lick and trails are pretty chewed up by moose, and one did come out the night I was there, so it seems like it is pretty active. I didn't see any moose droppings around the lick though, maybe they practice good hygiene? Also, I thought more about those numbers from MK study, and 11 Bull Moose over 246 hours is equal to about half a harvestable moose at their licks per day in the stand, which seems like pretty wicked numbers to me. Though the MK licks are quite a bit bigger than this one. For the August any bull, I am guessing I should drop the calling and just wait? I will post back with how it goes anyway.

A follow up question, what do people think about a mountain mineral lick during the rut? The elevation in the area varies from 700m to 1800m. Are the bulls more likely to be interested in finding a cow and down in lower elevations during the rut, hanging around the rivers and swamps? Or would the lick and tree stand be a good spot to call from for a couple days? I know, lots of newbie Qs here.

[huntingfamily]

Personally I wouldn't call outside of the rut. You are just as likely to spook them away. The lick is a great attractant and I would watch it from a downwind position that you have a good rest to shoot from. Make sure you are also downwind and away from the trail(s) they are using to it.
Calling should be beneficial during the rut, provided you are doing a decent job of it. The bulls will be out looking for cows then, wherever they are found. If you are seeing cows, it is likely a bull is nearby. The lick could very well be productive then as well.
Know your hunting regulations inside and out. There are 3 specific categories for legal bull moose near the rut. And as mentioned earlier, there is no moose hunting from Oct 1-15 in the area you mentioned. This is during the peak rut.

[Ubertuber]

Like others have said, set up a tree stand and be in the stand well before first light.
We have a few good licks up that way that produce moose on a regular basis. Some licks look like they should have a moose every hour or two, but never do. They are a bit of a crapshoot.

[swampthing]

I find licks are good to check at first and last light. Spend the rest of your day elsewhere.

[Huevos]

One thing to consider also is that during any bull season, those moose may be coming to wallow in the mud to protect against the flies. Looks like a great spot, but like has been said before, put some effort into finding a few other spots. 11 bull moose in 10 days seems like great opportunity to me. Put in the time and see what shows up. Good luck.