Any spike-fork moose tips for reg 8 in November?

[KBC]

Heading out to the 8-12 to 8-14 area for a few days just before Remembrance day and it looks like spike-fork moose are open. Any tips for a guy with zero knowledge about moose? I was going to look for deer but expanding my horizons might be fun.
Thanks!

[358mag]

Have lots of fuel in your tank , good luck . Moose being Moose could and will be anywhere . You wont be alone looking for the elusive Spike-Fork Moose .

[Muliechaser]

Have lots of fuel in your tank , good luck . Moose being Moose could and will be anywhere . You wont be alone looking for the elusive Spike-Fork Moose .

That's what the weekdays are for ��

[boxhitch]

'Have lots of fuel in your tank'
yupp
Find fresh snow and walk til you find a track

bring fuel for the truck too

[browningboy]

Just need some luck, you may get 100 yards from camp and see one or you may drive and hike all weekend and not see any? Good luck to you

[Ghilliesuit]

It's all about scouting, tracking and habits. Young bulls have two things on their mind; food and receptive females, even this late. Remember when you were twenty, they don't have beer and not many receptive females. But, as any twenty year old will tell you, hope springs eternal.

If you are going into an area that you aren't familiar with, good luck! Do you know where the food and water is, what is the lay of the land, where do the FSRs, spurs and game trails lead, where are the pinch points, dry bedding spots under good cover, any game camera pics?

[Rieber]

I think immies are found in close proximity of mom/cow. I have never seen an immy without it's mom close by.

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/immy_moose.jpg?8678

[4 point]

Hate to tell you but looking for a spike for bull is like looking for a needle in a hay stack. If your in the right place at the right time maybe you might see one. But before you can maybe confirm its legal it’s gone. I saw one last year in an area we know holds moose. He was with a nice bigger bull & cow. To bad the spike season didn’t open until two weeks later.

[nwalter]

Heading in to a spot in 8-11 when I get home myself. Consistently saw 7, 1 bull 2 cows and 4 calf’s last fall so crossing my fingers this year. Now just gotta hope my relief shows up so I can get home from work

[Linksman313]

Any tips for a guy with zero knowledge about moose?!

Maybe search a few old posts on HBC. Look for elevated swamps surrounded with heavy cover on Google Earth and be prepared to walk to them, and tracks in the snow of course. Most of these type of areas will now need quad or SxS to access now in the Boundary. 8-14/-15.

Let me ask you a question, have you ever been to 8-12/8-14? have you ever scouted this area? Do you know what kind of habitat you will find here for moose?
If you just picked these regions out of a hat you have your work cut out, Gas and time for the elusive Unicorn Spike Fork.

Good Luck
See you out there!
Links

[KBC]

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like I can just hope to get lucky. I have a spot in 8-12 I’m quite familiar with but have never seen moose at and a friend gave me another spot to go in 8-14 that holds moose and deer. I may go to the new spot first and see what I can find and if that fails I can fall back to the familiar spot.

[358mag]

Thanks for the replies. Sounds like I can just hope to get lucky. I have a spot in 8-12 I’m quite familiar with but have never seen moose at and a friend gave me another spot to go in 8-14 that holds moose and deer. I may go to the new spot first and see what I can find and if that fails I can fall back to the familiar spot.
Good luck , sounds strange but pack a chainsaw , think more moose have been shot in Region 8 when guys are cutting firewood , look up and see a bull moose watching them at 100 yards . Just make sure its a spike-fork before you pop a primer .

[bighornbob]

If I remember correctly I read once, that all 1.5 year old bull moose (first year of having antlers) that only something like 30% percent of them will be a spike-fork. So if that is true, that means if you saw 10 calves last year, one would assume that 5 of them are going to be cows. That leaves only 5 bulls and 30% of those 5 bulls is 1.5 bulls. So following basic statistics, if there were 10 calves, only one maybe two will be spike-forks bulls.

So based on that go have fun deer hunting and pray that a unicorn, I mean spike fork hops out.

BHB

[j270wsm]

When my uncle lived in grand forks and worked in the bush he seen lots of moose. one yr he found a spike fork and due to an ammunition mix up it got away. We went back a few days later and it was only a few hundred yards away. 315lbs hanging. I’ve personally taken 3 spike moose between 2011-2016. They are out there but you have to put in the time.

[tigrr]

There you go everyone one says cover ground and use good binoculars to determine quickly if it is a shooter. Have fun!

[cameron0518]

I think immies are found in close proximity of mom/cow. I have never seen an immy without it's mom close by.

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/immy_moose.jpg?8678

Could be the case with the ones you have seen but personally, I have never seen one in company with an adult. Neither in person or on my trail cams.

[cameron0518]

Heading out to the 8-12 to 8-14 area for a few days just before Remembrance day and it looks like spike-fork moose are open. Any tips for a guy with zero knowledge about moose? I was going to look for deer but expanding my horizons might be fun.
Thanks!

The best tip is don't F*** up and shoot one with too many points. Don't want to be "that guy." Carry a tag just in case but focus on your deer hunting IMO.

[HarryToolips]

They're still rutting (at least where I was today) in reg 8....saw bulls just no unicorns....

[j270wsm]

When my uncle lived in grand forks and worked in the bush he seen lots of moose. one yr he found a spike fork and due to an ammunition mix up it got away. We went back a few days later and it was only a few hundred yards away. 315lbs hanging. I’ve personally taken 3 spike moose between 2011-2016. They are out there but you have to put in the time.

sorry, I should have been more clear that the immature bulls I shot were in the east kootenays. One was with a cow and calf. The other 2 were alone. The one bull wasn’t immature but was injured and only grew one antler and it was a 10-12” long spike.

[mike31154]

Posted these pics before on other threads dealing with spike forks in 8. Last fall, a week or so before spike season I was in a tree stand deer hunting when 3 moose appeared in the bush on the other side of the stream from where the stand was. Très cool I thought to myself, no deer anywhere in sight, but good to know there be mooses (meese):razz: around here. They disappeared into the woods & I thought I'd seen the last of them but about 20 minutes later they came out to feed at the edge of the lake the stream fed into. Cow, calf & a spiker.

I was able to get some decent photos holding my phone to the eyepiece of my cheapo spotting scope. It was about time to call it a day as I had a good 1/2 hr. hike through the snow & woods back to the truck so I decided to see how close I could get. By the time I neared the group moving slowly but not overly stealthily, the spiker was gone. The cow looked up at me several times but continued feeding. I turned left into the bush & headed back.

Even if it had been in season, I wouldn't have taken that young bull solo. No way I could have gotten him out of there alone if I dropped him. Consider that if you've never harvested a moose & are thinking of going it alone. It took 3 of us to lift a hind quarter of a full sized bull into the back of my truck on an LEH 2018. My buddy dropped it about 30 yds from the FSR & we used their quads to bring the quarters to my pickup. I suppose you could debone & pack it out in stages, still a long day/night......

https://dm2302files.storage.live.com/y4mH9c8J3kY5dZInmnoeK1uRYeWfDVf9fOkGM0dg7mQBYLmExM qe-5tbVktG8eVDobuDjuXHRqHavcESkdHs0K7-bDFviCWWQPFfvsES_5f1B0ZQ2kyEvhORNrLY2UUf9VWB9TKmHz mjJ3i6AuKlFdJx9lwPCcBWFkhE2RBm0-S2I7irjo9c7qCryj_wkgDxVIx?width=768&height=1024&cropmode=none

The spiker thru the spotting scope. Left antler had the beginnings of a palm, other side was spike.
https://dm2302files.storage.live.com/y4mxHhkmACfzwPd8sTQLuXqDz0owIARfOckl72FwiHvCDcdGr7 kCPI25XP0xPBbm6rm1JcAcfRE78PlsutrvCNNjKCA4AyOmFA7M RZW4K-cjMHSzzT8LTs4pAWulib8VifkGZls8GCbg24dSq7oStqGd-jJrbxFRMsNafluQpHj_1RAx1-Bt2NIBQKX6dWEZBsN?width=1013&height=1024&cropmode=none

I got quite close to the cow & calf before I turned into the woods to head back. She showed no sign of wanting to take off, seemed curious.
https://dm2302files.storage.live.com/y4mI6WJun9Ew-wxAVlshYomaefWYLGswqznlNS7OF-4I0EgEO0D4fTwBOg3iw90hXdNQfGzAkGKLy-FXF1SVFL-92iVQa2e3W2hg91Ro8xYyie38uMXnnYkymDFCOw8SZ0MD8vlCJ xm9hCYf-Gg6Yj8ajDRpOiyd9LPNoe8VRyxJ-v4GZXsKvX-ba83E7srLfWL?width=1024&height=768&cropmode=none

I'd be heading back up there for a look this year (with help), but will be leaving for Van Isle on an Elk LEH next week.

[BRvalley]

my personal experience agrees with the comment the immies are usually close to their mama.....glass every cow/calf you see, and watch them for a long time before moving on, I often see the immies close or not far behind