Are Moose shedding already?

[Buckmeister]

Was in region 3 today in the shuswap mulie hunting and only saw 2 does. :icon_frow But the moose were out in droves today. I saw about a dozen alltogether this morning, mostly in 2's or 3's. Some were cows and calfs. However, I did not see a single one packing bone. So either they were all cows and calfs, or there was some bulls that have already shed. Seemed a little odd to me.

Are you still seeing bulls packing right now???

[gon_fishn]

Bulls won't loose there antlers for awhile yet,Good to see lots of breeding stock

[doubled]

They definitely have their wood still. Will be a month or two before those fall off.

[Buckmeister]

With the amount of moose I saw in this area this year....I know where I will be hunting moose next year.....should be some 2 points kicking around then...better yet, maybe I'll score on a LEH bull draw :-D. Saw plenty of bulls there back in Oct.

Actually, everywhere I hunted this year I was seeing moose and/or moose sign...from the valley bottom to the mountain top...whether hunting mulies or whitetails...there was always moose not too far away.

Is it just me, or have you noticed a greater presence of moose as well???

[dana]

I've picked up fresh moose tine in early Dec before. Moose are the earliest to drop and most drop over Christmas. Around these parts it is uncommon to see them packin the first week of Jan.

[tomahawk]

Saw about 5 bulls packin bone on our bison hunt.

[Summit 512]

I picked up a freash moose shed yesterday in 5-12 so some of them are dropping.

[.300WSMImpact!]

I have noticed more moose over the last couple of years, always happy to see them, hope to draw one this year!

[Stillhunting]

I saw a half dozen moose yesterday, including two bulls with their antlers still. They were small bulls though, so that might have something to do with it. I believe the big boys shed first.

[whitetailsheds]

I've picked up fresh moose tine in early Dec before. Moose are the earliest to drop and most drop over Christmas. Around these parts it is uncommon to see them packin the first week of Jan.

Yup. Have seen some fresh moose sheds from before Christmas up here. Think primarily January may be the month though.

[coach]

I saw two bulls including this one last week. Both were still packing headgear.

http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/showphoto.php?photo=16600&ppuser=5955

[shanevg]

I know they certainly can drop their antlers this early. I know of a guy who had a Washington moose tag last year and he shot his bull on the last day of season (Nov. 30) and it had already shed both antlers.

[dutchie]

I know they certainly can drop their antlers this early. I know of a guy who had a Washington moose tag last year and he shot his bull on the last day of season (Nov. 30) and it had already shed both antlers.

Really?? did he run up and do a "spot check" to see if it was a bull. Or was he that hung?!

[Kirby]

I've picked up fresh moose sheds as early as Dec 16, but really they will still mostly be packing, chances are you were seeing cows/calfs.

Kirby

[jml11]

It's certainly not uncommon for bulls to have dropped their antlers already, but most will hang on to them for a bit still. This is why the late season moose draws up here (7A) are for antlerless moose and not cows\calves...just in case someone harvests a shed bull thinking it was cow, it's still legal.

[luckynuts]

Mosse have already started dropping. My crossshift said he seen two big bulls together pushing over 50" last shift and this afternoon I seen 3 bulls 2 big bodied bulls (one was enourmous)with no bone and a 3x3 in the same general area. Guess where I will be on days off :mrgreen::mrgreen:

L

[MRP]

Seen a bull yesterday 22 on the Bobtail, one antler.

[tinhorse]

the earliest shed i have found was January 5th up when i was working in fort nelson. The bases were still red with bits of tissue when i found it

[hunterofthedeer]

on dec 2nd we see 5 moose all together a cow and calf and 3 bulls two immys and one brute had all their gear still i hears some older bulls usually 10 years or older could drop their antlers this early

[dana]

Picked up my first fresh paddle of the season today at work. A pretty decent bull too. So yep, they are dropping already. :) I'll post up a few pics when I get the time.

[steveo32]

seen a shed out bull out hunting yesterday so going from hunting season stright into shed season !!!

[dana]

Here's the fresh paddle I picked up yesterday.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/BCBOY/December82009009a.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/BCBOY/December82009011a.jpg

[Buckmeister]

Here's the fresh paddle I picked up yesterday.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/BCBOY/December82009009a.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v145/BCBOY/December82009011a.jpg
Nice color!! Most of the ones I find are half sun bleached at the best.

[dana]

Hard to beat the colour of a freshly dropped shed less than a week on the ground. :)

[GoatGuy]

I've picked up fresh moose tine in early Dec before. Moose are the earliest to drop and most drop over Christmas. Around these parts it is uncommon to see them packin the first week of Jan.

That's about right for most of the province, might be a bit earlier up north.

[luckynuts]

Dana looks like he was a fighter! :cool: