Moose runs when hit?

[rollingrock]

My friend told me that a moose he hit last year didn't run but wandered off slowly for about 40 yards before he could catch up to give him a few more follow up shots. Since that was his first moose, he still wonders if a moose knows how to run. But because I've never hunted moose, I don't know either.

[talver]

where did he hit it? A well placed shot will do the trick a moose is a big animal it takes time for it to die. why did your friend chase it? Unless it was going over a cliff or in a lake I would just wait and not spook it into running on me. If it was hit good it most likely would have gone a little ways and dropped. Ive seen moose get hit good and continue grazing or just walk into the timber line stand and then drop.

[rollingrock]

I think he told me that the first shot was fired from 150 yards or so, perfect broadside. Then the moose wandered off into the bush from the lake side. He was expecting some movements like a deer after being hit. But it didn't happen. So he wondered if he really hit the moose good. But after the moose dropped, he found out that the first shot was very well placed.

[MB_Boy]

I have had one or two that have just walked off very casually but I am sure they were determined to get away. :wink: . The furthest one went up the riverbank that he had tumbled down when shot and into some brush....I knew he was hit really well so I just waited and he ended up walking into a clearing about 30 yrds down river and I gave him the finishing shot which dropped him in his tracks. I have been in on a good number of moose kills whether it be myself or a partner and just thinking about it now I have never seen one run after being hit. All have been hit well which may also be the reason, but those that did not drop in their tracks just took slow steady steps up to about ~30 yrds and were down pretty quickly.

However I have worked on a number of tagging projects with my Dad on my moose and to answer your other question.......YES they can run.

[ARC]

One we got last year was standing about 100 yards away. First shot was a broadside lung hit and the thing didn't move. Second shot was another lung shot,about 2 inches from the first, the moose then started trotting across a small clearing. Third shot hit him in the spine and he dropped instantly. It seems like they can absorb a few shots sometimes without letting on they're hit. I don't know how far he would have gone had the last shot not broken his spine.

[abbyfireguy]

Remember moose are large lumbering animals. They will not prance off like a gazelle......I myself do not chase off after them . I usually give them a few minutes to lie down and they seldom get up....
I try to make the first shot a kill shot,,usually with the 300 Weatherby it does the trick..Just be patient and try to make the first one the killer . I know some times you have to hurry your shot if the moose bolts,but, I really don't like tracking and packing out the moose after it has gone a long ways into the bush...
Too hard on the old body to pack quarters out 2 kilometers when you could have taken your time and dropped the swamp donkey on a skidder trail or at least out of the thick trees....
That leaves more time for telling more lies around the campfire or catching a few rainbows from the surrounding lakes..

[MB_Boy]

Just be patient and try to make the first one the killer . I know some times you have to hurry your shot if the moose bolts,but, I really don't like tracking and packing out the moose after it has gone a long ways into the bush...
Too hard on the old body to pack quarters out 2 kilometers when you could have taken your time and dropped the swamp donkey on a skidder trail or at least out of the thick trees....
..

Amen to that.....we hunt where there is not vehicle access and work a river/lake system and try and get them as short of a haul to the canoe as possible.

[Radar]

Originally Posted by abbyfireguy
Just be patient and try to make the first one the killer . I know some times you have to hurry your shot if the moose bolts,but, I really don't like tracking and packing out the moose after it has gone a long ways into the bush...
Too hard on the old body to pack quarters out 2 kilometers when you could have taken your time and dropped the swamp donkey on a skidder trail or at least out of the thick trees....

Could not agree more, we had one that a guy in our group hit and then moved towards, it got up and swam a lake and died on the otherside....we spent a day hauling it out and it wasn't pleasant carrying it round the lake through a swamp across a cut with stumps and slash....patience is hard at times, but it is a virtue!

[youngfellla]

I smoked one a few years ago with a 7 Mag/175 Partition right behind the shoulder at 35 yards. He just turned and casually walked away, walked about 40 yards, stopped, and piled up. Acted like he never got hit at all.

[rollingrock]

That leaves more time for telling more lies around the campfire or catching a few rainbows from the surrounding lakes..

:lol: :lol: So what's the difference between Kokanee and Molson?

[BlacktailStalker]

Yeah they can run. I Hammered one last year and it went down, got back up and bolted. We left it for 15 minutes and went after it, it ran a good 50 yards into the thick stuff and bed down. We pushed it out of the bed and there was obvious lung froth everywhere so we figured it couldnt go far. Another 50 yards and I snuck up on it and it headed for a nasty swamp so I put one in its neck as it ran and it went down again. Walked up to it (10 yards if that) and it tried to get up, it was kinda stuck on its ass end, struggling, trying to stand and it gave this awful whine, as it forced itself up, in obvious pain and discomfort and mached it down the bank and I put one in its head and dispatched it. I cant believe it happened, I was shooting a 300 wsm but with those shitty partitions (switched to tsx for this reason) On another topic, we all are out there to relatively do the same thing but I think everyone must feel a sort of sadness when you watch something die, after the initial adrenaline rush of "Yes!" ? Maybe it was the whine and the huge pupils as it looked at me, terrified just wanting to get away. Adrenaline can also make the meat stringy. It actually bugs me now thinking about it again. I belive in humane clean kills whenever possible.
BUT DONT GE ME WRONG, I'M NO TREE HUGGIN HIPPY AND I LOVE TO HUNT LOL !

[Elkhound]

BUT DONT GE ME WRONG, I'M NO TREE HUGGIN HIPPY AND I LOVE TO HUNT LOL !

LOL...thats nice to know or you are hanging in the wrong forum.......

Yup Moose can run......and fast. Breaking branches and small trees in their way if they have too.:wink:

[PGKris]

#1 sign you got him.....he drops his head. As soon as a moose does that, you know you got him.

[ryanb]

Remember too, that a moose can casually walk through thick bush faster than a human could probably sprint through the same bush...

[Jelvis]

What percentage of wounded animals that get away live? Whats your thoughts on that?

[Gus]

I've had moose do everything when hit from bolt to a dead run to not move, to just collapsing, and almost anything you can think of in between. But let me tell you, if they want to run, they can run, but its not nearly as bad as trying to hit a running deer. Once you pull the trigger on a moose you pretty well just have to see what happens next to decide your next move. Kris is right, if they drop their head and hunch their shoulders, usually means a good hit. Personnally, i feel you can never be too sure, so if I'm not 100% sure of a perfect kill shot, I'll keep shooting until he goes down as long as he offers me shots.

[3kills]

moose can run i have seen live ones run lots...i have only shot one moose myself but i have been on moose kills before and heard lots of stories....moose are big dum animals and they dont know that they are dead when they are dead...the one i shot had just stood up out of his bed and i waited for him to turn sideways when he did i put one through his lungs at about 200 yards with my old 303....he just stood there as my buddy was sayin u got him u got him i said u sure he said ya cuz if u were shootin at me and u missed i would sure the hell be runnin....then the moose went to take a step to run and he fell face first in the dirt dead.....if u shoot a moose and u know u hit him good just give him a minute he will fall down dead....i remember my aunties ex husband shot a moose on the way back from hunting one day and he chased after it and he pushed that moose really deep into the bush so when u hit them just leave them to die for a few minutes....

[greybark]

;-) I have found that Moose tend to Trott off rather then Run .
:wink: Two bulls that I arrowed trotted 40 and 60yds and expired .
Rifle them in the dorsel area and they drop .

REMEMBER -- Keep Your Fingertab On --

[talver]

I remeber reading some where that a lung shot on a bull moose will take aprox 2 mintues for its lungs to fill with blood and it to drop

[Leaseman]

Only time I don't leave'em alone after the "hit" is if they are in the company of another animal of the opposite sex...I have seen it a few times where one animal will keep the other going far longer than they should... in fact I shot a rather large bull a few years ago...beautiful double lung shoot, took out a rib going in which caused large damage... and he was in the company of a cow...left him for 15 minutes and started tracking in the 4-6 inches of fresh snow...found six beds where he had gone down and you could see where the cow had come back around him and looked like she pushed him in the rump...there was impressions in the snow which looked like from her muzzle...this bull ended up going about a mile before expiring....and do you guys notice how the moose get even????....they always go in a straght line away from any roads or trails before they drop.....

[Elkhound]

and you could see where the cow had come back around him and looked like she pushed him in the rump...there was impressions in the snow which looked like from her muzzle..

Sure it was the muzzle:roll: ......she is a female. She was probably kicking him in the ass:lol:

[talver]

Sure it was the muzzle:roll: ......she is a female. She was probably kicking him in the ass:lol:
HAHAHAHAHA

[PGKris]

they always go in a straght line away from any roads or trails before they drop.....

Ain't that the truth!

[30-06]

when i was takin my core the instructor was telling us that these 2 guys where huntiong moose right on a forsetry road.they drive got out shot this bull. and it didnt drop.so he shot it a few more times i just stood there he thought his scope wasnt sighted propery,so his partner got out and started shooting at it.the shot it so many times there was only like 1/4th of good meat left.