View Full Version : Immature Moose hunt!!!!!!
sakofinnlight
10-24-2011, 08:56 PM
Well it all started off with myself never shooting a moose before, but I have been on a few moose hunts that turned up unsuccesful in previous years. So this year I did some pre season scouting and I found some areas where I always saw moose everytime I went there. With no luck in Limited Entries I knew I would be putting in a alot of time joining the other thousand hunters and try for that immature bull. Oct 15th came along and I got set up and ready to call just before daylight in a cutblock I have seen moose in this year. After sitting there until 11am I decided to move on. That day I saw no moose and only a couple deer. Later that night I did more research on google earth and I found a long meadow that was hidden a few hundred yards off of a little side road very close to where I called the first day so I made a plan to try there at first light. The 5am alarm sounds and I snooze twice thinking it was a alarm for work, then it clicked, Sunday moose hunting not work!!!!!!!! Jump out of bed and grab a quick breakfast from the fridge and im off to my spot. After 1 set of cow calls I waited 20 minutes or so and then gave a louder call, as I could hear my call bounce off the hills around I was thinking a moose must have heard that. Yuppers he heard it alright, my adrenaline spikes and the shakes begin as this is the 2nd bull I have ever had respond to me and I knew this guy was interested. An estimated guess I would think he was about 1 km away and moving pretty fast, as the grunts got louder I knew he was about to step into the open any time, and then the grunts stopped for a few minutes so I turned 180 degrees from the bull and let out 1 last cow call. If the bull had any hesitation before that call it was definately gone now! He stepped out into the meadow and without hesitation starting his way over to me at a pretty fast and steady walk with quiet grunts. Although it was 100% clear to me at first sight of the bull he was not a immature I let him come to me until he was about 60 yards away. Most of the time I have my pocket digital camera on me but yet this time I managed to forget it at the truck so I stood up and the bull looked at me for a few seconds before running back into the bush where he came from. This was the first time I had called a bull in and it was definately an outing I will remeber for some time! Hmm first weekend of Immature season gone and I had no moose yet so I started making plans for a 2 day hunt with 2 friends that would be camped moose hunting for 4 days. As I meet my friends at camp at 6am on saturday we sat in the camper and came up with a quick game plan, the plan was to go check out some cuts and meadows they had seen some moose in the previous day so off we headed in 2 seperate vehicles. 7km from camp following my hunting partners I see them slam on the breaks and out of the tracker they start running across the road and up the bank. I was not far behind them as I knew it must be a moose. As I get close to my buddy Ryan he drops his binos and says hes legal take him and before I could catch up to him and shoulder my rifle his 7mm rem mag hits the moose. We watched the bull as we knew he was hit but the bull wasnt dropping so Ryan put another one in the boiler room and the bull did the old wabble for a few steps and then it was legs up and high fives flying. We gave the bull a few minutes then approached him, yep its a picture perfect Immature bull, big fork with blades on each side, the one side has a little stub making him a 3x2 but the other side is slightly pamled with no 3rd point. After a short discussion of how lucky we just got getting this guy within the first 5 minutes of daylight on my first dayt of the 2 day hunt, my 2 friends both named Ryan, decide they will take care of the field dressing on the animal and wanted me to continue to hunt for the next hour as it seemed as if the moose were on the move. An hour went by and I saw nothing so I made my way back to the bull and we cleared a trail for the atv to drive right to the bull. With a 150yard drag we had it in my truck and back to camp in no time. 1 bull down and we all still had whitetail and mule deer tags as well as another 2 moose tags. We took care of that moose and had him quartered, skinned and cleaned hangin on the meat pole by 1pm. Off we went for some more hunting........ the next day and a half we saw I believe 5 more moose all being cows and I took a whitetail doe sunday afternoon. I had an amazing time with 2 great guys and look forward to hunting with them again in the near future.
Special thanks to Ryan and Ryan for inviting me on the hunt as well as Steven (srupp) He and I exchaged several messages and he shared his extensive knowledge with me on the art of moose calling and hunting, thanks again Steven, cant wait to call in another bull using some of your methods!
I dont have the best pictures as the in the excitement I left the boys dressing out the animal so they have the good pictures. I did manage to get a few pictures after the head and antlers were cut off as it made the drag out easier.
http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l515/sakofinnlight1/CIMG0144.jpg
http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l515/sakofinnlight1/CIMG0143.jpg
http://i1121.photobucket.com/albums/l515/sakofinnlight1/CIMG0133.jpg
srupp
10-24-2011, 09:07 PM
well done,.....there are certain things in hunting one doesnt forget..the sound of a bull answering your call on a frosty morning..waiting with anticipation as he makes his way in...
As I read your exploits I thought THATS how I would do it..lol...it does work...
Great account of a successful hunt... 2 days is a pretty short time to get so much accomplished...
Glad I could help.
Steven
Allen50
10-24-2011, 09:17 PM
lol you got the head what happened to the rest of him,,,,,, cool.....
Not your typical looking 2 point. A lot of guys may have let it walk because at first glance it looks like a small paddler. congrats on the nice eater!
sakofinnlight
10-24-2011, 09:29 PM
the rest of him was on the meat pole hanging under a tarp at this point, it was rainy and sunny so we were keeping the meat out of the elements
Ruger4
10-24-2011, 09:35 PM
Pellet the moose slayer !!;-) :mrgreen:
Jehiah
10-24-2011, 10:56 PM
Thats a B&C 2 point right there! You gunna wall mount that trophy? Honestly, probably the biggest 2 point you'll ever see in your lifetime. Maybe a euro?
hunter1947
10-25-2011, 02:22 AM
Nice bull and a very nice wright up ,congrats to you..
MOUNTAIN MAN - TOYOTA/ATV
10-25-2011, 08:39 PM
Nice moose.
tooley
10-25-2011, 08:54 PM
I guess I'll be the first one to say it ....It is a small paddler!
eastkoot
10-25-2011, 09:05 PM
I guess I'll be the first one to say it ....It is a small paddler!
Thinking the same thing but didn't want to be the first to, you know, maybe not have considered it spike/fork.. ????? And a portion of the head which bears the antlers must accompany the carcass for transport...Not the antlers cut off at the burrs..
lovemywinchester
10-25-2011, 09:19 PM
Thinking the same thing but didn't want to be the first to, you know, maybe not have considered it spike/fork.. ????? And a portion of the head which bears the antlers must accompany the carcass for transport...Not the antlers cut off at the burrs..
That would not have been a good time to bump into the C.O.
boxhitch
10-25-2011, 09:20 PM
Wow you guys are good
To judge that on the fly is no small task
two points on each side plus some bumps to add character ( or is the right side 3 points ? )
Good going
eastkoot
10-25-2011, 09:23 PM
Wow you guys are good
To judge that on the fly is no small task
two points on each side plus some bumps to add character
Good going
You obviously judged it different ??? If I saw it it would still be walking..Just my opinion.. And you know what they say about opinions!!!
meesemoot
10-25-2011, 09:53 PM
If you would break up that page of solid print into paragraphs it would hugely help to make it readable. For now, I looked at the pictures. So that's what a moose looks like...sigh....looks like tag soup for me...again!
BIGHUNTERFISH
10-25-2011, 09:58 PM
A lot of people call the hunt an immature bull season ,which is not entirely true as defined by the regs.I believe that bull is three years old and not an immature bull but maybe legal to shoot as defined in the regs.If I saw it I would not shoot because I could not be 100 percent sure it is legal.I am not here to judge anyone.I congratulate you on your hunt and know you will enjoy the meat and memories.
3kills
10-25-2011, 10:02 PM
A lot of people call the hunt an immature bull season ,which is not entirely true as defined by the regs.I believe that bull is three years old and not an immature bull but maybe legal to shoot as defined in the regs.If I saw it I would not shoot because I could not be 100 percent sure it is legal.I am not here to judge anyone.I congratulate you on your hunt and know you will enjoy the meat and memories.
i agree with u to close to call for me
coach
10-25-2011, 10:12 PM
i agree with u to close to call for me
I've been agreeing with 3kills an awful lot lately - but I'm not here to judge. Congrats on a successful hunt.
3kills
10-25-2011, 10:25 PM
oh im not judgin either i just wouldnt have shot cuz i would talked myself in to thinkin he was a solid three. i have no doubt he is legal
the reason i never posted anything was cuz i thought it was questionable as well . ill bet ya the co woulda had his ruler and pencil and vernier calipers out .
sakofinnlight
10-25-2011, 10:58 PM
hahah I get a kick out of some of these comments, we have quality binoculars and the bull wasnt very far and he offered a good view from the side, there was a co in the area and im sure he saw our bull hanging at camp as he would have had to drive right past it, so if there was anything illegal with what we did or the bull itself he would have stuck around. Thanks to those that had positive comments!
Oh and he is only a yearling bull, I compared his weight on the hook at the butchers to many other immature bulls my friends have taken and it is right around them. NOT A 3 YEAR OLD!!!!!!
Well those of you that would have passed on this legal bull, that would be something for you to try and judge if you were in our situation, but we saw a legal 2 so he wen down and a legal 2 it is!
sakofinnlight
10-25-2011, 11:02 PM
I will try and see if I can get some better pics of just the antlers so you guys can see, the one side would be very close but the width of the base of the point still exceeds the lenght of that stub, and the other side is only like a 1/4" so it is no question a legal bull with a good look.
The Dawg
10-25-2011, 11:04 PM
Why'd you cut the antlers off the skull before it was home? Pretty sure that would be an issue.
sakofinnlight
10-25-2011, 11:11 PM
the antlers were not cut off by me, it was the choice of a friend who has shot many moose and he had always done it this way, they were cut off and it was very clear the the antlers went with the stubs left on the head, we kept both together with the quarters until it arrived at the butchers.
Westslope
10-25-2011, 11:11 PM
Why does everyone say they wouldn't have shot it as its questionable? It's a legal animal and it's dead! Let's just read the story and carry on enough with this could've should've stuff.
Why does everyone say they wouldn't have shot it as its questionable? It's a legal animal and it's dead! Let's just read the story and carry on enough with this could've should've stuff.
ok . congrats on the immy . its going to be good eats .
coach
10-25-2011, 11:14 PM
I don't doubt it's legal. I likely would have mistakenly let it walk. It would have been just one more story of letting a legal animal go. Good for you for identifying it.
Jehiah
10-25-2011, 11:20 PM
you should use the andtlers to spank your friend that cut them off! pro/con listing clearly identifies that the antlers should stay on (including something to tie the drag rope to). And to continue on with my theme, now you cant get it officially scored as B&C immy.
moosinaround
10-26-2011, 05:29 AM
I have seen a few moose in my time, judged a few spike forks too! I wouldn't have let that bull walk away! If you had all that time to field judge him, and come up with him being legal, which in my eyes it is, good for taking it. Glad you did, cause someone else probably would have shot it, and left it to rot cause they were not sure!! Now the cutting off of the antlers is a no no, and would have caused you grief with the Co if he would have dinged you, no doubt about that one. Leave the antlers attached to the skull plate next time. Nice moose and here's to some fine table fare! Congrats I am jealous! Moosin
5 spike
10-26-2011, 05:54 AM
congrats on your bull and great story.
Fisher-Dude
10-26-2011, 06:02 AM
I would have let him walk, but that's just my choice. Too close to call without a tape measure for my comfort zone, but that's my personal choice, yours may be different.
One thing is for sure, bucking the antlers off at the base would get you in a pile of soup if a CO came by. Don't do that again!
Congrats on the bull.
billjc33
10-26-2011, 06:24 AM
Yeah I'm with the majority here, there is no way even with the best bino's money could buy would I have taken a shot at that one. Even now I have a hard time not seeing 3 points on both sides. But if you posted it on the internet you must be pretty sure so I will take your word for it. And for the Immy questions, you would be suprised at how many 3 and 4 point moose are 2 year old's. Kinda miss sending the tooth in to confirm age.
Caribou_lou
10-26-2011, 07:34 AM
Biggest 2 point I've ever seen!
killman
10-26-2011, 07:51 AM
Does the regs not say "spike/fork" Not having fore than two points on one side? So the length of the tine is questionable, But who gives a **** how old it is?
hunterdon
10-26-2011, 07:52 AM
I agree with most. You're braver than I am. I would have let him walk. In any event, it is certainly unique and unexpected. Thanks for posting your well written thread. I've learned something new.
All the best.
SimilkameenSlayer
10-26-2011, 08:12 AM
cool kill and a steep learning curve combined!
congrats!
moose2
10-26-2011, 09:06 AM
I would have let him walk, but that's just my choice. Too close to call without a tape measure for my comfort zone, but that's my personal choice, yours may be different.
One thing is for sure, bucking the antlers off at the base would get you in a pile of soup if a CO came by. Don't do that again!
Congrats on the bull.
Congratulations on the bull guys
I could see where having cut off antlers may raise a flag with a CO , but unless i missed something I don,t think it is against the law. Its my understanding that it says antlers must accompany species nothing mentioned about on skull cap or head is there. If evidence of sex is attached and the antlers meet requirements of the law nothing was wrong with what was done. I personally skull cap them at the kill site and I don't have to worry about the weight or bulk of packing out a moose head. I asked a CO about pointless paddles on these kind of bulls and he told me. Lots of these antlers are looked at by him , and he said even though they don't match the pictured description he said if they wouldn't be legal as a 3 point or larger he passes them. He also said shooting border line bulls increases the odds of messing up when he pulls out the tape. It looks obvious to me that the bump on the antler wouldn't make a point by definition , there for making it a good bull. I am surprised so many still refer to spike/forks as an immy thats a word as hunters we need to drop ( imo)
Mike
stitch
10-26-2011, 09:12 AM
Congratulations on the bull guys
I could see where having cut off antlers may raise a flag with a CO , but unless i missed something I don,t think it is against the law. Its my understanding that it says antlers must accompany species nothing mentioned about on skull cap or head is there. If evidence of sex is attached and the antlers meet requirements of the law nothing was wrong with what was done. I personally skull cap them at the kill site and I don't have to worry about the weight or bulk of packing out a moose head. I asked a CO about pointless paddles on these kind of bulls and he told me. Lots of these antlers are looked at by him , and he said even though they don't match the pictured description he said if they wouldn't be legal as a 3 point or larger he passes them. He also said shooting border line bulls increases the odds of messing up when he pulls out the tape. It looks obvious to me that the bump on the antler wouldn't make a point by definition , there for making it a good bull. I am surprised so many still refer to spike/forks as an immy thats a word as hunters we need to drop ( imo)
Mike
Well said Mike.....and congrats to you and your buddies on the bull. You and your buddies were confident and it's legal and you guys have meat in the pot! Well done....
Brian011
10-26-2011, 09:15 AM
Nice bull that you guys found! A perfect immy for sure! Definitely some funny comments about it, I don't see the problem with shooting a legal two point bull regardless if it has little paddles or not.
Now you just need to find big mulie!
Does the regs not say "spike/fork" Not having fore than two points on one side? So the length of the tine is questionable, But who gives a **** how old it is?
I have to agree with you. I keep looking through the regs and I can't find this "immature" moose season..... Just a spike/fork season... A friend at work just shot a nice bull that would have been a +45" bull but one side is deformed and only has one tine, the other side is a nice wide 9 point.
billjc33
10-26-2011, 10:43 AM
I think that "immature" was the previous definition but was replaces by spike/fork because of its vagueness. I've seen 1 1/2 year old bulls with good genectics have up to 5 points on a small paddle so the word immature doesn't work for horn developement only age, and age doesn't matter.
Nice moose, congrats!
What exactly are guys questioning? The regs say no more than 2 points on one antler. Based on the pictures it appears to meet these requirements to me.
Banjo
10-26-2011, 12:58 PM
Congrats to you and your buddies.
I called in a moose on the 15th and as it was getting dark when it came into view. Paddles looked to be similar size to that one. guess I shoulda spent more time glassing it.... :(
SUAFOYT
10-26-2011, 04:32 PM
I would have let him walk, but that's just my choice. Too close to call without a tape measure for my comfort zone, but that's my personal choice, yours may be different.
One thing is for sure, bucking the antlers off at the base would get you in a pile of soup if a CO came by. Don't do that again!
Congrats on the bull.
Removing Evidence of Sex & Species
Evidence of species and sex may be removed
from the carcass or the hide of game:
4after it arrives at a person’s normal
dwelling place and is butchered and stored
there for consumption on the premises,
4after it is taken to a meat cutter or the
owner or operator of a cold storage plant, or
4after it has been inspected by a qualified
Compulsory Inspector.
From pg 20 of the current regs. Have to agree with FD on this one. Having said that, great story and congrats on the moose. It's on the net now so it's a moot point unless someone gets pissy about it.
sakofinnlight
10-26-2011, 05:08 PM
Thanks everyone for their comments as input on this thread. Few things to say.... The shooter identified the bull as a legal spike fork bull which quickly resulted to a harvested animal. There are no doubts in anyone's mind from the people that have seen it, if it is legal or not. Those of you telling me it's not an immature bull, I can almost quite certainly guarantee this is a 18 month old bull, if he was 2 1/2 he would have ha a bigger body that he did. Its like you guys saying that a spike and a small 3 point are not the same age. I have seen many 3 point yearling bucks. As someone mentioned above he has seen a yearling bull with small paddles having 4-5 points.
Hmm and as far the antlers not being attached to te head anymore..... I'm not going to disagree with it, nor will say it was "right" I'm sure we have all seen hundreds of pictures of big bulls with their skull cap cut off and head nowhere to be seen, growing up in 100 mile I have seen alot of moose, elk, deer and caribou going through town on their way home from up north! And I have also seen and been through many roadblocks Co"s have set up on highway 97 checking hunters. So are all these people transporting their game illegally? Are some guides sending their clients home improper if you still have to have the head attached? Fly in moose hunts come to mind, never been on one but when a hunter shoots a 50+ inch bull I find it hard to believe that 100 pound moose head gets loaded on the plane with the rack.
Looking for more responses on that topic.
Thanks everyone for their comments as input on this thread. Few things to say.... The shooter identified the bull as a legal spike fork bull which quickly resulted to a harvested animal. There are no doubts in anyone's mind from the people that have seen it, if it is legal or not. Those of you telling me it's not an immature bull, I can almost quite certainly guarantee this is a 18 month old bull, if he was 2 1/2 he would have ha a bigger body that he did. Its like you guys saying that a spike and a small 3 point are not the same age. I have seen many 3 point yearling bucks. As someone mentioned above he has seen a yearling bull with small paddles having 4-5 points.
Hmm and as far the antlers not being attached to te head anymore..... I'm not going to disagree with it, nor will say it was "right" I'm sure we have all seen hundreds of pictures of big bulls with their skull cap cut off and head nowhere to be seen, growing up in 100 mile I have seen alot of moose, elk, deer and caribou going through town on their way home from up north! And I have also seen and been through many roadblocks Co"s have set up on highway 97 checking hunters. So are all these people transporting their game illegally? Are some guides sending their clients home improper if you still have to have the head attached? Fly in moose hunts come to mind, never been on one but when a hunter shoots a 50+ inch bull I find it hard to believe that 100 pound moose head gets loaded on the plane with the rack.
Looking for more responses on that topic.
well cut at the base of each side is what people are talking about. cutting the rack off with the skull attached ,thats fine
moose2
10-26-2011, 05:19 PM
Removing Evidence of Sex & Species
Evidence of species and sex may be removed
from the carcass or the hide of game:
4after it arrives at a person’s normal
dwelling place and is butchered and stored
there for consumption on the premises,
4after it is taken to a meat cutter or the
owner or operator of a cold storage plant, or
4after it has been inspected by a qualified
Compulsory Inspector.
From pg 20 of the current regs. Have to agree with FD on this one. Having said that, great story and congrats on the moose. It's on the net now so it's a moot point unless someone gets pissy about it.
evidence of sex is considered to be the nuts or the teats with a small chunk of hide attached to at least one hind quarter of an animal. The head does not have to be attached antlers have to accompany the species when its deemed. I don't think it matters whether the antlers are skull capped or bucked off the way these were . I could be wrong but I don't think so.
Mike
sakofinnlight
10-26-2011, 05:41 PM
skull cap or no skull cap dont see that making any difference? Am I wrong? How would it make a differnece if you have a skinned out piece of skull holding the antlers together? And the cut was nowhere near a shear slice through, they had spiked still on the bottom which slid right into their holes on the head. So anyone could have figured out that rack went with the head, and we kept the head until it reached the processors.......
Looks like a legal "spike/fork" to me! Good work.
Immature?..........not a chance. Not with that much mass, tine length etc. I've shot many immy's and none have had that much antler development. Does't matter though...."having no more than 2 points on one side"
Happy chewing! He'll be tasy! What did he weigh hanging? 400?
sakofinnlight
10-26-2011, 06:02 PM
364lbs on the hook, and I have talked to a few friends who have shot immatures in the past ans they weigh right in that ball park.
More curiosity I have for you guys. What have your spike fork/immature bulls weighed on the hook?
boxhitch
10-26-2011, 06:02 PM
Page 20
that portion of the head bearing the antlers OR
both a testicle or part of the penis AND the animals tail or other piece of hide
only mention of a skull plate is in Comp Inspection regs
So actually no antlers are needed ?
I thought the regs used to say somewhere
antlers and tag appropriate to the season must be retained
or similar wording
Of course it is only prudent to have them along, answers a lot of questions
aj1493
10-26-2011, 06:07 PM
why is everyone calling spike-fork's immature??? my buddy on the weekend shot a spike moose that weighed nowhere close to immature size he was a mature moose hes thinking he was a 5yr old but he just had 1 14in spike on his head. that moose you got looks awesome if you were sure then thats all u need to pull the trigger good on ya..
364 is ball park for sure. Prob a small 3 yr old not a big 2....no what I mean? Regardless.....still a legal 2 point!
killman
10-26-2011, 06:13 PM
364lbs on the hook, and I have talked to a few friends who have shot immatures in the past ans they weigh right in that ball park.
More curiosity I have for you guys. What have your spike fork/immature bulls weighed on the hook?
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/IMG00661-20110928-0938.jpg
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/314927_10150846061350305_902520304_20720070_161814 6020_n.jpg
Mine was 382 lbs Thats 1/4's. It was big compared to my immature two years ago
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/DSCN2049.JPG
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/DSCN2047.JPG
BCBRAD
10-26-2011, 06:14 PM
364lbs on the hook, and I have talked to a few friends who have shot immatures in the past ans they weigh right in that ball park.
More curiosity I have for you guys. What have your spike fork/immature bulls weighed on the hook?
A spike / fork or yearling moose weighs right around 350lbs on the hook. have gotten them as low as 280 lbs and as high as 380 lbs. Whether it is a spike fork or palmated with two prongs at this weight it is a yearling and that is what the management program wants and their identifier is no more than two on one side with an example in the reg's.
ive had spike forks as small as 295 lbs to 550 with one large paddle and a spike on other side . so weight cant be used
BCBRAD
10-26-2011, 06:22 PM
ive had spike forks as small as 295 lbs to 550 with one large paddle and a spike on other side . so weight cant be used
the intent of the regulation is to take a non-breeder out of the herd ( least impact on the herd). The criteria chosen is spike fork with no more than two on one side, sometimes we will run across a bull that is major spiked or palmated with no more than two on one side. Not a yearling but still is compliant to the reg, opinion only. these anomilies are not to prevalent in the moose population so of no real consiquent to the herd. its all about manageing the herd and the gov't contoling your activities.
sakofinnlight
10-26-2011, 06:37 PM
I agree weight can not be used to determine the size of the rack. Not tha it matters at all either but this bull having 2 points with a small palm formation and weighing in on the hook at 364 i would guess it is a yearling bull? If it was 2 1/2 yrs old wouldnt it weigh closer to 450?
I agree weight can not be used to determine the size of the rack. Not tha it matters at all either but this bull having 2 points with a small palm formation and weighing in on the hook at 364 i would guess it is a yearling bull? If it was 2 1/2 yrs old wouldnt it weigh closer to 450?
yes id agree with that
Ride Red
10-26-2011, 07:00 PM
If you really want to know how old it is, take the lower jaw in for examination. The cheek teeth get more wear than others as moose gain in age.
moosinaround
10-26-2011, 07:18 PM
364lbs on the hook, and I have talked to a few friends who have shot immatures in the past ans they weigh right in that ball park.
More curiosity I have for you guys. What have your spike fork/immature bulls weighed on the hook?
My 1 and only spike fork I have killed was 310lbs on the hook. Moosin
billjc33
10-26-2011, 07:46 PM
Most Spike/forks we have got usually go 340-360lbs but head a littel north and they can easily be 500. If it weighed in a 364lbs and its from the interior I would say its definetly and immy and a year and a half. All it takes is a little good genetics you get a little bigger then the usual fork. We had Leh draw about ten years ago and shot a small 5 by 3 when it was compulsery to send in the tooth and it came back at a year and a half.
The Dawg
10-26-2011, 07:49 PM
363 on the hook for mine
coach
10-26-2011, 08:20 PM
A buddy of mine had an R3-12 November LEH a few years back. He shot a small three by three that was 295 at the butcher.
3kills
10-26-2011, 10:52 PM
doesnt matter how much it ways or if its an immature the regulation on it is antler size just like the 4 point season. u can shoot a 10 year old bull which should be a 50 inch bull as long as he doesnt have more then 2 points on one side. this comes up every single year.
buckshot
10-27-2011, 06:43 AM
Nice moose. You'll enjoy that! Nice legal two point rack. the only thing that's odd in my opinion, is the way you're holding your trophy. It looks as if you are holding the horns to the head. I have never seen a picture of a hunter holding their prize this way before. Normally one holds onto the rack by the tips. Congratulation on a successful hunt!
The great thing about the spike/fork moose seasons is that in most herds only about half the yearlings have legal spike/fork antlers. The other half have antlers too big to be classified as spike/forks and are safe. So the season is pretty much fail-safe as far as the potential to over-harvest yearlings is concerned. It's also somewhat selective as the legal bulls are the ones with the smallest/weakest antler development and thus potentially the weakest genetics.
boxhitch
10-27-2011, 08:48 AM
The great thing about the spike/fork moose seasons is that in most herds only about half the yearlings have legal spike/fork antlers. The other half have antlers too big to be classified as spike/forks and are safe. Good point
But how valid is that if researchers and counters are only looking for the picture spike/fork like shown in the regs and not considering paddle head 2's in classification counts ?
And then, counter to that , you have a reg bio who assumes too many two yr olds are spike/fork and are being shot so reduces the season to reduce a perceived overharvest ?
Or maybe its a wash
one year old paddle heads cancel out the two year old spike/fork
Some typical problems with using antler configuration for harvest control.
3kills
10-27-2011, 09:56 AM
Nice moose. You'll enjoy that! Nice legal two point rack. the only thing that's odd in my opinion, is the way you're holding your trophy. It looks as if you are holding the horns to the head. I have never seen a picture of a hunter holding their prize this way before. Normally one holds onto the rack by the tips. Congratulation on a successful hunt!
thats cuz he is holding the horns to the head LOL
Darksith
10-27-2011, 10:24 AM
364lbs on the hook, and I have talked to a few friends who have shot immatures in the past ans they weigh right in that ball park.
More curiosity I have for you guys. What have your spike fork/immature bulls weighed on the hook?
last year my spike fork was a 2x3 weighed 500lbs on the hook, hide head legs off. That beings said our big bull this year outta the same hole weighed 700lbs on the hook, and the butcher said it was the 2nd biggest hes had this year so far. Bigger than most coming from up north. I got a great little spot with a ton of feed though, so thats probably why the moose we take are big.
Good point
But how valid is that if researchers and counters are only looking for the picture spike/fork like shown in the regs and not considering paddle head 2's in classification counts ?
And then, counter to that , you have a reg bio who assumes too many two yr olds are spike/fork and are being shot so reduces the season to reduce a perceived overharvest ?
Bill: Are you saying that in R8 F&W bios classify yearlings by horn configuation only, using spike/fork antlers as the criteria...?????
Our bio over here says she identifies yearlings by head and face length and not by the antlers alone. That's how they came to the determination that only half the yearlings are spike/forks.
I guess a small number of 2 year olds might be legal spike/forks too but I'd guess a very small percentage. Actually some mature bulls are also legal under the spike/fork rule, but does any of that matter as long as 95% of the spike/forks shot are yearlings...?
I thought R8 reduced the seasons due to a poor bull/cow ratio, not due to overall numbers?
Appears your bio is not a fan of the spike/fork season.
Fisher-Dude
10-27-2011, 12:24 PM
I thought R8 reduced the seasons due to a poor bull/cow ratio, not due to overall numbers?
Appears your bio is not a fan of the spike/fork season.
The bio said: you're shooting too many, there's no moose left! I said: how do we have an increasing harvest if there are no moose left?
The bio said: we relied on "expert opinion" to determine the need to curtail 35% of the season. I said: how many donuts did the "expert opinon" bring you this week?
Need I elaborate on whom the "expert opinion" is?
kennyj
10-27-2011, 01:41 PM
Awesome 2 point.
kenny
sakofinnlight
10-27-2011, 08:00 PM
I have learnt some valuable information from all of you replying to some questions I was adressing.
thanks again, and good luck hunting!
boxhitch
10-27-2011, 09:23 PM
Are you saying that in R8 F&W bios classify yearlings by horn configuation only, using spike/fork antlers as the criteria...?????Not sure, therefore my ???marks. May be the case due to the tight time constraints to get anything done these days ?
Appears your bio is not a fan of the spike/fork season. season was reduced for s/f because hunters were apparantly over achieving one year. Moe had a target number based on an assumed pop. number.
Bill, Pat:
Hopefully the new project GG etal are working on putting together will shed some new light on these questions. Are the "expert opinion" folks contributing to that?
I do know one thing for sure, counting spike/forks is not a way to count yearlings as only half of them will get counted.
matt420
10-27-2011, 11:18 PM
that is a 2point,, if you look at this one and your so called "immy" yours is pretty close to being a 3, i bet a co would been all over it and you might have been in some serious problems
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/IMG00661-20110928-0938.jpg
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/314927_10150846061350305_902520304_20720070_161814 6020_n.jpg
Mine was 382 lbs Thats 1/4's. It was big compared to my immature two years ago
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/DSCN2049.JPG
http://www.huntingbc.ca/photos/data/500/medium/DSCN2047.JPG
Fisher-Dude
10-28-2011, 05:45 AM
Bill, Pat:
Hopefully the new project GG etal are working on putting together will shed some new light on these questions. Are the "expert opinion" folks contributing to that?
I do know one thing for sure, counting spike/forks is not a way to count yearlings as only half of them will get counted.
The "expert opinion" folks are putting nothing towards this inventory/habitat assessment work. The last thing they want is the truth about moose numbers because they know the truth will discount their "expert opinion" fear mongering.
When the survey that we in the BCWF paid for last year found twice the number of moose than was thought to be there, the "expert opinion" folks began squirming in their chairs.
It's a sad state of affairs when loud yelling and donuts trump scientific population surveys in game management decisions. :(
sakofinnlight
10-28-2011, 06:58 AM
Thanks for your input Matt, but I guess you haven't read this thread good enough!!!! I wish this thread was named 2 point bull!!!! Your entitled to your opinion but it's clearly a
Legal spike fork bull
SHAKER
10-28-2011, 07:58 AM
Wow it's a legal by definition dead Moose move on people! Good call on pull'n the trigger on him. Now this "Immy" crap really annoys me..... same goes with SOME other restrictive antler\horn constraints. I could go on but I'm not going to take away from the Moose hunt our fellow member was just trying to share. To be continued in a seperate thread. I just got to get my camera out of the truck when the wife gets back from hunting.
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