Moose hunting near Prince Gearge

[Wayne]

I have been hunting for 3 years now and I am starting to learn the deer habits, but when it comes to moose, it’s a different story. I don’t know experienced hunters and this forum is my only hope.

This Thanksgiving week I went for the second year in a roll South-East of Prince George – the area around Grizzly Lake. And for the second time I came back empty handed. And that would be OK, if could at least see a moose. There is something I do wrong. My impressions are that:

I am the only one chasing the moose on foot. All other hunters (and there were many) were scouting the area on trucks, SUVs or ATVs. I am starting to think, that the chances to spot a moose are much greater when you are just slowly driving around, than walking or stalking.
My tactics were: find an area with fresh droppings or just abundant droppings, then find a more or less open space in that area and stand still there for hours early morning or late afternoon. For some reason I thought that moose should be in the low elevations, close to rivers, lakes or swamps. Indeed, I saw a lot of tracks in such areas, but they were all old. The only droppings I saw though were in higher elevations in the forests. Maybe the fact that the willows had lost 70-80% of their leaves has something to do with it?
When I saw my tactics didn’t work, I spent many hours sitting still by the edges of clear cuts. I am starting to think that moose, unlike deer, do not show on clear cuts and prefer to stay in thick shrubs.
I also spent long hours around swamps, but same thing, no moose showed up. Maybe they avoid the water during the hunting season, as they would make too much noise in the water?
I went to this area, because I thought it held one of the largest, if not the largest moose populations in BC. However it seems to me there is not much moose there – I walked many areas, high and low and I should have come across an animal, if they were too many. I realize the hunting pressure was big, but I should have at least heard an animal moving around.
In my estimation there were about 50 vehicles in that area during that week. I am talking about an area of about 30 km East and West of Grizzly Lake. Every day I heard about 2 shots. A rough calculation shows, that there must have been 14 animals taken down in 7 days. This means that only 28% of the hunters were successful, the rest came home empty handed like me. Yet everybody I saw was bragging they took their moose, only one man admitted he didn’t see an animal in 7 days.Can you, experienced and/or successful moose hunters comment on my observations and give me some advice? Is this a good area, or I would have better chances somewhere else? Is this the best time of the year? Should I change my tactics and how?

[300WM]

Wayne,

I noticed that you never made any reference to calling. This is a very important aspect of moose hunting especially during the rut.

Do you call?

[tooty]

Nothing wrong with what your doing.It sounds like my hunting trip this year.Turkey weekend piles of guys hunting in trucks.7-12 B Gregg Creek Road.We got our moose but it wasn't like it had been previous years.Hardly any calfs,maybe one in five or six cows had a calf .I think the calf opening is to long to late .Maybe it should be one week sooner.Split it up ,tues,wed thurs.Then the next week the same again.Maybe in a few years we might start seeing more moose again.Ten years ago there was moose every where we hunted,now it's hard pressed to see much of anything.

[todbartell]

over-analized

sounds like you did things right, just had some bad luck. get off the roads and into vehicle restricted areas and keep the wind in your face and sun at your back. shoot straight

[BCrams]

I find it extremely hard not to find moose around PG. You just had bad luck. The success rate is usually in the range of 15-25 percent. So you're not alone. Most guys will go home without a moose and often without even seeing one. Those parties that brag about getting their moose are more often than not made up of 4-8 guys and they have 1 moose down. Still low success for that many people. There will always be groups that tag out but that is pretty far and few between.

You might want to contemplate a change of scenery.

Tooty - Gregg Cr. area is as good as it ever has been for moose! and is a virtual gimme (for me that is).......... I run into the guys with camps there all the time and frequently they will go 2 weeks without seeing anything.

You have to remember, most guys road hunt moose and while many moose get shot road hunting ....... I personally find that you will have way better success hunting moose on foot in areas where the roadies don't go.

[trigger]

yeah. you deffinetly are doing the right things. i was out flying around yesturday and i saw a bunch of moose way up high still. When the hunting pressure turns on you will find that they will go higher, away from roads< but they will still come to blocks and meadows. maybe ones with more cover. 6-7 foot pine stands. Keep trying. Plus road huting isnt as fun. Its totally the right place at the right time kind of hunting.

[300WM]

Wow, I am surprised no one has yet mentioned the importance of calling moose and how it will greatly increase your success rate.

Call and they WILL come.

[trigger]

Not all the time. It depends what time of year and if the hunting pressure is to much you would have one heck of a time getting them to show up.

[300WM]

As you will have noticed in my last post I had mentioned calling "especially during the rut."

I have had great success calling during the rut and also brought moose in well after it is over.

My point is that calling can and will improve your chances of seeing a moose. It never hurts to try calling during any part of the season.

If Wayne is not calling, I simply suggested that he should learn and add this tactic to his current routine.

[Wayne]

I did not try any calling. Nobody else was calling, so being a rookie I thought to do like everybody else. One guy I met there told me not to look for fresh droppings, but for fresh tracks. He told me fresh dropping were not a good indicator. He also told me the moose were in the low this year. He had been successfull. However another guy told me they were in the high... So I searched a few days in the low, and then a few days at high elevations. The thing is I could not see any fresh droppings anywhere (and I walked a lot). Also it was absolutely dry and relatively warm, and I could not tell how old some of the tracks were...

[WoodOx]

In regard to calling moose, what do you recommend? Find an area with sign, ideally wet or for that matter whereever moose are. Sit back in an area where sound travels and call aaway? Anyone other tricks to it?

[300WM]

Wayne,

Pick up an instructional video on how to call moose. If truly want to become a successful moose hunter anyone will tell you that you need to learn how to call.

Here's a good read for you:

http://www.outdoorsdirectory.com/magazine/calling-moose.htm

[tooty]

We were hunting mostly at 8/12 km,to the right and left of the main line Gregg Creek.We've always done well hunting there.Hunting on foot is almost the only way we hunt,calling ,glassing ,basically being one with the moose.But because of all the pressure from the hordes of hunters we found it difficult to find good areas without truckloads of hunters driving by every 1/2 hour or just one after the other.Everything just got pushed way back for days.We were calling by camp and after 2 days road hunters killed a bull 150 yds from camp.Good for them,we had a cow draw,but it's still fun to call in bulls and mess with them for a while.Friends from Beaverly did well in our area as they had 4 draws for bulls in a shared hunt and filled them all in 3 weeks.

[Fisher-Dude]

One guy I met there told me not to look for fresh droppings, but for fresh tracks. He told me fresh dropping were not a good indicator. He also told me the moose were in the low this year. He had been successfull. However another guy told me they were in the high... So I searched a few days in the low, and then a few days at high elevations.

One thing you do find high and low is bullshitters, so sometimes take what guys hunting the same area as you say with a grain of salt. My own moose hunting strategy is to check out areas around creek draws, as the moose tend to use them for travelling corridors.

I also believe that miles covered = moose seen in areas of lower moose densities. The guys who were cranking the miles probably saw more moose if the animals were spread out. If the moose density is high (eg. lots of tracks up and down the roads, cuts, and creeks) then I would hunt them as you were doing by watching likely areas and sneaking around on foot. Also, if I don't see any moose in an area in a few days, I will bail out and try an opposite face of the mountain (eg. go from hunting the south face to the north face). Depending on browse and moisture, moose will change their areas year to year and season to season.

[30-06]

when i was up hunting a bit south of PG i actually had a bull groaing and grunting at me.just from me using a call

[Amphibious]

was flying south east of PG today. 3 bulls, 4 cows, and I wasn't even looking for them. there are LOTS of moose out there. I see a few bulls everyday. sounds like you just got unlucky.



when i was up hunting a bit south of PG i actually had a bull groaing and grunting at me.just from me using a call

this is a very normal reaction. :lol:

[Krico]

Wayne

Guess what? That's hunting! You could hunt the same methods in the exact same area next week and see tons of moose. There are good days and bad days, good weeks and bad weeks. I have lived in PG my whole life, and have come home empty handed far more often than with a tag filled. Just because you go to PG doesn't guarantee you a moose, just like going to Vancouver Island doesn't guarantee you a giant black bear and going to the Kootenays doesn't mean you're coming home with a whopper elk. There are lots of moose, and if you keep trying you will find them sooner or later! Good luck, don't give up and have fun looking because with moose hunting the fun ends as soon as you pull the trigger-it's all grunt work after that;)

[moosecaller]

I am an avid caller and have success with this method, yes I do score every year and I have called in 3 moose for other people this season. I do not hunt in the typical areas and I don't road hunt except to and from my areas. I have called and seen moose in all the compass directions this year. A friend was up from the island and had not seen a shootable moose for over a week I spent one morning with him and his moose was down, he had a LEH and by calling that one morning he had a choice of 5 different bulls to shoot. From your post it sounds like you have the right base to start from and don't get discouraged because of one trip or season for that matter. Keep at it and hone your moose skills it does take time I have been calling for 30+ years and I still learn something new every time I go out.

[7mmag]

All I can add is to try areas with fresh cut timber moose love it!

[willyqbc]

all depends on what you want from your hunt...if you want excitement try what you were doing and/or call one in. If you want to up your odds of seeing more moose, road hunt it keying on logging slashes that are about 5 minutes old:lol: .....as stated above, they love the fresh stuff. Not the most exciting hunt in the world but it will put a moose in your freezer if you put in the time.

Chris

[Elkhound]

Keep trying Wayne. I was in that same general area from Oct 8th-15th. We saw moose every morning for the first 3 hours only. We were off the roads and hiked in to our spots. It was extremely hot during the day. We found nothing moving after 10am through out the day and saw nothing in the evenings. We called as well. Only had one bull way in the timber groan a bit but never came to us. We never saw one bull the whole trip. We saw cows every morning. Sometimes in groups of two or three. With NO bulls hanging around them:confused: Sometimes watching them forever but as soon as 10am and the heat rolled around into the timber they went. We came home with one calf. Strange trip for us

[Undergrad]

Hey Wayne, I'm in the mainland got my cow moose draw for 7-15, my bro has lived in PG for 10 yrs. I see lots of moose, and got my cow opening day within the first hour.

What your doing is fine, but I like to walk the roads, usually where I have seen blow downs across roads and no vehicle has moved past it. I also look for sign, but work the roads from daybreak till 10am and around 3pm till dark just walking nice and slow back and forth. Glass the timberline as well. She had an inch of fat on her already and with the warm weather after thx giving weekend, she wouldn't have been out mid day, she woulda been holed up in the timber to stay cool