New hunter gets 3-18 bull moose draw

[rides bike to work]

A co worker friend of mine is a new hunter last season being his first. We talk hunting a lot giving him lots of info and tips on gear and areas. Last year he was unsuccessfull in filling a tag but being a father of 8 and self employed finding time is hard. So I suggested he out in for a leh not to far from home. He won the 3-18 any bull oct1-31. He is very excited and has asked me to help him out. Which I will no problem.
If any can help with some info on bull moose in 3-18 that would be great I would love for this guy to get a big as his first animal as he's a great guy and dedicated father.

[bighorn]

if you get a bull tag for the rut,you are almost garanteed to get a moose even if you dont know the area.we put in for new areas all the time and always get our moose.check google earth for moosy looking areas mark them on map.drive around at a good speed checking your areas for sign.when you find it slow down and start hunting it.moose are big animals and if they have been there youll know it.3-18 looks like a good area,big odds you should do fine on your own.always nice for someone to point you in the right direction tho. good luck and i hope your friend gets a big boy

[Mulehahn]

Have your friend contact Tunkwa Lake Resort. It is on the boundry of 3-18/3-19. I am totally drawing a blank on the owners name but he is a great guy and will be more then willing to help out, especially a new hunter. Plus he knows the area incredibly well. I know people complain about how busy it is in the area with deer hunters but I usually still see a moose every time I fish around there. However I have found it depends on the weather on where they are. The colder the lower. It may not seem like that much of a change in elevation but I was there a few novembers ago and lost about it dropped about 10 degrees from Merritt.

[Bobfl]

3_18 a guarantee. I see you haven't hunted this area or 3-19 in a while. The only guarantee is burning fuel passing hunter after hunter after hunter. Do what all the other hunters do drive the roads . Good luck. Too many hunters putting on too much pressure

[Whonnock Boy]

Don't listen to ^^^^^ guy. I KNOW there are areas in 3-18 that have a good concentrations of moose during the rut. Definite honey holes, and you can get them from the road if that's your style. You just have to be there first, and at first light. Do some homework, don't sleep in, and your buddy has a good chance of filling his tag. That's all I can say. Sorry I cannot be of more help. The areas were shown to me, and out of respect I won't elaborate.

[Jelvis]

Mu 3-18 is on the west side of Duran Creek Road which runs up past Tunkwa Lake and goes to Logan Lake. Enter Duran Creek road from Savano on Hwy 1. Is your tag for all of 3-18 or a or b? Have you checked that out?

[Whonnock Boy]

Mu 3-18 is on the west side of Duran Creek Road which runs up past Tunkwa Lake and goes to Logan Lake. Enter Duran Creek road from Savano on Hwy 1. Is your tag for all of 3-18 or a or b? Have you checked that out?

There isn't an A or B area for this draw.

[Jelvis]

If there's no A or B on your tag then it's for the whole MU 3-18 you should be doing the jig right now. This leh tag is a gem then. Any Bull Moose in MU 3-18 is a top notch leh valid tag if that's what your buddy got. Man this is a world class bull moose hunt. Hunt as soon as your tag validates, prefer Sept 23 to October 2nd. The first to the ninth in that window go out real early so your in your spot at day break. You can call any moose call at this time of the moose rut and get good response from bull moose during the peak at Sept 28th. This is the peak breeding time for moose so your in for a real Canadian bull moose hunt like at the supreme time and area. Go for lake edges and clear cuts and meadows and ponds with water. Your going to have a BLAST! Jel -- You got a total winner any bull moose leh tag in MU 3-18 if you don't fill this preemo leh tag, give yer head a shake

[swampdonkey]

Jel there are no moose in 3-18

[Jelvis]

Your the one swampdonkey, who should be helping all of us for bull moose in 3-18, your an expert on moose in that area is what I've been hearin in Kamloops. So let's see a post with one spot, a lake name or creek Zeke. jel .. swampdonkey knows Bo.

[swampdonkey]

Only 3-19 and 20.

[Jelvis]

If it's all 3-18 I'd go to Guichon Creek way behind Tunkwa Lake for road up Bose Hill or go up Axe Lake Rd for a toad. Some lil lakes and ponds for the water moose thrive near by. They thrive on water and willows .. those two mean watch carefully for dark moose objects as you drive slowly along streams and meadows and ponds. I like Axe Lake road for locations. Check your best BC Map Book for in behind Tunkwa Lake for access into moose. Stop at the Tunkwa Lake Camp Spot and talk to the staff if you take the time and talk you can learn a lot from the store there if your interested. Jel vane knee yus

[johnk]

Hmmmmmm, I've shot the odd moose in 3-18. PM me if you like.

[Darksith]

Look on google maps, find a valley with a creek running through it and timber around. Get close to that creek, find a patch of willows, a clearing, something, get there before daylight, and start calling just as the sky starts to lighten from the morning sun approaching. You will hear them call back, if you don't, move down or up stream the next day and repeat. You will find your moose, but you gotta call and you gotta get off the road, otherwise there is no advantage to being able to hunt the rut. I just described some of my best moose holes around kamloops, there are lots of moose around here, but you just gotta know where to look, and how to get them talking. first week in october and 20th-27th are the first and second moose rut around here, thats the best time to bag your animal. Last year I saw 28 moose in 10 days hunting for immy's during the 2nd rut, was a lot of fun playing with them even if they were too big to shoot.

[6pt_elk_wannabe]

Damn, same draw I applied for haha, best of luck ✌

[johnk]

Look on google maps, find a valley with a creek running through it and timber around. Get close to that creek, find a patch of willows, a clearing, something, get there before daylight, and start calling just as the sky starts to lighten from the morning sun approaching. You will hear them call back, if you don't, move down or up stream the next day and repeat. You will find your moose, but you gotta call and you gotta get off the road, otherwise there is no advantage to being able to hunt the rut. I just described some of my best moose holes around kamloops, there are lots of moose around here, but you just gotta know where to look, and how to get them talking. first week in october and 20th-27th are the first and second moose rut around here, thats the best time to bag your animal. Last year I saw 28 moose in 10 days hunting for immy's during the 2nd rut, was a lot of fun playing with them even if they were too big to shoot.

Good advice. The Guichon crosses the 4200 Rd. at the 25k mark just past the 426 Rd. and just before the unnamed Twin Lakes Rd. which is basically just two ponds that drain off the Guichon. A km or so down the road is a big deactivation and past that is the place to hunt. Across from the two ponds is a cutblock and just inside the treeline is a bench where the moose and mulies lay watching you approach so stealth is key. At the back end of that block is a swamp and you know what that means! The swamp is about two hundred yards through sparse bush back to the 4200 Rd. Spending nine years at Tunkwa you can bet I've walked every bit of that country. Found that swamp accidentally when my black lab, Buck, took off after a muley doe!

[remote]

I'm a new hunter, and I also won the LEH 3-18 any bull oct1-31 shared hunt. I found this thread a couple of months ago and read everything that's been posted. I was very excited because everything that's been posted here indicated that we'd be sure to get a moose.
So last Thursday (October 03) me and a good friend and his wife (also a new hunter, with whom I won the shared hunt) headed into to the Bose Lake area for 4 days (came back last night Oct 07). He has shot two moose and some Muleys in the area in the last three years and he was confident that we'd be successful. Instead, we spent 4 days looking for moose and saw only 1 cow/calf pair. We got up early every morning and were in the Bose Lake swampy area at first light but saw/heard nothing. During the days we spent all day driving the backroads and saw no moose - even went up past Tunkwa during the day and evening and saw nothing. A couple of days we went south of the mine around Tupper, Billy, Leroy, Chataway Lakes and saw no moose - barely even any evidence of moose. :confused:
I also have a Mule Deer buck tag, yet we saw only 3 "spookey" bucks and they were running hard to get into the woods and too far away (+/- 350 yards - too far of a shot for me).
What am I doing wrong?
Why are we not seeing any moose?
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
I plan on going out 3 more times into 3-18 (anywhere) during this month to get either moose/muley or both.
Thanks.
:)

[bandit]

I'm a new hunter, and I also won the LEH 3-18 any bull oct1-31 shared hunt.
:)

New hunter but member of this site for 6 years with only 2 posts???

When there are lots of hunters about moose don't follow the rule book. Although they might prefer to be in the swampy areas if there's lots of people fishing on the lakes the moose will go elsewhere.

[remote]

Thanks for your response.
Yes, I've been a lurker for several years - all that time learning, reading and anticipating getting into hunting; waiting until the timing was right with family, work, finances, etc. I went hunting once a year with a friend for the last two years (2011 & 2012), but I didn't shoot anything.
I got my FAC in 1981 and have been target shooting and taking firearms training (tactical shotgun, defensive handgun). I've also done a lot of camping and hiking. Hunting is the marriage that evolved out of all these pursuits.

The weird thing about our hunt over the weekend is that there were very few other hunters and fishermen in the area. I could count the ones that I saw in four days on two hands, literally, and that includes 3 fishermen. Maybe there were hunters hiding in the bushes that I didn't see, but I didn't see their vehicles parked anywhere.


New hunter but member of this site for 6 years with only 2 posts???

When there are lots of hunters about moose don't follow the rule book. Although they might prefer to be in the swampy areas if there's lots of people fishing on the lakes the moose will go elsewhere.

[Jelvis]

Moose rut is done past, Sept 28th is the peak, then slows down. Ten day window so 23rd to Oct 2nd. imho all mature cows bred. The bulls go into thick stuff and rest from the activity of the rut.
You can try again.

[remote]

Thanks for the reply Jelvis.
Is there a way to get them out of the deep woods?
Is it pointless to try calling if the rut is over[?].
Or, is there a tactic for going into the deep woods to find them?

The bulls go into thick stuff and rest from the activity of the rut.
You can try again.
Yes, I will try again, and again, and again (at least for the next month)! :twisted:

[Ltbullken]

Find good habitat and do some calling at dawn and dusk. Go back to that area for a few days. Work it hard and good things will happen!

[Ltbullken]

Thanks for the reply Jelvis.
Is there a way to get them out of the deep woods?
Is it pointless to try calling if the rut is over[?].
Or, is there a tactic for going into the deep woods to find them?

Yes, I will try again, and again, and again (at least for the next month)! :twisted:

Rut is not over though not as intense as in Sept. Calling will work from Sept to Nov. Early Oct is still a good time to call.

[Jelvis]

After the mature cows get bred prolly by a 5 and a half year old bull or older.
Maybe four and a half but now those bulls are tired, fighting other bulls for the rights to cover a young cow in estrus, then after kicking some ass, does the dirty deed dirt cheap, then moves on. From prerut in late August to post rut in October the bull is driven by hormones and glands and is a hunka hunka burnin leeeove.
Whe nit's over and the cows are all done, the big boys walk into the thickets and lay down to recover from another call of Mother Nature breeding season.
You think he's going to get up and come out to your weak cow call?
He's in a trance laying there and breathing heavy short breaths, steam coming out of his giant nostrils. Every muscle in his giant body is quivering and relaxing
You were a day late and a buck short this season but you learned a big lesson.
Hunt the peak of the moose rut and the rut crazed bull moose will come to a fart if it's loud enuff.
.. Please try again...No your limits hunt within it.
This doesn't meen you couldn't get a bull moose if you still got a month to hunt on your tag.
-- You drive around spot a group of cows and the spike/forker will be back cuz the big boyz are in the thickets. The lil bull was scared sheetlis and stayed out of the way when mom says, take a hike spike.
now he's moved back home with mom and her friends. Hunt early is the key.
Jelkey-- use good optics to see the spike fork bull in your field of vision .. lookclose

[Sitkaspruce]

Get out of the vehicle, find some thicker cover/wetlands at the back end of cutblocks (use google or bing maps) and do some calling (do a search on here a ton of good info, also google it to see what it sounds like). The moose get pushed off the roads by all the road hunters that have been all over the area. Be patient, sit for at least 30-45 min at a spot, calling every 5-10 minutes or just sit and listen. Hunt the wind, which will change as the day goes by, so always be aware of it. If nothing, move around to another spot and repeat. Hunt all day, moose/elk/deer don't know about lunch and taking a break, they move at all times of the day. There is a lot more to it, but this will get you started. Just do not give up, the rut us winding down, but the bulls will still show up to a cow call. Once they loose interest in the ladies, they will hang in the thick stuff and feed all day to put on the weight/fat they lost during the rut. This is where you need to glass and spend time watching the thicker stuff.

Good luck and let us know how you made out.

Cheers

SS