Has anyone in your group ever hunted/ dealt with a downed moose before? There's several things that I would recommend bringing to make the animal a little easier to deal with. They are huge animals
Yes, I have been on two moose hunts. First was in 2019 when I had some parental leave time, my dad was getting grumpy about "15 years no draw" and he proposed to hunt in 7B for GOS moose. My dad and I went to North of Wonowon and harvested a 10-point bull. My second moose hunt was my in-law's draw last year (I didn't take any shot though), I witnessed him harvesting a 12-point bull 30 minutes before last light. We did all the gutting and quartering at night, took three people about 4 hours from first cut to last load to the truck. This year my group is equipped with electric bone saw to make things a bit easier.
October 1:
- Morning: Saw nothing other than grouse.
- Evening: Saw one cow with one calf South of a swamp moving on to a FSR side branch.
October 2:
- Morning: Saw one calf on a side branch of the FSR side branch where the cow and calf were on.
- Evening: Saw one mule deer doe.
October 3:
- Morning: Saw one bull on the same FSR branch, antler size about 7 or 8 points, but my partner tapped on the brake a bit too slow and the bull moose did not give me a shooting opportunity.
- Evening: Found a nice swamp with fresh scat, walked in from the South to the edge of the swamp, bad terrain to transport a moose but I walked in anyway. Tried a combination calling of bull and cow call, nothing until last light (actually 15 minutes before last light so I could use daylight to walk out).
October 4:
- Morning: Saw a young mule deer buck with one point on each side. Passed because I wanted to focus on getting a bull moose, and I wanted to give this buck a chance to grow.
- Evening: Went to the same swap but found a different entrance from East, about 150m from the road but lots of stumps and fallen trees. I got to the edge of the swamp about two hours before last light and started calling. Within 5 minutes, a black wolf showed up on the very opposite side of the swamp (about 500m distance). I tried my best to deliver a shot when the wolf was not moving, but unfortunately I missed. The wolf did not show any sign of injury and ran away from the swamp. As I thought this swap was "done" and started to pack up, a cow moose showed up about 150m North of where I took the shot on the wolf. This was within no longer than 5 minutes when the wolf ran away from the swap, and for my curiosity, I continued to do the combo calling of bull and cow call. The cow walked / swam across to the other side of the swap and stopped multiple time to look at me. Her closest distance to me was about 200m. She left the swap the same direction as the wolf (North to South); their exit point was about 200m away. I continued to call until last light, no wildlife activities spotted.
October 5:
That's tomorrow. Should I continue to work on calling near the swamp, or should I go to the FSR branch where I first saw the bull and cow and calf? That FSR offered very little visibility if driving, but walking it would be time-consuming and not very efficient. This would be the last full day I can help my friend's LEH moose hunt, and the latest I can stay is maybe October 6, Sunday morning, as I have to return to work at CFB Esquimalt as my leave ends on Sunday.
I would stick by the swamp and try first light as there is a cow in the area and hopefully a bull be around soon. Don't over call, and be patient. Mid day I like to cover ground and drive new cuts glassing along the edges. I've found a couple of the bulls I have taken in the past like that. Bedded watching the cow he was with feeding in the block. Good luck
Thanks for tinhorse, fozzy and ryanonthevedder's input. My group attempted to call yesterday but had no response. I left due to work, the tag holder's group will try again next weekend.
If you cow called in a location in the latter part of the day and a bull did not show up leave it alone and come back in the morning . Place scent in a wide area where you called and you can get a good shot off . We have done this with success had the same bull hanging around for 3 days and finally took him .
Arctic Lake
Last edited by Arctic Lake; 10-11-2024 at 09:30 AM.
Reason: Spelling
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It's a learning process and an art but the mistake you made calling (in my opinion) was including a bull call. Majority of the bulls in those high pressure areas are not mature, and therefore tend to shy away from bull calls if they think there is already a mature bull tending to a cow in heat as they don't want to get beat up. If you get into those swamps just before first light and let out a series of long cow bawls and sit tight for a few hours, calling every 20-30 minutes, you should have a bull coming in this time of year.
It sounds like you and your friends have found a pocket of moose, just have to dial in the techniques. If your buddies are still up there I would suggest to them using only cow calls. October 7-10 is peak rut up there and they should be fired right up!