As to scents I never bother to use them, but I did have an amazing experience eons ago, when I didn't have a clue what I was doing.
It went like this: my brother and I were up north of Windy Lake, NE of Swan Hills, Ab.
I had some brand(?) of commercial Cow In Heat scent, soaked in a strip of cloth, rolled up in a 35mm film canister.
I had been sitting some time, when I remembered I had that stuff, so took it out and hung it on a small birch right in behind me.
After an hour or so sitting I got up and took a stroll to the north. My brother was situated 300 yards or something like that to the south of me.
Eventually I made my way back to where my brother was...
Brother: "Did you hear that crack in the bush?"
Me: "Nope, didn't hear anything..."
Brother: "So that wasn't you?"
Me (oblivious): "Nope. Not me..."
And neither of us were smart enough to think what could possibly have made that noise, we never followed it up.
A pair of noobs...
Today I would know better, but after a bit we just left there and headed home.
Well we went back there the next morning and the small birch tree I had hung the strip of scented cloth in had been reduced from a nice 4' tall tree to about 12" high. Just shredded!
I followed the tracks of the bull that had done that, to where he had been bedded, maybe 150yds east of me.
The bull had scented the fake cow in heat urine, stood up and literally had hit a dead standing Poplar with his antler. The marks were clearly visible hammered into the bare trunk.
And then he had walked directly to that small birch and pulverized it.
But I still never bother with the scents, call me cheap.
hmmm IMO no to the elk call being used for moose
IF you simply can not find Buck Expert..try Code Blue...I find TINKS never has worked..I even talked to Tinks corporate office.
for the rut the scent strategy WILL up your encounters and hopefully your success...
cows attract bulls by calling and peeing..you are eliminating 50% of those methods by not simulating them...you call because cow moose do...they pee adding estrus fermones to the scenario...
you drew the LEH or built up points in Alberta..you spend $$$ time..effort...use every legal advantage you can...
3 times I can recall bulls bedded down under the tampon scent location at first light..they were drawn in by the scent..no one was calling...and remained at the scent location...
you are not cheap..you are simply missing a great adjunct to calling....
your calling brings em in from distance..once in 400 yards...??? once they smell the scent..they heard a cow now they smell a cow...its moose magic time...
hmm you even TRIED the scent and brought in a bull..oh ye of little faith..
straight shooting.
Steven
Yes buckexpert works great Steven thanks for the tip a number of years ago , I am having trouble finding any for my up coming moose hunt , I have looked everywhere with no luck , Steven or anyone know where I can find some cow moose in heat by chance
hmmm Canadian tire or Cabelas...places I have purchased bottles before..DO NOT use bottles opened and stored..it oxidizes and produces a repellent effect ....
Steven
hmmm IMO no to the elk call being used for moose
IF you simply can not find Buck Expert..try Code Blue...I find TINKS never has worked..I even talked to Tinks corporate office.
for the rut the scent strategy WILL up your encounters and hopefully your success...
cows attract bulls by calling and peeing..you are eliminating 50% of those methods by not simulating them...you call because cow moose do...they pee adding estrus fermones to the scenario...
you drew the LEH or built up points in Alberta..you spend $$$ time..effort...use every legal advantage you can...
3 times I can recall bulls bedded down under the tampon scent location at first light..they were drawn in by the scent..no one was calling...and remained at the scent location...
you are not cheap..you are simply missing a great adjunct to calling....
your calling brings em in from distance..once in 400 yards...??? once they smell the scent..they heard a cow now they smell a cow...its moose magic time...
hmm you even TRIED the scent and brought in a bull..oh ye of little faith..
straight shooting.
Steven
Ok thanks man for all the advice, I'm definitely going to use the scent for my LEH draw in early Nov...I will look into the calls but keep in mind the elk bugle I use has no diaphragm: simply a hollow tube...in reg 8 where I've hunted moose in the past, there was a 2nd rut in early Nov...think there may be a 2nd rut early Nov in the North Thompson???
One thing my late father and I have found is if you know a bull is out there but won't commit, have your partner try cow calling if your call is not bringing him in. We have tried this numerous times with great success as the bull all of a sudden hears a second tone in a cow call thinking there may be more than one there. We had a bull way out in a bog that was showing interest but not committing to coming in.....I said to my Dad "give me the horn" and I let out a cow bawl and he turned on a dime and came right in.
My first foray into hunting moose from a tent camp found four grown men in bed listening to an instructional tape and practicing moose calls.
Two days later while eating lunch, a bull could be heard grunting. He could not be located in the heavy bush.
Three cow calls using cupped hands and within five minutes he was crossing the creek and that was my first moose . . . on the ground and 495 pounds to the locker.
The second moose was held up with cow calls until I could get to a tree for a rest. Similar story except this one was on the other side of a creek . . .
Whether someone is cheep or just doesn't have the inclination to use scents I think is missing out on the use of one of the small advantages that we might have as hunters. Myself I've used scents for almost everything that I hunted for, moose, deer and elk. I've had too many experiences especially with moose to stop using them now, what really sold me on using scents was while calling moose in MU 7-19 one year. It was around sept. 21 or 22 and I was calling on a cutline just off a small lake very close to the B.C. Alta border. I had been calling for about 1/2- 3/4 of a hour when I had a response. I had scent hanging about 6 ft. high in 3-4 tree's all within 20yds of me. The thing about calling moose or any game is you can't dictate from which direction they may come from, this bull was coming and the direction he was coming from would have put him right in my scent path. He walk right past me and came out on the cutline about 40 yd. broadside, he stayed in that position looking out towards the lake, I couldn't make out if he had 3 points on his brow tines ( at that time in region 7B there wasn't the 10 point rule yet just 3 brow tines or immature bulls). All that I saw was his right side and all he had was 1 large brow tine about 2 ft. long, he was a helluva bull. What I told my buddies is that he looked like a walking add for Moose Head Lager. He turned and walked in the opposite direction and I gave a quiet call to try to stop him, he turned around right behind a fallen aspen tree and again I couldn't make out three brow tines. By this time he figured out that something was wrong and took off. That bull had walked right through my scent path, and hadn't detected my scent, I was sold on using scents and have had a lot of fun experiences using them since.