Moose Hunting Articles
Lessons Moose Have Taught Me
In the first light of day and the last grayness of evening, there are imagined sounds which seem real and real sounds which might be imagined. And between the two is the muffled silence of the northwoods in autumn, sodden still from the pre-dawn drizzle and musty already with the change of the season. Somewhere in the distance drifted the faint song of high flying geese headed south. But my mind had registered another sound, the sharp snap of a twig behind the screen of alders that crowded the edge of the marsh.
Hunting Preparations That Help Insure Post-Kill Success
Typical hunters spend months in preparation for that moment when a coveted big game animal is in their sights. Many of these same hunters, however, give little thought to what they will need to do after they have killed a dream animal. That's unfortunate, because what happens after the kill can determine whether a hunt becomes a cherished lifetime memory or a recurring nightmare. The list of potential problems that can occur after an animal is down is nearly limitless.
4 Tips for Hunting Late Season Moose
We don't often hear about hunting moose in the late season. An undeniable romance focuses on calling and attracting bulls during the peak of the rut; but what about when all that hormone-driven activity subsides? Where do the moose go and what do they do? More to the point, how do we hunt them in the late season? Allow me to share the events of a late season moose hunt and offer four tips that helped me close a tag last fall. Whether we're talking about Shiras, Canada, or Alaska/Yukon moose, for much of the year bulls are reclusive by nature.
Retrieving Game
Thank goodness for snow and a downhill pull! Effortlessly tugging the rope, my toboggan slid as though it were self-propelled. Ankle-deep, the powdery white stuff was a blessing. Fortuitous indeed, I'd brought my sled and it's a good thing. Not long before, I'd been hiding in my blind. Overcast skies kept things dark for a few minutes longer than usual. As daylight finally illuminated my surroundings I heard the welcome sounds of a buck grunting in the trees nearby. This would be my last deer hunt of the season. I'd decided to take the first deer that presented a shot.
Grizzly in Camp!
I was having a wonderful dream about a big bull moose feeding in the willows along a gravelly lake shore. It was warm there and I could hear the sound of the moose's hooves in the gravel as he walked around. Suddenly my mind said 'Gravel?' There is no gravel here! It woke me, and as I lay in my warm goose-down bedroll I realized that the sound I was listening to was definitely not hooves on gravel - it was the sound of long claws clicking together as they came straight for our tent.
Surviving Mother Nature: Remember the FSFS Rule
Have you ever been in a survival situation? Most of us have not. Would you know how to survive in the wilderness in a crisis? Believe it or not, most of us would not. With the advent of Global Positioning Systems (GPS) we've been lulled into a false sense of security, thinking that we can escape any predicament by following our handy little electronic devices to safety. While basic wilderness survival skills were commonly learned by generations before us, recent generations are much less savvy in this regard. As hunters, our activities often take us into remote areas. It behooves us to learn the essential skills required to survive if we ever find ourselves stranded in the wild.
Hunt Year Round
When we talk about hunting season, most of us think about turkeys and whitetails, basically because they're the most accessible. Truth is there are loads of other opportunities for every month of the year. Following are a few suggestions.
Judging Distance
Accurately judging distance is the first step toward proper shot placement. Instinctive or calculated, bowhunters rely on it for close range shooting. Gun hunters count on their ability to estimate longer distances. Over time we all learn our own tricks for calculating distance but with the advent of laser rangefinders many of us won't leave home without them. Regardless of how you go about it, determining yardage can make or break your hunt.
Communicating with Big Game
Minutes after climbing into my stand I began my calling and rattling sequence. First grunting, then working the antlers, I stared down at the mock scrape I'd been religiously anointing with doe-estrus scent for the previous two weeks. I hadn't even finished my first round of clashing antlers together when I saw a nice buck run in from the heaviest cover. In a magnificent display of dominance all four feet were planted firmly in the center of my scrape as he swung his head back and forth in defiance! My efforts to communicate had sent this buck a clear message and he responded on cue.
Call Them, and They Will Come
Nose to the ground, the buck grunted feverishly. Scouring the woods for a doe in estrus, he was on a mission! Easing the can call from my pocket I gently rolled it over. Emulating a doe bleat, I hoped to attract the giant buck and then halt him long enough for a bow shot. At first it looked like he'd skirt my stand outside of bow range. But then, at the sound of my call, his head snapped to attention and he plodded straight toward me!
Hunting the King of the Forest
Hunkered behind a large spruce tree, I watched in amazement as a massive bull displayed his dominance on a nearby ridge. Guttural grunts followed by aggressive raking captured the undivided attention of two cows standing a short distance away. It was early October, peak of the moose rut in Alberta. My lovesick moans held his attention but weren't enough to close the deal. So I stepped it up a notch. After emitting a series of low grunts, I grabbed a nearby log and raked the tree branches before me.
Game Eyes
The ability to distinguish shape and form, light and dark, color and texture is man's most valuable attribute. We amass and dispense knowledge, we record and communicate thoughts, we entertain and are entertained through the miracle of sight. It's true that we can exist without ever beholding the world about us, yet we are what and who we are because we, as a species, see.
Moose Hunting Tactics
To the casual observer who happens to see a moose by the side of the road or in a park, these largest members of the deer family appear large, ugly and ungainly. And, I must admit that, in this context the description is apt. Yet, seen in its natural habitat of hinterland bogs and spruce forests, the animal is graceful and magnificently suited to a harsh environment. Those who have hunted moose know that they can appear and disappear like ghosts, that they can be both timid and bold. Hunting them is more than just a matter of technique, science or art; it's more like a passion.
Scent Detection - How Does it Work?
Have you ever experienced sitting absolutely still in the woods when a nice buck starts your way and suddenly he stops, sniffs the air, then stamps his feet and the next thing you see is the white flag bounding at hyper speed in the opposite direction? Alternatively, after miles of hiking and climbing, did you spy a trophy bull elk and after crawling through the briars and bushes for what seemed eternity, to see it simply disappear when you poked your head out of the scrub? What happened?
Moose Hunting in Alberta
The first shot found its mark, yet the bull remained standing. At a thousand pounds on the hoof a full-grown moose is one tough customer. With that said, however, Dan settled crosshairs behind the front shoulder again and coddled the trigger on his .300 Winchester magnum. Responding with a loud smack, the 180-grain slug rocked the bull hard enough that he lost his footing, crashing to the ground at the base of a wrist size poplar tree he’d just finished thrashing to pulp.
Moose Hunting: Preparation and Procedures
The near-sonic boom of the fire-breathing .454 Casul blasted the entire forest as the bull spun away from the hunter in the tree stand. In an instant, the huge bull was gone, as if it never existed. Thick scrub made stalking impossible, each step produced an amplified crack, notifying every living creature within ear shoot to scram. To be successful, moose hunters must become invisible and have vision of an eagle. A moose hunter also requires ears that hear the slightest of sounds in howling winds.
Camp Virgin - A Woman's First Hunting Camp
Trying to envision an Alaskan hunting camp is an exercise in futility. Stereotypical wilderness experiences usually have one imagining a warm campfire, a group of men huddled around its' radiating warmth, guns propped, a faithful dog lying at their feet and tall tales. That is the dream of many but the realities of camp life sometimes take a different path.