Montana Moose

[Highground]

Well I spent last couple weekends driving around the unit with a couple short hikes. Snow drifts turned me around twice but I was able to drive all the way through (North to South) on one road and it is beautiful up there. Tons of huck bushes (without berries of course) and quite a bit of elk sign for sure. I saw two separate hound camps and a couple other parties who may have been just hiking and camping. It seems like the "Moosey" looking areas are all pretty small so far. The creek drainages don't seem to open up much anywhere so they are all pretty narrow and steep "ish". I guess Ive just not found the honey hole quite yet. I went and bought some cellular trail cams and tested them in my yard and they seemed to work good, but any area I thought looked good didn't have cell coverage. The cameras are still in my pack waiting for a place to be more useful. I should have just put them up and dealt with the sunk cost of not needing the cellular feature, but I'm one to step over a dollar to save a dime. Now I'll be spending that cash on diesel to go back next weekend. My wife is an accountant and NOT happy about the whole thing yet. In her defense I didn't really ease her into anything. Been gone every spare moment and spent every spare dollar since the results came out. I warned her when we met and long before she married me, that if I ever draw a Moose tag I'll probably disappear for a couple months. She understood at the time...but neither one of us thought I would actually ever draw. So here we are. I might be homeless, jobless and divorced by December. Anyone got a spot I can store a Moose mount until I get back on my feet should I be so lucky? Mostly joking

 

[Highground]

I drew a moose tag a few years ago and got great advice from Hunt Talkers. I didn't get a moose, but that's tnot Hunt Talk's fault. I just ran out of time. I split my 2 weeks into early October for rut and mid November for tracking snow. October was lovely, weather was warm, but the rut seemed to have run down. Tracking snow never showed up in November. I hunted 10-12 field days (not including travel time). Turns out I needed 13 to get a moose. I have seen moose the last two elk seasons, in that same unit. Go figure. Make it fun.
Also, LMK if you want a moose call. I have mine and am happy to send it to you.

Thanks for the offer Ben! Sent you a PM

 

[Highground]

Explored a little more today. Beautiful country but no Moose sightings.

 

[Highground]

Finally have an area to focus a little more on.

 

[shrapnel]

Least important if you want to shoot a booner typically if it has 2 brow tines on both sides it will be a book bull.

Book bulls will probably have a double brow tine, but having a double brow tine won’t assure you a book bull. Boone and Crockett moose in Montana are scarce.

I saw this double brow tine bull, but shot a bigger bull that did make the book.

This information is only important if you are looking for a record book bull, otherwise just enjoy your moose hunt and get what you can…

 

[Drake4]

Wow...I didn't know you shot a moose?

 

[PoleX]

If I see any while i'm out I'll let you know. I'll be in that general area a ton this summer/fall.

 

[Hams42]

Book bulls will probably have a double brow tine, but having a double brow tine won’t assure you a book bull. Boone and Crockett moose in Montana are scarce.

I saw this double brow tine bull, but shot a bigger bull that did make the book.

This information is only important if you are looking for a record book bull, otherwise just enjoy your moose hunt and get what you can…




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I would have done a lot of things to find either of those bulls the year I had my tag. One more year and im out of the penalty box.

 

[Highground]

Thats a great bull Shrapnel! Not sure i could have held off on the first one tho. I still have not located a Bull but have now seen a cow/calf and have what may be the same cow on trail camera. Hoping to see at least one decent bull before opening day so I have a clear area to focus on, but at least I have seen a Moose. Staying positive but the nerves are catching up already. I've spent every weekend over there so far. There has been old sign but apart from where I spotted the cow and calf haven't seen any really fresh sign. I have to remind myself there is still time and the season is incredibly long for Moose. Thanks for all the info so far! Here's the cow I have on cam.

 

[Highground]

I've now put over 1000 miles on my truck and around 40 on my boots scouting for Moose. This past weekend I spotted 2 bulls and got another one on camera. All 3 were probably yearlings or 2 year old. Have also seen what I think is the same cow a few times now. All of my sightings have been between Savenac and Twelvemile drainages. I'll keep pounding this area looking for the Mature bull but I also keep going back to the Taft summit area and down the Northside of the cc near Crow creek. There has been sign from a larger Moose but no sightings yet. Also spent tine up Cooper pass and Thompson pass without seeing any Moose sign. I would have thought the Western side of this unit held more Moose but I haven't found them yet. The quest continues. Until next time...

 

[Hams42]

I've now put over 1000 miles on my truck and around 40 on my boots scouting for Moose. This past weekend I spotted 2 bulls and got another one on camera. All 3 were probably yearlings or 2 year old. Have also seen what I think is the same cow a few times now. All of my sightings have been between Savenac and Twelvemile drainages. I'll keep pounding this area looking for the Mature bull but I also keep going back to the Taft summit area and down the Northside of the cc near Crow creek. There has been sign from a larger Moose but no sightings yet. Also spent tine up Cooper pass and Thompson pass without seeing any Moose sign. I would have thought the Western side of this unit held more Moose but I haven't found them yet. The quest continues. Until next time...

Keeping hammering it and keep an eye on those cows. Come the end of September if you can find the cows you'll find a bull.

 

[Sask hunter]

once the rut happens moose just appear they don’t move much in the summer

 

[Highground]

No new sightings but plenty more miles covered. This heat seems to have slowed things down quite a bit.

 

[Bhoesl]

I can’t tell what that is in the trail cam photo?

 

[Hunters Intel]

Congratulations on your tag draw that is awesome news.

 

[Highground]

I can’t tell what that is in the trail cam photo?

Im not positive but I think its a Lion

 

[buffybr]

I was lucky enough to have drawn 2 Montana moose tags in the '80s.

With my 1st tag, I didn't do any scounting, I just camped at the end of a Forest Service road, and hunted the willow parks in the wilderness beyond our camp. Not the first day of hunting, but my hunting partner stumbled across a 50" bull with a cow and I got a shot on the bull. It took 3 loads with my horses to get him out.

The next year one of my other hunting partners asked me where to apply for a moose. He drew a bull tag and we set up a camp in the same place that I had the previous year. We scouted the area with my horses the day before the season and didn't see anything.

Opening morning, we were on my horses before daylight, heading back to some of the willow parks. I spotted a bull feeding in the first park that we came to, and one shot from Larry's 7mm RM put a 49" B&C bull on the ground. We both forgot to bring a camera with us so we didn't get any kill pics. When Larry registered his bull, he put my name as co-owner, so I got my name in the "Book" with his.

In 1988 I drew my 2nd moose tag in that same area. The 1988 forest fires had much of Yellowstone NP and the surrounding areas closed, so I didn't start hunting as early as I had wanted to. My first trip in to hunt moose that year I used my horses to put a camp into a moosie looking area, but we didn't see any moose. I went into a different drainage a couple of weeks later with just my horses and my dog, and I shot a 40" bull in a willow park less than 100 yds from my camp.

In the last 10 years, I've hunted moose in Newfoundland, Alaska, and northern Alberta on guided hunts. We saw 3 moose in Newfoundland, all in bushey parks or openings, but all were smaller than my Montana bulls, so I just came home with tag soup. We didn't see any moose in Alaska. By the 4th day of a 7 day hunt in northern Alberts we hadn't seen any moose, so when we finally called in a 36" bull, I didn't want another year of tag soup, so my .300 Wby spoke and I was able to bring home the antlelrs and 2 large coolers of moose meat.