Moose hunt advice

[DDot]

I drew a moose tag in Northwest Montana this year and I’m looking for advice on how to attack the hunt. It’s in a unit that’s very steep and thick and hard to navigate around in. I plan to hunt in the higher country near or in the wilderness. I’m wondering if anyone has experience hunting moose in this kind of habitat and has any pointers. Is blind calling a better strategy or getting to a glassing knob and spotting a bull first? I’ve only been on one moose hunt before so I don’t have much experience to pull from.

 

[Straight Arrow]

Find a willow wallow and scatter peas on the surrounding ground. When he comes to take a pea ... shoot him in the willow wallow!

 

[DDot]

As simple as that

 

[MuleyMB]

Not sure when your season runs or how long but I would figure out when the rut kicks in there and go then and cover ground glassing and locating bulls.

 

[DDot]

Think season opens September 5 for archery and runs all the way through November 29. Ive heard the rut is in full swing around October 1. Don’t know if that’s true or not.

 

[BuzzH]

Think season opens September 5 for archery and runs all the way through November 29. Ive heard the rut is in full swing around October 1. Don’t know if that’s true or not.

I would say that's pretty close to the right time frame for the rut. I called in one of the two bulls I killed in Wyoming on October 1, he came in from about 1.25-1.5 miles on a single cow call. Killed my first bull around Sept. 20ish and they weren't calling or rutting at all.

 

[jimss]

Cooler weather definitely helps. Also bulls start moving once they shed their velvet. I often found bulls all summer in the same small area but once they shed velvet they move. Early in the rut bulls can be seen in a particular location one day and 10 to 15 miles away the next searching for a hot cow. If you see a bull early in the rut you better take advantage of it.

Moose ears are amazing. A bulls antlers act as a funnel for hearing. Cow calls can be heard for long distances while bull grunts can’t be heard as far. Whacking and rubbing a stick or log on a tree can also be heard for a long ways and may seal the deal on a wary bull.

Lots can be learned by spending quality time with moose in your area.

 

[WCT3]

Here in Colorado bulls are easy to find in the summer. Like others have said, they tend to disappear once they shed their velvet but in my experience they'll be in the same area during your archery season just a lot harder to find.

This is all coming from someone who's never hunted moose but I run into a lot of them while deer and elk scouting and hunting.

 

[jimss]

I had a Wyo moose tag quite a few years ago. The bull I ended up getting about a week into archery season was around 15 miles from where I saw him every day during scouting trips.

In Wyoming where I hunted the cows moved after the first hard frost. Bulls were wandering around searching for hot cows. The cows changed diets from large willow patches to forbs and other browse in clear cuts. It helps knowing small factors like that in a particular area.

Find cows and you will likely find bulls.

 

[shrapnel]

Don’t waste your time anywhere else than scouting your district! No one can tell you more than you will find out scouting and familiarizing yourself with that area.

If you have a moose permit, it would be a shame to waste it by not spending enough time scouting!

I had a permit in 2020 and found some nice bulls, but when the season opened, they were not where I expected and had to hunt the entire area for the bull I finally got…