First moose hunt

atomicsauace

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london ontario
So i want to try moose hunting(calf tag) but i'm not sure where to begin looking for a place to hunt.can anyone give me some good advise on where i could go within 7-8 hours of london.the trip would be 4 days and the 2 of us would be camping.is there any crown land where we would have a reasonable chance of sucess?any advice would be appreciated
 
Are you able to just buy Tags over the counter or something in Canada?
is that for Bulls, cows an calfs, how does it work?
My whelen is very keen to come back to Canada with me!
 
In Ontario as a single hunter or couple of hunters are guaranteed NOT to be drawn for an adult tag unless you go way into the wilderness areas. Everyone gets a calf tag over the counter (most areas). Adult moose tags are a draw and the rules can be complicated.

Quebec alternates bull, bull/cow/calf every second year I believe.

I've been trying to convince a few guys for years to do Quebec - we never get a moose and usually have a bull tag...
 
Que is an option, but without scouting, it can be hard to find an area to hunt, as local hunters have spots "reserved" and you might spend half of your 4 days looking for somewhere to camp. Not all areas have over-the-counter tags.
 
Que is an option, but without scouting, it can be hard to find an area to hunt, as local hunters have spots "reserved" and you might spend half of your 4 days looking for somewhere to camp. Not all areas have over-the-counter tags.

You will have the same problem in Ont.
It sounds like the OP has a tag but has no moose hunting experience. I say get out there and start learning the ropes. Just remember to be prepared in the eventuality of bagging a moose....thats when the work starts. Good luck and have fun.:)
 
7-8hrs fron london covers alot of ontario. But your probably better off heading north, then any other direction. Avoid the first week of moose season, and your chances of finding a camping spot without too much company will increase drastically. Pick an area, get maps for the area. You can read any magazine and get a decent idea what to do to hunt moose, but since your going for calf, if you can find a group of seasoned hunters to go with DO IT! Calf is probably the hardest moose to hunt... not because its hard to find, but because it looks like a cow, and the chances of makign a mistake are relativley high. experience counts, calmness counts, having a second opinion helps alot, and always being willing to walk away empty handed helps.

Having a voice of experience with you can save you alot of the learning curve...but having someone with you that has been there and done that with a calf is priceless. I have let 3 calves go in the last 4 years... all because i wasnt sure they were a calf, until the cow stepped out, but it was too late. it sucks... alot, i even have had a small moose follow me down a trail for 100m, but it seemed a little too large (the bigger one had run away). In the area we hunt there are few adult tags, we have had plenty of success with calves and i see many hanging, but its hard once in the bush to certain.
 
just another thought 4 days is a pretty short trip. Can you stay away longer? If you only have 4 days you might find napping and snacking a better alternative to setting up in one spot. Basically cover ground like crazy until you find your calf tracks crossing the road or better yet find your calf standing in his tracks near the road. Look for places where a water course parallels a road and do short paddles. Not familiar with your hunk of Canada but a Canoe really helps most places especially when there are dozens of quad bound hunters running the roads.

Once you kill the moose, slow down and take your time with gutting, skinning etc. If it is your first animal plan on spending a joyous day to get it ready to bring home. Bring lots of pillow cases, some vinegar, a sharpening stone, any old wood saw, rope and a plan of how your gonna deal with the meat. Treat the meat as if it is a gift from st hubert cause it is.

Make sure you at least save the heart from the organ pile, tongue, liver, kidneys also add greatly to the amount that goes in the larder.
 
In B.C. you can buy a tag for almost anything over the counter, but there are also a lot of "Limited Entry Draws" which give you additional opportunities to hunt specific species/classes of game in specified areas during identified seasons. Near home, for example, I can buy a tag to hunt moose, and there is about a 10 day calf season within a longer season of about 8 weeks for "immature" bulls. This year I also have a draw to shoot a mature bull. In some other areas of the province there is a general open season on mature bulls... no draw required. I also have a draw this year for an antlerless elk, but could buy an over the counter tag for bull elk. The regulations booklet is getting longer and more complicated all the time.
 
Are you able to just buy Tags over the counter or something in Canada?
is that for Bulls, cows an calfs, how does it work?
My whelen is very keen to come back to Canada with me!

Whelan if your thinking of coming from Australia to hunt moose, I would suggest Northern BC or Newfoundland over Ontario, your odds would be better esp NewFoundland where there is an average of 1 car moose collision a day because the moose population is so high. There season is short but the sucess rate is 100%. I'm fairly certain you can buy your choice of tags from an outfitter as a nonresident, any Newfies out there please correct me if im wrong.
 
Once you kill the moose, slow down and take your time with gutting, skinning etc. If it is your first animal plan on spending a joyous day to get it ready to bring home. Bring lots of pillow cases, some vinegar, a sharpening stone, any old wood saw, rope and a plan of how your gonna deal with the meat. Treat the meat as if it is a gift from st hubert cause it is.

Make sure you at least save the heart from the organ pile, tongue, liver, kidneys also add greatly to the amount that goes in the larder.


Also take a hand winch if there is any chance (and basically there surely is), that the moose, even a calf could end up in an awkward place or in the water. Do everything you can to get it to a clean, grassy mossy place before any serious cutting.

RG

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