Floating Moose

billbmcleod

billbmcleod

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From my experience a dead moose can be floated to a spot where it can be cleaned. That is a moose that was shot standing in water not swimming. I have seen the odd Utube video where the moose sank and had to be retrieved by the hunter/guide getting in the water which I know would be cold. I have floated them behind a boat for several hundred yards before cleaning to get them close to an access point for hauling them away. To keep others in the party from having a fit I usually tie an empty gas or water can to the head to ease their doubts.
What experience have others had with this.
 
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I guess it would depend on how many holes were punched through the chest or a huge rack.

I have pulled a cow and a calf moose across a small body of water. It was only about 4 feet deep and 100 yards. They floated fine. I had to wade over breaking thin ice. I was very cold when finished.
 
Floated one across a beaver pond once. It was only about 30 meters but it floated no problem. We used a Lewis (chainsaw) winch to pull it across the pond and out to the road before dressing it.
 
I have no personal experience. But I did watch a hunting show where they arrowed a bull at the edge of a lake. At the shot the bull did 3 big leaps into deep water then promptly sank to the bottom. A young guide had to strip and dive down to get a rope on it.
 
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I've done it 3 times. They do seem to lay low in the water almost completely under but once you start pulling they ride higher and come very easy.
For new hunters pulling a moose, tie on to the antlers then do a halfhitch on the nose.
 
They mostly float. Tie high on the side of the boat vrs. dragging behind and have the legs pointed away or you’ll bottom in shallow water and spin circles until freed. Likewise hard to control side draft if you don’t have a lot of motor.
Sometimes it’s easiest to stay in the water and push the whole works along.
 
I floated a few myself. But I like it better when they die on land, close to water but not in the water…
 
in 40 years i have been hunting on lakes in saskatchewan and hunt exclusively on water likely have floated 40-50- moose across 15 miles of open water 5-6 miles a hour some times 4 plus hrs never had a issue a few times one moose on ea side of the boat
 
We had one go down a few years back after getting shot on a sand bar, he lurched forward, died and went off the downstream ( the deep end) of the bar and sunk as the current caught it.
The current took it about 100 yards or so downstream where it hung up in the shallows of another bar.
I hooked onto it and floated it back upstream to a better place to field dress it.
It was another late evening getting home!
This was the second one we shot that afternoon and after after we got it loaded, we still 2 1/2 hours to get home.
I MUCH prefer them dying on dry land LOL!
Cat
https://imgur.com/NJNoCdj
 
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We have done a couple like this and they float like a cork if not gutted. Easy work for two guys pulling on the rope and when it hits the shore we would usually choke up the rope and use a pickup to do the rest of the work dragging him/her up on shore. This was across a pond and not a lake, but if I were pulling one with a small boat, I'd have someone ready with a sharp knife if it decided to take a trip to the bottom.
 
billbmcleod said:
From my experience a dead moose can be floated to a spot where it can be cleaned. That is a moose that was shot standing in water not swimming. I have seen the odd Utube video where the moose sank and had to be retrieved by the hunter/guide getting in the water which I know would be cold. I have floated them behind a boat for several hundred yards before cleaning to get them close to an access point for hauling them away. To keep others in the party from having a fit I usually tie an empty gas or water can to the head to ease their doubts.
What experience have others had with this.
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Never had an issue with them sinking. We've towed 1 almost 1/2 mile to good shoreline for butchering, no problems. As already mentioned, it may depend on how many holes it has and fills up with water?
 
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