Noob at Moose... plz help

Gargoyle

Gargoyle

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Location
"South"western Ontario
So we put a group together this year for Moose hunting in Ontario. Got our minimum group size of 5 for our WMU (33). None of us however have ever hunted moose. Three of us are experienced deer hunters and all of us have experience hunting otherwise. My biggest concern is that we will not have the chance to scout any area in 33 until we get there for our hunt. I'm trying to figure out where and how much of 33 is publicly huntable, what I need special permission for and what is off limits period... I put months of prep into deer hunting and even though I really want to hunt Moose this frustrates me incredibly as I hate not being prepared...

Any info or tips on the area or first time Moose hunting in general would be greatly appreciated...
 
Learn to call. It can be done with bare hands rather easily but a birch bark or plastic call can improve the sound projection greatly. Dont bother with electronic calls, moose are bar none the easiest game animal to call in during the rut. Even a novice can pull a bull in "on a string" if you hit the rut properly.

Be prepared to deal with a very large animal (800 lbs) and think about what you are going to do with it if you shoot one opening morning and its 20 degrees C for a week straight.

As for where to hunt google "MNR Crown Land Atlas" and poke around with it
 
Yup, git a can oh spinache the right size.
Eat the spinache and make a hole in the center of the can.
Tie a string in there and pull it through your fingers.
If you do it quite right, the spinache should be in yer system for
the work to follow.
Some on here can tell you the right size spinache can and the proper
rope to use for the mewsie grunt noise.
 
No worries about opening day.. We are going the last week of rifle season November 8-15th. Only time that would work for all of us and work.. I'll check out the Atlas.. for some reason I thought they had taken that down.


blasted_saber said:
Learn to call. It can be done with bare hands rather easily but a birch bark or plastic call can improve the sound projection greatly. Dont bother with electronic calls, moose are bar none the easiest game animal to call in during the rut. Even a novice can pull a bull in "on a string" if you hit the rut properly.

Be prepared to deal with a very large animal (800 lbs) and think about what you are going to do with it if you shoot one opening morning and its 20 degrees C for a week straight.

As for where to hunt google "MNR Crown Land Atlas" and poke around with it
Click to expand...
 
Here's a few things you might have learnt from from deer hunting. Look up the gutless method on youtube if you don't already know it. Bring a tarp to lay on the ground to keep the quarters clean when your bagging them up. Some moose I have shot needed two game bags for each rear quarter, extra game bags in the truck is better than dirt covered meat. Have some long rope in case you thump one near a road you can tow it closer to the truck or up a bank before cleaning. I have seen pics of guys cleaning a moose in a very cold pond up to his waist cause they couldn't move it by themselves. I learnt to aim for a shoulder/spine shot to anchor larger game on the spot if its in a good area for cleaning,
 
kamlooky said:
Yup, git a can oh spinache the right size.
Eat the spinache and make a hole in the center of the can.
Tie a string in there and pull it through your fingers.
If you do it quite right, the spinache should be in yer system for
the work to follow.
Some on here can tell you the right size spinache can and the proper
rope to use for the mewsie grunt noise.
Click to expand...


tomato juice can and a wet shoe lace. ;)

Grizz
 
Nov. the rut's long past. Find where they are feeding. Red willow's surrounded by dense forest would be where I'd look. Find that and you'll find moose, or at least tracks.

My only other tip would be along the lines of TonyMo's. If none of your group has ever hunted moose, if you get one, prepare to be shocked with the sheer size. Once the shock wears off, skin a leg to tag it, then start breaking the big job into little jobs so you're not overwelmed. Do a good job because moose is very good table fare. You'll need a bone saw and I personally like a small hatchet for splitting the breastplate.

If nothing else, with 4 friends you've got help packing it out :)
although the downside is you'll have to share the meat. :(

Oh, one last tip, research moose physiology. The heart isn't where you think it will be, and neither is the backbone.
 
Suka said:
Nov. the rut's long past. Find where they are feeding. Red willow's surrounded by dense forest would be where I'd look. Find that and you'll find moose, or at least tracks.

My only other tip would be along the lines of TonyMo's. If none of your group has ever hunted moose, if you get one, prepare to be shocked with the sheer size. Once the shock wears off, skin a leg to tag it, then start breaking the big job into little jobs so you're not overwelmed. Do a good job because moose is very good table fare. You'll need a bone saw and I personally like a small hatchet for splitting the breastplate.

If nothing else, with 4 friends you've got help packing it out :)
although the downside is you'll have to share the meat. :(

Oh, one last tip, research moose physiology. The heart isn't where you think it will be, and neither is the backbone.
Click to expand...
battery operated recip saw makes it a lot easier.:)
 
That big ol swamp donkey I got way back when for the hind quarters we run a rope through the lower leg and tied a big nuff log to it
so it could be tugged by two folk.
Then we did it again so four of us could pull it to the boat. Worked like teaming up four horses and it worked pretty darn good.
Mind you, we were in pretty flat country with not too much verticals to maneuver around.
The shoulders we split, so ended up with four pieces.
The neck I took my long sleeved shirt and wrapped it around and flung it over my shoulder.
Surprised that Costco Field and Stream shirt held together.........still have it............................. :D

The other two we used the Lewis winch and it went pretty remarkable too.
Takes a bit of figger'n to get a system going, then the meters went by pretty good.
 
Forget tomatoe cans etc... they sound like shyte.. it is easy to learn to call with a birch bark horn, there are plenty of resources online. However, in November, don't worry about calling... most moose will be heading to the highlands and feeding on browse... mountain maple, birch and aspen are preferred browse species. As for scouting, start with google earth... you will be looking for drainages and bottlenecks... saddles in ridges, land bridges between lakes etc... determine how you plan to transport your hunters (trucks, boats, quads, hiking etc...) and then search areas that are readily accessible for that transport... once you have half a dozen locations chosen that look good topographically, get on the phone. Call the area MNR office and speak with the CO for your area... ask a list of questions about each prospective location including;
- access to the area
- moose numbers (density) in the area
- hunting pressure at the time of your hunt and before
- outfitters or camps that may be operating in the area
- prospective forestry or recent timber activity

Next, find out which forest companies are harvesting your zone... call the company and ask to speak with their forester. Ask the same questions as above (they may not have some of the answers but some will)... also ask about clear cutting activities ask about three to six year old cuts (ideal browse habitat for November moose).

Finally order the 1:50,000 topo maps that coordinate with your top locations and scout them thoroughly.

All of the above can be done from your living room and will prepare you for when you get on location. In any new region, I like to have a list of 3-5 potential locations pre-selected and listed in order of preference.

Good luck.
 
I was exactly like you a couple of years ago. Here what I have learned...hope it can be of some use!
- If you're going to walk around, walk slowly and look very closely at any darker shadows in the woods. Especially anything that looks like a uprooted tree. If you stare at it long enough, one time of a hundred, it'll move and look your way. And after that, you won't be able to walk down a trail without checking every-single-dark-shadows-in-the-forest!
- Keep shooting until it's on the ground, laying flat and not moving. If they go running off, they can go on forever.
- Be wary of any "crack" in the woods. Also, squirrels don't yell at nothing. If you keep hearing a squirrel yell out...there's probably something hiding in the trees nearby.
- Mooses are very curious. Don't listen to those that say not to make a sound and what not.
 
I appreciate all the help and advice greatly.. I'm going to grab a birch bark horn style call and get some serious trigger time this summer and fall before we go.. I've got the topos and the land use atlas for the area now and have been looking at pinch points and funnels to focus on. Looking at getting an Argo or Max atv for this trip as well. Others in the party have an atv but me and my wife (also hunting on this trip) do not and don't want to slug the whole time.
 
jpappy said:
Here's a few things you might have learnt from from deer hunting. Look up the gutless method on youtube if you don't already know it. Bring a tarp to lay on the ground to keep the quarters clean when your bagging them up. Some moose I have shot needed two game bags for each rear quarter, extra game bags in the truck is better than dirt covered meat. Have some long rope in case you thump one near a road you can tow it closer to the truck or up a bank before cleaning. ,
Click to expand...

Some great advice here. Doing them gutless makes them so much more manageable. Not hard for a couple guys to do it this way in a couple hours or less if you really hustle.
 
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