Alaska moose width thread?


CHL ... fantastic bull and pic!

I was supposed to go on my 1st Moose hunt in northern Alberta this past fall but could not get into Canada with the borders closed. Constantly learning and this place has a lot of great info that is shared.

Facing a moose head on like this, where is the optimal spot to place a shot? My initial thought would be the area circled below.


Moose 60 in.png
 
Judging is hard... I always think its easy to see a moose that isn't a shooter and is around 50" until I see it in the field... but to tell a 55" from a 58" or a 62" from a 65" I not any good at. I did pass a 64" moose in the rain once because I thought it was too close to 50" than I was comfortable with only to watch it for a while and decide it was at least 56-57". So I shot it, and it measured 64".
 
I wonder how many bulls are left to rot because they are less than 50" and people dont want to deal with the fallout.
In my unit, I think we've been running about 25% of reported kills are nonlegal....I know for a fact there's plenty more that either get left lay or run in at midnight....one guy down the road from me a couple years ago shot 3 in a row and left em to rot before they busted him...
 
In my unit, I think we've been running about 25% of reported kills are nonlegal....I know for a fact there's plenty more that either get left lay or run in at midnight....one guy down the road from me a couple years ago shot 3 in a row and left em to rot before they busted him...
Definitely one of the downsides to antler restrictions is the people (I won't credit them with being hunters) who realize their mistake and leave the game where it lays. While I don't condone taking sub-legal animals, I would much prefer the meat get utilized rather than leave the animal to waste.
 
Bulls fall into three categories when hunting in an area requiring 50" width as a minimum:

1) dink - clearly too small. Easy pass
2) somewhere around 50" maybe +/- The danger zone.
3) clearly big enough - a no-brainer.

The bulls in the middle category have to be studied CLOSELY.

The distribution of bulls between those three groups is as you'd expect - a typical bell-shaped distribution plot as found with most things in nature. About 15-20% are in category 1, about 70% fall into category 2, and the rest fall into category 3.

If there's any doubt you don't shoot. If in an area where 4 brow tines define legality then just be sure you've identified brow tines that fit that definition.
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Here's an older thread with my bull.

 
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