Idaho moose questions

[JEEF]

Hi everyone, I hit the lottery and drew a resident moose tag in 66-2, eastern Idaho southwest of Palisades res.

It's a very mountainous hunt area with 1 full-size truck road that cuts through the middle of it and a handful of OHV trails around. I went out for my first scouting trip on Sunday and drove the length of road, placing two trail cameras. One on a hiking trail near some beaver ponds (maybe 1 mile from the road) and 1 down in a boggy bottom on a game trail where I saw a cow elk.

I'm not concerned with finding a bull moose so much as I am with finding a quality one. I've talked with the biologist of the area, and he told me that moose are very transient and tend to cover a lot of ground, especially when the rut starts - early October according to him. According to this info, if I locate a good bull soon, it seems that keeping tabs on him might be a challenge. Should I focus my efforts during season with glassing? There's a dirt bike path that goes to the top of a mountain in the center of the unit that might be a great glassing knob, might check it out this weekend.

Another huge concern is the packout. As of now, I'm saying I won't shoot further than 1 mile from the nearest road/ohv trail. I've got a few buddies willing to help, but no pack animals.

Any advice? I see moose all the time, it seems like, but I've never targetted them. Would love to make the most of this hunt since it's a once in a lifetime tag. Thank you!

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[Tmac]

Have hunted them twice in NW WY and SW WY, both in early Oct. We watched known Moose hangouts in the morning, sometimes calling to draw them out of thickets. Midday/early evenings we stayed fairly mobile, checking multiple spots trying to catch a Bull out looking for cows, ending at a known hangout. Not sure that’s the right strategy. They are very dark, so glass any black blob in the trees/brush closely.

We killed mine late afternoon at about 8,500’, nowhere near where we’d seen other Moose. He was moving, presumable looking for cows. My son’s was killed a couple hours after daylight along a creek bottom near a known group of cows.

What was handy was a call and help to get the meat out. One was about a mile off the road, the other very close to a road. I’d also carry some rope to tie off legs. They are big and both we shot took 2-3 shots in the heart/lungs and just stood there or walked off, then tipping over a short while later. Made one think they missed their shot. I think they are just slow to react to a lethal heart/lung shot. In both cases all shots were well placed, so keep shooting lol.

I used a call a guy in AK showed me how to make. Tin can, small nail hole in the center of the bottom, about 24-30” cotton string knotted inside the bottom threaded out the hole to hang outside. Just wet the string, grab it near the bottom and pull it straight back with moderate tension. The size of the can changes the volume/tone, I ended up using a gallon metal can.

Good luck!

 

[JEEF]

Thanks for the input! When you say to tie off the legs, is that so they don't hit the dirt when you separate from the carcass? It's hard enough with elk, I imagine moose is significantly heavier.

 

[Alpineelk]

I wouldn't worry about how far from the road u shoot them. Especially if u have some buddies to help pak. They're not bigger then a mature elk. Learn how to call them. They can be very callable

 

[Moosehunter]

I wouldn't worry about how far from the road u shoot them. Especially if u have some buddies to help pak. They're not bigger then a mature elk. Learn how to call them. They can be very callable

Totally agree. I've seen mature elk be bigger than a moose.
@Alpineelk knows what he's talking about. We've packed out a small handful of moose. Keep the hunt fun and good luck!

 

[khunter]

66-2 is in the Motorized Hunting Rule area, so if not already, make plans to only use OHV trails if you are using it to bring in a camp you will stay at and then to aid meat retrieval. Probably this is old news for ya.

Can you hunt archery season in Sept.? Much easier to find bulls and keep track of them as they are not traveling far and wide, generally, before the rut ramps up toward later September.
Have hunted ID and Colo Bull moose and a few cow moose tags. Called in the ID bull Oct 6 when the rut was going and he was making a LOT of miles. Killed 7 miles from where he was a week prior.

Good luck! I will be a unit south of you chasing elk. Maybe I can push a moose over the line to you.

 

[JEEF]

66-2 is in the Motorized Hunting Rule area, so if not already, make plans to only use OHV trails if you are using it to bring in a camp you will stay at and then to aid meat retrieval. Probably this is old news for ya.

Can you hunt archery season in Sept.? Much easier to find bulls and keep track of them as they are not traveling far and wide, generally, before the rut ramps up toward later September.
Have hunted ID and Colo Bull moose and a few cow moose tags. Called in the ID bull Oct 6 when the rut was going and he was making a LOT of miles. Killed 7 miles from where he was a week prior.

Good luck! I will be a unit south of you chasing elk. Maybe I can push a moose over the line to you.

Good to know, thanks for the tips. Sounds like I'll need to get into moose calling... fortunately my tag is any weapon from August 30th - November 23rd. I also spoke with a conservation officer not long ago about the motorized hunting rule, and he said that he would be fine seeing folks using the trails to scout, just don't carry a firearm with you. Seems like some gray area involved so I'll be careful. Best of luck with the elk! I haven't hunted the tex creek zone before, but I've seen plenty of elk around.

 

[JEEF]

Totally agree. I've seen mature elk be bigger than a moose.
@Alpineelk knows what he's talking about. We've packed out a small handful of moose. Keep the hunt fun and good luck!

I'll relay this to my pack animals

 

[Tmac]

Thanks for the input! When you say to tie off the legs, is that so they don't hit the dirt when you separate from the carcass? It's hard enough with elk, I imagine moose is significantly heavier.

Talking about tieing them to something so they don’t flop in when gutting/skinning. Their dang legs are very loooong. Heavier than an elk as far as legs, but dang they are much longer. Imo more about the ability to keep them out of the way than weight. But one could skin the leg out first and sever the joint I suppose. I was more interested in getting the guts out to get it cooling.

 

[mike.adams.467]

I wouldn't worry about how far from the road u shoot them. Especially if u have some buddies to help pak. They're not bigger then a mature elk. Learn how to call them. They can be very callable

My Shiras bull came from the unit adjacent to this one, and mine was quite a bit bigger than any elk I ever handled. I ended up with a few hundred pounds of meat from it.

 

[Alpineelk]

My Shiras bull came from the unit adjacent to this one, and mine was quite a bit bigger than any elk I ever handled. I ended up with a few hundred pounds of meat from it.

Interesting. I've weighed multiple quarters from further north bulls and they were all similar or smaller then the elk I've handled

 

[Moosehunter]

Maybe our elk are big bodied and our moose are small. But ya they are really tall and look big, but never weigh so terrible much. Including some really mature big bulls. I think they can vary quite a bit tho so don't plan on them being tiny.lol

 

[280Ackley]

Interesting. I've weighed multiple quarters from further north bulls and they were all similar or smaller then the elk I've handled

Even my son’s younger bull was significantly bigger than any bull elk we have killed. My much older bull moose quarters were over 150 pounds each. Both bull moose came from the panhandle.

 

[T_Man57]

Sounds like that'll be a great hunt. I drew unit 59 for Moose this year and I'm beyond excited. I have horses lined up to help with the pack out so I'm one step ahead of you I guess. Based on this thread and other convos I've had Moose calling seems to be a real deal and could really help out in the thick stuff. I spoke with a biologist in the area and his dates for the rut were a bit later than other folks info but he said the same early Oct to mid Oct. I was set on last week of Sept but oh well I'll check out both timeframes. Goodluck to you and please share your success.