Judging "50" Moose

[yukon254]

I've been guiding moose hunters for 30 plus years. Judging exact width isn't easy, but judging 50 or better is pretty easy with some experience. A couple of years ago I had a hunter that had hunted in AK the year before he came to the Yukon. He was in a 50 or better area on his AK hunt and didnt get a moose. He saw lots of bulls but his guide wouldn't let him shoot because he was unsure. The guy showed me some pictures of the bulls they passed up and some were easily over 60, let alone 50. The first thing I do is look at the palms. They should look like they are facing you if the moose is looking your way. If the palms themselves have decent width and they are facing towards the front, the bull is over 50. If the palms are "cupped" facing towards each other, then slow up and take a better look. The thing to remember is width by itself doesn't make a good bull....mass and palm length are far more important. Where I hunt we don't have a width restriction; any bull is legal. When I judge moose for a client, I give them a rough score idea. Anything over 185-190 is a shooter.....anywhere. I've taken a lot of moose in the low 50s that scored over 200. Another trick I use is to quickly count points if I can. A bull with a lot of points is almost always a good bull. The area I hunt is thick, you often have just seconds to make a decision so every trick helps. The two pictures below are good examples. The first bulls horns are cupped, the second bulls palms are flat, they looked like they were facing forward when the bull looked at us if that makes sense. The first bull scored 180 and the second went 206 and was 58 wide.

 

[cnelk]

There was no doubt he was over 50” when he came in to our calling

60 1/2"

 

[hoythunter]

ive been a part of several canadian moose hunts in ND, I dont think there is any way to accurately judge the width here, Theres too much variation in body size with our moose, I'd have to be a brow tine counter if I went to alaska or like others look for 60+.

 

[Voyageur]

I've been around a lot of dead moose in 24 years hunting Alaska, ranging from nubbins to 67" spreads. I still can't accurately judge the exact antler width. But, the one rule that keeps my guests out of legal trouble is judging what is or is not 50" or meets browtine requirements.

1. Wait to judge a legal bull when he's broadside and looking to one side. If his antler tips reach the back of his shoulder hump he's very likely over 50". If there is shoulder hump showing beyond his antler tips, it probably isn't quite 50"

2. browtine requirements

You should feel good about your decision not to shoot if you're unsure of these pointers.

I have a question for you, @Larry Bartlett , to be sure I understand what you are saying in #1. Are you talking about a moose that is standing broadside to you and has his head turned towards you?
Thanks.

 

[4ester]

If you have a scope with moa reticle and a rangefinder you can measure and get pretty darn close. I was within 1/2” on my shiras.


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[EWF]

I found a new app called Moose Gauge on the Google Play store that works very well judging antler width. I tried it on spotting scope photos of the last bull I shot, and it was spot-on. That bull was 53". I spent hours watching it and trying to make certain it was legal. Probably could have done it in minutes with this app. There's a short video on the play store page that shows how it works.

 

[Alaskan89]

I shot this bull back in 2016, spotted him the night before and couldn't believe the length and amount of points on him. After I put him down the next day I started to get a little nervous on the width but luckily I had a tape with me to measure, thankfully it turned out that I was pretty close with my guess as to his width, bulls in this area seldom have 4 brow tines which is a requirement in this unit.

 

[Voyageur]

I shot this bull back in 2016, spotted him the night before and couldn't believe the length and amount of points on him. After I put him down the next day I started to get a little nervous on the width but luckily I had a tape with me to measure, thankfully it turned out that I was pretty close with my guess as to his width, bulls in this area seldom have 4 brow tines which is a requirement in this unit.

63” ?

 

[WMR]

That looks like a great trophy to me. Long points and the main beams look long and saggy. The pans don't look real wide but the points do. I'm still guessing but think it is 60 inch class.

 

[Alaskan89]

That looks like a great trophy to me. Long points and the main beams look long and saggy. The pans don't look real wide but the points do. I'm still guessing but think it is 60 inch class.

Yup, he has weak paddles but the points are longer than any I've seen on a bull moose, crappy crab claw brow tines too but that's pretty typical of the bulls in this area. He taped out at exactly 60" and is the 2nd 60" bull I've taken in that unit but he wasn't near as good as this one.

 

[EWF]

That's a great-looking set of antlers. Really like the long tines. I measured the skull photo 5 times using my new app (Moose Gauge) and had to guess a little where the edge of the eyeballs would be. Got 60 three times, 59 once and 61 once.

 

[EWF]

Forgot to include this photo with my last post...

 

[ndmarine]

Awesome input all around!

Anybody have an iPhone equivalent app for moose measuring? Or a way to make the android app on an iPhone?

 

[EWF]

The website moosegauge.com says the iOS version is coming soon and there's a place on the site where you can sign up to be notified when it's available.

 

[Panhandler80]

I would agree that using a reticle to judge antler spread is not as easy as one may think when in the field. I used a first focal plane nightforce 2.5-20x on a moose hunt last fall with the MOAR reticle. The good thing about first focal plane is the reticle subtension is accurate on any magnification. It is very accurate and the system works in a controlled environment but getting down to an inch or two, especially at any distance in the field, is not easy. For example, my buddies bull was 54" wide and shot at 450 yards. This equals about 12 moa in the scope (12 x 4.5 = 54"). The difference in 1 moa in this situation is the difference between a legal and potentially illegal bull (it only had 3 brows in a 4 brow area). If the bull is not looking directly at you, if your not steady enough to measure precisely or your range isn't exact you can easily make a big mistake.

Another option is to download an app like ImageMeter and, from a close distance or using a phonecam attached to a spotter, take a head-on photo of the bull, if you can. If you have a known dimension, like the 10" average eye to eye measurement, the app can come pretty close to estimating the total antler spread. Pic attached for reference. His bull was 54" and the app said 53.5". Pretty close.

Dang. I would have guessed like 58 after a quick glance. Would hate to guess 53 and have it wind up 49.

 

[gbflyer]

Wildlife troopers where I live will bust you for 1/8” short. Of course it’s only $500 and loss of animal. Several of these local jokers have done it more than once.

 

[EWF]

Yep, I know 3 guys who shot one less than an inch short of 50. All 3 did the right thing and called it in, and all 3 had to surrender the entire animal and pay a fine ranging from $300 to $600.

 

[z987k]

Unless it's just a monster where there is not question at all, I hunt brow tines. Or, and this really is my prefered, draw antlerless(they taste better), hunt an any moose or any bull area. In fact, you'll never see me plan a moose hunt where there's a 50 inch restriction.

 

[Macholeo]

Thanks for the info!


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