Judging moose tips

[Gunnersdad49]

Hard to believe that’s 51. I do, just difficult. I thought 58. Of course that pic also has them in forefront with you in back, and bare skull. I’m sure that makes Em look a little wider. Still, I was off by a lot!

I agree, the bald head makes them look bigger, and my "fisherman's pose" probably doesn't help. I think the thing that hurt him was how cupped his paddles were forward. If they laid out flat, he would have gained a lot

 

[AK_Skeeter]

These are both less than 50 inches. A young bull and an old timer past his prime
Both legal in 3 brow tine unit.

 

[shawdawg]

This is a great thread for those new to judging moose. I'm slated for 2023 and this is a starting point to get comfortable at attempting to field judge them. Thanks for everyones input!

 

[ndmarine]

Download my measures on iPhone. Give yourself a 6” buffer. This guy was overcalculated by 4”. He had plenty of brows so it didn’t matter

 

[ndmarine]

View attachment 390646Download my measures on iPhone. Give yourself a 6” buffer. This guy was overcalculated by 4”. He had plenty of brows so it didn’t matter

 

[JoshDoneff]

I just drew a bull moose tag in Colorado. This thread is really helpful. Thanks guys.

 

[Gunnersdad49]

I just drew a bull moose tag in Colorado. This thread is really helpful. Thanks guys.

Congratulations! What part of the state? I tried again this year with 19 weighted points and still ended up with nothing but a participation trophy.

 

[Robinhood21]

I hope me posting this doesn't get redundant but I feel like it's the most accurate way to go about it... especially if you're hunting in a 50"/4browtine unit.


I use a combination of ways to measure. I've looked over so many pictures and videos & seen quite a few moose in person now that there are some bulls that you automatically know he's a shooter as soon as you see him... no need to measure. Width between the eyes works but the most accurate way I've found is to use the reticle on my rifle. Obviously this won't work for archery hunters.

I can judge a moose to see if he's legal from 100yds all the way out to 1000 yards and I feel extremely confident in doing so. You just need to make sure you can get a very steady rest.


Examples:

Range Finder - 300 yards, Moose measures 20MOA
3 X 20 = 60" moose


Range Finder - 475 yards, Moose Measures 13.5MOA
4.75 X 13.5 = 64" moose


Range Finder - 178 yards, Moose Measures 26MOA
1.78 X 26 = 46" moose



The scope I use is a Zeiss V4 4-16X44 with a ZMOA-T30 reticle.

 

[Catchfish]

He barely beat 51" wide. I was pretty surprised when I measured, but am really glad he had the brow tines to be legal either way. We passed on a couple of smaller bulls in the trip, and I'm super glad we did! I don't think I would have shot this guy without the brow tines.

If you notice in the second picture, his tines come forward instead of laying out to the side.

Second picture you can also see how much his ears are inside his palm, that is normally not a good sign. The first picture is one of those pics that make animals look bigger than they really are. Very cool moose though I like the character on the inside of his paddles

 

[Gunnersdad49]

Catchfish, camera angles make all the difference! Same bull with some magical angle. But in this pic you can see the ears overlap the inside edge of the paddles by a few inches on both sides of the rack.

 

[Gunnersdad49]

I hope me posting this doesn't get redundant but I feel like it's the most accurate way to go about it... especially if you're hunting in a 50"/4browtine unit.


I use a combination of ways to measure. I've looked over so many pictures and videos & seen quite a few moose in person now that there are some bulls that you automatically know he's a shooter as soon as you see him... no need to measure. Width between the eyes works but the most accurate way I've found is to use the reticle on my rifle. Obviously this won't work for archery hunters.

I can judge a moose to see if he's legal from 100yds all the way out to 1000 yards and I feel extremely confident in doing so. You just need to make sure you can get a very steady rest.


Examples:

Range Finder - 300 yards, Moose measures 20MOA
3 X 20 = 60" moose


Range Finder - 475 yards, Moose Measures 13.5MOA
4.75 X 13.5 = 64" moose


Range Finder - 178 yards, Moose Measures 26MOA
1.78 X 26 = 46" moose



The scope I use is a Zeiss V4 4-16X44 with a ZMOA-T30 reticle.

View attachment 562704

It's also important to note that this image says it is a second focal plane scope. With a SFP scope, there is typically one magnification that this will work at. The measurements on a FFP scope will work at any magnification, so make sure you know your gear and accurate magnification setting with a SFP scope.

 

[JoshDoneff]

Congratulations! What part of the state? I tried again this year with 19 weighted points and still ended up with nothing but a participation trophy.

Units 53/54/63, crested butte. I am stoked but looking for intel. Thanks.

 

[Gunnersdad49]

Units 53/54/63, crested butte. I am stoked but looking for intel. Thanks.

My knowledge is mostly North Park and surrounding areas, but I hope you find a monster out there! Good luck.

 

[JJ_whitetailhunter]

I hope me posting this doesn't get redundant but I feel like it's the most accurate way to go about it... especially if you're hunting in a 50"/4browtine unit.


I use a combination of ways to measure. I've looked over so many pictures and videos & seen quite a few moose in person now that there are some bulls that you automatically know he's a shooter as soon as you see him... no need to measure. Width between the eyes works but the most accurate way I've found is to use the reticle on my rifle. Obviously this won't work for archery hunters.

I can judge a moose to see if he's legal from 100yds all the way out to 1000 yards and I feel extremely confident in doing so. You just need to make sure you can get a very steady rest.


Examples:

Range Finder - 300 yards, Moose measures 20MOA
3 X 20 = 60" moose


Range Finder - 475 yards, Moose Measures 13.5MOA
4.75 X 13.5 = 64" moose


Range Finder - 178 yards, Moose Measures 26MOA
1.78 X 26 = 46" moose



The scope I use is a Zeiss V4 4-16X44 with a ZMOA-T30 reticle.

View attachment 562704

This is the same scope and method we use also when measuring moose! Works great as long as you get them to look straight at you and set still for a min HAHA

 

[kwackkillncrew]

I have thought about this a bunch of times and can't get it figured out in my head. If using the scope method, does it matter what magnification you are on? It seems like the more you zoom in with magnification the more MOA you could count across the rack. Do the tick marks adjust with the magnification? Again I know nothing about scopes other then I have a 3x7 leupold with a plain Jane cross hair. I know it's can't use this method with my scope, but my buddy has one with the moa tick marks.

Sent from my SM-S921U using Tapatalk

 

[TheCougar]

I have thought about this a bunch of times and can't get it figured out in my head. If using the scope method, does it matter what magnification you are on? It seems like the more you zoom in with magnification the more MOA you could count across the rack. Do the tick marks adjust with the magnification? Again I know nothing about scopes other then I have a 3x7 leupold with a plain Jane cross hair. I know it's can't use this method with my scope, but my buddy has one with the moa tick marks.

Sent from my SM-S921U using Tapatalk

If you are using a FFP scope, the magnification doesn’t matter. The reticle adjusts with zoom. If you are using a SFP scope, the reticle remains the same regardless of zoom. In the case of SFP, it’s only valid at MAX magnification.

 

[Robinhood21]

If you are using a FFP scope, the magnification doesn’t matter. The reticle adjusts with zoom. If you are using a SFP scope, the reticle remains the same regardless of zoom. In the case of SFP, it’s only valid at MAX magnification.

This is correct. My scope is SFP so I always measure on max magnification. Which works from 100 yards all the way out. I can measure up to 60MOA on my scope at 100yds.

The calculation is easy and comes natural after you do it a little bit. Having a cheat sheet with you is a good idea also.

A bull we measured last year was 580 yards away. I knew in my head that if I can get 10MOA out of him that would be 58” and would be legal. I got prone and measured him and when I hit 10MOA I knew he was legal & didn’t need to try to squeeze anymore out of him. We made a move on him and killed him. Ended up being 65” which equates to roughly 11MOA at that distance.

When I originally measured him and got 10 MOA, I knew he was good so I didn’t need to spend any more time trying to see if he was wider or not.

 

[TheCougar]

I use a digiscope and a measuring tool in a photo app. It gets me within 10% accuracy if I have a good head-on view. It’s slower, but more accurate. If I measure more than 56” on the app, I’m comfortable with that.