Louder calling for bigger bulls?

[Chirogrow]

I'm curious what everyones thoughts are about calling bigger moose, say 50+ inches. Does sounding bigger when raking and grunting bring in bigger bulls assuming the time of the year is right and bulls are sizing each other up? We just got back from alaska and the our transported said to only lightly rake and soft grunt to bring in all the bulls. I've never heard this, I would have thought sounding bigger would make it so just bigger bulls come in and the smaller ones wouldn't want to come in.

 

[VernAK]

I don't think so!

 

[Chirogrow]

I don't think so!

Thanks for chiming in vern, I know you're a veteran in the moose world! do you tend to just always be louder when calling? I try to be loud and heavy when raking just to get the sound out there

 

[Sitkaspruce]

I always start softly as I don't want to scare any bulls close to me. They have amazing hearing and to start bellowing/grunting really loudly will put them on high alert or even push them away. When I was guiding , I can remember getting to a ridge and letting go with a long, loud cow call a good bull exploded out from the thick bush below us and headed for parts unknown. Lesson learned!

If you have ever heard cows and bulls communicate when they are close, it is always softer and less aggressive, unless the cow is being harassed by a smaller bull, then she will let everyone know she is not happy.

I start softly and after a few calling sequences, if I don't hear or see anything, I will increase the tone and go louder. I will also switch from using my hands to using a birch bark tube for more distance.

Could never correlate the calling tone/loudness to bigger bulls. Some of my bigger bulls were brought in just breaking branches and letting out a few grunts and moans, no real calling at all.

Would be interested to hear what others say.

Cheers

SS

 

[VernAK]

If a bull is close, I just grunt a bit. Usually WE spot our bulls from a mile or more and I only use the cow call as it is much louder than the bull grunt. Once the bull responds and gets closer, I switch to bull grunts and shaking the bushes and raking. usually try to distance myself a bit from the shooter and draw the bull past him.

 

[william schmaltz]

The few spots I’ve hunted where I know nothing is within several hundred yards, I’d swing at branches with a paddle like a baseball bat to get sound out. It worked alright. In the swamp, low and slow. Low frequency sound such as a canoe paddle scraping travels further than whacking branches. At least that’s what a physics nerd once told me. People underestimate how far them old buggers move. Never know what has snuck in within a couple hundred yards overnight or during lunch.

I’m sure a lot of people also sat through 30 mph gusts and sideways rain last couple weeks. This is the second bull of two that came on a rope to within 20 yards of our soft calls in such conditions. Crazy to think two bulls herd calls in that garbage. (New rule in camp is iPhones only so I don’t have garbage videos/photos like these!)
I also think a big bull will come into anything resembling an intruder in his territory. But that’s just a theory. I learn a ton every year that reminds me how little I know. Ask again in 30 years maybe!