Moose Hunt From A Treestand

[Luke S]

I've normally moose hunted the traditional way i.e. calling and spot and stalk. But there is an area not far from my home that is a mixed forest with tons of moose sign. I saw two huge bulls after hunting season that had either hid out all season or migrated in. So I want to cut travel time and hunt locally.

I'm thinking the best plan is to set up a treestand and try to ambush one in the forest. They don't seem to have a real reason to come out in the open till the late season rut (plenty of forage without going into an exposed area).

Has anyone hunted this way? The concept makes sense. I don't really know a reason why one spot will be better than another. I think I'll just set up on a trail that looks well used and close to water. I was going to stay close to thick willow assuming that was a bedding area but then I found multiple beds on a semi open bench. It almost seemed like the moose were bedding where they could sense danger and bolt rather than hiding in thick stuff.

Any insight on how moose move and where they like to hang out would be appreciated. I feel like most hunting discussions don't really address this style of hunting.
I threw in a few random pics to give you an idea of the terrain in the Mat Su valley.

 

[sebastian.cassell]

Also curious about this. Going on a hunt later this month doing mixed tree stand and open spotting/stalking.

 

[wyosam]

I think it could work very well if you’ve got a well traveled area. I think there must be at least a few overlooked pockets near town. Will probably have to put in some time in the stand, but not having to travel a long ways helps.


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[Catchfish]

You can sit in a stand but either way if those bulls are there during the season they will be just like every other bull. I wouldn’t abandon calling and raking just to sit and hope one walks by.
You can locate them earlier in the season while they are raking and shedding velvet. But they will be gathering cows in the season as well.

 

[Arcticmanak]

I like using a climbing stand if I am in an 'open' area that has high brush. Climbing a tree near the tree line is productive for scouting, and glassing/sitting/calling during hunting season.

 

[sebastian.cassell]

Do you think bringing a tree saddle and climbing sticks would be worth while in northern Alberta? Fairly light setup at 10-12lbs

 

[Luke S]

I spoke to a few friends at church who bow hunt. But they do it more opportunistically. As in "oh hey there is a moose by the road during bow season." Stands haven't really been tried. We'll see how it goes.

 

[medvedyt]

exactly try is the best you can. i found in some isolated aeras some wooden platform used to hund moose in the past: they were working otherwise i do not see the point to build them ...

 

[ColeyG]

I have a tree saddle set up that I usually take with me when moose hunting. In the areas I typically hunt, we glass from ridge tops and spot moose in the thick stuff in the bottoms. When you get down on their level it is very hard to see them at any distance given the height of the surrounding veg. Even 8-10' of elevation gain makes the difference between being able to locate them and not.

I haven't killed on using this approach and gear, but it will definitely make the difference one day.

 

[Tjdeerslayer37]

My dad and uncle have a spot up your way that is a huge natural funnel, they ended up building a 10' high platform stand to see over the vegetation and into the funnel. killed 2 bulls in 3 years from it.

 

[Luke S]

I didn't end up using a stand for a variety of reasons. I did have game cameras set up and the same moose came by multiple times. IF I had a good bull on camera I could see this idea working. Maybe next your, especially if I try bow hunting.

 

[WRO]

Tyler Freel calls from a Tripoid stand very successfully.