What time did you shoot your Alaskan Moose?

Joined
Aug 17, 2016
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Kansas
I'm curious what time you all shot your moose?

Ironically, of the 4 moose I've been a part of, every one of them was shot between 9:00-9:30am.

Definitely not complaining... luckily I haven't had the enjoyment of breaking one down after dark.
 
Joined
Apr 9, 2012
Messages
1,880
Location
Fishhook, Alaska
2023 - 5:00 pm
2022 - 6:00 am
2021 - 3:00 pm
2020 -11:30 am
2019 - 2:00 pm
2017 -4:00 pm

A bunch before that were equally random.

Appears to be no substantial pattern. First light moose are common enough that I am up in the dark. After that the afternoon does well for me.
 

AKDoc

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May 16, 2015
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Alaska
I've not kept a personal record of the number of moose that I've had the good fortune to have harvested over the years, nor the time of day. Thinking about it right now, I'd say that I've taken them at various times during the daylight/shooting hours. So many variables influencing that outcome...primarily wx, rut progression and windows of opportunity.

That said, my preference by far is to take them in the morning, which gives me the rest of the day to field butcher, bag, and get it all hanging on the tented meat-pole by last light. Taking them in the evening means (for me) an all-nighter with a headlamp getting it done before calling it a day...just did that last year once again and was up until 6:30am the next morning...I never seem to learn my lesson LOL!
 

cnelk

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Mar 1, 2012
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Colorado
Alaska 2016 - 6pm - Got the bull gutted, skinned and opened up for the night.
Back at daylight with 'one in pipe' and safety off - all was good.
 

Scottf270

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Sep 26, 2017
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Missouri
I've taken 4 A-Y moose and all were taken by 10 am. Have seen others in early evening until dusk that could have been taken. Mid day on a bluebird day is when I've seen the least activity.
 
Joined
Oct 25, 2012
Messages
1,401
I've not kept a personal record of the number of moose that I've had the good fortune to have harvested over the years, nor the time of day. Thinking about it right now, I'd say that I've taken them at various times during the daylight/shooting hours. So many variables influencing that outcome...primarily wx, rut progression and windows of opportunity.

That said, my preference by far is to take them in the morning, which gives me the rest of the day to field butcher, bag, and get it all hanging on the tented meat-pole by last light. Taking them in the evening means (for me) an all-nighter with a headlamp getting it done before calling it a day...just did that last year once again and was up until 6:30am the next morning...I never seem to learn my lesson LOL!
going on my first moose hunt with my wife in Sep in Alaska.

if you dont mind me asking, how wide is the moose in your avatar? I only ask bc i'm trying to get an idea since we are in a unit that has a minimum spread. (fyi- Im shooting yours on day one hour one!) he is a great looking bull!
 

AKDoc

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going on my first moose hunt with my wife in Sep in Alaska.

if you dont mind me asking, how wide is the moose in your avatar? I only ask bc i'm trying to get an idea since we are in a unit that has a minimum spread. (fyi- Im shooting yours on day one hour one!) he is a great looking bull!
I'm not the best at estimating width when hunting. In antler restricted GMU's I was always a brow-tine counter...and sometimes even that gets hard LOL!

That bull measured 56". His rack has a lot of character from fighting with other bulls...it's my favorite.
IMG_4938.jpeg

For comparison...
This one is 62"
IMG_8552.jpeg
This one is 64" (the widest I've taken).
IMG_7813.jpeg
 

z987k

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Sep 9, 2020
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AK
We usually call it by about 3pm due to how long it takes to do all the work afterwards and not wanting to deal with that in the dark.

Shot one at 2pm last year and we got everything into bags as we were losing light but nothing moved until the next day.
 

Will_m

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Jul 7, 2015
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998
About 15 minutes after I saw him.

Started calling that morning around daylight. No clue when he first heard it though as I never asked.
 

VernAK

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Joined
Dec 24, 2012
Messages
2,112
Location
Delta Jct, Alaska
The time of day that a bull may respond to a call often depends on weather and temperature. If it's warm, they respond slowly if at all. I usually call from a hill and if it's the least bit warm, they may stop part way and lay down.

I once had two big bulls respond together but stopped at the bottom of the hill where they remained all afternoon. As soon as the sun went behind the mountain, they both responded to within 50 yards in open tundra.
 
Joined
Oct 25, 2012
Messages
1,401
I'm not the best at estimating width when hunting. In antler restricted GMU's I was always a brow-tine counter...and sometimes even that gets hard LOL!

That bull measured 56". His rack has a lot of character from fighting with other bulls...it's my favorite.
View attachment 726582

For comparison...
This one is 62"
View attachment 726586
This one is 64" (the widest I've taken).
View attachment 726583

Those are awesome!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
OP
Robinhood21
Joined
Aug 17, 2016
Messages
1,219
Location
Kansas
All have been 5 pm or later, would love to get them in the morning. Working through the night to get them broke down and bagged is not a fun task.
Working one up in the dark doesn't sound fun but I'm guessing our luck may run out this year.... we are due for an evening bull. My buddies that went in '21 said when they were working their bull over in the dark they could hear a bear lurking, close by, in the alders waiting for them to finish. They said it was not a very good feeling lol. One guy with a firearm ready and flashlight and one guy running the knife.
 
Joined
Aug 4, 2014
Messages
2,275
Location
Phoenix, Az
My 1 and only was shot around 5pm. We actually made pretty quick work of him and finished packing him out to the lake edge (150 yards) by 1am. It was nerve racking packing out a Moose in the dark, having never been on a Moose hunt before. I never had an issue with bears, but saw more bears during daylight hours than I cared to count. 2 days after my moose was already flown out, the gut pile remained untouched for the most part by predators.
 

bmrfish

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Joined
Aug 15, 2015
Messages
336
3 of 6 I was in on were in the evening and were all night affairs. 3 in morning.


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