Winter moose

[tarpontrout]

Been hunting fort Richardson near anchorage hard with my muzzleloader with not much luck.... have a few days left to hunt hard before back to work

if things don’t come together I may be able to get some time off in early January at the end of season. Is that even a worthwhile time to hunt? Doesn’t look like many are harvested then on fish and game site?

im assuming moose hang down in similar areas as now?

part of me doesn’t want to deal with all the snow and cold but I also want to maximize the tag

 

[Larry Bartlett]

Its usually hard to tell how mature the moose is after antler drop (jan) except by its body size, but if that bull was heavily rutted the meat quality won't be completely back to a pre-rut condition until spring. That said, if you're hunting them now in peak rut, January might be a better tasting time to harvest. If you shot a bull now the meat likely tastes like piss unless it's a small one.

 

[dmd45]

If you can find cows, even cows with calves on base, you will find the bulls. At this time they are in their harems. The big bulls will drink the females urine to determine if she is ready to mate. The bulls will drink so much they end up tasting like piss, liver will turn color too. Try calling, hopefully you can find a satellite bull (small bull) that will respond to your call, bull grunts, rakes and cow calls.

 

[NUGGET]

It’s not that bad out there in winter. We’ve hauled them 6/7 miles before on the winter JBER archery hunt. The muzz areas do not really hold a lot of moose these days on base. It’s getting worse and worse every year. Keep at it and you’ll get one!

PM inbound

 

[thinhorn_AK]

If you can find cows, even cows with calves on base, you will find the bulls. At this time they are in their harems. The big bulls will drink the females urine to determine if she is ready to mate. The bulls will drink so much they end up tasting like piss, liver will turn color too. Try calling, hopefully you can find a satellite bull (small bull) that will respond to your call, bull grunts, rakes and cow calls.

This has been my experience with winter moose as well, A few years ago I was hunting moose on december 1st the opening day of the winter season, I saw a cow with 2 calves cross a stream ~ 50 yards from where I was posted up, I sat and watched thinking it was pretty cool, maybe 10 mins later the bull came through and I got him. He Didn't taste like piss or anything but he had almost no fat on him, I ended up with a lot more burger than a fall moose.

 

[BeauH]

Been hearing reports of some nice bulls around MMDZ

 

[tarpontrout]

Been hearing reports of some nice bulls around MMDZ

I hunted around malamute a few days didn’t see any moose at all