In mid September I'm headed on a diy moose hunt in Ontario Canada. We'll be flown in by an outfitter then on our own, we'll have access to motor boats and canoes, it's an 8 mile lake that's extremely narrow. Approx 100 yards wide, almost like a backed up river. None of us have been moose hunting, anyone who could give some calling tips, set-up tips, or any advice to a beginning bowhunter would be great. Thanks, Paul
search moose calling on bowsite.com and there is a guy that guides up there that has a video about calling Canadian moose I have the DVD and it's not too bad
I'm flying out with North to Adventures http://www.northtoadventure.com/ My buddy's father lives in Canada and knows the outfitter, we got a real good deal and I'm pretty excited. I bought a dvd called moose madness that has helped a lot but I'm trying to get all the information I can. I'll get on bowsite and check things out! Thanks.
Thanks Dan, It should be a blast, I always go into a hunt with the mentality that getting an animal is a bonus. I just enjoy being in the remote wilderness with bow in hand!
Try to go during the rut. Moose dont stay in one small area so they dont use the same runways like a whitetail. During the rut with a cow call would be your best luck
We're going to be hunting the beginning of the rut, Sept. 17 - Sept 25. We wanted to go the following week but one member has work conflicts. Is it worth it to buy a fiberglass horn to make your calling louder? Should I pick up a portable decoy? Once a moose is spoted, how dificult would it be to stalk within bow range? I can't imagine them being more wary than a whitetail or elk, but I could be wrong.
I would recommend buying a Bull Magnet moose call. These are good for calling and scraping. raking trees and brush is a good way to get bulls coming in early in the rut. They are scraping off velvet and starting to push eachother around. Cow grunts work well unless he already has cows with him. then the good ole' bull grunt and raking works awesome. Im not sure of the rut down there because of the temperatures but Late september is good up here in Alaska. I would also recommend a montana decoy moose. This will help get one into bow range. Set the decoy up in a clearing and have your hunting partner calling by the decoy. If you set up in the trees about 50 yards in front of the decoy when a bull comes in to check it out you should be set up for a good shot. Good luck
Kyle, Thanks for the response. I've been looking for a good moose call and the Bull Magnet is actually one of the least expensive I've seen. How far can you expect a moose to hear your calling? I've also been looking into the montana decoy, I hear a lot about moose hanging up at 60 - 100 yards and a decoy would probably help this problem. I may PM you with some more questions sometime if that's alright. Thanks
Moose have excellent hearing and that call magnifies the sounds of your grunts so you will have no problem calling in a moose from long range. I've heard of guys calling bulls in from a mile away before. The big antlers act like a satellite dish and suck up any sounds. Moose are pretty curious critters and will come into anything (especially in the rut) that sounds remotely like a moose. I called in a bull one year just chopping up some firewood at camp. There are some videos out called Love, Thunder, and Bull vol.1 and vol.2. They use that moose call and you can see the different ways they use it and calling techniques. As far as getting them close, I guess it depends on the moose. Ive got them into less than 10 yards before and ive seen them not come any closer than 200 yards. The decoy should help in that part though. Feel free to ask anymore questions.
Never hunted moose, on your own, in Canada. Dude you now have an unlimited number of man cards at your disposal. This grunt is for you: http://www.hark.com/clips/nzspyskpqz-grunt
Ordered the Bull Magnet today, along with both volums of Love, Thunder and Bulls. Looking forward to driving the neighborhood nuts!! Bigstick, some people think it's cool we do diy hunts, some think we're crazy. I'm still a little undecided! Last year it was Elk and Wolves and we did alright, but its always fun!
Pure Bowhunting Well,you got the hunt of a life time bud, next to an Alaska Moose hunt. Northern Ontario has some of the biggest Moose on the planet for body weight . Quite common for bull to weight in over 2500 lbs. up to 3100lbs. Quote me on that though! During the rut the best way to entice a bull in is to start raking branches and breaking the crap out of them. Big branches too. Wait at least a 1/2 hour between calling. Sometimes we'll call before last light and a bull will be there for the morning. If your calling, try to use the birch bark tube to call out off. It enhances the sound the best and a bull will hear a call up to 2 miles away. A bull's sight is brutal so the use of a decoy is not necessary necessary. To me it's not anyway,but if you feel better with one then by all means use it. I've brought a bull from 200 yards away with me using my bow on top of my head as an alternative of another bull entering his territory. The bow acts as antlers and just sway back n forth. Works like a charm to draw him in closer. Have your partner 50 yards in front of you backed up to a bush or a tree. Go on the internet and look up Moose calling by a lady who is from Quebec and punch in calling. She's the best,you'll see her actually having a conversation with the bull. I'll generally just cow call during the rut until I get a bull in. Once the bull is in hearing distance ,that's when you start all the commotion of raking branches and breaking them. Hope this is of use,just look up that lady calling, it's worth it's weight in gold. Best of luck on your hunt. Rocky
Young Fart, Thanks for the advice, I tried to find the calling videos you're talking about with little luck. Is there any way you could post up a link? I have a question about calling, you say wait 1/2 an hour between calling sessions. How long do you call at one spot before you move on? If you're cow calling will a bull answer you if he's coming in or come in silent? I don't want to call an area and move on too early. Two of the guys I'm going with are extremely aggressive hunters, I'm not sure how I'll be able to keep them in one spot for more than an hour. Thanks, Paul
Purebowhunting Try to sit close to water or stand,cupping your hand over the bottom of the birch bark call, fill it with water. Pore the water into the lake resembling a cow in heat urinating. This drives a bull nuts, after pouring the water into the lake then cow call in a tone that will sound like a wining call ,long and drawn out. This is the call a cow makes when in estrus and needing to be bred asap. Listen carefully as a Bull will sound like a dog from a distance barking. Wolf wolf but drawn out.You'll notice when he starts to get close as trees will be snapping and if he gets ticked he'll start thrashing bush and turf will be flying every where. Don't get scared as he'll come closer yet. I've had them into 12 yards and could see the snot coming out of his nose from frustration as he was thrashing the bush. It's amazing how they can turn on a dime in such short distance ,IE running you down. Called one in a few years ago for my Pastor and he dove the heck out of the way as he thought the Moose was going to run over him. Staying power is needed in theses situations,sounds crazy but that's the thrill of Moose hunting,you never know what to expect. If the bull holds up at 200 or 70 yards and starts trashing the bush do the same and try to sound bigger than him by breaking branches and trashing trees with a stump. He'll have his nose so far up you --- that he'll want to destroy you and he'll come in the extra yardage you'll need to arrow him. When calling try to get on a high point or as close to water as possible with some thing behind you to break your appearance up, I had a bull in 3 years ago at 21 yards for over an hour. At last light I made a move as my leg fell a sleep,all the time even though I couldn't see him he was waiting for a move so he could tell if it was a cow or trouble. He noticed me and bolted. Don't give up calling as this is the fun and reward of the hunt. I called in 9 moose in 6 different days before I arrowed mine and 3 of them I didn't hear come in. You'll love it even if!!!! you don't arrow one! Try googling Moose calling, there's a ton of video's on how to call. Oh yeah,the birch bark call is the best and carries the farthest for sound and it also works as a water pouring device too. Try calling from your mouth,it's easy as could be,and most Moose sound different from one another,as long as your close to the sound they make they won't care. Maybe ,just maybe he'll get close enough to you to mouth some hair from a top of your head for a Canadian reminder. Don't mess with us Canucks EH ! PS Let me know how you make out in Ontario! Dang I forgot!!! When calling try to move every 1/2 hour and move 300 yards or more,you need to get your sound out to him,if he doesn't hear you, he won't come. A Bull will respond to a cow call by wolfing back at you trying to draw you out to him. Also don't call for more than a minute and a half. The bush trashing can go on for as long as you feel comfortable doing it . Rocky Rocky
You guys are making me want to do this more and more. By the way, sorry for resurrecting an old thread. I've been researching guided moose hunts for quite some time, as moose tags here in Montana are pretty hard to come by. I'll still try putting in for one each year. What's it gonna hurt? I found a very reasonable guide service in Ontario that I think the wife and I might go for next fall (2012) if we don't draw moose tags here. I want to play around and make a few birch bark moose calls and try them out (play with them) this summer and compare the sound to the coffee-can-moose-call I've read so much about online! Keep up the information. The more you guys post, the more I learn!
Since this thread has been resurrected, I thought I'd let everyone that helped know what ended up happening, with me actually not even going. Originally we had four guys with four bull tags, two tags from the outfitter and two tags from two that were going with us that were canadian. A month before we were about to go a buddy we hunted with previously had an elk hunt fall through, so we added him to the mix along with another guy to make it even, figured six guys moose hunting for the first time we're never going to fill four tags anyways. I was going to be the main caller, I bought a call, a bunch of dvds and actually practiced here in the U.P. and managed to call in a bull which was pretty cool. Three weeks before we were scheduled to leave, a buddy that was the main contact with the outfitter was talking to him and informed us that even through we had four tags, he only wanted one bull taken out of the area, two at the absolute most. Now we're at six guys and one or two tags, each guy paying approximately $2,000 each, I then decided to back out, it just didn't make sence anymore. The guys that ended up going, flew in and found a camp that hadn't been visited at lease since last year, a tree had fallen onto and through the roof, bears has broken out the windows and tore the door off and had all the bedding shredded. There were three boats with the camp, one was in working condition, one didn't have a motor, and one was unfloatable. After dropping them off and halfway fixing the door, the outfitter left leaving them spending the first day trying to get camp in order. This is a fly in camp but from aireal photos we were able to tell there were roads to the north side of camp, but was assured by the outfitter that they were blocked off but could be accessed by 4-wheelers but no one is up there. Right off the bat they run into a Conservation Officer on the north side of the lake in his pick-up. The only up side of this is the first reality check, people accessed this lake and other lakes in the area to fish, regularly. From this point on they were pretty much restricted to the south end of the lake but the lake only because there were roads south of the lake also. Three days in they were able to get on a 40" bull, first moose seen, and stick an arrow through it. Later in the week they havested a second bull, a yearling. When the outfitter picked them up, after being told a camp was only hunted once a year, they let it slip that another group was coming in behind them in two or three weeks. Fishing was good, moose hunting ended up being ok, but I wouldn't recomend the outfitter and it was far from a remote wilderness adventure. Learning experiences, that's what life is all about!
