Tactics for getting moose out the last 75 yards?

[Bustercluck]

Does anybody have any tactics to lure a moose out into the open? I was out a little bit earlier than normal this year(sep20-26) and I had at least three moose come in, but couldn’t get them out in the open. Things were a little bit different this year compared to normal too. I normally hunt by myself during the day, but this year I had my eleven year old son with me and I had two newbie hunters who wanted to learn the ropes. The two guys weren’t with me the whole time, but they were there for a couple of events.

The first one came in the dark circled downwind of us and took right off without making a peep.

The second and third encounter were very similar. The moose came in, circled and actually made a bit of noise on their way around. I could hear both of them in the bush and they both hung out for 20-30 minutes at roughly 75-100 yards out and then took off silent as can be. For the second moose, I called for another 1.5-2 hours without hearing any noise and then walked over to where the noise was coming from and followed the tracks backwards to a point where I was actually looking down on where I was calling. If I had only been looking in the right direction at the right time. Oh well.

The third bull I tried scraping a few trees with a scapula and broke a few twigs while I was calling. I saw his hind quarters taking off in the same direction he came from. All three bulls went back in the same direction they came from. None of them grunted at me.

[Arctic Lake]

Bustercluck . I have only shot 1 moose that I did not call in , the rest were all called in mimicking a cow call with cupped hands or birch bark amplifier . All the moose taken the second week of October or there abouts. The rut is triggered by diminishing daylight THIS IS FACT I don’t like to B.S. folks ! Rut tends to start last 2 weeks of September first 2 weeks of October , BUT BUT . You can have cows that have not been bred or there cycle etc... So there will be bulls ready to oblige !
When calling they can come in hot and heavy or in stealth mode ! I may have left a few things out .... Any more questions ask away . Man I have asked my fair share of question on HBC ! LOL !!
Arctic Lake

[tigrr]

Some days it just works and some it doesn't. I have had them come to the edge of the bush and then Turn and try to go down wind of me. That usually get me busted. Other times it came out in a spot I wasn't watching and seen me and took off. I now try and hide and cow call. Then the bull has to search for the cow caller. I have called 3 bulls in. No tag so none were shot. Practising.
It is cool when your hear them thrashing some small trees and never see them. I was rattling some deer horns when that happened.

[two-feet]

There are the things we can control, like our techniques, tactics, and decisions. There are many things we cant control, like where the moose generally are at in the rut, or each animal specifically. I have had moose run the other way at the sound of my call and I have had them charge in on a string, it depends.
This year was just the best possible conditions for a moose hunt and the bulls were in FULL rut activity at the end of october so we had an amazing hunt with 2 bulls down. Other years they just dont seem interested.
To answer your question, you have to just play every situation as best you can, and as you gain experience you will make better decisions on how to react. Some bulls want you to call more, some less. Sometimes you have to play the aggressive bull and charge into the bull while grunting.
If I ever figure it out i will let you know!

[Bustercluck]

I learn a lot every year. I’ve called in a bunch of moose and I’ve seen a bunch more called in, but I’m wondering if it’s half luck and half skill. I usually see them inside the 100 yard mark and it’s easy going from there. If you watch some YouTube videos, some of those guys get them coming right out in the open for bow range. I’ve never been that lucky or good or whatever you want to call it.

I usually set up to call in a spot where it forces them to come to the edge of the trees or the edge of a pond and poke their head out if they want to wind me. There really is a lot of factors at play.

[Bustercluck]

I remember calling for moose a few years ago and I got a bit frustrated with the spot I was in and the way things were going so I went for a hike. I walked 3-400 yards and found a set of fresh tracks that were headed directly in the direction I was calling. I didn’t do any more calling, I just walked around. When I stopped to take a dump and have a snack this giant bull came through the trees just letting out this super loud high pitched grunt, just one grunt after another and he wasn’t stopping. After hearing a few grunts I could see this big set of paddles coming through the alders straight towards me.

[Bustercluck]

This is him
https://i.imgur.com/yBGUJ7h.jpg
https://i.imgur.com/FMmOTrr.jpg

[ruger416]

Bustercluck. This is a really good sight for this type of info. I like to near a large puddle of water. While you are calling go into the water and stamp for feet like a moose walking. If a bull comes close but stalls you could take a container of water and poor it into the puddle from your shoulder 4 ft. Works great in a boat with the bailing bucket. A 2 litre plastic milk container, cap on and bottom cut out works great. Bull thinks it is a cow peeing. If you get a moose down the container can be used to get rid of the blood when gutting. Helps keeping 5 fingers on each if you use a sharp knife.

[Redthies]

I’m wondering if it’s half luck and half skill.

I belive that’s what is referred to as “life”.

[XPEIer]

try to set up so they cannot get down wind of you, use the terrain to "force" them into your spot, or get into their spot, dont call them out of the swamp get in the swamp and call. I have also heard of guys carrying a chunk of black felt, bend over a small willow and drape this over it to look like a cow rump, might be enough visual for him to bite. I am not sold on scents, but they may help as well. I have called in bulls as late as Oct 24th in the region 6 GOS, so always worth trying once you locate a bull.
XPEIER (the one in my pic is Oct 23)

[MRP]

Watching the wind is good but I don't get overly concerned. Lots of times I've had them down wind for 20+ minutes, if you can't get the wind in your favor just go for it.

If they know your there stop trying to be quite, no noise can be worse than not making any. If hes not coming at some point you got to do something, walk in one him at a angle 45 to 60 degrees type of thing if possible. Light grunts the kind both cows and bulls give when there curious, don't over do it. Any cracks and snaps or crunchy snow as you move are just natural sounds. Late season moose seem to loosely group together. They'll quite often the angle thing towards your rear. Some times you don't get closer but a shooting line might open up.

[Brno22F]

http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showthread.php?97247-Your-best-quot-As-they-lay-quot-Pics!&p=2206353#post2206353

This one came in after 2 and a half hours of cow calling (every half hour from 7:30 am until 10am). He came in hard about 20 minutes after my last call. Rather unexpected. I was about to give up and head for another spot.
I have had them hang up and never show themselves. Others sneak in and magically appear out of the mist across the swamp. Sometimes they just charge in asking for a bullet.
I have also had them start grunting and come in when I was making a bit too much noise when walking out of my mushroom patch. Just depends on how wary or horny they are.

[Bugle M In]

Sometimes you just cant.
Nothing you did wrong.

I can speak more for elk, but can tell you, that you think you have a bull coming in, and seems good to go, wind and everything is perfect, and where the bull is coming from is an area you have not been no no scent there to mess it up or make him alerted to an issue etc.
And then, only yards away, the veer off and walk away????

Only thing you can do is learn the bulls habits!
I had a bull do this twice to me.
3rd time, i got him while he was coming in but just waiting for him to veer off like the past 2 days, i snuck in.
Left my buddy to do some calling where it started and i closed off the distance.

That is about the only option you have.

[Sitkaspruce]

Don't be afraid to change. You need to be flexible and don't stick to what has worked in the past.

I have found that when bulls hold up, they are looking for "things".

These are some of "things" I have found that have worked:

- Noise - moose are not quiet when living their life. They make a bunch of noise when feeding, calling, moving and basically living. So make some as well. I will break branches, strip leaves off branches, stomp the ground and move around like a moose. I have found that bulls that have held up will start to come back in when they hear noise.

- Be quiet. Stop calling and just wait, watching like a hawk for any movement. They know exactly where you are, so don't worry about them finding you. This is a good practice when you can set up where you can see a distance. If after they go quiet and you haven't heard anything for 15-20 min, let out a light cow call or bull grunt. Not too loud as you will scare them off. Watch some videos and you will see that lover boy start to grunt softly as he gets close to the cow and the cow will call back softly. Do the same thing. Then watch and repeat in another 5 minutes with soft calls again. If they are around, they will show themselves.

- Move positions, keep then guessing where you will be. Moose don't always stand in one place for an hour+. So I will call and then when I hear them coming, I will sometimes move and then call again. Try moving towards them as I have had cows show up when I was bull grunting, so now I try that tactic sometimes and it has worked, but you need to be vigilant as they can show up out of the bush suddenly.

- Go aggressive and challenge them. My guess is the bulls that the OP discussed we all small bulls and have had their butts kicked by bigger bulls that are around. If you find a bull that holds up and other tactics have not worked, going aggressive with either have them tuck tail and run, or come out and challenge the challenger. Its a gamble, but two of my biggest bulls came to the aggressive challenge. One was held up for about 45 min, just the odd grunt and antler wack told me he was still their. So finally I just went aggressive; raking with a scapula, grunting and busting branches. He came in on a run, grunting and I shot him at 5m or he would have run over me. The other one was with a cow and the only way I could get him away was to challenge him. He came back grunting and raking looking for a fight.

- use a decoy, they really do work in the right situation. When guiding I carried a Montana Cow moose decoy and had great luck with it, especially in the more open areas.

- if you have two people, the caller walks away while the shooter puts them between the caller and the bull. Ambush them.

This year I had a bull hold up about 70m away in the think stuff, so I walked around, broke a couple branches and brushed against some alder. He started again, but held up right on the fringe, so I tried the noise thing and nothing, so I went silent and stood they for 15 min. Suddenly I saw grey legs moving through timber, trying to wind me. So I quietly moved to my left about 20 m and then broke a couple branches and softly cow mewed. He came in on a string grunting softly until he was 8m away. But he didn't make the 2/3/10 rule, so I played around with him and had him getting mad as I started grunting and raking. He was a big bull that had at least 13 points on his right side, if he hadn't worm the top ones down so they didn't make a point. Timber bulls will do that.

Moose are interesting to hunt and they can be frustrating, but they are fun!!!

I am still learning more every season and I have been chasing them for 30 years.

Cheers

SS

[xlcc]

I like to set up my calling place so I can be flexable and can move my position if necessary.Like if you are calling on the edge of a swamp or cut block and get a response be prepared to move back or around to where the moose is held up.Sometimes when you back off the bull may think his cow is leaving.
If the area has had hunting pressure it might be better to be calling in thicker bush.The moose feel more comfortable.They will be much closer when it is time to shoot.
I use these same tactics to call deer and elk.It can be very difficult to count points in the trees even at less than 25 yards.You may have to pass up an animal even thou you have a clear shot if you are not sure he meets the legal requirements.This has happened to me many times but it is exciting.
Good luck.

[hawk-i]

If they have been hunted hard they will be a lot more cautious...I normally just use cow calls works good on some bulls but not all the time.

[kitnayakwa77]

I have called in a couple bulls by cow-calling but then they hung up and wouldn't step out. I had success several times by going to the bulls approximate location softly grunting, wind in my face, breaking twigs. I think everyone in their mind wants the bull to step out into the wide open, but why would they do this unless they are completely rutted up and crazy....they are a creature of the forest and the forest is their safe haven and its in their best interest to stay there. I got one this year that was grunting back from the same meadow on two separate days but wouldn't come out. Finally we went to him as he was circling through the trees, and connected at 9 yards on a just under 50" bull. I strongly feel we wouldn't have got him if we had waited for him to step out and passively cow called.

I have a video doing this on a big one I let walk that I would post but it is beyond me to figure out posting something like that on this site!

[MB_Boy]

If you have a partner with you get them to make a cow call as well. Sometimes the different tone makes it sound like there is more than one; my Dad did this years back when we had a bull hung up that then started walking away from us. He passed me the call and I let out a bawl; he turned on a dime and came right back in to about 15 yards. We have had it work a number of times since when they hang up.

[Cdog]

Definitely use terrain to your advantage. If you are low and there is a lot of bush around you they sneak around to try and scent you. This happened to me. Was calling for about an hour and heard him coming in but he disappeared without me seeing him. Set up 2 days later on small hill side with better view and he came in where I could see him before he could smell me.

[Arctic Lake]

You could make a book from information posted in this thread . All good information ! HBC comes through again !
Arctic Lake