Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Advice to a Cow Moose Bowhunter

Colorado back door is up and it looks like i was able to draw my cow moose tag, i am just looking for any tips and tricks when it comes to moose hunting. i plan on talking to my local dow officer as well as wildlife biologists in the area but figured i would try to get information from everywhere possible. First question is if i locate moose now, will they stay in the same general areas from now until september or should i expect them to move quite a ways?

Up here (on the Kenai Peninsula- my permanent home) they are pretty much homebodies in my experience. I once killed a deformed-antlered moose a half mile and 4 years later from where I'd first seen him. I also saw/followed a certain bull ("Junior") over 5 years, every year, in same location + - a half mile during hunting season. The last year he was plus or minus an inch (50") of being legal - too close to call. The next year I had enough meat and did not hunt. Never saw him again, so someone got him. Damn, I liked that bull- he'd provided me with a lot of entertainment!

I've read studies from an area in Canada where collared study animals migrate 30 miles or more, so I guess it depends on circumstances/terrain. I kinda think mountain moose probably have some vertical migration due to weather. Which, along with a couple other considerations,insects included, was the case in Canada.

My gut feeling is that your cow(s) will be in the same general location, even in mountain country, in September. Too early for rut or weather to move them, except maybe towards the end of September. Cows determine where the rut (late September thru Oct) area will be. Like human men, bulls will follow, tongues hanging out.....

So if weather doesn't force a located cow/cows to move, I'm guessing any scouted cows will be in the same general location, within a half-mile or mile. Look at the habitat for clues. I'm not that familiar with your environment at that time down there, but they are likely to be transitioning from summer forage to more woody browse perhaps. They are doing so up here.

I'm near sea-level, while moose environs down there are up higher, so perhaps it's the same general deal.

The best bait for a moose, is another moose. I've killed several bulls by watching a located cow. They are fully aware of any other moose in their area, so watch body language if you spot a bull first. And they ain't dumb, by any stretch of the imagination, despite their looks. If you see a spike or fork horn "yearling" - his mom isn't that far away, even if she has another calf.

I highly recommend that you read "Ecology and Management of North American Moose" if you can find a copy at a library or somewhere. Copies are spendy to buy - $80 or so - and I don't lend mine....

Good luck. A nice fat cow moose is mighty fine eating. Heck- that rolled bull moose rib BBQ I finished off last night was PDG. I killed him in 2010 and vac-packed him. (Lost in the freezer.....!)

Oh, yeah - as with most deer, the first couple of hours after daylight and before dark are going to be your prime times for either glassing, or working a patch by still-hunting through it- but don't neglect mid-day, either. They often get up and move about for an hour or so then - or can at any time. Hunt can-see to can't see. Slip-hunt possible bedding areas mid-day, rather than watching edge/feeding areas. They are most likely to bedded, so watching feeding areas/edge is a waste of time. Usually.

Anything coming out of the grass while still-hunting bedding areas that ain't wearing horns is good. I hunted "islands" of unburned bedding timber in a burn area for years for bulls under "any bull" regs, and never spent more than 2 weekends at it fore over a decade before filling the freezer. Should work similarly for cows- and there are more of them than bulls. If the terrain/situation fits.

Moose like to bed in heavy cover/shaded/cool areas for thermo-regulation. If bugs are bad, that may drive them out to cover their tenders in water during daylight hours, early afternoon or even mid-day.

Just before or after, or during a break in a storm one can often find moose up and moving. Even a short 15-30 minute interim in a storm can do it.

If you punch a moose and it bolts, look to find it in the nasty stuff 50-100 yards away. I lost one (my third) this way long enough for it to spoil , and have since gone to CNS (head or spine) shots when possible. Instant drop, no searching. Although a nice bleed-out double lunger provides marginally better meat.