Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Drew a Montana moose tag

Looks good!

We've put at least part of six moose in our freezers over the years. The first was a BIG Shiras bull one of our friends got in Montana, which Eileen helped butcher. It was taken in November, after the rut, and he got around 40 pounds of the meat for helping. It tasted fine but was pretty tough, partly because the bull wasn't hung very long before butchering. So she learned something from that.

Consequently when she drew her bull tag in 1989 (on her first try), she wanted a younger bull, and after some lucky scouting took a 34" 4x5 early on opening day, when it was still cool. We aged the meat several days before butchering, and it was great.

Then I started getting frustrated about not drawing a tag, so started hunting moose in other places. Got a 58" bull in Alaska in 1996, on the 3rd of September, when they were just starting to rut. This was also back when airlines still shipped meat for free as checked baggage, which Delta did with my several boxes. After a few days of aging it was also great.

My next "non-drawing" bull was a big one taken in northern British Columbia on the 6th of September in 2002, also before the rut, on the first full day of a 10-day hunt. It aged for the rest of the hunt, and my 2-day drive back home to Montana, and was also excellent.

My third "non-drawing" bull was taken in central Alberta in 2006 on November 7th, after the rut. It wasn't as big as the BC bull, but still probably weighed 1000 pounds. Eileen went along to supervise the field-care, and after aging for several days it was also excellent.

Have heard that bull moose can be not-so-great to eat in late September/early October, like rutting bull elk, but so far haven't killed or eaten one taken during that period. But have yet to hear of the rut affecting cows, so am looking forward to September 15th, when the firearms season begins--and runs through the Sunday after Thanksgiving. But Montana also just started a "heritage" muzzleloader season, for traditional rifles only, for around 10 days in mid-December, which I believe also applies to moose. So there's that possibility too.

Might also mention that Montana allows hunters to apply again for moose seven years after they draw a tag, which is how Eileen got to draw two tags. (She's a LOT luckier than I am in drawings!)