Congrats on getting the tag! I drew a bull tag in northern Idaho last year and hunted around the town of Avery. Hunted high up on ridge lines and saw a lot of immature bulls and one big monster bull that was down in a steep remote hole that would have been a days climb out of without a backpack full of meat I decided to leave him and hunt more accessible areas. I ended up taking the “The backup bull” we had seen down in the river bed we were camped on. He ended up going 42”. He was down only 300yards from a road by way the crow flies but there was no easy way to get to him because of the beaver dams and river islands without a boat we didn’t have so it was a long hike along the river bed. I ended up FILLING three 150qt coolers with meat, heart, liver and cape. I deboned everything but the ribs. I shot him in the lungs and he just kinda stiff legged and started staggering slowly towards the willows so I shot again high shoulder and dropped him but the second shot probably wasn’t needed. There was very little blood shot meat and I took my time carefully and efficiently deboning everything but the ribs so I ended up with almost a whole moose to pack out. The butcher weighed the game bags as we unloaded them into her walk in cooler and there was just over 500lbs, not counting the cape. I bought new caribou gear game bags for this hunt and was glad I did they held up well. I don’t think you will need the big moose size bags I used a lot of the medium sized ones that I think it was their elk size kit, I used two kits or about ten bags. If you go bigger than that they would be so heavy you will struggle hauling them out. Good luck with the hunt.
Everyone, thanks again for all the recommendations, I really appreciate it.
I've used both synthetic and the cloth style game bags in the past, and will be using sythentics again this year. Probably just a personal preference but I found that I like them a little better. As far as cooler space goes, my current setup is a square chest-style cooler we built that fills about half a truck box. We were able to fit a pile of meat in it the last couple trips out west and keep it plenty cool, worked very well, so I plan on taking that. I ask about the cooler space in the event I needed to take a different vehicle last minute. As far as breaking down the animal I anticipate I'll continue to do what's worked in the past for other animals and do the gutless method. I am most certainly not 'The Rock' lol and, based on the weights of bone-in quarters posted, will plan on deboning the quarters once the animal is apart and cooling down before the packout commences. My Dad is tagging along with me and will be able to haul some lighter loads of the meat, lightening the load a bit. Rock Chuck, I had seen an article similar to the one you posted stating much the same. Hopefully I'll have a story and pictures of the process to share come October. Either way, it should be a good time!
I love Idaho panhandle. Back in the day I worked 2 summers there USFS trail crew. Calder Ranger District, St Joe Forest. Also took a horse back Middle Fork Salmon elk hunt one time, 35 miles back into FC Wilderness, out of Yellow Pine. Got some excellent moose video at 9,000 feet on that one - I'm stil getting crap from family, about flying 3,000 miles to take moose video...... . Hey, that near 50" bull came walking thru camp- what's a fellow to do? No video then, but the next day I bumped into him at about 30 yards trashing timber down the mountain a ways, and I had my brothers camera with me.
Smaller moose than here, but still.... After 20 something of the critters, most of them packed a mile or more, and creeping age, that skid-loader ain't a bad idea!
Take 10 heavy duty game bags (Not that cheese cloth crap!) and a friend - or an enemy you really don't like. I try to leave bone in the legs for hanging (not an option for you perhaps), and bone the rest out if packing any distance, but prefer to leave all the bone in for aging if possible.. I don't do "quarters". 4 legs, 2 rib sides, back, neck, and loose meat (backstraps, etc if boned).. Yeah, that makes 9 usually, but I carry 10 - and have needed or used all of them on occaision.
As said, your moose will be somewhat smaller thn those up here most likely, but the last moose I weighed out up here was a 3 or 4 year old. Hind legs alone, detached from pelvic girdle, went 92 and 93 pounds, respectively, bone in. It wasn't a particularily big moose for here. I have had hinds well in excess of 120#.
My WAG is that you will end up (from a big mature Shiras) with about 300 -350 lbs of boneless meat, if that helps in figuring cooler capacity. Bigger coolers will keep the meat frozen or cold better, but are harder to handle. Choose your poison. From years of traveling out of the bush with caribou meat, a "normal size" cooler will hold about 50# of packaged meat, then frozen, then cooler loaded, if that helps. I know, as the airline has a 50# limit on bag weight, and the coolers I used (cheap ones), weighed several pounds each, and I usually had a little space left on top. One can get more meat into a cooler by chilling the meat first, loading it into the cooler, and freezing the whole works together. It will stay frozen longer this way also, big chunk vs buncha little chunks.
"Ecology and Management of North American Moose" by Smithsonian Press is the best moose book I know of. I've read mine several times, and it is worth every cent of the $80 I spent on it some 20 years ago. You might be able to find a copy in a library somewhere. A truely superb picture book is "mMoose" by Michio- a Japanese photographer. He got et by a Kamchatka bear...
Moose are basically whitetails in habits, are probably the most vocal of all cervids, and anyone who tells you they are dumb is full of crap. But hunting techniques in similar habitats are much the same. It is an absolute blast to call one in. But beware of killing a bull during rut if you are into moose meat for dinner. Chances are good you could get a stinky.
There are videos and how-to's out there on technique- you really don't need to buy any of the calls or horns, but it doesn't hurt either. Mouth -made calling works about as well, so I often do not carry an amplifier, as do breaking sticks, whacking trees with a stick, thrashing brush with same, rustling plastic tarps, and who knows what else.
Some will tell you moose are solitary animals. They are not - they just like their space from others. The best bait for moose is another moose. I have killed several bulls that I was clued into first by a cow's body posture. And not during rut.
Good luck, have fun (oh, you will!)
Thanks for the book recommendation. I'll look into finding a copy. As far as calling goes, is blind calling (not sure that's the correct term) a tactic worth pursing, or is it best used when you have a bull spotted and are attempting to bring him closer to you?
I was lucky enough to draw my moose tag close to home & I saw 37 moose in 27 days of hunting. I passed on one really good bull twice because he was in velvet & I wanted a hard horned bull. I thought I could find him later but it didn't work out & I ended up shooting one of the smallest bulls I seen. I took him with a Ruger 480 revolver at 45 yds with one shot & was happy to get him, I had waited 17 years. Moose don't like direct sun light, you have to hunt them in the timber unless it is very late in the season. Hunt the water holes, that's where I saw many of my moose. I didn't try calling, I knew where they would be because I've seen them here all my life (SE Idaho) I have a lot of video of that big bull, perhaps 45-46" & I wonder sometimes..... had him at 14 yds once.
As far as calling goes, is blind calling (not sure that's the correct term) a tactic worth pursing, or is it best used when you have a bull spotted and are attempting to bring him closer to you?
Yes.
And if you think you maybe possibly might have almost heard an answer........ you did. Therm buggers are pretty quiet most times.
I tend to call too loudly too often- much like my talking and posting....
"According to Campbell, moose populations are highest in areas 40 years after a major wildfire."
That doesn't sound right. The area I hunted the most (15A, Kenai Peninsula, Alaska) was burned in 1969. Place was filthy with moose in late 70's thru mid 90's. 10 to 25 years. Now it is likely 10-15% or even less of what it was in the 80's and early 90's due to grow-up. And the predator population isn't any less. Maybe climatic conditions are different- we are likely cooler and wetter, so maybe regrowth is faster.
IIRC, the average density for a few years was about 7 moose per square mile- the highest ever recorded world-wide. IIRC...
Of course, some areas held more, and some less due to habitat differences, especially during rut or immediate pre-rut. i once found a group of 17 cows and at least two bulls. When I grunted, the sub-legal 3 year old youngster took it personal and we had an eye-ball to eyeball at about 10 yards. I was the one who backed down....
Another time I infiltrated a pre-rut group of 7-10 cows and at least 4 bulls, and moved along with them within the group (moose all around me) for over an hour, never without a moose within sight- and visibility was limited to 30 yards or less - thick stuff.. Just caught a glimpse of the biggest one, the other three were definately sub-legal. I joke that they lost track of who-all they had invited to the orgy, tho I got the stink-eye a few times. A grunt and head wag with a shoulder blade up by my ear reassured them every time that I was just the funny-looking one.
Best hunting experience I have ever had - I still grin just thinking about it. And I didn't have to dress anything out.
Read that a couple of days ago in the local (Sandpoint) newspaper. I have a good friend here that is second generation Sagle Idaho. He drew 6 six years ago after 24 years. A neighbor just down the road here, recent relos from the mid-west of five years, applied when they became residents. She drew on year three and found out months after she learned that she was pregnant. Her husband did the scouting and she killed her bull on day two of the season.
Read that a couple of days ago in the local (Sandpoint) newspaper. I have a good friend here that is second generation Sagle Idaho. He drew 6 six years ago after 24 years. A neighbor just down the road here, recent relos from the mid-west of five years, applied when they became residents. She drew on year three and found out months after she learned that she was pregnant. Her husband did the scouting and she killed her bull on day two of the season.
I got my bull about 15 years ago in unit 62. My partner and I put in as a group and drew the 2d time. Tags were much easier to get at that time. We went out opening weekend but the temps were in the low 90's. We hunted 1 day and went home. If we'd got one, we'd have lost the meat for sure in that heat. We went back about 10 days later and I got mine in 8" of snow. Weather can change fast that time of year.
“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” ― George Orwell
It's not over when you lose. It's over when you quit.
Congratulations, always fun to plan a hunt like this! I don't know what unit you got or if an early or late hunt. But would recomend accessing gated roads and using a game cart to haul him out with. A lot of the panhandle is THICK and STEEP very hard to hunt cross country. I hunted 11 days, saw 3 bulls 2 were the size of your hands. Had the three month hunt west of Bonners Ferry. By the second week of October there was 18" of snow on the ground, if not for loggers would not of been able to get into the area at all. Was a 43" bull. 308 below his ear at forty yards about a mile from the pickup. Good luck.
Last edited by AZcows; 07/28/19.
Greater love has no one than this,that he lay down his life for his friends.
Idaho might not be the highest state, but it's at or close to the most rugged. Idaho got more than it's share of earth wrinkling. The mountains are steep with deep valleys between them. Those deep valleys are killers.
“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” ― George Orwell
It's not over when you lose. It's over when you quit.
I've done several moose. As someone said, I only leave the bone in for the 4 quarters. They are easier to hang that way. Everything else, back straps, tenderloins, ribs, neck, etc is with out bone. Use good bags. All my bulls have been in Alaska, so they were good size animals. If you cut the horns off, there's no possibility of a European mount. We usually take a battery powered sauzall. Makes some things much easier.
NRA LIFE MEMBER GOD BLESS OUR TROOPS ESPECIALLY THE SNIPERS! "Suppose you were an idiot And suppose you were a member of Congress... But I repeat myself." -Mark Twain
. Hey, that near 50" bull came walking thru camp- what's a fellow to do? No video then, but the next day I bumped into him at about 30 yards trashing timber down the mountain a ways, and I had my brothers camera with me.