24hourcampfire.com
24hourcampfire.com
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Hop To
Page 2 of 3 1 2 3
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 16,505
65BR Offline OP
Campfire Ranger
OP Offline
Campfire Ranger
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 16,505
Great feedback guys, appreciate you all.

BP-B2

Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 31,969
L
las Offline
Campfire 'Bwana
Offline
Campfire 'Bwana
L
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 31,969
Originally Posted by wildone
Originally Posted by Romo
You could always aim for the shoulder and get lucky by spining him, right Wildone?


still trying to figure out how you accomplished that , but hey it worked that time ! smile


I got one that way once, using a 250 gr .338 mag slug. He was running flat out at 150 yards, straight away.

When he hooked to the left I got him quartering away, high through the shoulder blade nearside, and out the base of the neck farside, pulverizing about 6 inches of spine in between.Tthe spine takes a dip right there, but I was actually trying for a little lower and farther back, for both lungs. His momentum took him another 20 feet or so, out into 16 inches of water and muck lakeside, which was what I was trying to prevent (there wasn't that much thought process in that split second, when he hooked the "wrong" way from what I was expecting - I should have waited until he was on dry ground on the far side of that little neck connecting the two larger lakes).

I put an insurance round into the back of his head ( well placed I thought) from several yards away after walking up on him, placed the rifle against a birch sapling well back from the bank, and went out into the lake to get him out of there (It was a yearling forkhorn). When I grabbed his antler to start turning him around back toward the bank, he blinked at me.

Oh yes, I remember that bull quite well! smile




The only true cost of having a dog is its death.

Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 31,969
L
las Offline
Campfire 'Bwana
Offline
Campfire 'Bwana
L
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 31,969
Originally Posted by castnblast
I disagree with advocates of hump and Texas heart shots.

The only moose I ever lost was shot in the hump. If you do not get to them immediately and put in a finisher, they can get up and leave. All you have done is knock them off their feet and caused a wound that will kill them slowly and painfully from infection.

And as far as shooting a moose in the rear just so you can later put in a finishing shot, that's just bad manners. Nobody who isn't starving needs to shoot a moose that badly. Heart/Lung shots or CNS shots for me please.


I tend to agree on the THS - never tried it myself, but some here have, and seem willing to use it again. As Quigley said - "never had much use for it - didn't say I couldn't". Or wouldn't, under the right circumstances.

The spine is quite large in the hump area, and the vertebrae boney processes above are larger there than elsewhere. If the bullet hits any of those, the moose will go down right there, and it makes for a fairly large knock-down area- assuming you are not a bit too high and slip the bullet between two of those boney spurs.... Even a very near miss to the spine will drop them, but as you say, there is some danger that it will only temporarily stun them. Either way, they are likely to stay down long enough to approach more closely, assuming the bullet went where it was needed, and at not too great a distance. Note I said "likely" , referring to the "near miss".

On any CNS shot (or other) the thing to do is rechamber immediately, put the safty on, and approach (if possible) with a clear field of fire, keeping your eyes on the critter at all times. Better yet, if someone is with you, one of you approaches the animal out of the line of fire, while the partner stands ready to shoot should the animal stand up again.

Moose don't necessarily die from gunshot wounds. A friend shot one in the neck once, it didn't even go all the way down, and bolted. They tracked it until they lost the trail. The next year he shot a look-alike several hundred yards away, and found his last-year's slug in the neck muscle when he butchered it out at home.

Another friend once showed me pictures and antlers of a moose he'd killed a few days before when it came in snorting and blowing snot to his calling up Wasilla way. One antler was deformed, and nearly all the ribs on one side had been broken - some in several places- and rehealed. The lung on that side was misshapen and grown into the rib cage, but apparently was at least once more still partially functional.

Even those big heavy multi-ton projectiles (locomotives) aren't sure killers, apparently.

I also once shot a yearling bull, broadside and running, at 35yards with a 12 ga. slug, trying for his spine behind the shoulder, since he was crossing the trail back to the boat at the time. It missed the spine low by less than a quarter inch, but neatly centered the big artery that runs back to the hind end, leaving about an eighth-inch of arterial wall on each side of the hole. Hit no bone, the slug never expanded much, and exited. He never even flinched, much less went down, ran about 100 yards, staggered, and fell over in mid-step, all bled out. A case of a near CNS hit not paralyzing the animal. I always wondered if a high-powered rifle bullet with its greater velocity would have produced a knock-down on that one.

My own rule of thumb is to take the first certainly lethal shot I can make with good recovery prospects. If offered a choice of placement under somewhat problematic recovery conditions, I'll take the one most certain of quickest recovery. If recovery prospects are certain, I want a good bleed out for best meat quality- double lungs or heart work nicely, as I stated before. I haven't seen that much difference in time to fall over between heart and double-lung placement- both depend on the same amount of blood loss, and dropping pressure.

It's a sliding scale.... Other's MMV.


The only true cost of having a dog is its death.

Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 13,670
1
Campfire Outfitter
Offline
Campfire Outfitter
1
Joined: Sep 2003
Posts: 13,670
yep good info here,


lung shot will kill them, not necessarily where he was standing though.


hump shot knocks them down reliably, but you better not lose line of sight as you approach for the coup de grace.


CNS all day every day, but pretty small CNS targets compared to that big body. Just cause you put in the right zip code doesn't mean you got the right street.

I've done all of the shots, depending upon circumstances, and the hump shot I had to try after an Indian told me it was reliable.

odds are I'll take the lung shot, but I sure like what happens when you hit the neck.

though Verns experience with finding not 1 but 2 TSX bullets recovered in neck muscle leaves me a bit surprised. Tis food for thought. Vern is a straight shooter, and has kilt a moose or three


"This ain't dress rehearsal....it's the life you get to live, make it a good one."

TEAMWORK = a bunch of people doing what I say
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 7,205
Campfire Tracker
Offline
Campfire Tracker
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 7,205
I just shoot the damm things, bow or rifle, they die pretty easily. Have shot them in the shoulder, behind the shoulder, in the neck, in the head, all shots have killed em. Moose are about as dumb as it gets, and with that goes the fact that they dont often even know they are dead for a minute or so after being shot. I wouldn't sweat where to shoot a moose, just make sure its a vital or roll the dice on a CNS and remember that with either a follow up shot might be needed, they dont move that fast.

IC B2

Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 31,969
L
las Offline
Campfire 'Bwana
Offline
Campfire 'Bwana
L
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 31,969
AkCub:

They don't move that fast- wrong.

They hide real well too.

Dumb? Wrong.

Don't' sweat where you shoot them? Well, ok-as long as it IS in an effective location - heart, lungs, CNS (which I don't agree is a "roll of the dice" used skillfully and with discretion).

Drinking tonight, or just feeling ornery? smile


The only true cost of having a dog is its death.

Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 7,205
Campfire Tracker
Offline
Campfire Tracker
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 7,205
Nah just dont get much wood for hunting moose anymore las. They are just too easy to kill, and too much damm work afterwards. You can view it differently than I thats okay by me, its just that my recollections of quite a few moose dieing by my hand and others , none were even remotely challenging to kill, of course with the exception of a few shot in the water, but they werent hard to kill, just kilt in a god awful place...grin

Of course where I hunt em may be different than where you hunt em, I've just not seen even the remotest challenge in killing a moose, just got to find em is all.

Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 31,969
L
las Offline
Campfire 'Bwana
Offline
Campfire 'Bwana
L
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 31,969
I agree. C'mon down here hunting - you probably won't have to do much work.. not that there aren't moose out there.

Killing them isn't the challenge. Getting them to that point can be, and I've run the gamut from a sure bet on a 2-weekend hunt 20 years ago to the present, with 100 times the cover, 30% of the moose, and a kill every several years. I've hunted the same two or three areas all this time, so it's not like I'm a virgin out there.

But they ain't dumb. Some may be unsophisticated, but they ain't dumb, and the fewer they get, the smarter they get. Or maybe it's just harder to find an unsophisticated one.. Or I could be losing brain cells... or maybe- probably- I just wasn't as smart as I once thought I was... smile


The only true cost of having a dog is its death.

Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 2,323
C
Campfire Regular
Offline
Campfire Regular
C
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 2,323
Alaskacub, I have to put in a plug for moose "intelligence"!
I rate hard hunted moose in thick cover as the most challenging of all the game that we have available locally in central Saskatchewan. Alaska wilderness moose are likely somewhat different based on more open subalpine terrain and lack of "education". Consider hunting moose outside of the rut for a moment. From my limited experience in the Yukon ( I'm assuming it's similar to Alaska) , it is not unusual in mountainous terrain to spot a moose from a distance and stalk into range. Not so here. Tracking a moose through thick bush and shooting it in it's bed has become a lifelong quest, and I have not satisfactorily pulled it off yet, but I have done that several times with supposedly more wary bull elk and buck whitetails. I'd say that moose do not trust their eyesight as much as many critters, but hearing and smell are second to none. Most of the several moose I have shot under late season tracking conditions were killed as a result of good luck and good shooting reflexes, not because of stupid moose or my "superior" tracking skills.
I realize lumping all moose hunting together was not your intent, but I thought it proper to give another viewpoint.
They do seem to gain weight once you pull the trigger......

Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 17,491
Campfire Ranger
Offline
Campfire Ranger
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 17,491
Originally Posted by AlaskaCub
Moose are about as dumb as it gets....


That doesn't sound like some of the moose I've hunted. O' course, perhaps I am just so darned dumb....or is it unlucky? (But 700 miles of riding -one snowmachine- over four weekends to finally connect? Hmm?) But yes, some of them are purely gifts. wink

Or try hunting them before the rut. What bulls? (There sure can be a lot of cows then though!)

Quote
I wouldn't sweat where to shoot a moose, just make sure its a vital or roll the dice on a CNS and remember that with either a follow up shot might be needed, they dont move that fast.


You might want to qualify "that" as they certainly can and do move when they want to - and a lot faster than a bolt gun can be cycled. Being big means the target is bigger - not to be confused as "all target".

And THS attempts seem naively foolish, at least on the winter moose I've taken. I suppose there is a point where one has enough gun and bullet to do it, but I have had enough bullets stopped by that 100-pound + paunch, even from decent rifles and bullets - like Xs in the 340 Roy- to think that one could be assured of driving a bullet through that "ballistic woodbag" and wreaking lethal damage upon the cardiovascular goodies.



Sometimes, the air you 'let in'matters less than the air you 'let out'.
IC B3

Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 31,969
L
las Offline
Campfire 'Bwana
Offline
Campfire 'Bwana
L
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 31,969
Don't tell me they can't be fast. I once walked around a spruce tree into the open end of a 3-sided deadfall pocket. 30 feet away, an estimated 5 or 6 year old bull jumped to his feet, pivoted, and leaped (flat-footed, as it were) over the roughly 7 foot high, multi-tree deadfall behind him before I got the gun half raised.

I gave him only an 8.5, because he touched it with a hind foot going over...

That is the most impressive thing I've ever seen a moose do, physically.


The only true cost of having a dog is its death.

Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 7,205
Campfire Tracker
Offline
Campfire Tracker
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 7,205
Well it seems the moose I have killed must have just been the ones that rode the short bus to moose school as calfs, cuz I havent found near the problems killing moose that many of you state. To date, I and my pards have never gone moose hunting and not killed a moose, 2 over 70, 60+'s, mid 50's, mid 40's, barely palmers and spikes, none have given me much trouble or challenge when we speak of killing. I will admit to being party to more than one grueling extraction from the backcountry but like I have said.....they aint hard to kill by any stretch of the imagination. I have killed them in low lands, bogs, alpine regions, residential areas and even in my own back yard. If a guy can shoot, regardless of the tool in hand( bow or rifle), I still say they are one of the easiest critters to kill given their size, and have never seen one go even 100 yards after being shot, usually less than 50.


Oh....and I personally have never taken one via a THS, or a gut shot, so I cant comment on how that works out.

Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 31,969
L
las Offline
Campfire 'Bwana
Offline
Campfire 'Bwana
L
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 31,969
You are a lucky man.

I've had well-shot moose go up to 150 yards - disappearing after the first jump or two. That gives one a 300 yard diameter area to search as the bastids are tricky about changing direction. Not easy when one is unlikely to spot a downed moose more than two or three yards away. Hence my preference for CNS shots, if available.

As I said - I agree they are easy to kill with proper shot placement. Usually. They just may not be easy to get to that killing point, in less than abundant, remote, perhaps guided, optimal areas/conditions. The finding afterward can be the tough part.

I'll take an "easy" moose any time I can get it... not that there is any such thing, except relatively..

No disrespect intended, but my feeling is that you have not had it difficult enough to develop the respect that these magnificent animals really deserve. I was in hog-heaven thru the 80's, into the mid-90's down here in the Swanson River Burn of '69 - and didn't really appreciate how good I had it at the time.

Again- no diss - just a difference of opinion based on our comparative experiences.

A moose is as worthy of as much respect as any white-tail or wapiti ever born.


The only true cost of having a dog is its death.

Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 1,418
Campfire Regular
Offline
Campfire Regular
Joined: Jul 2001
Posts: 1,418
Speaking of what a moose can do when he sets his mind to it, I once saw a moose clear an 8' chain link fence. As I recall, I think his hind legs hit the fence but he did clear it. Think that's the most amazing thing I've ever seen an animal do. And "yes", I've had 'em cover quite a bit of ground after being hit with a good shot.
Bear in Fairbanks


"Unless you're the lead dog, the scenery never changes."
Amazingly, I've lived long enough to see a President who is worse than Carter.
And finally,
Gun control means using two hands.

Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 85,964
Campfire Oracle
Offline
Campfire Oracle
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 85,964
I once watched a cow clear - no touching - a 5' high chain link fence from a standing start directly in front of it. The cow then went to the gate and with a few urrr, urrr, the calf-of-the-year came over and walked through the kid-gate. I suspect the cow had tried to negotiate the gate previously and found it wasn't possible! smile

las - that was at Soldotna El. wink


If you take the time it takes, it takes less time.
--Pat Parelli

American by birth; Alaskan by choice.
--ironbender
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,488
3
Campfire Regular
Offline
Campfire Regular
3
Joined: Jan 2005
Posts: 2,488
Originally Posted by 458Win
I always tell my clients to put the first shot right behind the front shoulder and when they lock up and stand there to put the next shot through the center of the neck.

I am always suspect of any moose that immediately falls over as i can virtually guarantee that the hit it too high in the hump and that it will quickly regain it's feet and be gone unless hit again in a vital area.



You are the first guide (that I have talked to or corresponded with) in Alaska that has said the center hump shot is not a good anchor shot. I once grazed a hump at way to far for a pistol with open sights and had the SOB fall and get back up and then fell again, to late the second time as I was on him, This time from 20 feet away.

I can almost always see the hump clear of the brush for a clear shot. I can't always say that about other parts of the animal.

You cut the spinal cord and no more messages can go to the legs.

Shoot the center of the hump, and no more messages to all four legs.


Thus saith thr lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeh from the lord. Jeremiah 17:5 KJV
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 85,964
Campfire Oracle
Offline
Campfire Oracle
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 85,964


If you take the time it takes, it takes less time.
--Pat Parelli

American by birth; Alaskan by choice.
--ironbender
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 1,663
B
Campfire Regular
Offline
Campfire Regular
B
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 1,663
Here's another one I found.

[Linked Image]

Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 50,591
Campfire Kahuna
Offline
Campfire Kahuna
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 50,591
That is a neat skeleton, but the back is WAY too arched.


Mark Begich, Joaquin Jackson, and Heller resistance... Three huge reasons to worry about the NRA.
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 31,969
L
las Offline
Campfire 'Bwana
Offline
Campfire 'Bwana
L
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 31,969
I trained them that way. smile

That must have been either the "slow" cow, or the impatient one. Most of them (or they mostly) use the kid-gates. Usually we have to do no more than walk out of the building before recess, if they are in the yard, and the cow will start heading for the nearest kid gate. They know exactly where every one of the gates are.

On occasion, I have been really glad for those soccer backstops! Or the Principal holding the door open for me.

"Some assembly required" for the youngster mooses..


The only true cost of having a dog is its death.

Page 2 of 3 1 2 3

Moderated by  RickBin 

Link Copied to Clipboard
YB23

Who's Online Now
642 members (1badf350, 09wingates, 219 Wasp, 2003and2013, 007FJ, 160user, 65 invisible), 2,587 guests, and 1,170 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Forum Statistics
Forums81
Topics1,187,601
Posts18,398,282
Members73,817
Most Online11,491
Jul 7th, 2023


 







Fish & Game Departments | Solunar Tables | Mission Statement | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | DMCA
Hunting | Fishing | Camping | Backpacking | Reloading | Campfire Forums | Gear Shop
Copyright © 2000-2024 24hourcampfire.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5
(Release build 20201027)
Responsive Width:

PHP: 7.3.33 Page Time: 0.185s Queries: 15 (0.004s) Memory: 0.9106 MB (Peak: 1.0957 MB) Data Comp: Zlib Server Time: 2024-03-28 13:23:42 UTC
Valid HTML 5 and Valid CSS