I need help please.

I am very interested in moose hunting in Montana, but have multiple questions, including any outfitters that you would recommend, non-resident drawing odds, difficulty of the hunt once tag is won, etc. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Please point me in the right direction.


thanks Coop

The odds of drawing are real long, even for residents. I am a life-long resident of Montana and haven't drawn in 30+ years of every-year applying. (My wife, however, has drawn 2 moose tags in 21 years of applying, including one on her very first try. Her second tag, drawn this year, was for a cow, however.)

There are also going to be fewer moose tags allowed, because of a drop in moose numbers in the state. The biologists claim this is a mystery, but in many areas it's due to wolves.

If you really want to hunt a moose I would look at Canada.

Wow, I had no idea.

33 years of applying with no tag here, and I even applied for cow tags with better odds, and accumulated their so-called "Bonus Points"...

Finally gave up on it.....that plus, as JB said moose in the areas I would normally put in for have been decimated by wolves, no other word for it...

Ingwe

Yeah, my buddy Milo got a cow moose tag maybe 6-8 years ago, for any area east of Missoula. Even then there were enough wolves that he saw more wolves than moose, and it took 17 days of hunting to get his cow.

As I wrote in my previous post, if you are planning to use an outfitter anyway I'd look at Canada. (Alaska is REALLY expensive.) I've hunted in both British Columbia and Alberta and there are still some reasonably priced moose hunts in both provinces.

I've been fortunate enough to shoot 3 moose ( 1 bull, 2 cows) in the last 6 years (and would have had a fourth tag had I not FUBAR'd this year's ID app)

Utah has lots of moose , no wolves, and CWMU tags for purchase.
These are going for $8,000-$12,000 now (which I think is nuts!) but I've passed on a $5000 tag (already had a cow tag) and a $7000 tag (no good reason) so they're out there if you search!

WY only took me 3 years to draw a bull tag, and I'm eligible to start applying again in 2010, but their numbers have taken a beating recently. IIRC, tags are in the $1700 range

CO has very few tags, and a long wait.

ID has to most moose, or at least they used to. The northern units have also taken a beating. Odds are good to great (1:10 to 1:3 for bulls, 1:3 to 1:1 for cows) in many units. Make sure the wolves didn't eat all the moose in that unit!
I think their tags are going up to the $2500 range in 2010.

if the natives would quit shooting the SOB's we would have a nice population up here in the northeast corner....however the corridor the keep coming out of Canada and down brings them right to the reservation and their lifespan once they hit the rez is bout 3 days.....been nearly a dozen killed in the last year alone....cows, bulls and calves....tribal telegraph moves faster than the moose and they wind up in someones freezer ASAP....

Coop-as the other Mt boys mentioned moose hunter here is pretty much in the crapper and it isn't gonna get much better.

Another thought would be to take a look at Ontario. Mattice Lake Lodge is a place I've looked into going to and they seem to be well thought of.

Best of luck to ya!

Dober

Like the other MT gents have said, forget it.

Not sure where you're from, but an Eastern Canadian hunt would make me happy. New Brunswick, or especially Newfoundland for me.

I drew one back in 1992 +/- area 100. I got a nice bull he was 43 inches wide.
Lots of fun hunting that guy.

They don't even have to be the rez to be up for grabs. Jourdannais figures there were at least 8 killed in the root this year by natives on NF. They don't even have to check them in though, so it's really a guess.
How in the hell is F&G supposed to manage a herd of animals when they can't even control the legal human kills.

The F&G management is messed up too. I hunt two different areas with roughly ~100 moose in each unit. Both units have wolves. One unit has 3 bull tags up for grabs, the other has 15 bull and 15 cow tags. I could understand a slight variance, but 10x.... come on.

I wouldn't go as far as to say 'forget it' like some of the others have, if you wanna apply, go for it. Just don't expect a tag anytime soon, and don't get your hopes too high for having much for options on bulls if you do draw.

funny thing is, the moose coming through here arent Shiras from my understanding, they are a Canadian subspecies.....wish like hell they would start coming down farther west, be cool as hell having a huntable population north of Fort Peck in 25 years give or take.....

Rattler

Same with elk I hear. Used to be a good herd a few miles east of here. Small quota of tags out....then the CDN natives hammered the h*** out of them, they spill down south and east of Opheim and your guys hammer them........sucks

true but we have a healthy population of elk west of here north of Fort Peck, so the natives shooting the ones that wander on the rez isnt a big deal to me....when yah get this far east there is less country for elk to be in without causing damage issues....couple winters ago a small herd wound up south of town and state Fish and Game said the normal over the counter elk tags were good for them cause they figured most would be put down by them in the end anyway when they started getting into hay stacks(hasnt been more than the odd handful of elk south of here for 100 years or better)....starting 60 miles west of here they are more common and there is alot more public land for them to be on and not cause issues...

HOWEVER there hasnt been a breeding population of moose in northeast Montana in well over 100 years im betting....they have started coming down bout a 4 to a dozen a year in the last decade.....would think it would be neat as hell for them to reintroduce themselves to the east end of the Breaks where i hunt....be plenty happy to wait a long while for them to have a huntable population if i got to bump into one every now and than.....just like i enjoy seeing elk even if i dont have a tag out there.....

should add for the Canucks, that unlike in Canada, white boys is allowed to live on the Indian reservations down here......im a white boy and aint allowed to shoot chit on the rez but gophers, rabbits and if i buy rez tags birds.....big game i cant shoot.....i also cant shoot foxes or coyotes as they are fur bearers on the rez so ive never shot them, on the rez, that anyone can prove

Thanks for the info on this outfitter. I live in Michigan, so this wouldn't be bad to travel to.

One other state that has not been mentioned is Washington. The tag is pretty reasonable. Is it worth applying to?

rattler- keep in mind that animals migrating out of Saskatchewan have the potential of bringing CWD here. So from that perspective it's not a bad thing that they're getting killed shortly after showing up.

Sorry for the off-topic hijack.

you do realize deer go back and forth across it and as Lorne said so do elk....if its gonna come down, aint nothing to stop it....

Rattler

When you talk about a breeding population getting going - thats exactly what has been happening the past 10 years or so here in the southern part of Sask. The moose are SLOWLY expanding their range further south. We've had limited draws the past few years in farm/parland zones.

My brother, his daughter(16) and I were drawn for antlerless moose this year. Next year there are going to be 50 tags for a HUGE zone that butts up to the MT border - we've been seeing moose in these zones for a few years.

My hope is that the game dept. doesn't issue too many tags so this opportunity continues

one of your other countrymen told me it was only in recent years that they were getting thick up there....and i would have to think so...15 years ago hearing bout one coming through was rare....this year i know for sure of 8 different individuals that made it into someones freezer and am pretty sure there were another few that i only heard about...

Expect that happened(s) here as well

We had a pretty good time brother and niece each filled their tags - first moose for both , even if it was antlerless only. I didn't because because we already had a pile of moose meat.

Saw some nice bulls . I killed a few in the years I lived in the Yukon and this hunting is nicer. Especially the processing !!

Also these farmland/parkland/southern moose aren't the Kevlar coated ones. Niece neatly dispatched hers with one shot out of a 6.5X55 swede - her and my brother tracked down a farmer with a front end loader to help lift it. Old boy wouldn't take a nickel because it was the kid's. Brother used a 280 but one shot was adequate there as well

Its a nice addition to the eco system

Reading this makes me sick. Back in 1983 I went on a guided elk hunt in the Absorakee Wilderness just on the northern edge of Yellowstone park. The previous spring, when talking to the Larry Gaustad, the outfitter, I asked about buying a moose tag, "over the counter" and having it in my pocket, "just in case". He talked me out of it saying I should save my money. "Their are some real buster bulls in there", he said, "but it was hard to intentionally hunt them. We sometimes run into them accidentally, but not often". Well, on the 8th day of my hunt I shot a 300 class 6-pt elk. On the way back up the mountain with mules to quarter and pack out my bull, we pass within 40 yds of a B&C Shiras bull. Made me sick. Three hours later, heading down the mountain, he was still there, having only moved about 30 yds. Made me even sicker!

Folks, if in doubt, buy the dang extra tag and stuff it in your pocket. Did just that last Sept/08 with my Ruger Bull (http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/2701301/1) up in AK. Went for Grizzly and shot a 62" moose with my 45 Colt @ 15 yds. Momma learned me to be a fool only once.

OTC moose tags in '83? Really?

I live in the plains of Saskatchewan, a long ways from real "moose' country. Just spent the day processing 150 lb of roadkilled moose into sausage. Moose are becoming very common on the plains of Saskatchewan. All it takes is for people to stop poaching them at every opportunity. We live in good whitetail deer country. A couple of years ago i was hunting deer in November. I actually ran into more moose than deer - 5 to 3. Next year we will have a draw licence season, hooray! Take care of your game and it will take care of your hunting opportunities.

That's the way I remember it but then it was over 26 years ago AND I didn't actually go through the process.

I kind of doubt there were OTC tags for moose in 83.

coop

You might try the super tags. You chances arn't good, but it isn't expensive like a NR draw.

I've been applying for about 20 years and get my money back every year. However, NR do get drawn occasionally. You are only allowed up to 10% of the tags so if an area doesn't have enough tags to get a NR 1 tag you not going to draw. If my math is corrct that mean an area with at least 10 tags. There is not many of those.

Over the counter MT moose in 83? I started applying after that, took me 19 years to draw I think. I jumped on the Wyoming application the 1st year they started preference points and that only took me 5 years to draw. Both are long shot odds for new-comers but worth it, when you draw a good area. Draw odds in Idaho are pretty good, and Colorado would be worth looking at as I think you're on even keel with all point-holders after year 3. Buying a moose hunt in Utah or Canada might be more expensive than just heading to Alaska for bigger moose in bigger country.

I am not sure about your money situation but have you thought about doing a drop off hunt in Alaska? There are quite a few outfitters in Alaska that can help you plan a self guided moose hunt. Moose permits are over the counter up here. If you are dead set on getting a guided hunt I believe Canada is cheaper.