I drew a bull moose tag in eastern Idaho for this upcoming fall! Of all the years to draw it, I will only have about a week that I can dedicate to the hunt due to an arduous new work schedule. The hunt goes from the end of August to the end of November. The question I have is this: if you could pick one week to hunt during that time period, when would you do it and why? What makes one time period better than another? Any help would be appreciated as hunting moose is going to be a new adventure for me! Thanks in advance!
Idaho Moose Tag in Pocket!
- Thread starter Dev11
- Start date
sneakypete
Veteran member
bdan68
Active Member
I don't know the area but I would think the first week of October should be good, as the bulls will be rutting.
bdan68
Active Member
I don't know the area but I would think the first week of October should be good, as the bulls will be rutting.
7mmgilbert
New Member
- Dec 21, 2014
- 4
- 0
Musket Man
Veteran member
What unit did you draw in? I have seen nice bulls the whole season but I have seen the most and biggest in late November in a foot of snow.
Hilltop
Veteran member
I agree with Musket Man. I believe your best shot at a big bull comes later in the season. Moose just become more visible later in the season so you should get the chance to look over more animals. The only catch is accessibility as that time of year makes travel very difficult and many animals are moving to lower elevations where you may run into more private land. Best course of action, IMO, is to find someone local who can do a little scouting for you... list the area and maybe one of those good guys up there will help.
sra61
Member
I had a moose tag in NW Montana last season bordering Idaho. I hunted 37 days from start to finish before seeing my first bull, and I wasn't road hunting, either! I am pretty sure the Idaho side has their moose population figured out a lot better. My Unit had two distinct wolf packs working in it so the game numbers all around were extremely low. I think the rut in early October is good. I had a couple of bulls that I had located, but just couldn't see. I killed my bull finally on November 24th. Snow helps alot too. I kind of think it's a toss up. I did see 11 moose in a different district close to home on the last day of our season which was November 30 last year. There were two different groups. there were 6 bulls between the two groups. I had never seen that many grouped up before. They were on their winter ground already, so maybe that tilts the scale a little more toward late season. They hang out more in the open clearcut areas to winter around here. I walked the area a little this spring and there was moose sign everywhere. I was hoping to find a shed, but maybe someone picked them up before I got there. Snow makes travel much more difficult, so that has to be considered. I have horses so I was good to go. Hope you find a monster. I would think the local biologist might be a good source of info too. I got a lot of good info from the biologist in my unit last season. Make sure you have detailed questions though. If you ask kind of generic questions you'll get generic answers. Good luck!
tim
Veteran member
meathunter
Active Member
Congrats Dev11! What unit? I'm in eastern Idaho and see a lot of moose. Either 1st week of October or mid November. I usually see a lot of them in November when there is snow and the leaves are down. Much easier to see. Send me a PM if you want and I might give you a few areas to try.
I drew a cow moose tag for unit 75. If any of you guys have a bull tag for that area just pm me and I will pass on what I see. Yesterday I saw 2 cows so I am pretty excited even though October is a ways off. I live in Pocatello and will be making several trips out there this Summer and Fall.
Thank you everyone! All good points and ways of reasoning! I drew the 67-2 tag. Luckily I've spent quite a bit of time in that area chasing deer around, and I have come across a few moose, but never with any consistency. Your comments have narrowed my time frames to the first of October (which is before the general elk hunt), and the middle to end of November (which is after the elk hunt). I'll also contact the Fish and Game regional office to see if they have any pointers! Thanks again for the info. and I wish you all the best of luck this upcoming season!
going early in September wouldn't be such a bad idea either, there are some popular trails in that unit you drew and there are some dandy bulls that hang out along those trails and are use to people, they will feed darn close to ya during the summer activity months. once the summer crowds roll out and that area fills with archery hunters sneaking around the woods and not on the trails in sep they will start getting more skidish. id at least give it a solid go the first 2 days of opener just for that sake alone.