Drew ID Moose Tag (Unit 62A)

COGriz · May 29, 2008

I drew an ID moose tage for unit 62A! I contacted the Huntin' Fools last week for a list of fellow members who have drawn the unit. I haven't received the list yet and am chomping at the bit to get some information on the unit. Hopefully there are some ID boys living close to Ashton or Island Park (or others who have hunted the unit) who would be willing to help out this CO boy and share some information on hunting moose in the area!

I applied for the unit as I grew up in Cody, WY and always wanted to hunt something in the West Yellowstone area... I like NW ID... the unit has grew average width (40") and success rates (70-90%)... HF had it listed as one of top 12 units in 2007. I also didn't want to hunt the Clearwater or Panhandle regions as I felt kind of claustrophobic on a recent spring bear/turkey hunt in the Clearwater region. It's tough when selecting and applying for once-in-a-lifetime hunt as you don't get another chance! So, am just looking forward to learning as much as I can about the unit and looking forward to enjoying fully my first lower48 moose hunt!

Thanks!

Theodore Roosevelt once said, "The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation, INCREASED and NOT IMPAIRED in value."

Zigga · May 29, 2008

LAST EDITED ON May-29-08 AT 09:00PM (MST)[p]We can't wait to see pics. Send scouting pics to get us by. These are from last year in MT.

UThunting · May 29, 2008

LAST EDITED ON May-29-08 AT 10:28PM (MST)[p]http://www.monstermuleys.info/dcforum/User_files/483f818f1db72187.jpg

COGriz · May 30, 2008

Wow... awesome pics in both posts!

UTHunting, congrats on the beautiful bull, I read a couple of you other posts as I was trying to catch-up on moose related posts last night. How did you get that moose on the ATV???? Surprised it didn't blow the front tires!!!!

I can only hope 62A will give me some of the visibility you both apparently had in chasing your bullwinkles in MT and UT. That is one of the things I am unclear on as of yet... the density of the cover and the visibility.

Theodore Roosevelt once said, "The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation, INCREASED and NOT IMPAIRED in value."

tworivers · May 30, 2008

Hey congrats on tag, . You will have a mix of aspen/pine canyons to pine covered flats. Somewhat similiar to North Idaho, Hunting down near Henry's fork in Northwestern part of your Unit you May have luck catching them in bogs, Upper eastern part of Unit has plenty of water, rolling pine covered canyons with aspen mix and flats there are a few places we saw Moose in while hunting elk, pm me. Obviously warm river is there as well, Start at bottom of Unit where these come together closer to people less predation. The Ashton hill on east side of Hy 20, The Dry farms just northeast of Ashton will have open terrain but alot is private. The Canyon section of Henry's fork as it cuts west is a good place to inquire about as well. Good Luck

songdogtravel.com

Zigga · May 30, 2008

UTHunting,

Where did those hawgs come from? Nice!

COGriz · Jun 1, 2008

tworivers, dropped you a pm. THX!!

Theodore Roosevelt once said, "The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation, INCREASED and NOT IMPAIRED in value."

bigmuleyman · Jun 1, 2008

Be carefull up there. I've seen more moose killed by vehicles than hunters in that area. There are also motor vehicle restrictions for that area, hence the pic with the moose on the quad.

PopeShawnPaul · Jun 2, 2008

Congradulations on drawing the tag Griz. I don't have any unit specific information for you but thought I would help motivate you by showing you my moose from ID last year. It was taken up in the Clearwater area. The best advise I can give you is hunt the first two weeks of October and hunt near lakes and water sources. Locate the females and you'll locate the males. Good luck.

Shawn

COGriz · Jun 2, 2008

Shawn,

Thx for the pic! Nice bull! Not that I need any more motivation at this point but certainly can't ever have too much.

BTW, I'll drop you a PM. I'm curious on your suggestion of hunting first 2 weeks of October vs. last week of September and a follow-up week long November hunt if unsuccessful during the rut.

Thx!

Theodore Roosevelt once said, "The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation, INCREASED and NOT IMPAIRED in value."

COGriz · Jul 28, 2008

Well, lost a little bit of momentum in my prep activities but wanted to pop this back up to the top for anyone that wants to talk ID moose hunting!

Thanks to tworivers, popeshawn and twister for sharing information! I also got some good information from the biologist on some areas to focus on and possible approaches/techniques. Sounds like good approaches include 1) focusing on rivers/lakes since this is where the cows will be so is where the bulls will be, 2) finding areas with a lot of sign and using decoy and calling, 3) get vantage point on south side of river and glass north side of river (southern exposure) for spot/stalk.

What's got most of my focus right now is the griz situation. I grew up in Cody, WY so grew up in griz country but never had a griz encounter. Given some of this ID 62A moose hunt may be solo and right up against the ID/Yellowstone boarder... it could be a bit western. I'd like to spike out a bit (on my mule if possible) vs. coming and going in the dark, but may reconsider that. I'll certainly have my bear mace/.357 mag on my belt at all times, particularly with game down! I know a gun shot on the Cody side of the park is a dinner bell for grizzlies, hopefully that is not the case on the West side (although I'm sure it is).

Thx...

Theodore Roosevelt once said, "The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation, INCREASED and NOT IMPAIRED in value."

3006enfield · Jul 29, 2008

COGriz, send me a email to this address for moose rut information for SE Idaho.

[email protected]

brdhuntr · Jul 29, 2008

I shot a 45-incher on October 4th of 07,and he was in full Rut. i would'nt start hunting until about the 25th. of September has been my experience with everyone i've talk too.My son-in-law and his friend both drew the same unit,and we are planning to start hunting on September 27th. should be great. Good luck on you're hunt, they are a magnificant animal. Be sure and have some help after he hits the ground, they are alot bigger than any Elk i've killed,i had 516 lbs of meat to take to the processer in Grangeville.

idhunters · Jul 30, 2008

I would go with the last week of Sept/first week of Oct for the rut. My wife shot a 45" near Palisades Res a couple years ago and the last week was when the rut really kicked in.

While having water in the area does help, we found nearly all the moose on the aspen & pine covered side hills.

Really interesting glassing a sidehill for moose when there are about 400 head of black angus cattle there also. I glassed a bull and cow moose for 30 minutes before I realized they were NOT beefs.

Check on cow tags in the area before using a decoy!!!

Calling does work. It brings them in and also hangs them up while you are trying to get a shot. We had to bust thru brush to get a shot at my wifes bull and calling made him hold until we got set up.

Have fun!!! Watch out for meat spoilage!

COGriz · Aug 3, 2008

brdhuntr,

Any pics of the 45"er!!?? Did you call in your bull or spot/stalk or stillhunt him?

Whether or not I'll have any help is a bit iffy. Fortunately, my mule (Colter) will be along for the trip. He doesn't have to worry about work, vacation, other hunts, the wife/kids, etc.!!

And, I'm paying his way! Even given that, a solo moose hunt in griz country should be interesting.

I got a good 8 hour day of prep in on Saturday... so am picking up some mo again.

Theodore Roosevelt once said, "The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation, INCREASED and NOT IMPAIRED in value."

COGriz · Aug 3, 2008

idhunters,

I'd love to see some pics! The PalisadeS Res area is another area I was looking at seriously before applying for 62A. My undertanding is that area is a bit more wide open and conducive to hunting on a mule and spot/stalk type hunting.

I talked to the HF member who hunted 62A last year. She mentioned seeing more moose on the aspen & pine covered side hills as well (vs. around water). I was reading a '97 B&C/Fair Chase Moose hunting article by Boddington... he mentioned moose hunting being alot like elk hunting... glassing/spot-stalking in aspen/timber covered ridges/hills.

I bought the Alex Gouthro moose hunting/calling DVD set so have a good 6+ hours of great calling instructional video to practice with!

Theodore Roosevelt once said, "The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation, INCREASED and NOT IMPAIRED in value."

brdhuntr · Aug 4, 2008

I'll be able to post a picture when i get him back from the taxidermist sometime in the next 4-5 weeks.I took pictures with a film camera, but don't know how to post them.I have since bought a nice cannon that i can carry in the field and post on the internet. I actually did call him in with one of those cheap plastic calls. And not knowing what i was doing,and just fallowing the directions,it worked fine.I think when they are in the rut,they are even more cranked up than even Elk are! Can't wait to hunt them again this year,we will be going on Sept.27th.right after Elk archery.We have 2-tags,and it should be fun,good luck,and i'll keep you posted..

COGriz · Sep 24, 2008

Well, I'm heading up to ID tomorrow. I'm getting wound up... having a hard time sleeping at night! I've prepared as well as I can. Now I just need to get up there, hit the ground, hunt hard and hope for the best.

Thanks again for all your help! I'll let you all know how things go. Hopefully I'll have some great stories and picks of 45" ID Shiras bull moose here in a couple weeks!!!!

Theodore Roosevelt once said, "The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation, INCREASED and NOT IMPAIRED in value."

BowHuntWithaRifle · Sep 25, 2008

Here is an Eastern Idaho Bull I shot about 3 years ago.
45" Wide.

Here he is on the wall...

Here he is bottoming out my truck. Keep in mind his head isn't even in the back of the truck. That would have added at leat 70lbs.

COGriz · Apr 19, 2009

Hey, guys, I never got a chance to tie off this thread. I believe I let most of you know how my hunt went via email. Just incase I missed anyone... tought hunt, very warm for first 9 days of hunt, called in approx. 6 smaller bulls, had to extend hunt by a week to prevent eatting my tag, weather turned cool/cold/wet around day 10/Oct 6-7, called in 2 larger bulls on Oct 8, the first was probably 35-40" but just wasn't doing justice to the tag, fortunately I called in a big bull that afternoon (46" w/ 3 brows per side). It was quite an adventure, but certainly ended well. See pic below.

Question: I expect to get him back from taxidermist this summer. How do you get something like that to stay on the wall!! Do you have to get your wall reinforced? I can't imaging you just hang the wire from a nail like you would with smaller/lighter mounts?

Theodore Roosevelt once said, "The nation behaves well if it treats the natural resources as assets which it must turn over to the next generation, INCREASED and NOT IMPAIRED in value."