montana moose rut

[johnb]

Taking the moon and time of year into account for the montana moose rut, What do you guys who hunt moose think for best hunting days for 2009.

sept 19 (New moon) until sept 26 more moon every night or

sept 26(half moon) until oct 4 (full moon)

 

[Elk375]

The average Montana moose hunter draws one to two moose tags in a life time and puts into an area where he/she has hunted elk before and saw moose. Why would I or anyone else know when the rut is except that we know when it is in Canada so that is when the rut is in Montana. Good luck to each and everyone putting in for moose tags this year. I have 7 points.

 

[BuzzH]

LAST EDITED ON Apr-07-09 AT 03:20PM (MST)[p]I'd say anyone that pays even remote attention would notice increased moose activity at certain times in the rut.

To answer your question, in Montana, Wyoming, etc. I'd say the best time to hunt moose during the rut would be between Sept. 20th through October 10th. Absolute best time would be the days around the 1st of October.

 

[johnb]

Buzzh thanks for your answer. Most of my hunting is done in non moose country, therfore I don't have alot of opportunity to view them. I agree with you in that most avid outdoorsman would pick up on these things while in moose country while hunting elk etc. Thus I'm looking for the experiences more experienced outdoorsman have seen in the woods.

I've spoken with several montana biologist whom say 9/15-10/15 but nothing related to the moon.

Have you seen a affect of the moon? (brightness)

With elk I hear elk bugle more at night and less during the day at times of fuller moons. Do any of you see this with the moose rut?

thanks john

 

[Randy11]

Can't disagree with you more ELK375. I make special trips and hikes targeting moose all the time. I love to keep tabs on the different bulls in my unit and could pretty well find specific moose through out the year.
The rut's always seemed to peak in my neck of the woods the last ten days of September. Just like elk and deer though the smaller bulls seem to start earlier than the big boys. Really haven't kept track of how the moon affected it though, but I'd think it wouldn't affect moose as much as elk.

 

[littlebighorn]

I have to agree with Randy in that you don't often hear a bull grunt like you hear elk. So I'd say you have to hunt the entire time you know rutting is going on if you can. On my Wyoming moose hunt I found my bull the day before the hunt chasing a cow. Then he disappeared. I kept checking back on the old burn where I first saw him and killed him three days later. He was hanging with his cows the whole time. I believe there was a full moon most of the time, but I have no idea how it affected him. I did however see several other bulls hanging out in the middle of the day.
Bulls move a lot during the rut until they find receptive cows. Then they hang around until they get what they are after, before moving on to other ladies. Good luck

 

[COGriz]

LAST EDITED ON Apr-19-09 AT 09:14AM (MST)[p]Just to share some related information from my 2008 62A (Upper Snake River Drainage - West Yellowstone area) ID moose hunt which may be close to the MT area you are interested in (?)...

I hunted the last week of September/first week of October. My plan was to hunt 9/27-10/5. I had no problem calling in younger bulls when within calling range (approx. 6 bulls), but didn't call in any larger bulls until weather hit around 10/7 (yes, I had to extend my hunt by 1 week or I would have eatten my tag!). On 10/8 I called in 2 larger bulls and took the 2nd bull.

My experience relevant to this thread is that the larger bulls appeared to be more sensitive to the weather than other factors. The first 9 days of the hunt were very warm. It wasn't until the last 2-3 days of the hunt when it got cool/cold/wet when the bigger boys started coming out of the wood work. Based on my experience, it is possible the success of the hunt is more dependent on the weather than the portion of the rut you hunt, the moom phase, etc. Of course, it is harder to plan a hunt around the weather than it is phase or rutt, moon phase, etc.!

Just my $.02.


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