Moose Judging

wymoose · Aug 4, 2008

Any of you know how wide are a mooses ears? My guess is about 30 inches...but i want to know if any of you experts know for sure.

predator · Aug 4, 2008

Wyoming, depends on the moose. Are you talking Shiras?

I measured a whole bunch of them to come up with my own system of field judging.

wymoose · Aug 4, 2008

yes shiras moose. I'm interested to hear about your system.

buffalo · Aug 4, 2008

The best way I have found is, from the outside edge of one eyeball to the outside edge of the other is almost always 11 inch's. They will usually look straight at you.
Buff

d13r · Aug 4, 2008

take a look through this article.....https://www.boone-crockett.org/community/pdf/FC_2003fall_fieldjudging.pdf

JB

Blank · Aug 4, 2008

90% of the time, the bull moose is looking at you when you are sizing him up. Ears are up and alert. About 18-20" on a younger bull, and 20-22" on a mature one. Laid out flat they will go about 28-30". I have taken and guided for a lot of bulls, and don't think I've ever seen one wider than 11" at the eye, most around 9.5".

Anything with antlers 10-12" wider than its alert ears is definately a trophy canidate!

Look at its body size and confirmation. Make sure it is 4-6 years old, and it will score good. Must check for the double or better shovels up front to get the score.

littlejoe · Aug 5, 2008

I agree with Blank. I measured mine in the alert pose last night and it is 22" tip to tip. My bull measured 44" wide when harvested.

madmoose · Aug 7, 2008

ive measured several bulls here in north idaho, in diff. age ranges and a concensus of 24 in. flat out tip to tip.. thats the measurement i have always used.

Blank · Aug 7, 2008

MM: I think the northern bulls you have up there have a little bigger body and frame than ours here in SE Idaho. Maybe more Canada genes? I know I seem to be about 8-10% off on score with those Unit 1 monsters.

My systems have always worked great for ID, UT, and WY and scores are really close.

predator · Aug 8, 2008

Yah, and I can attest that Blank knows DIDDLY about scoring moose....LOL

Hey Blank, aren't you sposed to have pics to send me of big gray AFrican thingies???

Blank · Aug 9, 2008

OOPS! Sorry, girl; I'll get right on it. I've managed to work myself out of two jobs in the last 5 months and have been pretty busy (senior staff specialist for a bunch of nuke facilities now). Trying to prove that "Peter Principle", where you keep getting promoted until you're one step ABOVE your abilities.

Stay safe out there. We'll talk soon, I promise.