Moose Hunting Basics:
Moose are typically more active early and late
in the day. Just like a deer, they can be very quiet and
still while figuring out exactly what you are. They have
excellent hearing, great eyesight, incredible sense of smell,
and even with their big body size, they can move gracefully and
quickly through rough terrain. If you happen to be spotted
or winded by a moose, the best thing to do is freeze - any
movement will send the trophy crashing through the woods.
To have a successful moose hunt, the hunter must adapt to the
keen senses of this beautiful animal.
Moose hunting waterways by boat is a great
method in order to cover long distances. Moose enjoy
spending time in and around the water. If you are moose
hunting in a higher altitude, be sure to stay low to the ground
and blend with the brush and trees. Avoid being a
silhouette against the sky.
Big bull moose during the rut will be
following the cows, but at a distance. If you spot a group
of cows, be sure to wait 20 minutes or longer for the big bull
to show up. If you spook the cows, the bulls will be long
gone.
Your professional Moose Hunting guide will be
familiar with the hunting terrain and will be able to assist you
in selecting the best camouflage, weapon, scope and
transportation for your Moose hunting trip. No matter if
you are hunting Moose in Alaska, Canada, or Maine, be in your
best physical condition, and be prepared to walk long distances
tracking.
More About Moose:
 Moose
Range
Canada's forests extend from the Alaska boundary to the
eastern tip of Newfoundland. All regions of this vast and varied
tract have one thing in common: they all support moose.
Moose are found on the rocky, wooded hillsides of the western
mountain ranges; along the margins of half a million lakes,
muskegs, and streams of the great boreal forest; and even on the
northern tundra and in the aspen parkland of the Prairie
Provinces.
It is estimated that there are between 500 000 and 1 million moose
in Canada. The moose as a big-game animal is prized by
recreational hunters. However, it is much more than that to
people who live in the North, there, the moose is an important
source of food. It is also an important link in the food chain
supporting predators like bears and wolves and scavengers like
ravens.
The moose is the largest member of the deer family -- whose North
American members also include elk (wapiti), white-tailed deer,
mule deer, and caribou. Moose are not unique to North America
but are also common in northern Europe and Asia.
General Appearance of Moose
A bull moose in full spread of antlers is the most imposing
beast in North America. It stands taller at the shoulder than
the largest saddle horse. Big bulls weigh as much as a horse --
up to 600 kg in most of Canada and as much as 800 kg for the
giant Alaska-Yukon subspecies.
Moose have long, slim legs that end in cloven hooves often more
than 18 cm long. The body is deep at the shoulders, where
massive muscles are attached, giving the animal a humped
appearance. It is slab-sided and low-rumped, with rather slim
hindquarters and a short, well-haired stubby tail. The head is
heavy and compact, and the nose extends in a long,
mournful-looking arch terminating in a long, flexible upper lip.
The ears are similar to those of a mule, although not quite as
long. From the throat of most moose hangs a pendant of
fur-covered skin, perhaps 30 cm long, called a bell.
In color the moose varies from dark brown, almost black, to
reddish or greyish brown, with grey or white leg "stockings."
In late summer and autumn, a mature bull carries a great sometimes
almost white rack of antlers which may extend 180 cm or more
between the widest tips, but which are more often 120-150 cm in
span. The heavy main beams broaden into large palms which are
fringed with a series of spikes usually less than 30 cm long.
Life Phases of the Moose
At birth a calf moose is a tiny, ungainly copy of its mother.
If it is one of twins it may weigh 6 kg; if born singly, between
11 and 16 kg.
Calves are helpless at birth. The mother keeps them in seclusion
for a couple of days, hidden from their many enemies in a
thicket or on an island. The voice of a newborn calf is a low
grunt, but after a few days it develops a strident wail that is
almost human. At the age of only a few days it can outrun a
human, and swim readily.
Of all North American big-game animals, the moose calf gains
weight fastest. During the first month after birth it may gain
over half a kilogram per day, and later in the summer may begin
to put on over 2 kg per day for a time.
Calves stay with the cow until she calves again the following
spring. At that time she drive off her yearling calves – no
doubt a difficult experience for the "teenage" moose.
A bull calf may develop button antlers during its first year. New
antlers are grown each summer and shed each autumn. Mature
animals usually shed their antlers in November, but some younger
bulls may carry theirs through the winter until April. Yearling
bulls usually have spike antlers, and the antlers of
two-year-olds are larger, usually flat at the ends.
The antlers begin growing in midsummer and during the period of
growth are soft and spongy, with blood vessels running through
them. They are covered with a velvety skin. By late August or
early September the antlers are fully developed and are hard and
bony. The velvet dries and the bulls rub it off against tree
trunks.
The eyesight of the moose is extremely poor, but its senses of
smell and hearing compensate for this. Before bedding down, a
moose usually travels upwind for a time and then swings back in
a partial circle. Thus predators on its track will have to
approach from windward. Skilled hunters know when to leave the
track and work their way upwind to the hiding-place of their
quarry.
Hunters may stalk moose, or may call them during the breeding
season. A skilful hunter, imitating the cow's call, usually with
the aid of a birchbark horn, can entice a bull within shooting
distance.
Moose Feeding habits
The moose lives almost solely on twigs and shrubs during the
winter months. In summer this diet is varied with leaves, some
upland plants, and water plants in great quantity where
available. A large adult moose eats 15-20 kg, green weight, of
twigs each day in winter, and in summer eats 25-30 kg of forage
-- twigs, leaves, shrubs, upland plants, and water plants.
Winter forage includes twigs of balsam fir, poplar, red osier
dogwood, birch, willow, and red and striped maples.
Moose also eat small amounts of many other trees and shrubs. When
food becomes scarce, as it often does toward spring, moose will
strip bark from trees, especially poplars. In June and July,
moose gather around salt licks, usually low-lying areas of
stagnant, mineral-rich water. At that season, they are feeding
heavily on leaves and other lush plant growth and seem to
require supplementary minerals.
Moose Breeding habits
Moose sometimes take more than one mate, but usually a bull
stays with a given cow during most of the breeding season. The
breeding season, or rut, begins in mid-September, and the
listener in moose country may hear the nasal-toned bawling of
the cow moose enticing a mate, and the coughing bellow of the
responding bull.
A good food supply improves breeding success. On good range over
90% of the cows become pregnant and up to 30% bear twins. Very
rarely, triplets are observed. However, when the food supply is
poor, rates of pregnancy can drop to 50%, and the twinning rate
almost to zero.
Moose's Ability to Adapt to Environmental Changes
The long legs of the moose carry it easily over deadfall trees
or through snow that would stop a deer or wolf. Its cloven
hooves and dew claws spread widely to provide support when it
wades through soft muskeg or snow. With its tremendous physical
power and vitality, the moose can travel over almost any
terrain. When frightened it may crash noisily through the
underbrush, but in spite of its great size even a full-grown,
antlered bull can move almost as silently as a cat through dense
forest.
Moose stand cold very well but suffer from heat. In summer,
especially when the fly season is in progress, moose often cool
off in water for several hours each day. They also dip their
heads under the surface to feed on water lilies and other water
plants.
Moose are quite at home in the water. They sometimes dive 5.5 m or
more for plants growing on a lake or pond bottom. Moose have
been known to swim 19 km. Of all North American deer, only the
caribou is a more powerful swimmer. A moose calf is able to
follow its mother on a long swim even while very young,
occasionally resting its muzzle on the cow's back for support.
Enemies and hazards to Moose
Black and grizzly bears have been known to prey heavily on
moose calves during the first few weeks of life while grizzly
bears easily kill adult moose.
Wolves also kill many calves and take adult moose all year.
Throughout most wolf range in Canada, moose are the principal
prey of wolves. In winter, wolves usually hunt in packs. Hunting
healthy adult moose is a difficult and often dangerous business
for wolves. Only about one confrontation in 12 ends with the
wolves successfully killing a moose. Wolves not infrequently
suffer broken bones and even death from the flailing hooves of
cornered moose. A healthy and aggressive moose is usually able
to stand off wolves. However, in deep crusted snow, or on smooth
ice, a pack can easily bring down a moose. They usually run up
beside their quarry and rip the tender flanks until the moose is
weakened from loss of blood. In the end, wolves get almost every
moose. Few die of old age.
Wolverine also prey on moose calves occasionally. Where they
coexist with moose, cougar take a substantial number of moose
calves and yearlings.
Deer, elk, rabbits, and even beaver compete with the moose for
food.
Ticks are common on moose, especially in late winter, and may
weaken animals seriously both by sucking blood and by causing
the affected moose to rub off much of its hair, causing serious
heat loss. Internal parasites such as the hydatid-a tiny
tapeworm-affect moose, especially when lack of forage and heavy
tick infestation lower their resistance.
Another serious parasitic disease of moose is caused by the
meningeal worm, so called because it attacks the meninges, or
membranes, surrounding the brain and spinal chord. Meningeal
worm is a parasite of white-tailed deer, who are adapted to it.
However, it is deadly to moose, and there is a long history of
moose mortality in regions where the two species overlap in
their distribution.
Moose drift to the willow-rich valleys or other areas where good
forage exists close to forest cover. Winter is a time of hunger
for moose. They restrict their food intake and limit their
activity to save energy. Where there is limited predation and
hunting, moose numbers may increase to the point where food is
inadequate and many animals starve while all are malnourished
and more likely to be killed by predators or disease.
Concentrations of up to 135 animals per 10 km2 have been seen in
Wells Grey Provincial Park in British Columbia.
Changes due to humans
Since the beginning of settlement in Canada there have been
considerable shifts in the distribution of moose. They are found
in many regions which had no moose in presettlement days. There
are now large moose populations in north-central Ontario, and in
the southern part of British Columbia, where moose were
previously unknown. They have only recently spread to the Quebec
North Shore, north of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The island of
Newfoundland, which had never been occupied by moose, was
"seeded" with a few pair in the early 1900s and now has large
populations. Moose are constantly spreading northwards through
the sparse transition forest that extends to the open tundra.
Before settlement, the large supplies of woody twigs needed by
moose were provided by young forest regrowth in the wake of
forest fires. With settlement came control of wildlife, fires
still occur but have been widely replaced by clear-cut cut
logging as a source of forest renewal and of moose forage.
Management of Moose Herds
Moose populations must be kept within the limits set by the
food supply to prevent starvation, disease, and serious damage
to vegetation. Foresters in areas that are overpopulated by
moose find that regeneration of forest trees is harmed
significantly. This may seriously reduce future timber crops as
well as the breeding habitat of songbirds that nest in deciduous
shrubs. Moose numbers are controlled to a varying degree by
predators and also by hunting.
Moose are an important economic resource in Canada. Moose hunting
generates over $500 million dollars in economic activity
annually and provides large amounts of food for aboriginal and
other rural people. Moose are a major element in the complex of
wildlife attractions that draw visitors to parks and other
wildlands for nature viewing and study. These activities also
result in large expenditures.
Moose respond well to management of their habitat by logging or
controlled burning, provided a diversity of open areas and
patches of larger trees for cover is maintained. Today, moose
management in Canada is soundly based on aerial counts, habitat
inventories, and scientific studies of reproductive rates and
calf survival. Moose get along well with human activities and
with appropriate management will always be part of the Canadian
scene.
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