2011 ND Moose Hunt: Once in a lifetime tag

[lichen fox]

Scoot, if you're gonna have a chance to get out during the warmer weather this week I would try walking some creek or river bottoms...when the weather is warm moose need a place to stay cool during the heat of the day...swamps...creeks, rivers, etc...any place that has a good water source...I've seen moose in drainage ditches with only their head sticking out of the water as they are trying to stay cool and away from the bugs....find a likely area and walk it slowly...watch for tracks and rubs...and I'm sure you know... a moose rub will reach much higher on the trees or brush than that of a deer...good luck!

[Scoot]

Thanks Lichen, I appreciate the tip. I don't think I'll get out again until next weekend, and probably won't be available on Sat. I'll hopefully hunt Sun and half of Mon. Maybe I could sneak out this Fri, but not sure I can make that happen. By the time I get back out, who knows what the weather will bring by the time I get out there, but I'll keep your tip in mind.

[Scoot]

I just got a call from a friend who was looking at a cow and a bull in a bean field about 45 miles from here. However, I've got three meetings today- 10:00, noon, and 5:30 and I can't miss any of them. Dang it!!!

[sticknstring]

Hey Scoot - Not sure what the budget/schedule is but hiring a flight over your hunting area could be really helpful, especially with all the crops. An hour session in the air could cut down on days of windshield time I bet. Just a thought...

[Wanderer]

Huntin's tough when work gets in the way.

Oops, sorry, you're in a meeting...

[Bear55]

I just got a call from a friend who was looking at a cow and a bull in a bean field about 45 miles from here. However, I've got three meetings today- 10:00, noon, and 5:30 and I can't miss any of them. Dang it!!!

The time to fake an illness is NOW!

[Scoot]

Sticknstring, it's a great idea, but not in the budget. I'm pretty sure I know how my wife would respond when that check cleared! I've done as close to that as I could by dropping off flyers at the cropdusting places in the area.

Wanderer- you aren't kidding! Personally, I think it's ridiculous that anyone is expected to be at work after 3:00 PM from Sep 1 through Dec 1!

Bear, I didn't fake illness, but I did disappear for three hours! Here's the report:

I got to the area where the cow and bull were seen after driving just slightly over the speed limit ( ). I couldn't find them, so I called the buddy who had originally spotted them. He clarified where he'd seen them and I spotted them just in time to see them walk into a farmstead. I drove into the farm yard to ask for permission to hunt them and discoverd both moose laying in the grass in the guy's backyard!!! I backed out of the driveway and waited... Eventually both moose walked into a little sloughy area about 60 yards off of the guy's driveway. I sneaked into his yard and knocked on the door- nobody home. I looked in the plat book and his number was unlisted. So, I drove into the nearest town and stopped at the local grain elevator- they got me on the right track. It took almost an hour, but I finally got ahold of the landowner and got permission to hunt them.

Long story short is I sneaked into the area I had seen them and they were gone. Not sure where they went or when they left, but they were gone when I stalked into the area they had been. Bummer.

Another bummer is that I was only 60 yards from them, but I didn't have my good camera. To make matters worse, I grabbed my crappy camera and took some pics, but discovered that I didn't have an SD card in it, so I only got three pics before it was full. Also, I don't own a cord to get them off of the camera- I'm working on that. The quality of the pic will stink though, so even if I get it, do't expect much. I don't hardly ever forget my good camera when I hunt, but I didn't expect to need it at the office today. I'll be better prepared next time...

It was a smaller bull- maybe only about 30 inches. However, he was big enough for me! I'll be back there on Sun to give it another try!!!

[mrklean]

thats gotta get the blood pumping

[slimngrizzly]

Thats quite a day! At least he wasn't a booner! That would have really hurt! At least you know hes around!

[DonBo]

Good news Scoot. Hope you can close the deal.

[Bear55]

Nice work Scoot, go get em!

[cbrooks]

Nice work Scoot

[Powerstroke]

Nothing better than getting close. You've finally got a good lead and permission to hunt.

GOod luck Scoot. I know we'll hear how it goes.

[Archerysniper]

They shouldn't move to far off, go get them tomorrow.

[Cheetah]

Probably bedded out behind the farm house in the thousand acre corn field. GO GET EM!

You could probably spot them from the farmer's grain silo or the roof of the house. Sounds dumb I know, but worth a shot if they are in the corn and actually standing up high enough to see their heads.

[Scoot]

Cheetah- that's not dumb at all. However, if they're in the corn, there's little I can do about it. Unless I can call a bull out- that's a definite possibility. But like you said, finding them is 90% of the battle.

Here's the pic I got of the bull. Obviously, it's a terrible picture and doesn't show you much. I'm only posting it here so you don't think the whole story is a figment of my imagination...

He wasn't a very big bull, but he was plenty big for me to get excited about.

I'm very short on time to be able to hunt- I fly out of the area for work on the 21st of Sep and have work and family commitments between now and then. Like was said earlier- this work thing really gets in the way of hunting and is pretty ridiculous! Oh well, I guess paying the morgtage is sort of important too...

[slimngrizzly]

At least you know hes there! Confidence is key!

[Scoot]

My brother and I took my two kids out tonight on a "moose hunt". Long story short is we had a GREAT time and a very exciting encounter. My wife is out with some friends for an NDSU volleyball reunion, so I've got the kids and it's past bedtime. I'll try get some pics posted and more details tomorrow. My brother also has some video that'd be fun to put a link to, but he's not sure if or when he'll have time to put it together for me (I don't have the software or know-how to do it myself).

Very fun night- I'll post tomorrow with details.

[Scoot]

My six year old son, Ryan and my four year old daughter, Morgan really wanted to come with on a moose hunt. Last night worked out great to bring them along. Temps were comfortable and it was beautiful out and I got my brother to come along to help entertain the kids if need be.

We started at a spot where a 38" bull had been seen in the past couple days. If he had sayed put and not left in search of love, we had a decent chance to call him in. I set up 40 yards ahead of my crew right behind a juniper bush. Here's the view to my right:

And to my left:

Behind helping doing the calling by raking trees was Ryan, Morgan, and Rod.

After a 30 minute calling set the most interesting thing we found was a caterpillar.

We relocated and went to an area where a family friend had seen a bull earlier in the morning. We met the guy who'd seen the bull and he showed us where he'd nearly hit it with his vehicle. He told us likely places to look and we went on our way to try find the bull. He mentioned that he'd go back to the farm and climb up a grain bin and see if he could locate the bull (thanks Cheetah!!!). Two minutes later he called and said he'd located the bull.

When we met him he explained the bull was 150 yards N of the farmyard, in the cornfield. We left the kids to play with his kids and my brother and I went into the corn field after the bull. At one point we climbed up on his irrigation system and located the bull- we tried to head him off in a hurry because he was about to get ahead of us. We ended up inside of 20 yards from the bull in the corn. He was grunting and trying to figure out what we were, but finally decided he didn't like what was going on and he boogied out of there. It was a close and intense interaction that was a lot of fun!

We relocated the bull and got about 100 yards from him a little while later, but he wasn't in a good spot to do much with and slinked away from us. Soon, we ran out of light and he had officially given us the slip. Lots of fun though and the kids got to see their first moose!

[Wanderer]

Good stuff!

[bmc]

Are you done hunting now Scoot?

Looks like you have a couple great apprenticies there too!

If you head back out good luck and I hope you can settle the score with a ND moose!

Brian

[Scoot]

Are you done hunting now Scoot?

Not yet, but the clock's ticking! I'll hunt all of tomorrow and part of Mon. Not sure how much I'll be able to hunt after that and I know I won't hunt after the 20th because I fly out on the 21st for work. If I don't get it done by Mon evening, I'm in trouble...

[bmc]

Well............good luck! I got a feeling you'll be posting success pics by the middle of the week!!!

Brian

[Scoot]

I spent the first part of 9/11/2011 moose hunting and will spent the rest of it with my family. Thanks more than I can possibly say to all of our past and present heros for the blood, sweat, tears and sacrifice that allows me to spend the day goofing off and hanging with my loved ones.

No big moose report today... I left the house at 5:30 and huntil 'til about 2:30. I quit when the thermometer in my truck hit 90. As far as moose, anyone reading this who didn't see a moose today saw just as many as me. I did two calling sets at spots where moose have been in the last week and covered a lot of ground otherwise. Tough day of moose hunting, but no complaints from me-- had fun trying. I'll be back out tomorrow for half the day and the weather looks better.

[Cheetah]

Go get em Scoot. Glad to hear the grain silo idea worked!

[x1957x]

Scoot. I drew a moose tag in minn. in o8 and it took me 10 days to harvest one but I had my mind made up that I would. I have a couple things to tell ya. First dont get frustrated. A old Indian man listened to me call( which I thought I was doing good hand calling) He laughed at me and told me I sounded Like a sick cow in heaat. He told me to call and start with my body bent over like I'm picking up something and as I call with my hands to slowly stand up as I call and it made all the difference in the world. It took 2 days and had several call back to me to get one after I started this way.I watched your video and it sounded o.k. but you have to bend down and gradually stand up with your hands around your mouth and keep calling until fully straight up.. I no that you are on a time frame but good luck!!

[Scoot]

Thanks x- I'll give that a try.

I hunted from noon to 8:00 PM today. Once again, nothing. My time out there has resulted in me spotting exactly zero moose on my own. The three I've seen have been from friends contacting me and telling me where they've seen them. Maybe I should start looking for moose with my eyes OPEN!

I'm really hoping the weather change will kick the bulls into action and get them on the move. There's been such little movement that it's been really tough to locate a critter. Their numbers aren't great where I'm hunting, but they're much better than my abismal results would suggest.

Not sure when I'll get out again. With any luck I'll get a call and will race out there in search of an already located bull. We'll see...

[x1957x]

They love clear cuts that are really new and close to swamps. If you stick your head down low and look across a clear cut it will look like you trimmed the tops with a trimmer. They only eat the new buds and growth from this years grow. You will see what I mean if you look.. Good luck Scoot and if I can help let me know..

[Scoot]

They love clear cuts that are really new and close to swamps.

Thanks x- I appreciate the info. One small problem with the clear cut suggestion- there are no clear cuts anywhere near where I'm hunting. It's pretty much the opposite of what your talking about- insead of trees everywhere with the occasional exception of swamp or clear cut, it's crops everywhere with the occasional exception of a small slough or tree row.

From what I've heard and seen the moose are in the corn fields. There's corn everywhere and of the three moose I've actually laid eyes on, on was in the corn and two had just come out of it. I've also been talking with an extremely knowledgable moose guy from that area and he also said they'll stay in the corn until the bulls really get moving during the rut. Hopefully that happen with this weather shift.

[x1957x]

Scoot, If it was me I would find the areas that they were seen around the corn and get permission and walk the perimiter of the corn looking for sign were they entered and them being so big they have to make a mess of the corn field( you'd think?) and determine fresh tracks or sign and then stalk them if possible. You cant mistake thier feet size so you will know they are there! Ideal spot would be a corn field next to a swamp! Good luck and let us know!!