Contributors to this thread:
Looking for vitals and bone. anyone have any pic's?
Thanks in advance Lee
moose have a lot of both ;-) seruiously though, I'll see if I can find a good diagram for ya
http://www.wildlife.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=huntalaska.shot
Thanks fuzzy, any others?
http://www.aaaalaskanoutfitters.com/page/page/1941269.htm
Actually BB, a poster here, has some great photo's up of moose vitals superimposed on a live moose. I think the last time I seen them was on a thread about practice dots on animals... the pics are well worth searching for.
Here's the same photo as above, but labeled and bit bigger.
Have a good bowhunt. BB
Guys this really helps. I have East Canyon Unit that opens next week and can't wait to try to get my first moose with my bow.
How wide are the ears to help judge the width of a bull?
Anyone see anything deer hunting in my area that you would like to sent me some pointers. This week the mornings and evenings I will be scouting to try to get a couple of bulls located for opening weekend. I know they will start moving a lot to find the cows.
Rob
I think the diagrams above are a bit misleading guys. first, the scapula shown is quite small - and the leg is back with the scapula hardly covering anything at all. In fact the scapula is attached to the huge muscle group that act as giant shock absorbers for the front half of the moose and when the moose's leg comes back the whole muscle group moves back quite a bit so that the scapula and leg group covers quite a vit of the vitals. This diagram doesn't show this, and it is very important for the bowhunter not to take the shot until the leg is either straight down or forward.
I heard that if you aim 2/3rds down from the middle of the hump you will be eating moose. I was also told that you can use this formula no matter if he is broadside or quarting away. True or False.
This is true Bowmanbob. We call it the rule of thirds. We draw a line from the top (and middle) of the hump to the bottom of the chest. Divide this line into thirds. The top third eliminates the hump from the picture. Where the bottom and middle third line meet is the aim spot.
There are actually two methods well illustrated in the Gouthro's Moose Madness Series. I like the rule of thirds best -- It forces you to mentally eliminate the hump - which is nothing but bone and sinue.
Good hunting!
Alex, I am certainly no artist and the photo I posted is not exact, but used to give others an idea of how the front leg bones are put together. So many hunters do not understand the basic anatomy, of the animals they hunt, thus aiming farther back than they should.
Since you seem to understand that anatomy it would be helpful to all if you changed the illustration to what you believe.
I might add that if one looks closely at the picture with this post, you will see that I have marked where my broadhead cut the lungs. So at that point, that area was open and not covered by the scapula. Moose have a big scapula but the above rendering is fairly close to accurate, but not exact and I acknowledge that.
Have a great bowhunt. BB
BB -- Your broadhead certainly hit the right spot - and if you follow the line of thirds down from the middle of the hump you are just forward of that line. That line allows some leeway on either side. My point was that if the leg is back the whole muscle group that the scapula is attached to also moves back -- and then the scapula/leg structure does cover part of the lung/heart area.
Was this a very small moose? This may account for the smaller size of the scapula. Also, like humans, some moose are much heavier-boned than others.
I've guided moose hunters for many years and almost all wounded animals have been hit in the hump, scapula, or as you mention, too far back in the gut area.
If you look at the structure of the gut/liver/diaphram,& lungs from the top of the moose the gut actually pertrudes into the diaphram area and the lungs actually come back wing-like a bit to cover the liver area in the bottom half. Many of the diagrams shown in Ontario just show the liver behind the top of the lungs. You have correctly displayed it down; the liver does extend down but is partially hidden in a side view by the lungs in the bottom half.
BB> I am very happy that you have taken the time to do this. Moose anatomy is very important because of the very heavy bone structure. Please don't take my comments as criticism. I was only trying to add to what you have done for the benefit of fellow hunters.
I'm afraid I'm working on a huge project right now and can't do as you suggest in terms of working on the drawing. However, if you would like we could make this a winter project later on.
Bump...
For those of you that have moose hunts planned for the fall.
Thanks Shiras! The info is very informative!
Very Good information Shiras.
one other thing I have heard about picking a spot on moose,, don't use the far leg as a reference point, it works well for elk and deer but I guess the length of the legs on a moose will give the wrong spot.
Thanks for the bump Shiras!
I aimed and hit my broadside Shiras' moose about 3-4 inches above the point of the 'elbow'. (About where the back edge of red dot is in the illustration). Needless to say, he only went about 30 yds before piling up.
The 'elbow' is a great reference point for aiming at almost any animal, making minor adjustments for quartering angle and leg position.
For you with tags and hunts coming up...
Hope I only need ONE arrow this year!
TTT. Can anyone tell me how to recover the pictures? Or, perhaps, someone might be kind enough to repost them? I am headed to Nfld in a couple weeks. Thanks for the help!
WILY...these were from a different post last year but are similar.
