Moose vs elk size?
Contributors to this thread:Moose
From: DonVathome
24-Sep-19
I was expecting my AK moose to be twice the size of bull elk I have shot. This was not the case. No way to know for sure but if I had to guess it was 25% bigger at most. What are your thoughts? I am asking about a mature bull of both species not a monster or the exception to the rule.
From: sbschindler
24-Sep-19
front qrtrs are half again as big and hinds are in that 25% area, this is for Shiras and Canadian moose Alaskan moose probably are 2/3rds again the size of an elk, of course not all elk are the same size either
From: Hessticles
24-Sep-19
From: BigStriper
24-Sep-19
Hessticles yours looks to be pretty good sized, sure wouldn't want something that size looking to run me over I know that.LOL.
Kurt
From: TRnCO
25-Sep-19
I delivered 684# of moose to the processor from my AK moose this season. That was with bone in the 4 quarters only. If a guy was to deliver 342# of elk to the processor, IMO, that would be a large elk. In other words, moose 50% larger then elk.
From: Shiras42
25-Sep-19
I disagree. I think a bull moose is at least 50-75% bigger (often 100%) and 3x the work.
From: Smtn10PT
25-Sep-19
I know I had 12 games bags each with 43-47 pounds of meat in them, plus one partial bag. That puts me around 560 pounds of boneless, trimmed meat which is roughly double what Ive gotten from my elk.
From: JayZ
25-Sep-19
It's not even close. An AK Yukon moose is way bigger than an elk. Took three of us three trips each to get a moose back to camp boned out. We can get an elk in one trip boned out back to camp with three guys.
From: Grey Ghost
25-Sep-19
A large bull elk will weigh around 700-800 pounds. A large bull moose will be around 1400 pounds. Do the math.
Matt
From: DonVathome
25-Sep-19
Thanks! I've been thinking about this a lot. I had to pack out some of the bones which makes it a little tougher to compare but it did take me 3x as many trips.
The front legs were definitely bigger but it seemed more like length only but it was hard to tell.
Given further thought I'm thinking 66%.
From: GF
25-Sep-19
Weight is a function of Volume; Volume increase as the cube of length.
So if a moose is 1/3 taller than an Elk...
3 cubed is 9
4 cubed is 16
16 - 9 = 7
7/9 = 78%
You can argue over how much taller/longer a moose is, and they do tend to carry more weight up front vs the rear, but there’s a reason why my nephew looks kinda skinny and hungry when he gets down to flying weight of 220-230.
From: smarba
25-Sep-19
Moose way bigger. Not even close. The jump from mule deer to elk is similar ratio from elk to moose.
From: Bou'bound
25-Sep-19
and moose are small compared to buffalo
From: fubar racin
25-Sep-19
Iv not packed an elk that was more than 4 loads the moose I helped pack this year was 9 but 2 were small so could have done it in 8 double the size is about right I think
From: smarba
25-Sep-19
Correct Bou! There's another big jump in size from moose to bison!
From: 1boonr
25-Sep-19
TRnCO your numbers would infer that a moose is 100% bigger and that would be in the ball park
From: Smtn10PT
25-Sep-19
The math examples are a little off.....but still arrive at the correct conclusion.
From: Lost Arra
25-Sep-19
You guys keeping crunching the numbers but Hessticles photo says it all for me! Wow! I'm always a little overwhelmed when I walk up to a dead elk and I anticipate the work to be done. I would probably pass out seeing a bull moose but I would love to do it some day.
From: Hessticles
25-Sep-19
And I'm 5'11" 220lbs
From: APauls
25-Sep-19
Moose also vary in size I'm guessing in age. If you go back to my brother and I's moose thread entitled "4 years in the making" you can see the bulls we shot. These are northern Manitoba not as big as Alaska/Yukon. Even so, they are huge. The hinds off his bull bone in up to the knee cap weighed 100lbs basically even. The fronts up to the knee cap were 83#. Off my bull the hinds were 120# and the fronts were 100#. You couldn't really tell the moose size apart looking at them on the shore I bet a few days apart. We were guessing mine was a year older.
That being said, here are the weights of pieces from my bull as weighed on a scale: Hinds, 120#, fronts 100#, neck 25# per side, back strap 20# per side, and I did not weigh the ribs, or tenderloins.
Oh, the quarters were bone in hide on up to the knee knuckle. That's 530# before ribs and tenderloins, but subtract roughly 10# per quarter for bone and hide, call it 490# pure meat before ribs and tenders. They are beasts!
From: Quick Draw 1
25-Sep-19
I think it totally depends on the subspecies of moose. I've taken Canadian and Shiras. So can't speak to A/Yukon. But, that being said, the closest I've seen in a comparison is that I was fortunate last October to arrow a Shiras moose and then an elk within 3 days of each other on the same ranch in Utah. Both were mature, average bulls. I took both to same processor. While the moose wasn't twice the size of the elk, it was obviously considerably bigger. Based on the amount of meat I got back, and seeing them so close together, I'm thinking the Shiras was about 40% to 50% bigger. Just my SWAG based on filling up the freezer with one of each at the same time. But, like I said, I think it depends on which moose (and which elk, for that matter) that we're talking about. Let's just say I'm still enjoying both!
From: akbow
25-Sep-19
I don't have much experience with elk, but I can give some input on the moose. While I haven't weighed all of them, I would say a mature bull is between 500-600 lbs of boned meat. Biggest bull I've packed was 683 lbs--but included the bones in the quarters above the knee. That bull was past his prime and was only a ~30" rack. Big difference as they age in my experience. I haven't hunted many any bull areas, but did this year and shot a "tweener" (that wouldn't be legal in most of AK). I didn't get a chance to weigh on the scales, but boned out I am guessing was only ~400-450 lbs of boned meat. maybe a 3 year old bull was my guess. Should be some more knowledgeable guess out there, but that's my $0.02.
From: 4406v
26-Sep-19
No such thing as a small moose!!!
