Judging moose at this time of year?
Moose
No clue but I assume they’re like elk or deer. A big animals is a big animal, no matter where they are in their growth. That doesn’t jump off the page as a “big” animal. I was talking to CNELK yesterday and he said moose lose their antlers much earlier than elk, so I would be curious to know when moose antlers finish growing. That might help answer your Question.
Younger bulls will have deeper valleys between their palm points, and not as many.
Thats not an old bull, but he will score because he has at least 2 brow tines on each antler [required to get that palm length measurement]
Next age class up. That back one will score better. Be hard not to pass on either one of these
Obviously look for a big body, sway back, etc...one thing about bigger, older bulls is their antlers beams tend to droop before the paddle begins... also look for big bulls feeding early in the summer and bedding near willow-choked parks during the day. They are often bedded just outside the open areas in the shade.
Shedding his coat. It's called molting.
No most deals freeze off In the winter.What to look for is big wide paddles split fronts lots of points
GG, Not sure on the Shiras moose as much as the Alaskan, but we did use the bell as somewhat of an age estimator. Most all of the more mature bulls have had the long skinny portion of their dewlap/bell freeze off and most all of younger bulls still were sporting it. Notice all of these younger bulls had the long dangly bell.
Here is a middle aged bull my brother shot. Notice the longer bell.
And here is a fully mature bull with the rounded bell
Dewlap is a helpful indicator. Longer points (especially near top of rack) usually means a younger bull. Antler sag near the base of the antler means a big bull....but I have only seen that in A/Y bulls and Canadian bulls. It would take a helluva Shiras to exhibit that. Body size is another indicator....and the best way to describe it is to say that you'll know a big bull when you see it.
Here are a few photos from my 2012 CO hunt.
Hunting early in the bow season, you should be able to pattern at least a couple of bulls, IF you put in the time over the summer. They won't be wondering looking for cows until mid to late Sept. and the younger bulls will start first. Before that, they generally stay in the same area, or travel route. For a higher scoring bull, you need to know what to look for. Study the score sheet and understand the measurements. Dewlap doesn't tell you much of anything, except they can look pretty cool.
First bull found, we named Piney Bull. He traveled a big loop that included our campsite drainage. He was the "prettiest" bull we found.
First bull found, we named Piney Bull. He traveled a big loop that included our campsite drainage. He was the "prettiest" bull we found.
Later that same day (July 24) we located this guy. We could usually find him in one of 3 drainages. We named him Moniger Bull, for the first place we found him.
Later that same day (July 24) we located this guy. We could usually find him in one of 3 drainages. We named him Moniger Bull, for the first place we found him.
We started scouting in July. On our first outing we found several moose, including the two bulls I targeted. Over the course of the summer, I got MANY photos of them.
Here are two more of Moniger Bull on 8/24. Notice the thin bell.
These two are Piney bull on 9/3 & 9/4. He had a very symmetrical rack with deep front forks that looked great, but wouldn't score very well. He also had a huge "mail-sack" bell. Still trying to decide which one to shoot when the season opened.
This is Moniger Bull opening morning. My wife had eyes on Piney Bull at the same time, so it IS very possible to pattern them very successfully. Adding 'season choice' tags is just going to screw up early archery season worse than ML already does.
These two youngsters entertained us from camp on 9/11 before we left.
Great bull Ziek! Did you ever post a story?
Matt, if you are in an area where they see people (most of CO), if you act like a tourist and wear regular clothes they generally aren't alarmed. They don't like guys in camo sneaking up on them. One guy I helped had his wife stand about 70 yards away out in the open and act like she was taking photos, while he snuck around behind and shot it at 20 yards with his longbow.
Anybody use any bracketing with ear width like mule deer?
I sold the story to Bowhunter Mag. It appeared in the August 2013 Big Game Special. They also bought the photo of 'Piney Bull' (the one above, where he's eyeing me) and used it as a small black & white at the top of several pages. The wind was blowing pretty hard that day, and his dewlap was blown back against his chest. He was less than 10 yards away when I took that photo. A short version also appears in the Third Edition of Colorado's Biggest Bucks and Bulls.
I wish I had a better "hero" shot. When we first tried to move him for a pose on that damn mountain side, he flipped completely over and one of his tines caught my pant cuff. It tossed me up in the air and I came down on top of him. Luckily, not on the antlers. He almost got his revenge.
Dang guys, this is the greatest thread of the year! I drew an Idaho bull tag and I’ve been soaking up all the moose info I can and this is great. I’m hunting 12-1 in the Lolo Zone and going all in for this hunt this year. I’m heading out for my first scouting trip later this month. My unit is super thick, but hopefully I can snap a few pics and post to this thread to see what you guys think of some early season bulls. If anyone has any info on the unit, maybe past bear or elk hunts please shoot me a pm. Super excited. Keith
At this time of the year I’d look for split brow tines and wide paddle. Width of the antlers. The scouting really doesn’t get good until late July in my opinion.
I’ll also say that moose know difference between hikers and being hunted. Definitely not as spooky as say elk but when hunting them they don’t always just stand there either
A very old bull, not high scoring but about as old as they get.
A very old bull, not high scoring but about as old as they get.
I agree with the wide and drooping main beam as one indicator. And I don’t think they deserve the “stupid” reputation
I just don’t think they are afraid of much.
On an even playing field they can hold their own against anything.
Holy be-jesus Ermine is that Colorado bull???!!!!!!
Altitude that is a cool bull
Adventurewriter- yes that is a Colorado Bull. I was fortunate to arrow it.
Ermine that is fantastic!!!! Great bulls
Wow, heck of a Shiras bull
Justin, what did that think score? Did you enter him into P&Y? If so, did you get invited to panel? Looks like that thing would be towards the top for bow killed Shiras.
The Ermine bull has it all. Good front palms, not just long points. Long paddles are key for a good score with about 20 or so points. Paddle width will be there on older bulls, as will spread. I started scouting Mid July last year and found many good bulls. I was done hunting on opening day.
Grey Ghost. And the number if points counts towards score. However the length of the points does not matter. The biggest measurement is the paddle length to the browtines
Since the OP asked about judging, maybe we should mention scores. Scoring a moose is not as straight forward as some animals. My bull was scored by a really experienced measurer - a guy who has participated in several panel scoring events. He came up with 180 3/8 final score. The P & Y panel (which he was also participating in, but wasn't allowed to even be consulted on my bull since he was the original measurer) came up with 176 0/8. However, the B & C panel measurers agreed with the original score. So it is listed in each organizations record books with a different score. It came in 3rd at each convention though, in 2013.
The length measurement is subject to some interpretation, but basically goes along the back of the antler from a valley at the top of the palm to a valley at the end of the brow, that is most nearly parallel with the inside of the palm, which is of course, not straight to begin with. If, as in the case with many Shira's moose, the brow is not forked or palmated, that length is taken at the mid length of the brow point. In other words, if scorers can't agree when it's on the bench, a hunter can only say for sure that it's pretty big, or not.
Almost as crazy as caribou for figuring out the “on-the-hoof” score!
Hell, I just want a tag!
Would be hard to pass up any Shiras that looked like a moose, much less a bomber/gacker like Justin got...
Will keep on keeping on and hope for a tag I’m in Colorado before the wolves are brought in, they kill all the moose and the tags are reduced back to 1990’s numbers...
I had heard that Shiras making BC is one of the easier animals...
My bull that I killed 48" wide 4x4 with no fronts (spikes) up front scored 136 py if he had fronts upper 150s.
8/23/18 while scouting for my wife's cow hunt.
8/23/18 while scouting for my wife's cow hunt.
Again on 8/23 later in the day. Practicing a stalk.
Again on 8/23 later in the day. Practicing a stalk.
The bull that was tending the cow she shot opening morning. Several times he was standing practically right over her while she tried to get a shot at the cow.
The bull that was tending the cow she shot opening morning. Several times he was standing practically right over her while she tried to get a shot at the cow.
Incredible moose photos. I really hope I can find something like those. Wow!
Well guys, I’m heading up to my unit in Idaho tonight for a week of scouting. I couldn’t be more excited and hopefully I can put eyes on a few bulls and hopefully post a couple pics of midsummer bulls to this thread.
another good moose post I found. Paul
Somebody has moose fever, and I don’t blame him one bit! I am hoping to chase moose again in AK next fall.
That Marv Clynke book I promised will be in the mail and Colorado bound tomorrow, Paul!
The first thing to look at if you want a B&C shiras bull is forked brows. If a bull doesn't have them he likely won't make B&C. Next, palm length, palm width, and spread contribute the most to score. Moose really aren't that tough to field judge once you've spent time looking at them.
Points on the end of the palm are the last thing to develop in early Sept. Mature bulls have more pts on the palms than younger bulls. Mature bulls have 8+ pts (including brow pts). Palm length is measured to the fork of the brow so that is why forked brows are so important. The bull I shot in Wyoming had brow forks 12" past the bases which added 24" to the score vs the same bull with 1 or 0 forked brows.
Mature bulls in areas with B&C potential generally have 7" bases while younger bulls have a lot smaller bases. Bases are the first thing to form in the velvet process.
The general minimum measurements for minimum B&C are 10" palm width, 36" palm length, 40" spread, 7" bases, and 8 or 9 pts....obviously with forked brows on each side.
In the unit I moose hunted in Wyo bulls disappeared from their summer locations once the rut started. They moved long distances smelling cows until they found an estrus cow. The bulls moved so much during rut that I took full advantage when I found a bull I was interested in because they could be 2 to 10 miles away the following day. The moose also moved away from willow patches and fed on totally different browse after the first big frost in Wyoming. Some of these things may or may not be the case in Colorado. Things were also different in different locations in Wyoming. Where I hunted was fairly open country. On the West side of Wyoming where there is deep timber bulls were seldom visible and a lot tougher to find in hot conditions because they hung out in dark timber until the temperatures dropped and the rut kicked in.
There are a gob of tips I picked up for locating, judging, and calling bulls. Send me a PM if you are interested.
I will be in Alaska in August
