Scouting for Moose with Google Earth -- Beginner Advice

[Watts]

Hello all. I seem to have gotten myself into a situation that I know nothing about...moose hunting. I am from Texas, and have just booked a fly-in DIY moose hunt (WMU 1c) starting on October 5 in Ontario. There are four of us, and we know absolutely nothing about moose, nor do we know if we chose a good outfitter, location, or time. The bottom line is we want to go well prepared, and if nothing else it will be a nice camping/fishing trip.

We were told (DISCLAIMER: the remainder of this paragraph is from the outfitter, and may be a complete load of nonsense) the outfitter received extra tags for 2019 because they needed to harvest more moose. They are using an area where they fish in the summers, but it has not been hunted in quite a few years. We will be the third group to go into the area, but the first gun hunters. The rut typically peaks around that time, so we should not have any trouble finding a moose.

My concern is that if two other groups are putting pressure on the moose, they may move away from the area. We don't mind putting in the miles to find moose, but where do we start?

So my question is this...Looking at satellite images, how can I narrow down my list of possible starting points for day 1?

I have posted an image of the area that i am looking at if it helps.

any advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[AlaskaHunter]

Moose are big critters...here in Alaska packing out a big bull is like packing out 3 bull caribou.
So I look for remote locations that I can get a canoe to.

Once I've narrowed down locations that a motorized boat can not access but I can
drag a canoe to and keep on going, I look for calling locations under a variety of wind directions.
A forested hill with marsh to the south, a forested hill with marsh to the north, etc.
I like to setup and call from a forested hill so I can walk down to the marsh to call and
also do a water sloshing routine, then back up the hill to glass and wait.

Also I always take a rope winch, a plastic jet sled in case the bull
walks into the marsh and expires after shot in the boiler room.
A tarp helps as a rain shelter and also to lay meat out while butchering.

I highly recommend the 6- hour DVD Moose Madness...
https://moosemadnessproductions.com/
Alex Guthro how produced the DVDs is from Thunder Bay, Ontario

If you hunt Texas turkeys, you will enjoy calling moose...
very similar...easy if the bull is without a cow, difficult if he has a cow(s) with him.

 

[LopeHunter]

Moose under pressure are much different than moose not being pressured. If you are scouting or the outfitter has scouted and you are there opening morning or are the only hunter in that drainage that month then e-scouting is useful. Look for riparian, marshy zones. If pressure is there though critters will scatter. Early October may be after main rut so calling may be less effective to locate and pull in bulls. If is thick vegetation then hard to glass. If some open meadows above riparian zones then could glass there early and late in day. Will the outfitter provide names of early October hunters from prior years?

 

[Watts]

Alaska, thanks for the info. I contacted Alex last week, and he won’t be able to get me the video until late May. Lots of folks have made that recommendation. I can’t wait to see it. We are flying in to the area, and motorized boats will be provided, but i’m not sure about canoes.

Lope, the outfitter gave me a name, but I haven’t been able to get in touch yet. I’ve only called once, but will try again.

 

[kimbersig]

the moose calling video's (Love, Thunder, and Bull 1 and 2) that Wayne Kubat sells along with the bull magnet moose call are good resources as well.

Moose Hunting and Calling Products

Bull Magnet Moose Call, Love, Thunder & Bull Moose Calling DVDs from Alaska Remote Guide Service - Wayne Kubat

alaskaremote.com

 

[AlaskaHunter]

Moose under pressure are much different than moose not being pressured. If you are scouting or the outfitter has scouted and you are there opening morning or are the only hunter in that drainage that month then e-scouting is useful. Look for riparian, marshy zones. If pressure is there though critters will scatter. Early October may be after main rut so calling may be less effective to locate and pull in bulls. If is thick vegetation then hard to glass. If some open meadows above riparian zones then could glass there early and late in day. Will the outfitter provide names of early October hunters from prior years?

 

[AlaskaHunter]

In my area in interior Alaska,
bulls are typically with cows (peak rut) in early October...tough calling when that happens...
typically mature bulls will not leave their harem of cows to respond to calling,
except for satellite bulls which would respond well to calling

 

[Watts]

In my area in interior Alaska,
bulls are typically with cows (peak rut) in early October...tough calling when that happens...
typically mature bulls will not leave their harem of cows to respond to calling,
except for satellite bulls which would respond well to calling

Is it strange that peak rut in Alaska (~10 degrees further north) would be at the same time or even later than in Ontario? from what I've seen, lope is right, peak rut is typically end of September / early October.

 

[AlaskaHunter]

I start hearing grunting bulls as early as the first week of Sept.
Our hunting is typically best at the end of the rifle season (Sept 25)
but I duck hunt into mid October
and the peak rut is early October...
in terms of most mature bulls have their harems then.