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[mooser]

This site seems to be dying a slow death , anybody got any ideas to keep it going.

[corman]

I hear ya man. Hopefully it will pick up with the season comming up on us.

I gotta tell my fellow moose hunters a lil story. I gotta say moose hunting is my #1 passion. I read about it, watch videos study them I love moose. So imagin my suprise when my loving fiance informs me she is preggers and due right around moose hunting. WOW! that is good, but also sucks. Bad timming on my part 4 sure. So anyway, she is due Nov. 8 and we don't hunt till the 3rd week. Frig! Well she tells me she wants me to go as she loves the meat as much as i do.

So thats story 1, # 2......Its hard to find a group you can go archery hunt with and rifle. I love the archery as they are in the heat of the rut and very calliable. Calling is my eliment and nothing gives me more satisfaction than calling in a bull moose. I can't give up my rifle hunt cos its with my Dad and Uncle. It means the world to me. Been bow hunting twice but if i had my way and could find a gang I'd be going every year for both.

Soooooo imagine my prediciment when my neighbour says last night they are looking for a 4th for there fly in out of Nakina. They have a bull and cow tag, 750 bucks. uugggggg. wh y would you dangle that in front of me. I just got back from a bear hunt, and I have 6 deer heads that guys havn't paid for so I have no funds. Soooo tempting though. If I had known a few months ago........man oh man.

Soooo to feed my fire we are going up to Algonquin Park Sept 24-26. Taking the moose decoy and camara and gonna try practicing my calling and what not. Should be fun.

[donnie7]

Hey Corman, I can see your delema with the fly in and the price seems really reasonable! I looked at the calander for your dates and you are heading in the middle of the week, where abouts within the park are you going? I have been practicing my call now daily for just over two months since my wife and I had our son. When he first started to cry in the hospital I let out a big cow moan and it caused him to stop crying ever since it has been one of the only things that settles him right away so I have been able to practice where ever we are and not get the "okay that is enough of that in the house talk". I am waiting till mid september and going to head south of Calabogie to try my calling. I think it has gotten a lot better, but I need to try it in the wild so to speak. Do you have any other tips to calling that really work for you or typical spots that you look for to call from?

Donnie

[corman]

Yeah I figure mid week there won't be many people around.

When he first started to cry in the hospital I let out a big cow moan and it caused him to stop crying ever since it has been one of the only things that settles him right away so I have been able to practice where ever we are and not get the "okay that is enough of that in the house talk".

Now that is cool, I like that.

[donnie7]

It has been a great way to practice, only problem is that he is not a really fussy baby (good on one hand limiting practice on another)!

Donnie

[corman]

About the calling. Hold on to your seat cos i can blab about this all day...lol, No i don't think I'm an expert, but i do enjoy learning and teaching people what i have learned and picked up over the years. At one time I used to think I had to sound just perfect. The last cpl years have taught me otherwise. Like people, moose have diff. voices and sounds. I have heard many a caller call, some I think to myself, wow, you suck, you sound nothing like a cow, yet they manage to call in moose. My uncle for example, he rarly calls as even he will tell you, he sounds awefull, yet last year he managed to call in a bull. There is a guy that guids for Shockey, man every time i hear him i think how awefull he sounds, but you can't argue with his success. So in short, when cow calling, I really don't think you can make to many bad calls. But having said that, its still fun to practice and try perfecting things isn't it??? lol I still try and make sure my throat is clear of flem n stuff before i call cos i don't want to be to raspy or have breaks in my call.

I have heard guys say they have heard bulls respond to a train whistle, a few years ago we hunted an area where the rd was closed due to chipping. From a distance you could hear the chipper, waaaowwww, waaaowwwww, all day. On the weekend when no one was working we took a drive in that rd. The track in there blew us away. My uncle swears to this day that chipper called in bulls to that area. I am not saying thats what happened but it kind of makes sence in a way. Marc, the guys lodge we stay at in Ignace told me one time, when there in the heat of the rut, any idiot can walk in the woods and make any sort of call and they will come. The trick when bow hunting is getting them in the open, and close enough.

Last year i heard my very first cow call ever. I nearly craped my self i was so excited. Dad has always told me, when you hear it you'll know it, the hair will stand up on the back of your neck, and you'll never forget it. Guess what? He was right. Guess what else, I learned then and there there is no human that can nail that sound perfect. It was amazing, what a beautifull erry sound.

Sooooo, in short, if your parcticing and you think you sound not too bad, then you probably do, you'll be fine. Its just having the confidence to do it. A lot of guys won't try, I've heard guys say oh i can't call, then you hear them try and they don't sond half bad, there just afraid to try, afraid they will scare something away. Moose are so curious by nature, often I think they come out just out of curiosity.

As far as location. In early season I'll call near water. Try setting up my decoy at waters edge and back myself in to a big tree or bush to break up my body. If such a spot is avail. Later in the season i call from higher ground. When we go for the 3rd week the moose are just at the tail end of the second rut and if the weather is cold or there is snow they are in a transition period heading to higher ground. So I go to where they are, or want to be and call from there. Its usualy a play it by ear situation each year. Every year is diff.

Good luck bud. Don't forget the camara. Hope i havn't bored ya with all my bable too much.

[donnie7]

Corman, like I have said elsewhere I am relatively new to moose hunting have only been going well this will be my 5th year. The first four were in an area and with people that had been going for years without sucess and I think they were going for the vacation. So I have sort of had to forget what I was learning from them. Last year we ventured further north to 21A for the first week of rifle. Totally new area and the weather was brutal no sucess again. We have disbanded two of the guys from last year (fair weather hunters and would sooner hunt from the truck with the radio on) can't hold it against them they are on vacation but not want I want to do! My brother in law hunts harder and he and I have hooked up and added 5 other guys for this year. These guys are serious hunters so I am excited about that. They hunt everything that moves all year long and are incredible shots. Last year we found an old logging road with a bridge out that we are going to hunt this year to try and get away from the crowds. We will be there the first week of rifle so should still be able to call in the odd bull if he is in the area. There appears from the maps that there are lots of lakes, little pot holes and a river in the area that we are going to try. I am going to scout the area and try and find where they maybe held up. The area probably won't be cold enough for them to be heading to higher ground, so I am going to look for small swamps or beaver marshes to see if they are travelling in the area or if we can find any rutting activity.
At the end of the day it should be fun with both new guys and a new area and having a bull and cow tag

Anytime you want to talk moose go for it as I enjoy talking and learning..

Donnie

[mooser]

Have to agree with everthing coorman said during the rut anybody can call moose in.We used to call every 1/2 hour and sometimes every 5 min and the moose still came in. At night we would drive to our cuts and give about four calls and drive out.Next morning go back to the same cuts and call again , worked two times for us. Do not be scared to call even off the main roads on wood bridges , call any time you stop the truck as you will be surprised where they are , when coming and going to your hunt area.( one time we stopped for a pee break on a bridge, called and sure as heck a young bull came out.Saw us doing the 3 stooges routine trying to get our bows out of the truck and took off. Found out that two heavy guys cannot get thier bows out at the same time using the same door of the truck) Just have fun ,take a lot of pics. I am 57 and sometimes take out the old pics and laugh( wife thinks i am nuts) memories, that what it all about the moose is just a bonus.

[corman]

Found out that two heavy guys cannot get thier bows out at the same time using the same door of the truck)

Just had that visual and I am LMAO.
memories, that what it all about the moose is just a bonus.

Is this my Dad, Wayne, is that you?....lol He says those exact words all the time. Couldn't agree more.


What you said about calling the night before. I love doing this, especialy if i know i am comming back in the am. It worked last year on our bow hunt. We didn't see any sign. We found a spot we would set up anyway though, before we left we did a few calls. Next morning on our way in in the dark we came across 2 sets of tracks. We called in that bull, he was real close but stuck to the thick stuff. He went buy one guy and he could hear him breathing but could not see him. I could hear him thrashing his rack in the alders. It was crazy foggy that am and when he was walking away around the edge of the pond i could hear the odd branch ping of his rack but could not for the life of me see him.

A number of times i have called before i left a spot, went back in the next day or that afternoon even and found tracks. uugggg.

Another lil tip for ya. Bulls have an amazing vocabular. They make so many strange and crazy noises it blows me away. So remember, if you "THINK" you might have heard one, you probably did. Thy don't always make the traditional grunts we imitate and hear. I had one a few years ago I thought was the ice going in the lake. You know the weird sounds a lake makes when its making ice. Turns out after i shot the bull i guess the lake was done making ice. Cos i didn't hear it any more.....lol It was the young bull the whole time.

[missmod88]

sorry guys, I was active here for a while, but got busy with "life" and didn't frequent many boards.. I figured I had better get my butt back in here to help support you all! hunting season is just around the corner now, and I am pumped!!!

I'm around now, so I'll do my part

Sue

[corman]

Here is another tip. Funny how ya forget lil things just sitting here. THen i go out and try things and i think oh yeah, I have to try this or i should maybe practice that. When you go practice next time, go outside. Your call may very well sound very diff. outside than inside.

Also, as far as horns go, do you use a birch bark, fiberglass, or just your hands? I use just my hands for the most part, unless i am really trying to reach out there, or i want the muffles throaty gruff sound of a bull, then i use the fiberglass call, or the birch bark one i made myself. You will see a lot of guys raking the tree with there call. I think a birch bark call sounds fine for this, I DO NOT like the sound fiberglass makes whate so ever. However, it does work for some guys. Heck i think those electronic calls sount awefull yet guys seem to have luck with them. Just my preferance is all.

If you do use the horn and you want to make a less audable call, try stufffing a cloth, rag, shirt or something in the end of your call, this will tone it down and muffle it a bit. I picked that up last year from Ken Kapling.

Also for raking use a scpula from a moose or cow, this sounds very nice rubbing a tree or brush. Just be carefull if your wearing certain clothing that the sound of the branches whipping against your sleeves will sound un natural and a bull may pick up on this and hang up. I always carry a paddle. You will see Shockey do this a lot also. A padle serves a number of purposes. can be used as a walking stick, it sounds good raking on brush and trees, use it for a shooting stick/rest, or to imitate the rack of another bull in a challange. I never leave without it.

Anyway, thats all i have to blab about for now. Stuff ya probablly already knew but thought I'd through it out there.

[corman]

Man oh man, i was talking to the guys about the fly in again today, went skeet shooting with all 3 of em. Man oh man i wish i wasn't so d**n broke. If people would pay gor there d**n mounts I'd have money. Over 2000 dollars worth of deer heads sitting here not paid for, Pi$$ me right off.

[corman]

Had the scapula in the truck the other day. I tried racking some tree and brush, Dad was about 100 yds away walking out. When he got out to me he asked what that was i was using. He said from where he was it sounded just like the eal thing. Last year when bow hunting Ken was using one also, being a cpl hundred yards away I was amazed how good it sounded.

[donnie7]

Hey Corman, did you go to the park? How did it go?

Donnie

[corman]

Went all right. Saw a cow, calf and fork bull. Then called in a monster 55" plus. To within 100 yds. He was grunting, thrashing and putting on a heck of a show. I'll post pics later. Not as much action as i was hopping for but it was allright. You get out?