mica peak moose

[splitshot]

  a friend drew the bull and we are scouting next weekend and will be there for the opener.  my son from spokane has scouted it 4 times and has not seen a single moose.  I am not asking where they are and/or would you take us there.  my question is has anyone else had this problem of not seeing any moose in the mica peak area?   we have gotten 2 cows from the area in the last 6 years and have seen bulls.  on second thought if anyone knows where a nice bull is hanging out pm me.    thanks for looking.    mike w

[Dan-o]

Ouch. 

Best of luck.

I am no help, but hopefully someone out there can help.

[Shank]

This info is second hand.
My sister used to work at lake Easton on the John Wayne trail. She told me years ago that her counter parts in the cheney area of the John Wayne trail see moose in the area of, or on the trail itself. Seeing as I think the trail goes to Spokane, I don't see why there wouldn't be anything on in the trail area of the mica peak area. Hope that helps some

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

[boneaddict]

The population has been hammered. Wolves have been tapping it from the Idaho side.     I didn't buy a permit to go photo it.  The last two times were pitiful.   

That being said, you have the tag or your friend does, good luck.    If he works hard, he will find a moose. 

[splitshot]

   I wonder if anyone has scouted the mica peak area for moose cuz my son has not run into anyone yet and he has been to 3 places.    is it a terrible thing to shoot a cow if you have a bull tag?  mike w

[Ridgerunner]

I can't tell you how many bulls on my hunt  I saw.  Get the IEP pass and get up into their land, there should be plenty of moose in there.  I don't think many guys see moose in the summer, they seem to timber up for the most part over there, they should be coming out now though I'd think. 

[quadrafire]

Splitshot
I'm not sure where they are as the last 3-4 trips I have been up there this summer I didn't see a moose. In contrast to the last 2-3 years when I would see multiple every time up.
PM Bullblaster and HuntNW, they frequent the area and likely could give you some ideas.

[splitshot]

  thank you, will pm them tonite.   mike w

[boneaddict]

Ridge, it's changed dramatically since you had the tag. 

[GoldTip]

Boneaddict hit the nail on the head with his first reply.  That area is having a serious issue with wolves that have been travelling in and out of the Idaho mtns attached to the Mica area tag.  It will not be the same hunt it was 5 years ago, or even 3 years ago.  But there are still bulls there, I just wouldn't pass on the first bull I saw that stretched a tape 35" and maybe also had split brows.

[Ridgerunner]

Well that's depressing news, I had a fantastic hunt in that unit, it produced some HUGE bulls over the years and had the best drawing odds, I guess all good things come to an end though.

[Ridgeratt]

Perhaps the OIL Moose hunt isn't a slam dunk it used to be. Either folks aren't talking or they just aren't finding the animals.

[Curly]

There was a thread on here last year about how bad mica peak has gotten. I put in for that unit for the last dozen years but didn't apply for it this year because of what was said on here.

[quadrafire]

Kinda sad ........
Il bet a few folks are seeing some animals but on my usual treks it has been very disappointing

[Ridgeratt]

It could be that since IEP has closed it off to motorized vehicles less people are getting into it that deep. Now it's a boot hunt, Horse's, 2 wheeled transit.

[quadrafire]

It could be that since IEP has closed it off to motorized vehicles less people are getting into it that deep. Now it's a boot hunt, Horse's, 2 wheeled transit.

The Mica unit is very limited to motorized access anyway. Gonna be a hoof hunt regardless

[boneaddict]

Mica peak is not steep and deep.  It's not even a foothill compared to half the country I frequent.   I've also never used a four wheeler in my entire life. 

[Ridgeratt]

Bone I do think you are the exception to the rule!!!

It used to be a Motorcycle area here in Spokane and it had tons of riding trails. Until IEP closed it off.

[quadrafire]

Mica peak is not steep and deep.  It's not even a foothill compared to half the country I frequent.   I've also never used a four wheeler in my entire life.

Not steep and deep, but it is a pretty big area (bigger than it seems on a map). The bad thing about it from the areas I access, west (Belmont) and south (Starr rd) is foot traffic only and you probably need to get in at least 2 miles to get into the "moose country"

[JLS]

There's a whole lot more to that unit than just Mica Peak.  Moose numbers are just fine.

[deerhuntr4885]

I have the cow tag.  I have not been over there yet, but plan to hunt it with horses.  I have been hearing the same thing.  Fewer moose but still around.  Anybody with a bull tag wanna send me their number I will definitely pass on any info on Bulls I find. 

[splitshot]

  we are scouting sat and sun.  my friend has a bull tag.  my son lives in Spokane and he has been out 4-5 times.   we are then going up next wed to look around and hunt the next 4 days, then hunt hard in nov.      mike w

[nwwanderer]

Lots of nooks, crannies and dog hair stuff that will make for a tough day if the kill is a ways in.  It may look mild from the road, not so much.  Try the Avista powerline if you have the IEP permit.

[Labs07]

I hunt Mica quite a bit on the WA side.  I have seen a few moose this year and I've only been out a handful of times.  Go in through the IEP land and take a bicycle it makes it much easier to get around.  All the moose I've seen they have been walking on the logging roads off the main road. 

[splitshot]

   
we(3 0f us)  scouted mica peak area sunday.  after walking 12.7 miles no meese, no elk, and no grouse.  also no humans.  some sign in the logging roads but not much.    we were going to go up Wednesday but we will wait for 2 weeks, too hot.   drank 2 bottles of water and ran out.   I repeat , toooo hot.  mike w

[quacksmoker]

I've spent a few days last week on Mica and was a bit surprised. I didn't see any moose which was a bit odd and all the sign was old. I didn't see any deer sign either, no tracks, droppings, or anything else. Old elk sign, but nothing recent. Tons of cat poop, it was everywhere. I also came across two kills along the road. I didn't actually see what it was, but smelled really bad and there was something definitely dead. I think the predators are doing a number on them in the area I hunt. I was up high on the property and covered over 9 miles on day, and hunted another 4 the following day. Deer appeared to be avoiding the roads and would just move across the roads from one area of brush to another.

[splitshot]

  we found a bull but don't know if it is over 40 in.    might save him for a couple of weeks.   mike w

[Limhangerslayer]

We are heading up there Friday for a cow hunt.   Is the rut going good right now?

[huntnnw]

I know one thing its NOT wolves...I spend more time up there than everyone combined on this thread. I live minutes from the gate and know many farmers around the mt. I have never heard a wolf howl, seen a track or captured one on cam in 10+ years of running cams with 50,000 pics a year in the area. I hear of a random 1 or 2 wolves that pass thru and thats about it. In the 10+ years of running cams I finally got a cat on cam just this year.

 Is there something up? YUP! The ID side it still pretty good as I see a ton of bulls in cuts there still. I watched 7 bulls in one cut!!  I with others think the ticks are killing off the moose. I saw 3 this year that shoulda died this spring. Since 2009 that unit has gone down hill considerably. It was nothing years ago to go up to mica peak and find nice bulls and some giants with little to no effort! now its a feat to turn up a 42" bull!  yes there is more to mica peak to this unit, but its mostly private and lotted up so bad that it makes hunting moose that way super difficult to downright impossible.

[RadSav]

Is this in the blue tongue affected area?  I know that is not suppose to affect moose, but might explain the smells and lack of deer if it is.

[huntnnw]

I have yet to hear of any deer being found dead due to blue tongue around my area. The mt itself has many running streams,so it shouldnt have blue tongue. I have 3 cams out on mica peak still I have 25 different bucks or more between the 3...there is no lack of deer. This is one of the worst times to see whitetails October! not till late october will u see more activity

[Ridgerunner]

It might be the ticks, I killed my bull in 08 up there and the number of ticks on him was very high, pretty gross actually.

[deerhuntr4885]

Just killed my cow.  Did not see any ticks.  Biologist said she was healthy with no worms.

[quadrafire]

Nice.... Congrats
Where were you in the unit?

[Ridgeratt]

It used to be all the misplaced moose that showed up in Spokane were transplanted to Mica. They always made the news and paper haven't seen that many report's so maybe those moose that got relocated are not finding their way back to town for what ever reason!! It may explain why the success ratio could be down as well.

[bobcat]

Just killed my cow.  Did not see any ticks.  Biologist said she was healthy with no worms.

Not one tick? 

That's unheard of-  (I think)

[Limhangerslayer]

The cow my buddy killed up there was really healthy with no worms either.

[huntnnw]

yeah that is odd....the ticks this past week up there have been bad!

[splitshot]

  last weekend I met 4 guys named jeff and mike and one j and m got a cow on sat.  the other j and m got a cow on sun and both cow hunters gave us a ride out both days.   and both j and m are from Yakima.  kinda weird.  they were all nice guys and could shoot the bs.  we called it off for 3 weeks so the weather can cool.  the hill gets steeper every year.  mike w

[huntnnw]

if I had a cow tag I wouldnt be hiking that road up...much easier alternatives

[huntnphool]

  last weekend I met 4 guys named jeff and mike

 Good guys

[deerhuntr4885]

Just killed my cow.  Did not see any ticks.  Biologist said she was healthy with no worms.

Not one tick? 

That's unheard of-  (I think)

I did not say no ticks. I said I did not see any. I felt around a little and of course I usually find some while skinning. But not on her. I am sure there were a few somewhere I just did not see any.

[boneaddict]

I'm more excited about hearing no worms than no ticks.   

[Limhangerslayer]

if I had a cow tag I wouldnt be hiking that road up...much easier alternatives

i don't see it as that bad.   It's a pretty steep pull,  but once  you're  up there it's a fun hunt and when you kill,  you make a call and drive right to it.

[quadrafire]

if I had a cow tag I wouldnt be hiking that road up...much easier alternatives

i don't see it as that bad.   It's a pretty steep pull,  but once  you're  up there it's a fun hunt and when you kill,  you make a call and drive right to it.

Just curious, when you draw the tag do they issue the number to call?

[splitshot]

yes they do give several numbers to call.  don't listen to lim cuz he is not 74.  he is half that and a hard working man.   some of my friends my age could not make it to second road.    it was a very fun weekend and hope there will be more.   I understand the sunday jeff and mike shot their cow 30 yards above the road and it rolled down to the road.  what a deal.  bet they had visions of what would they do if it kept rolling.  mike w

[boneaddict]

Idabooners did that in Idaho.  I just looked on in amazement.  Really, lol.  Even 30 yards off the road on the steep downhill side, I thought Holy moly.