ID Moose Hunt

[Duckhunter14]

I contemplated whether or not I wanted to share this adventure or not. But I truly enjoy seeing other peoples adventures and all the photos that people share. So I figured I would start a thread on this hunt and try to share some photos and experiences along the way. Bare with me; I am not the most elegant writer nor am I a professional photographer like so many on this forum. But I will do my best to update the HW crew when I am able.

This story starts out like many hunts, with a visit to the Department of Fish and Game website to check the results of the Idaho OIL drawing. Once again I saw unsuccessful next to my Bighorn Sheep application. My best friend was out of service on a fishing trip so I had to wait until that evening to hear whether he was successful in the moose category or not. About 9:30 that night his brother and I got a group text that read "we're going moose hunting boys!" The three way call and yelling and screaming commenced.

The planning started immediately and we ran down every lead we could think to obtain information on the hunt. My buddy is a resident of Montana and only lives a few hours from the unit so he was able to get boots on the ground with several scouting trips throughout the summer. I gave him a couple of my trail cameras and he got 5-6 cams up as well. After getting the kill locations from years past we marked up Google earth with past kills, potential glassing spots, meadows to check, camping locations, trails heads to check out, etc.

Its been a whirlwind since we found out we had finally drawn an OIL tag. We've been talking about drawing a premium tag since we were kids and this is the first OIL. Although this is an OIL tag it will not be a walk in the park. Which we knew going into the draw; the unit is not what it used to be and the moose are scattered throughout the unit. But we look forward to the challenge, cause hey we get to HUNT MOOSE!

In addition to figuring out information on where to find moose we also needed to learn more on "how" to find moose. Neither of us has ever attempted to call in a bull moose before, other than when we would see them on deer/elk hunts in Montana and attempt to emulate (poorly I might add) the guys we have watched on the hunting channel! So we watched YouTube videos, and ordered DVD's on moose calling. I saw several videos on using a moose scapula for scraping so I was on the lookout when another buddy and I ventured into Idaho for a Spring bear hunt. Luck would have it that we headed down a side road and bam, dead cow moose laying in the road. Got my scapula. I cleaned it up, boiled it, bleached it, clear coated it, and then used some leather shoe lace and a bear claw to make a lanyard for it. I gave it to my buddy along with a fiberglass moose call tube for his birthday in June. He was pretty excited.

Well after months of planning the day is finally here. I leave after work tomorrow to head east and we are heading out for the opener. We have 6 days planned for the first hunt, then another 10 planned for the first week of October for the rut if he has not punched his tag yet. He is going to attempt to harvest the bull with his bow, but I will be packing his rifle just in case. We also have wolf tags just in case too.

Attached I included a picture of a bull he has his eye on and a picture of the scapula scraper I made him. I wish everyone else luck on their hunts this fall. Hope you can follow along and enjoy the progress. Fingers crossed we will hear the sizzle of moose back strap before the fall is over. If not, we're going to have a heck of a good time trying and exploring some new country in the process.

Clint

[Bob33]

Good luck! I look forward to the hunt report.

[Timberstalker]

Awesome!  Best of luck on the hunt!

[carpsniperg2]

Good luck and thanks for posting

[coop2424]

Can't wait to follow this and good luck!!   My wife will be hunting moose also in Idaho in the late season.. 

[meatwhack]

Congrats on the tag. What season did he draw? 

[G-S]

Sounds like a great time my Dad had a moose tag a few years back he didn't get one now I'm waiting for him to draw again so we can go at it again

[ffbowhunter]

Best of luck, keep the story going! I cannot wait to see how this hunt goes.

[lewy]

Good luck and good call on the scapula they work great, cut and file that rib down to make a better handle

[cmiller85]

Congrats man! Moose hunting is a blast! Thanks for sharing.

[tchoutacabouffa]

What unit?


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[bowhunterforever]

Best of luck, keep the story going! I cannot wait to see how this hunt goes.

[Gringo31]

Thanks for bringing us along!   

[boneaddict]

Looking forward to it.  Ive notched in Idaho, so have to live vicariously through these hunts.  Thanks for sharing.

[DOUBLELUNG]

Thank you for sharing, and I am looking forward to the updates.