49 Degrees North A - Early Moose

[Arteman]

My Daughter drew her OIL Moose tag this year.  Still in shock over it and excited to just be part of this hunt!  Hoping to accumulate as much information about this hunt in the next 3 months that I can collect.  Going to plan a trip after the 4th to go over and get familiar with the land and curious if I need to purchase any timberland access permits ahead of time.  Any information will be greatly appreciated, thanks!

[vandeman17]

Congrats on the tag. I tagged along on a moose hunt a few years ago and it was pretty darn fun. My only advice is to scout a few times, mainly to learn the roads and general area. Like a lot of big game animals, they won't be where you might see them in the summer, especially when the rut kicks in. Also, be ready to put miles and scratches on your vehicle. If I ever draw a moose tag, I am going to buy a beater jeep or something just for the hunt.

Good luck and keep us posted

[Arteman]

Thank you @vandeman17 I was reading up on some of the older posts and seen that you dont see as many Moose during the Summer months.  It was like that on my Entiat hunt, scouted all Summer not seeing much, then the hunt started and Deer were everywhere.

[vandeman17]

Thank you @vandeman17 I was reading up on some of the older posts and seen that you dont see as many Moose during the Summer months.  It was like that on my Entiat hunt, scouted all Summer not seeing much, then the hunt started and Deer were everywhere.

In the summer with all the leaves and thick brush, unless you catch them in the open or on the road, you won't see a ton. Early season the visibility isn't much better but it will be during the rut so calling them to you is a good tactic. If it at all possible, shoot them on or just above the road 

[Arteman]

So is the timberlands over that way free to access without permit?  I've learned there is a lot of walk-in country which I'm fine with but still not sure if I have to aquire a timberland pass similar on how Weyerhaeuser or Hancock manages their properties.

[bobcat]

This is from the WDFW Hunting Prospects, if you haven't seen it yet:

49 Degrees North – GMU 117
49 Degrees North is a mix of private property, Colville National Forest, the Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge, and private industrial timber company land. Road access on national forest land is fairly good, but most access on industrial timber company land is restricted to non- motorized. In some of the southern portion of GMU 117, all motorized access is restricted within the Buck Creek Road Closure Area, which includes Boyer Mountain and Nelson Peak. The Colville National Forest travel map is recommended. The Washington Department of Natural Resources map is also recommended, especially for the southern portion of the unit.

49 Degrees North – GMU 117
The 49 Degrees North GMU is divided by a mountain range into east and west drainages. The areas near the crest of the divide or the drainages on the east side have the most moose activity. In the southern portion, good areas would be Boyer, Nelson, and Chewelah mountains, along with the Calispell, Tenmile, and Gletty creek drainages. In the north portion of GMU 117, Winchester, Small, Ruby, and Flodell creek drainages, along with Tacoma, Dirty Shirt, Little Calispell, Calispell, Goddards, and Olson mountain peaks, tend to hold significant numbers of moose. There are many recent and older harvest units in 117, which allow ample opportunity to glass hillsides from a ridgeline or road.

https://wdfw.wa.gov/sites/default/files/publications/02275/district_1_hunting_prospects_2021.pdf

[bustedoldman]

Send me a message and I'll drop a few pins to you from where we saw moose from last years hunt.

[hunter399]

This is from the WDFW Hunting Prospects, if you haven't seen it yet:

49 Degrees North – GMU 117
49 Degrees North is a mix of private property, Colville National Forest, the Little Pend Oreille National Wildlife Refuge, and private industrial timber company land. Road access on national forest land is fairly good, but most access on industrial timber company land is restricted to non- motorized. In some of the southern portion of GMU 117, all motorized access is restricted within the Buck Creek Road Closure Area, which includes Boyer Mountain and Nelson Peak. The Colville National Forest travel map is recommended. The Washington Department of Natural Resources map is also recommended, especially for the southern portion of the unit.

49 Degrees North – GMU 117
The 49 Degrees North GMU is divided by a mountain range into east and west drainages. The areas near the crest of the divide or the drainages on the east side have the most moose activity. In the southern portion, good areas would be Boyer, Nelson, and Chewelah mountains, along with the Calispell, Tenmile, and Gletty creek drainages. In the north portion of GMU 117, Winchester, Small, Ruby, and Flodell creek drainages, along with Tacoma, Dirty Shirt, Little Calispell, Calispell, Goddards, and Olson mountain peaks, tend to hold significant numbers of moose. There are many recent and older harvest units in 117, which allow ample opportunity to glass hillsides from a ridgeline or road.

https://wdfw.wa.gov/sites/default/files/publications/02275/district_1_hunting_prospects_2021.pdf

Buck crk is no joke.
No way would I pack a moose out a few of those areas.

[MLBowhunting]

I have a moose decoy and have been on a few moose hunts over there.  Feel free to give me a call.

[EyeTooth]

Hope I copy and paste this right. This is a rerun of something that I put on here in September of 2017. I think it still applies. The Huntin Fool website is still active. If I were still applying for any of the OIL permits, and drew, this would be the first place that I would check for the most (up to date) info on the unit that I had drawn.
Congratulations on your draw, and I hope you have the best hunt of your life!

Here goes:

Congratulations! That is a nice permit to have!
"The Huntin Fool" was a great source for detailed information back in 2007 when my wife drew her 49DN permit.
I'm not sure how these guys are now because the original creators of this service have sold their business, but I see on their website that the new owners still offer the "Member draw list" service, where, as a member, when you draw a permit they will send you the names and numbers of several other Huntin Fool members who have had this same permit recently so you can call to talk with them about their hunts.
We gathered maps and did some research before calling anyone so that we were ready to understand where they were talking about on the maps etc.
I think you could give them a call, tell them you drew your permit and ask if you could sign up for the $100 annual fee and receive the call list. They used to allow you to do that.
This was the best $100 we have ever spent on hunting research. The people we talked with gave us incredibly detailed info! It was a lot of fun!
You might ask them to give a quick look to see if they have had any members that have had this permit recently. I did that for a friend who was looking for quality elk hunt info for the Toutle. The Huntin Fool told me that they didn't have members with that info, so there would be no reason to become a member. They were really nice to work with.

[vandeman17]

I would watch some videos and learn how to call, both cow and bull sounds. Do lots of calling and be patient. On the hunt I was on, we called from one spot, sat for a while, left to go check out another spot and when we came back like an hour later, I was walking back to where we had been sitting and a bull came out exactly where we had been.

[EyeTooth]

Vandeman17, Just for more info for Arteman, We had a very similar experience to you. We learned how to call (It was very easy and fun) no tools or calls needed, just used cupped hands, and got the same type of reaction as you did. Also, we stayed at the Nordlig Motel in Chewelah.

[vandeman17]

Vandeman17, Just for more info for Arteman, We had a very similar experience to you. We learned how to call (It was very easy and fun) no tools or calls needed, just used cupped hands, and got the same type of reaction as you did. Also, we stayed at the Nordlig Motel in Chewelah.

Agreed. Calling is pretty easy and when you get a bull grunting back at you, its pretty exciting. My buddy had the Selkirk tag and we stayed in a wall tent for the week. It was pretty dang cool