Hunt Planner: Moose mayhem

Updated: May 2, 2005, 8:18 PM ET

Hunt Planner: Moose mayhem

Texas hunter takes the challenge of tracking North America's
largest deer, downs one of history's best bulls on first try

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By Lynn Burkhead
ESPNOutdoors.com associate editor — May 24, 2004

Psst, hey deer hunters, after years of chasing whitetails, any of you want a bigger challenge?

Then plan a hunt for North America's biggest deer, the Alaska-Yukon moose.

That's exactly what north Texas hunter Mark Rose did last September, thanks to the urging of his big brother.

"This was my first and only time to go moose hunting," Rose said. "I don't know how many whitetails I've shot over the years, plus a few nilgai (large, imported antelope native to India and Pakistan), pronghorns and other animals that you can shoot here in Texas."

In the year 2000, after looking at Rose' fine collection of Texas critters hanging on the wall, his sibling Gary decided to urge little brother to try a somewhat bigger challenge.

Now fast forward to September 2003 near the Ocean River on the Alaskan Peninsula.

Hunt Planner facts

Subspecies: Alaska-Yukon moose (Alces alces gigas); Canada moose (Alces alces americana and Alces alces andersoni); and Shiras or Wyoming moose (Alces alces shirasi).

Range: Alaska-Yukon moose, the largest member of the deer family in the world, inhabit Alaska and Canada's Yukon Territory and Northwest Territories. Canada moose, which are slightly smaller than their Alaska-Yukon cousins, inhabit most of the remaining Canadian provinces along with portions of Maine and Minnesota. The Shiras, or Wyoming moose, is generally found in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Washington, Wyoming, and Utah.

Moose population: While solid population figures are hard to come by, the continental moose population would seem to be somewhere either side of the one million mark with the lion's share occurring in Canada and Alaska. Some estimates place the Canadian moose population at between 500,000 and one million moose. Similar estimates place the Alaskan moose population as high as 175,000 animals.

Hunting seasons: Where such seasons are held, moose hunting typically occurs between the first of September and the end of November.

Moose rut: Most of the rutting activity across North America's moose range occurs sometime during the months of September and October.

Top moose-hunting areas:

Alaska-Yukon moose: If you want to tag a monster moose, Alaska is clearly the king for the massive Alaska-Yukon version. The 49th state dominates the record books - there are 365 all-time Pope & Young entries from Alaska compared to a total of 57 in the P&Y runner-up, the Yukon Territory! These big critters stand seven feet tall or higher; have greatest spread measurements of up to 75 and even occasionally 80 inches; body weights up to 1,600 pounds or more; and will provide as much as 700 pounds plus of meat for the hunter! As for antlers, those are Alaskan big too - the world record bull scores a massive 261 5/8 inches! Guided hunts are pricey in the $7,500 to $10,000 range for an Alaskan moose hunt. While the work to butcher and pack a moose out can be overwhelming, some Do-It-Yourself (DIY) and outfitted drop-camp hunts can be had at a lesser price. Hunters can also consider a guided moose hunt in Canada's Yukon Territory or Northwest Territories.

Canada moose: As one might expect, the country of Canada is indeed the top place to hunt the Canada moose. British Columbia gets our vote as the top Canadian moose hotspot, based on sheer number of record book entries and the quality of those entries. B.C. has eight of the Top 20 Boone & Crockett Club Canada moose entries in addition to 13 of the Top 20 Pope &Young Club entries. The province also boasts 139 all-time P&Y entries, good enough for second place on the all-time archery list. Our second pick for a Canada moose hotspot is the province that actually has the most P&Y all-time entries, Ontario with 149. While B.C. is tops for top-end moose, Ontario isn't a slouch in the antler quality department having produced at least 17 bulls scoring 190 inches or better since 1990. Other top spots for Canada moose hunting include: Alberta, Maine, Manitoba, Newfoundland (known as "The Moose Capitol of the World"), Quebec, and Saskatchewan. Generally expect to pay between $3,000 and $6,000 and occasionally even higher for a guided Canada moose hunt. Also note that in some instances, tags must be drawn.

Shiras moose: The toughest part of hunting any Shiras moose is simply getting a tag since all of the western U.S. states that offer such hunts offer tags on a limited entry draw system. The best in the West for the Shiras, or Wyoming moose, is the state of Wyoming, which has a population that has been reported as high as 15,000 moose. The Cowboy State has 140 all-time Pope & Young entries, more than double the amount of runner-up Idaho. Those entries contain four of the P&Y Top 10, including the current archery world record at 185 6/8 inches. Wyoming also has six of the Top 10 Boone & Crockett entries, including the world record at 205 4/8 inches. But Wyoming isn't just the top state due to its high quality Shiras bulls - the state also offers more non-resident tags than any other state, reasonable draw odds, and a preference point system. Idaho is clearly next in line for a Shiras moose, with 66 overall Pope & Young entries and six of the P&Y Top 10 along with exceptional odds of drawing a pricey tag. Utah is our third pick for a Shiras moose hunt with 55 all-time P&Y entries, although getting a once-in-a-lifetime tag is exceedingly difficult unless one spends some serious cash for one of the few landowner tags. Montana is another worthy choice for someone hoping to draw a Shiras moose tag, boasting 39 all-time P&Y entries although draw odds aren't good. Colorado offers some good bulls, but not many tags - only 15 all-time Pope & Young entries have been recorded in the Centennial State. Application deadlines in all of the above states have already passed, so get in line for next year's draw.

Hunting keys:

Be in shape: Amazingly enough, one of moose hunting's biggest problems is actually killing a moose! That's because of the massive amount of butchering and packing that follows as hunters work on a carcass supplying hundreds of pounds of meat. In Alaska and Canada, traversing the spongy arctic tundra in hip boots can physically drain and wear a hunter out as surely as climbing up and down a rugged mountain can.

Look out for bears: In some portions of moose country, grizzly or brown bears are an ever-present threat, so carefully follow all bear safety precautions.

Hunt the rut: Like hunting the whitetail or elk rut? Then you'll love hunting a 1,500-pound love-crazed bull during the late September into October moose rut.

Learn to call: During the rut, calling can be a very effective method of working a bull moose into bow or gun range. Get a tape, video, or DVD and learn how to imitate the bull's guttural grunt and the cow's lovesick moan.

Listen: Many a moose has been tagged because a hunter heard a moose in the thick brush before he or she actually saw it.

"Rattle" in a moose: When used in conjunction with calling, scraping a tree's bark with a piece of wood, antler, or some other noise-making object can trick a big bull moose into thinking another aggressive Bullwinkle is cutting in on his romantic turf.

Float hunting: In Alaska, some hunters will float silently down lengthy rivers looking for a stalkable bull or a prime moose hunting area. In Canada, similar tactics are used on stillwater lakes.

Spot-and-stalk: As with other forms of big game hunting, spotting with good optics and then stalking into shooting range is often the ticket to punching a moose tag. Get to a good vantage point and scan the thick bush for bits and pieces of a moose's dark body or gleaming antlers.

Take a stand: At times, moose routinely visiting a good food or water source can be patterned and taken by a hunter using a treestand or ground blind.

Trophy field-judging tips:

Know your moose: Greatest spread measurements, palm lengths, palm widths, and beam circumferences vary considerably among the three moose subspecies. Generally, Alaska-Yukon moose measurements are the greatest in each category, followed by Canada moose, and then Shiras moose.

Wide racks: Because greatest spread measurements are a part of the moose's final score, the wider a bull's rack is, the better.

Long palms: Since the length of the palm on each side is added into a bull's final score, the longer the better.

Wide palms: As with a palm's length, the wider an individual palm is, the higher the score will be.

Good brow palms: Look for well-formed brow palms since these add to a bull's length of palm measurement.

Number of normal points: In the scoring of a bull moose's antlers, the length of individual points isn't counted in the final score. But the number of normal points is, so the more, the better. Generally, top-scoring bulls will have 10 or more normal points on each side.

Beam circumference: While difficult to judge, a thick antler beam circumference of six to seven inches or better is desirable.

(Sources: "The Bowhunter's Handbook" by M.R. James; "Bowhunter's Encyclopedia" by Dwight Schuh; Various state, federal, and provincial conservation agency websites; Various moose oriented websites; Boone & Crockett Club Records of North American Big Game, 11th Edition; Boone & Crockett Club's 24th Big Game Awards; Pope & Young Club Bowhunting Big Game Records of North America, 5th Edition; Pope & Young Club's 22nd and 23rd Recording Period Statistical Summaries; and ESPNOutdoors.com files.)

That's where Rose found himself stepping from a small airplane into the Alaskan bush, embracing his big brother's challenge to hunt bull moose with wilderness outfitter Butch King of Wildman Lake Lodge.

While the Aleutian Mountains weren't far away, Rose found an unusual mix of gray tundra consisting of volcanic cinders and a nearly impenetrable wall of alder bushes ranging from knee high to 8 feet tall.

"It was very odd terrain to me," Rose said. "Those alder bushes, they were absolutely woven together. It was extremely tough to navigate your way through them."

The weather, typical of that found on the Alaskan Peninsula in September, deteriorated, however, and made the Texas hunter a day late getting into the bush.

"I was the last one to go," Rose said. "Each hunter has their own guide and the plan is that you go out and set up a spike camp with a backpack type of tent.

"You're remote hunting out of that tent until you have some success. You're really roughing it."

Since Alaskan law prevented Rose from hunting on his first day, he and guide Bill Burwell set up their spike camp.

Once that task was accomplished, the pair set out to battle the alders for the first time and have a look-see with their hunting optics.

After hoofing it into the bush, the pair set up on a good vantage point to begin glassing. It didn't take long before they saw a flash in the artic sunlight of a bedded bull's antler palm.

When the animal finally stood a couple of hours later, the massive bull nearly took the pair's breath away.

"After we saw him, we couldn't believe it," Rose said. "Bill said that was the biggest moose he had ever seen in his life. He called it, too, saying that it would measure over 80 inches (in width)."

Needless to say, after marching back through the heavy bush and gulping down dinner, the Texas hunter drifted off to sleep that night dreaming of a certain monster moose.

When Rose was able to legally hunt the next day, he and Burwell found themselves back on the glassing vantage point.

"We fought our way back through the alders to where we had glassed and voila, the moose was in same spot," Rose said.

The pair quickly formulated a stalking strategy to get Rose into shooting position with his .300 magnum rifle.

That necessitated dropping down into the square valley, negotiating a fast-flowing stream, then fighting their way through the ever-present alder bushes again.

Great plan. Unfortunately, the big, bull moose had other ideas.

"We made it through all of that and got over there and the moose was gone," Rose said. "I guess he heard us coming."

A couple of days later, Rose found himself looking through his optics at the massive bull once again.

"We regrouped a little bit and tried to figure out what we did wrong the first time," Rose said.

"This time, we went down the mountain and went down the stream bed where it was a little more decent walking as compared to the alders."

After traveling down the stream bed about 300 yards, the pair crossed through the alders before slipping up a moose trail.

The plan apparently worked to perfection.

"We got within 120 yards or so of the moose," Rose said. "When we could first see him, he was standing broadside. I quickly popped up my shooting sticks and fired two shots right where it counted, right behind his shoulder."

After a couple of follow-up shots, Rose and his guide walked up to the bull of staggering dimensions and began to get some idea of just how big a moose the hunter had downed.

"When we finally got up (to the bull) and finally touched it, we were so excited," Rose said. "Neither of us could believe it.

"Bill, being such a veteran guide who had guided 60 people before, said it was by far the biggest thing he had ever been involved with."

After the tagging and photo chores were completed, the arduous task of butchering the mammoth big-game animal began. That process took three days total, the first two to get the meat out, and the third to get the massive antlers and cape out.

Just how massive is the Rose bull moose?

First, consider that the estimated body weight of this Bullwinkle was in the 1,600-pound range. In fact, the antlers and skull plate themselves weighed a staggering 68 pounds!

Next, consider that the antler-spread measurement was taped out at 80 3/8 inches. That's not too far behind the bull with the greatest spread in the Boone & Crockett Club record book at 81 4/8 inches.

Finally, consider the official entry score of the bull, a stunning 247 7/8 inches, which ranks the Rose bull 15th all-time in the B&C records. The bull ranks No. 9 all-time in the Safari Club International records, as well.

But to get a true picture of just how big this bull is, consider this fact: So mammoth is the Rose bull that when it returns to Texas from Kansas City, where it is being displayed at the Boone & Crockett Club's 25th Awards Program, it will come to a slightly altered house.

"I had my house modified to hold it," Rose said. "I still don't know how I'm going to get the mount in the door. I think I'll have to take a pretty large window out to do it."

Now, that's big — Alaska-Yukon-moose big!

Top-10 Boone & Crockett Alaska-Yukon moose

(Score, hunter, location, year.)

1. 261 5/8, John A. Crouse, Fortymile River, Alaska, 1994
2. 256 6/8, William G. Nelson, Beluga River, 1997
3. 255 0/8, Kenneth Best, McGrath, Alaska, 1978
4. 251 0/8, Bert Klineburger, Mount Susitna, Alaska, 1961
5. 250 3/8, Dyton A. Gilliland, Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, 1947
6. 249 6/8, Josef Welle, Mother Goose Lake, Alaska, 1967
7. 249 3/8, John R. Johnson, Tikchik Lake, Alaska, 1995
8. 249 2/8, Henry S. Budney, Alaska Range, Alaska, 1967
9. 249 1/8, David B. Parent, Granite Mountain, Alaska, 1982
10. 248 7/8, Loren G. Hammer, Farewell Lake, Alaska, 1967

Top-10 Boone & Crockett Canada moose

1. 242 0/8, Michael E. Laub, Grayling River, British Columbia, 1980
2. 240 2/8, Albertoni Ferruccio, Teslin River, British Columbia, 1982
3. 238 5/8, Silas H. Witherbee, Bear Lake, Quebec, 1914
4. 227 4/8, Donald F. Blake, Cook County, Minnesota, 1985
5. 226 7/8, Tim Harbridge, Whitecourt, Alberta, 1978
6. 226 6/8, Richard Peterson, Halfway River, British Columbia, 1977
7. 225 0/8, Carl J. Buchanan, Driftwood River, Alberta, 1960
8. 224 1/8, Roy M. Hornseth, Nipawin, Saskatchewan, 1959
9. 223 7/8, Pierre A. Lachance, Buffalo Lake, Manitoba, 1985
10. 223 5/8, Native American, Island Lake, Manitoba, 1980

Top-10 Boone & Crockett Shiras moose

1. 205 4/8, John M. Oakley, Green River Lake, Wyoming, 1952
2. 205 1/8, Arthur E. Chandler, Fremont County, Wyoming, 1944
3. 200 3/8, Aldon L. Hale , Lincoln County, Wyoming, 1981
4. 199 3/8, Reed T. Fisher, Elk City, Idaho, 1957
5. 199 0/8, Amos E. Hand, Park County, Wyoming, 1946
6. 195 5/8, Alfred C. Berol, Atlantic Creek, Wyoming, 1933
7. 195 1/8, C.M. Schmauch, Beaverhead County, Montana, 1952
8. 194 4/8, Jack A. Anderson, Jackson County, Colorado, 1995
9. 188 4/8, Vicki Grover, Madison County, Idaho, 1976
10. 186 3/8, Curt Mann, Sublette County, Wyoming, 1972

Sources: Boone & Crockett Club Records of North American Big Game, 11th Edition; Boone & Crockett Club's 24th Big Game Awards; and Boone & Crockett Club website.

Top-10 Pope and Young Alaska-Yukon moose

1. 248 0/8, Dr. Michael L. Cusack, Bear Creek, Alaska, 1973
2. 240 4/8, Sam Smith, Galena, Alaska, 1995
3. 229 1/8, Rick Schikora, Doghouse Creek, Alaska, 2002
4. 227 7/8, Ted Brown, Earn Lake, Yukon Territory, 1995
5. 227 6/8, Larry Oppe, Koyukuk River, Alaska, 1998
6. 227 2/8, Ryan Hoerner, Salmon River, Alaska, 2002
7. 226 1/8, Randy Ulmer, Kenai Peninsula, Alaska, 2002
8. 224 6/8, Larry D. Jones, Koyukuk River, Alaska, 2000
9. 224 3/8, George Faerber, Lake Iliamna, Alaska, 1974
10. 224 2/8, William C. Shuster, Mosquito Flats, Alaska, 1998

Top-10 Pope and Young Canada moose

1. 222 1/8, Charles Roy, Cap-Chat, Quebec, 1988
2. 218 1/8, Randy V. Lijenquist, Dease Lake, British Columbia, 2001
3. 217 2/8, Fredrick J. Gimbel, Birch Mountain, Alberta, 1994
4. 214 3/8, Wayne Carlton, Chevis Creek, British Columbia, 1988
5. 214 0/8, Dennis Odian, Dixie Lake, British Columbia, 1997
6. 202 1/8, Tom Close, Tatsamenie Lake, British Columbia, 1997
7. 201 4/8, Peter Halbig, Mt. Lady Laurier, British Columbia, 1968
8. 201 2/8, Fred Robinson, Hutt Twp., Ontartio, 1986
9. 200 0/8, T.J. Conrads, Disella Lake, British Columbia, 2001
10. 199 3/8, Jan Collins, Turtle Mountain, Manitoba, 1994

Top-10 Pope and Young Shiras moose

1. 185 6/8, Richard E. Jones, Sheridan County, Wyoming, 1987
2. 185 5/8, John Harvey, Big Horn County, Wyoming, 1996
3. 183 7/8, Scott A. Wodahl, Johnson County, Wyoming, 2002
4. 180 3/8, Kenneth K. Fordyce, Fremont County, Idaho, 1983
5. 177 5/8, Gerald Madsen, Madison County, Idaho, 1998
6. 177 1/8, David Cederberg, Bingham County, Idaho, 1995
7. 176 1/8, Benjamin L. Michelena, Johnson County, Wyoming, 2001
8. 174 7/8, James Keller, Caribou County, Idaho, 1992
9. 174 3/8, David C. Cole, Bonneville County, Idaho, 1987
10. 174 2/8, Larry Hoff, Idaho County, Idaho, 1991
10. 174 2/8, Brian L. Paulsen, Caribou County, Idaho, 2000

Sources: Boone & Crockett Club Records of North American Big Game, 11th Edition; Boone & Crockett Club's 24th Big Game Awards; and Boone & Crockett Club website.