Is this a good plan?

[fly-in]

I have been moose hunting now for two years and haven't even fired a shot, My father inlaw wants to get out on opening day (a Monday), I have to work the Sunday until about one but then can head out after that. I was thinking of getting up to our moose hunting grounds and getting up to the highest points and try calling on the Sunday night then going back opening morning and try hunting the area.
When we hunt we always get into a spot where there might be a moose and try to call, this would be more like trying to call them into the lake where I will be hunting, then finding them and calling them in for the shot. I know you don't want to call from a hole in the ground, but is there any harm from calling from up high just to bring them in, I have heard that they can pin point where they are being called from, so will a rock 60' up be a bad place to call?

The plus for getting out early will be if we don't get our moose during that week we can come back and hunt again, I guess we could come back during late season too, but the ice is a little scary.

[MASTERGUIDE]

Well, the only thing to be concerned about is over calling them, maybe vary it a little or call just a little that night, and try to get one to respond or come in or whatever you want, but no you can call up in a tree if you want, sometimes thats a good place to be to get a shot at one depending on the layout of the area.

MASTERGUIDE

[fly-in]

My thoughts were to call for 45min, so three times. I just want to get them comming out of the woodwork, they are in the area and I know they will come a long way to find a cow, so if they start comming my way that night I should have an early morning chance.

[deerhunter]

where are you hunting with a aug 15 opening day. kinda warm for that.

[fly-in]

Hey DH, we're in Manitoba, the general moose season I'm hunting opens Sept.19. So it is hard to say what the weather will be like, but it could be warm which could make calling next to usless. But our luck hasn't been good later in the month either.

[deerhunter]

hope it cools down for you and you will better luck. i,ll be moose hunting the 2nd week in oct. for the maine hunt. the zone i,m in has almost 100% sucess rate. should be fun. good luck in manitoba .

[unclebuck]

I will start out in the morning, travel some distance from camp and "cowcall", wait 15/20 minutes for a reply and if no reply, call again and move on.   I will do this in several spots over the day, until I ultimately reach the spot that I want to remain in for several hours.  On my way back to camp, I will stop at all of the spots that I called from and call again, waiting for some time.  Over the years, I have found that quite often the bulls will be near the call sites and have not answered, or will answer very low on the return trip(the area that we hunt in has a lot of wolves).   I have had good success with this method over the years, as well as have my partners.

[fly-in]

Thanks UB, I would think that what you do would work well, I will have to keep it in mind when I am up hunting.

[roscoe]

hello there fly-in i haven't really hunted any lakes for moose but i think it wouldn't be any different than river hunting. first of all i would take a tour around the lake and find out where the moose have been feeding all summer and thats where i'd start my calling.if you know where the cows have been hanging around.jackpot city or if you know of some good willow stands near the lake would be a good spot as their diet is changing that time of year from lilies to buds, etc. happy hunting and good luck!
keep thinking about this pic and be persistent and it'll happen when you least expect it!

[MoosemanKris]

What date are you starting? The 19th of September? Little bit early for my taste but the bulls in your area might get horny a bit earlier than here. Don't call every 15 minutes. That's too much. Find your spot, sit down and enjoy the view for 15 minutes, this will allow any noise you made getting in to be forgotten. Make one good cow call and shut up for a half hour. Just watch. After a half hour, 35 minutes, give another call. Don't call any more often than 25 minutes and never call to a bull you can see or hear coming in. A good libation of cow in heat scent on the ground near you can't hurt.
Don't count on a reply although sometimes you can get some good ones. My first bull never made a sound, just walked out into the clearing and sniffed. On the other hand, last year, we had a bull coming in that we could hear grunting from over a kilometer away.
If you're thinking of a rock 60' up that might be too much. We hunt from a treestand that's 22' up in birch trees and moose NEVER look up. We've had cows and calves walk right under our stand before. Moose NEVER look up. The thing with being up high is that it's unnatural to the moose. They're nick-named "swamp donkeys" for a reason. They live down in the swamps near lakes and in the thick timber near lakes.
Where we are here (central BC), the bulls rut the first week of october and there's a short second rut that starts about the third week of october. If the bulls are there and your cow call is half decent, you should get some action. Just remember, don't over-call especially since you're going to be out a bit early. The cows may not be in full heat yet so take it easy.
Good luck! Keep us informed! I'll post pictures of my bull when I get him because when we get a draw we never get skunked.
KRIS

[Terrygonefishing]

Well I have to disagree with you PGKris. I call lots, say every 10-15 mins. Quiet I'm not. I try and act like a cow looking for a mate. Every cow doesn't stand quietly and call, she will break branches occasionally so I will be breaking branches occasionally when I call. I also like pouring water out of my cup onto the surface of a puddle or lake. I should add that I'm a quiet caller by mosts standards. I get native guides that come to work and tell me alot of techniques. Of course I pump them for info when they are willing to give and I play real "DUMB". I will ask them questions like: I always wanted to be a guide when I was younger but heck I don't even hunt anymore" or "calling for moose doesn't work does it"
Yes many moose do come in unannounced for sure, alot more than people realize. I was calling once a few years back and had an answer. He kept getting closer and hung up about 65 yards just inside some brush. We were calling back and forth for the next 2 hours, with him just hanging there at 65 yards. In hind sight I guess I could have approached him but when I got down off the high stump I was on the pine trees were too high to see over. The wind picked up and he scented me and gave the call of alarm, then all hell broke loose, there was brush crashing everywhere. There was snow on the ground so I walked over to where the bull was calling me and found out he hung up just out of sight. I did a wide circle around the small clearing I was calling in and found 2 other sets of moose tracks at different areas around the perimeter, and you could see where they startled and took off.

[MoosemanKris]

I suppose the saying goes "Whatever floats your boat!"
I like to be quiet. Obviously moose are not quiet and make lots of noise when wandering about doing things moose do. I've also found that if they hang up in the thick stuff if you give a few younger bull grunts that any good size bull will take up the challenge. That's only ever worked right in the rut though and I really don't like using bull grunts in case I sound too big
Whiskey got his moose eh!
Take it easy
KRIS

[fly-in]

There was a good sign yesterday here in Manitoba, a moose was wondering in Winnipeg. I don't know if it was looking for a mate or what, but moose are fairly rare here in southern manitoba. So if they are moving here in the south what will they be doing in central manitoba.