The
prehistoric-sounding call echoed across the early morning mists
of the boreal clearing, as the brightening sky created an eerie
silhouette of the surrounding firs. Again came the wanton, lonely
wail of the cow moose in heat, this time answered by a quieter,
guttural gawunk from within the trees. A big bull. Then it was
the whisper of evergreen needles on bone as the great beast
pushed its way toward the cow, parting young conifers with large,
palmate antlers. Standing nearly seven feet at the shoulder
with a rack spanning a good five feet, the bull clearly dominated
the scene as he entered the clearing. For these two moose, the
annual rut was about to reach its logical conclusion.
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| HUNTER
TIPS |
| This
is a good time of year to get out and scout for
fresh moose sign in the areas you plan to hunt.
The bulls will start to range more and begin to
rub saplings and shrubbery, as well as dig wallow
pits (see “Wallowing”).
Fresh sign means there’s a bull working the
area, and if cows are present, he’ll likely
stick around through the fall. |
| |
By
using a shed antler, you can easily imitate a rut-charged
bull moose that’s thrashing a sapling. This
type of calling works best during the pre-rut period
and during the early stages of the rut when bulls
are searching for cows. Start by finding an opening
or clearing that a bull has recently visited. Search
for fresh tracks or, better yet, keep an eye out
for wallow pits and fresh rubs on evergreen saplings
(look for trees that are approximately six feet
tall, with trunk diameters between one and three
inches). A rubbed tree is easily identified: most
of the branches will be broken off or bent down,
and much of the bark will be gone from about four
feet down to roughly a foot off the ground.
Once you’ve
located some fresh sign, try rubbing a similar,
or even the same, sapling with your antler shed.
The sound should be irresistible to any bull within
earshot that isn’t already preoccupied with
a cow. |
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| Similar
to the calling technique used to mimic rubbing or
thrashing, it’s also possible to reproduce
the sound of two feisty bulls sparring. By taking
two antlers and pushing and rubbing them together,
you can make it sound like two bulls are jousting
for dominance. Don’t use your biggest sheds
for this; two smaller ones will do just fine in
creating the right sound, and they’ll be much
easier to hold. Any nearby large bull that isn’t
already busy with a female will likely come charging
in to see what the other two males are fighting
over—and enforce his own dominant status. |
|
From
late September through to mid-October each fall, moose-mating
season is truly one of the most impressive natural events to
take place in our forests. It is at this time that the various
rituals of the rut—from velvet shedding to the act itself—leave
behind their telltale signs. And for hunters who understand
what to look for and why, the advantage is theirs when it comes
to finding that coveted bull
VELVET
SHEDDING
Think of this as the official kickoff to the rut. By late August,
a bull’s antlers become hardened bone, having completed
their remarkable annual growth cycle. The velvet tissue that
covered and nurtured the antlers as they grew has now dried
tight to the rack and is no longer functional. It’s time
for it to come off. Velvet shedding is usually quick, with even
the biggest bulls stripping their racks within a day or two
by rubbing and thrashing them on shrubs and evergreen saplings.
Once the velvet is gone, the rut is poised to begin.
THRASHING
During the pre-rut period—after velvet shedding and before
the cows go into heat—bulls roam their home ranges, thrashing
or rubbing saplings and shrubbery along the way. At this point,
the sound of their paddle-shaped antlers beating against vegetation
is thought to signal the bull’s dominance to other males,
as well as serve to attract females.
Similar to white-tailed deer urinating
in their scrapes, moose deposit their personal scent onto their
rubs as an invitation to females that happen to wander past.
The smell of an appealing bull may cause a cow to stay in the
area and start calling for his attention.
SPARRING
Similar to all other ungulates that shed and grow new antlers
each year, male moose will spar with other bulls during the
weeks leading up to the rut. This allows each bull to assess
its own strength, stamina, antler size and, therefore, ranking
of dominance with respect to the other bulls sharing his range.
This familiarity with competing males serves to prevent life-threatening
fights during the peak of the rut.
A bull moose will make obvious
gestures to an opponent before a sparring match. He will sway
his head from side to side, clearly displaying his massive antlers,
while walking stiffly and slowly toward his opponent in an attempt
to intimidate. This gesturing will continue for a minute or
two, giving each bull ample time to determine whether he’s
confident enough to match his strength and skill against his
opponent’s. 
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