Thunder head
Lil-Rokslider
I am looking into a DIY moose float trip for 2019. Does the moose rut occur at the same time Statewide? What dates would you Alaska guys recommend as prime time?
My experience is that the rut is brought on by daylight. Cooler weather and they do move more but as less light hits the retina the moose get closer to the rut. There 3 stages to the rut that I hunt by. First is the pre rut beginning around the 10th -12th. I have called bulls in and had them come to the call but still cautiously. By the 17th their running around pretty serious looking for cows and starting to show good aggression. I’ve killed bulls on the 17th at least 7 times on the Yukon River. After the 17th the herd bulls usually have their cows starting to round up and this goes into the end of the month. The first week of October is when the breeding is on and it’s tough to pull the bulls away from the cows unless your in their safety zone. Then they get ticked off at you.
When planning a hunt I make sure I’m in prime time areas by the 15h.
I’ve taken the last couple of years off moose hunting for my sons football and have focused on my photography of moose during the rut and by Sept 25th I’m only calling in satellite bulls unless I’m close to the herd bull
That’s been my experience from Wasilla to Coldfoot.
I have seen some really aggressive moose north of the Brooks range by September 10th and they weren’t really smart either that far north but up to Coldfoot I haven’t seen a changein behavior with gun or camera.