Calling Outside The Rut?

[Chris_in_Idaho]

I've never hunted Moose but a buddy and I are going to apply in North Idaho this year.
I've been watching every moose hunt video on YouTube and every one of them calls in the bull out of thick brush.
My question is, does calling like this only work during the rut? Or does it also work later in the fall?

Thanks!

 

[wytx]

I've called in many shiras bulls in Sept and I would not consider them in the rut yet then. Spouse's bull was just thinking rut in early Oct last fall so I think mid to late Oct would be great for calling. Never know, but I bet a bull would investigate cow calls into early Nov.

 

[shawdawg]

I've heard plenty of bulls grunting in N Idaho well into November.

 

[diamond10x]

Moose are a curious animal. Cow calls and bull grunts are not the only thing they will come to. Raking trees and breaking sticks about the size of your wrist/arm will get them curious to come check out what’s going on.

 

[Garan]

Not sure about later in the season as I shot my moose last year shortly after they started rutting. I can tell you that I did try calling when I was hunting before the rut started, and I got no response from the cows or the bulls.

 

[Meshnasty]

I called in an Idaho bull on September 17th.

I heard him grunting in a cut below me. He didn't seem interested in my grunting back to him, but once I raked a tree it was game on. He came in with another bull which looked to be a yearling.

It was the second day/first morning of my hunt so he was the only moose I interacted with.

 

[Larry Bartlett]

In Alaska bulls start vocalizing and responding more predictably to calls after Sept 12 unless warmth or predator pressure is high in the area. They often come to our location to investigate other sounds like chopping wood, breaking heavy sticks over trees, snapping dry limbs, things like that.

I'd consider these tactics in the "calling" realm but prior to mid september I rarely use cow calls and bull grunts to lure in bulls. Some mature bulls are too wary to fall for those calls too early and a lot more ready to come to stick breaking and limb snapping. After sept 15 I still use stick breaking but add bull grunts and cow calls.

 

[Jim1187]

Post rut bulls will be focused primarily on feeding and trying to replace the reserves they need to survive the winter. However, I have had bulls and cows come in to a deer grunt call in mid November, as well as bulls breeding cows and even fighting. I would focus my efforts on locating where they are actively feeding and traveling. Not saying calling wouldn't be in my arsenal but I wouldn't plan on it being a primary tactic.

 

[AK_Skeeter]

I've called in bulls in the high country as early as Sept 1 with cow calls
and have had bulls respond to the noise of picking up duck decoys in mid-October.
Bull moose are like turkeys gobbler/hens in that when they are with cows, more difficult to call away
compare to when they are roaming looking for a cow.

 

[AKDoc]

Lots of great and experienced suggestions thus far.

I personally don't have a consistent hard and fast date in my head as a cut-off to not call/call each year. My typical pattern is to call very conservatively early in the season and much more aggressively later in the season, but...

I'm usually in the field for two-weeks...typically in around the 9th and out around the 23rd. The rut is pretty much always starting somewhere within that time-frame. Bigger bulls cautiously coming to conservative calls early in that time period...satellite bulls and kicked-off bulls coming fast to the calls later. That said, every year is a little different. Last year on my first night in the field I heard a cow moaning early morning/predawn...so all I did was cow calls the entire time and called-in numerous bulls during those two-weeks.

Early season conservative calling for me is primarily breaking branches and scraping...no cow calls, maybe an occasional grunt but usually not. As days pass I'll add a short and occasional cow call. When I'm pretty sure it's on the verge of game on, then I'm just doing cow calls...with progressively longer and more moaning calls over the days to come.

I've never hunted post-rut...a few winter hunts, but that's different.