moose calling with wolf in the area

[Chirogrow]

When calling for moose and you have heard wolves do you change your tactics or just keep calling? I assume that you keep calling because the moose won't be as vocal but they'd still come investigate the calls but I'm not sure. If there are wolves in our area should we hike to a different ridge or wait for the pack to move out of the area? Any wolf help would be greatly appreciate the help!

 

[VernAK]

Are the wolves answering your moose call?

With active wolves in the area, your chances of calling in a moose are minimal. It may be a day or two after they leave before moose become active again.

 

[AKDoc]

My wolf experience has been similar to Vern's....

Last year we were in an area where we saw several moose the first couple of days, and we heard a couple more that didn't come out. Took one on day three, and as we were leaving the kill site and humping the last load back to camp at last light we heard several wolves back in the timber calling back and forth to each other. Heard them several times howling during the night for a couple more nights, working the kill site. Didn't see another moose for about five days.

I've also shot wolves when moose hunting. About ten years ago we had a male and female stalking in at last light after I had been calling all evening...I'm pretty sure they were responding to the calling. My hunting partner and I each shot one. A few years after that we had gotten a bull on the first day that was hanging. I was on a hill glassing in the morning a couple days later, and around 10 or so a legal bull slowly walked to the base of the hill and laid down about 80 yards below me. We were not interested in taking a second moose that year. That bull was dragging and he was dead tired, and put his head down right away. About fifteen minutes after he laid down a wolf appeared and walked right up to him. The bull raised his head and just looked at him...my impression was that they had already been introduced, and that wolf had been pushing that bull to wear him out for a very long stretch. I shot the wolf.

 

[Chirogrow]

Are the wolves answering your moose call?

With active wolves in the area, your chances of calling in a moose are minimal. It may be a day or two after they leave before moose become active again.

Thanks for the reply VernAK, I haven't hunted moose yet, I doing a DIY Drop camp hunt in september and I'm just searching for info. From what I've read about our area there are a fair amount of wolves and I'm just trying to figure out a game plan for dealing with them. Would you suggest not calling very often and just sit back and glass to try to avoid brining wolves in the area?

 

[Chirogrow]

My wolf experience has been similar to Vern's....

Last year we were in an area where we saw several moose the first couple of days, and we heard a couple more that didn't come out. Took one on day three, and as we were leaving the kill site and humping the last load back to camp at last light we heard several wolves back in the timber calling back and forth to each other. Heard them several times howling during the night for a couple more nights, working the kill site. Didn't see another moose for about five days.

I've also shot wolves when moose hunting. About ten years ago we had a male and female stalking in at last light after I had been calling all evening...I'm pretty sure they were responding to the calling. My hunting partner and I each shot one. A few years after that we had gotten a bull on the first day that was hanging. I was on a hill glassing in the morning a couple days later, and around 10 or so a legal bull slowly walked to the base of the hill and laid down about 80 yards below me. We were not interested in taking a second moose that year. That bull was dragging and he was dead tired, and put his head down right away. About fifteen minutes after he laid down a wolf appeared and walked right up to him. The bull raised his head and just looked at him...my impression was that they had already been introduced, and that wolf had been pushing that bull to wear him out for a very long stretch. I shot the wolf.

Thanks for your insight! would you suggest the best strategy, once wolves are in the area, would be to shoot them asap to get them out?

 

[AKDoc]

I think the best strategy, if you're moose hunting, is to focus on moose hunting. The vast majority of time for me, wolves have not been an issue when moose hunting. If you do see/hear wolves while moose hunting, you decide in advance if you are going to shoot one or not if you see it...legally of course. I personally support predator management that is biologically data based.

The point is that if wolves are definitely close in the area, it may (or may not) adversely affect moose movement and behavior for awhile, and thus affect the hunt for awhile (or not). Regardless, you keep moose hunting. It's all part of the experience.

 

[VernAK]

Always attempt to legally shoot the wolf as it's not only a trophy but you need to scare em away.

I seldom get bothered by wolves when moose hunting. I see more grizzlies than wolves.

 

[Kevin Dill]

I accept the wolf or wolves and keep right on hunting moose. I'm not a guy who spends much time calling 'blind' and hoping for a bull to respond. I tend to watch an area all day and call to the bull I (hopefully) see. But for whatever reason, I can't get worried about wolves and their impact on my hunting. I think I've encountered wolves on every hunt that I killed a bull on. I love watching them and am not particularly interested in killing them. I'm not against it of course, but I figure they have as much right to be there as me. I wouldn't bet against myself if one got close to my longbow however.

 

[Chirogrow]

I accept the wolf or wolves and keep right on hunting moose. I'm not a guy who spends much time calling 'blind' and hoping for a bull to respond. I tend to watch an area all day and call to the bull I (hopefully) see. But for whatever reason, I can't get worried about wolves and their impact on my hunting. I think I've encountered wolves on every hunt that I killed a bull on. I love watching them and am not particularly interested in killing them. I'm not against it of course, but I figure they have as much right to be there as me. I wouldn't bet against myself if one got close to my longbow however.

Thanks for you input, Is there a reason you don't do much blind calling? That was my entire game plan! ha

 

[Where's Bruce?]

Haven't experienced the situation by I would change tactics and instantly begin a wolf hunt.

 

[Kevin Dill]

Thanks for you input, Is there a reason you don't do much blind calling? That was my entire game plan! ha

I've seen blind calling work, so don't change your plans. I'm hunting areas with elevations that allow me to see moose far off. I like to spot them and see what they're doing or where they may be going. Then I make my move to gain position and begin calling. Keep in mind that I hunt exclusively with a longbow, so it's imperative to get a bull to 20 yards or less. Blind calling one into 150 yards is fun but a total no-go for me. It works a lot better for a gun hunter. Every bull I've killed was either spotted or heard first....then came the setup....then the call-in and kill. My longest-ever shot on a bull was 18 yards. Coolest one was 6 yards kneeling and shooting upwards to take out the lungs.

A word of advice is to not over-call when blind-calling. Better to consider it teasing and do it sparingly. The response can take hours, but I've witnessed a bull come from a solid half-mile and grunt the entire way in....and that was to 12 yards.

 

[mcseal2]

We had to blind call on our hunt or just hope one came into one of the big clearings. We did not have elevation to gain and glass from where we ended up. I think we may have over-called. If I was doing it again I'd increase the time between calls to every 80 minutes or so instead of 30-40 minutes. I called in 3 bulls including the one I took. It was the only one that was over 35-40". Raking and cow calls were more effective than grunts for me. The bull I shot I actually heard raking and never did anything but rake to get him to respond. He circled my spot and I heard him raking again to my right, I slipped around some brush and he was shredding a tree at 300 yards. A couple steps would have put him back in the brush so I set up over my optics tripod and took the shot right there.

I saw one come in near dark when I called from camp. He was a small bull and came straight to camp across the longest meadow we could see, over 1200 yards from where he came out of the timber. He stopped right across the slough from camp for a while before giving up on a cow showing herself. It was pretty darn cool and gave me some confidence I was doing my calls right. My 3yr old daughter and I spent hours watching moose hunts on TV or the internet and mimicking calls before the hunt to practice.

We had strips of timber connecting pockets of timber, lots of sloughs and other water, and some big meadows. The moose we saw seldom used the big open meadows, they stuck pretty close to the timber.

Listen to these other guys ahead of me, I have been on one moose hunt and they have been on many. I just figured I'd share what I could.

 

[AKDoc]

I blind call all the time. If I waited until I first saw a bull, I would have missed taking a whole lot of bulls over the years.

For something so large, they just seem to show up out of nowhere sometimes. If the wind is right, they will hear your calls from very far away and out of your sight...and then crest the ridgeline in front of you, looking right at you.

 

[Chirogrow]

I blind call all the time. If I waited until I first saw a bull, I would have missed taking a whole lot of bulls over the years.

For something so large, they just seem to show up out of nowhere sometimes. If the wind is right, they will hear your calls from very far away and out of your sight...and then crest the ridgeline in front of you, looking right at you.

Glad to hear It! How often do you call throughout the day?

 

[AKDoc]

Glad to hear It! How often do you call throughout the day?

It varies dependent upon wx, wind, and other factors. Generally, I call in the morning, midday, and then in the evening until last light. The interval between active calls when calling varies as well. All things being equal, the intervals between calls in the evening are shorter (30 minutes +/-).

...sorry, I just edited a typo

 

[Chirogrow]

I blind call all the time. If I waited until I first saw a bull, I would have missed taking a whole lot of bulls over the years.

For something so large, they just seem to show up out of nowhere sometimes. If the wind is right, they will hear your calls from very far away and out of your sight...and then crest the ridgeline in front of you, looking right at you.

Thanks for the great info and a lot more frequent than I was guessing which is nice to hear! Ha gives us something to do all day while glassing

 

[Saunch33]

I have mostly done float hunts for moose. So when I hear a pack hunting I certainly pick up and move downstream. Four years ago we heard wolves 10 out of 12 days float hunting.. mostly at night. Seemed like they were moving down river with us. We saw less moose than usual but still saw 8 bulls and killed one nice 54 inch

 

[Beendare]

I've seen blind calling work, so don't change your plans.
....

A word of advice is to not over-call when blind-calling. Better to consider it teasing and do it sparingly. The response can take hours, but I've witnessed a bull come from a solid half-mile and grunt the entire way in....and that was to 12 yards.

Good advice^

I've been on 2 moose hunts where we witnessed a pack of wolves roll through- it totally killed the moose hunting for a day- or three!

Nothing else to do but keep at it...when the moose move...the wolves will roll through those other spots too....pushing them back to YOU!

...

 

[Saunch33]

I blind call myself I hunt near the western coast Alaska with no elevation I find a good spot and call quite aggressively. I am also hunting the last 2 weeks in September with alot more rutting activity than in other parts where the season is over by then