Photo by Paul Smith

My favorite month to harvest a moose is October. Why, you ask? What difference does it make? Who cares, as long as there's sausage in the freezer?

Well, I suppose I'm being a bit fussy here, but to me, nothing compares to calling in a moose to point-blank range. It's got nothing to do with quality of venison, just the thrill of close interaction with an aggressive bull moose, like my article in the last issue of the Sportsman magazine, in which I described Matt Brazil's opening day moose in by our cabin. Robert, another hunting buddy, called that bull from at least a kilometre away.

That animal came grunting and tearing up trees, priming himself for an inevitable and impending dual. A competitor was daring to tread on his turf. The intruder seemed a worthy combatant and would need some attitude adjustment if sharing these woods. But this was no riled up challenger with massive antlers; just Robert calling though a birch bark cone and scratching the bushes with a whitened old moose shoulder blade.

But life and Newfoundland weather are far from perfect and October slides by quickly, especially for the working man or woman. The rut is all but over by the time November rolls in. Those bulls that would vex and fight with the slightest provocation are now best buddies again. They're likely eating and sleeping as much as possible, fattening up for the winter after a month of chasing around the fairer sex and jousting with old comrades. They'll soon be hunkering down in the heavy timber, sheltered from blowing snow and howling winter winds.

So if you don't have a moose by November, it's a different game. For one thing, I'd be sure and back off on the standards. I usually try for a big bull throughout October, but once November comes I'll take whatever opportunity comes my way.

Those dominant bulls let their guard down while reproduction hormones are coursing through their veins, but when the rut ends, they're plenty more cautious. They are content to stay put in rainy or windy weather; no real reason to move about as long as their bellies are full. You can call your lungs out, to no avail.

Weather is a huge factor in moose hunting and there's nothing you can do about it, short of picking your days. And that isn't an option if you only have weekends off work. Thank God they now allow Sunday hunting. At least that doubles our odds of a decent day for hunting.

Wind is a moose hunter's absolute worst enemy. Even in October when moose are vulnerable to the call, wind can foil a hunt. It's difficult for either the hunter or the moose to hear anything over the howling wind, and so it goes for post-rut hunting. Moose just don't like wind. You seldom see moose out in the open on a windy day; they are either tucked away in the woods or on the lee side of a hill.

The only chance is to know your turf and find moose in sheltered locations where you can see them and get a decent shot. Of course, this depends on the direction of the wind. I know a lovely moose hideout not far from the cabin where moose graze to their heart's content, sheltered from stormy northeast winds. Other than that, you won't spot many moose during a gale unless they’re driven for some reason, such as other hunters and rabbit dogs.

Likewise for rain; moose aren't foolish enough to be roaming around in a downpour for no good reason, unless, of course, you're hunting during the October rut and you have one riled up to address an intrusion. Rain doesn’t matter where protecting one's harem is concerned.

Once the rut is over, rainy days are pretty much a write-off. The only chance of getting a moose is walking quietly through the woods and hoping to spook one randomly. You can increase your odds by knowing where moose are generally located and following fresh sign, but these animals move about and even for the best hunters, this is at best a hit-or-miss sort of hunt.

When rain and wind come together, it's the best time to yarn in the cabin with a roaring fire lit. A swallow of dark sweet rum and the aroma of bubbling salt beef can certainly take the sting out of a crappy hunting day.

When the rut is over, my next favourite time hunting is when the snows come. As we all know, in Newfoundland, especially on the Avalon, that could be November or even after the season closes towards the end the January. But when we do get snow before season’s end, that gives us snowshoe hunters a better crack at the big game. I usually have my own moose long before the snow, but there's always a buddy who puts things off and I end up tramping the woods with him looking for a Christmas moose. I've experienced success and failure with this, but I have learned plenty. I also play winter tag with moose, tracking them just for fun, seeing how close I can get. It's “hook and release moose hunting,” for lack of a better title.

The very best time to walk right up on a moose is right after a fresh fall of snow. The more snow that's on the evergreen limbs, the better, and a snow with light wind is the very best. Snow in the trees muffles sound so the moose's keen hears can't detect you on their trail.

A few years back I was playing moose tag on a Sunday morning after a major snowstorm. It was in February, I believe. I was on snowshoes and could move through the woods very quietly. I picked up the trail of what looked like a very decent sized moose. The snow was deep and I didn't expect Mr. Moose to be wasting energy roaming about. I figured he wasn’t too far ahead of me, so I walked slowly across a barren and into a thicket of spruce. Just as I parted the boughs and entered, the woods exploded in front of me. The moose was lying down in the snow no more than 10 feet in front of me.

I'm not sure who was more startled, me or the moose. Snow flew from the trees as the massive animal sprung to his feet and took off through the woods. I ran to a nearby hill and spotted him crossing another barren about 250 metres off. That was the shot. I made a grunt and he stopped and looked back at me - hooked and released.

Aside from tracking moose in the snow, there's other distinct advantages offered to the hunter. The first snow of the season, for reasons I don't fully understand, certainly gets moose moving about. It might be a “holy crap; we’d better get ready for winter reaction,” or something more fundamental and beyond human understanding. Maybe moose just like to frolic in the snow like puppy dogs. Whatever it is, I've seen it over and over again.

If you didn't get a moose during the rut, right after the first snowfall is your absolute best opportunity before the deep snows of winter settle in. There's no better moose hunting opportunity than a nice blanket of snow followed by a clear sunny day. It's every bit as good as the rut except you might have to settle for a lesser animal. The big bulls aren't likely coming for calls at this time of year, although there are exceptions to every rule.

A few years back, Matt Brazil had a licence and got foiled early in the season by nasty hunting weather. We only had Saturdays to hunt and it managed to rain and blow just about every time. It was early December and no moose. It snowed Thursday night and into Friday morning; a foot of the fluffy white stuff on the ground.

Friday evening it cleared away nicely, the stars peeked out and a nearly full moon lit up the fresh snow. The Saturday forecast was for clear skies and cool temperatures; perfect for moose hunting. I called Matt and Robert and arranged our meeting place at the bottom of Peter's Path around 6 a.m.

On my way Saturday morning I couldn't believe the moose tracks I was seeing in the snow along the old berry road that connects Spaniard's Bay with Tilton Barrens. I hadn't seen much in the way of sign there all fall, but now it looked like the moose had called a convention. I parked my ATV and had a look around on foot. The tracks appeared just hours old, so I quickly decided to run on in to Peter's Path and conference with the boys on a plan of action.

We figured there might be too many hunters out around the berry road, so even though there were definitely moose there, our chances might be better in a more secluded location. To Goose's Hill we went, a cliff that overlooks a string of bogs that moose often frequent. As daylight broke we could see numerous tracks crossing the bog with our binoculars. Anticipation ran high as we waited. We didn't have to wait very long. A nice sized cow walked out of the woods and into clear view. Another smaller animal followed behind her, probably a last year's calf.

Matt manoeuvered himself into a comfortable prone position and had the cow clear in his cross-hairs. He turned the Leupold up to 6 power, just to be on the safe side. A moose isn't all that big at 300- metres, which is what I'd consider the maximum range for all but the most skilled and practised shooters.

The .300 Winchester roared and launched its deadly projectile, a 180-grain Barnes X bullet at close to 3,000 ft/s. The cow lifted its head calmly as if nothing had happened. She trotted off across the marsh and into an island of low spruce. The calf followed behind. We watched and waited but nothing came out of the island. We figured Matt had his moose; they take a while to crumble after a lung shot.

Then two more moose trotted out into the marsh. There was some debate as to whether they were the same animals. Had they snuck out somehow without us seeing them? But Matt felt his aim was true, so we begin our climb down off the cliff and onto the snow-covered marsh. Sure enough, there was a fine cow moose stone dead just out of sight amongst the spruce.

That was the first snow of the season and there were moose all over the place! I have no idea why, but it certainly gets them on the move. I could toss it up to coincidence, but this wasn’t the only time I've seen this. I shot a fine bull in the fall of 1999, just before that record snowy winter of 2000. It was the first storm in early November and moose were trotting all about in the fresh fluffy snow. Another time I shot a moose on the Cape Shore after a snowfall.

For those of you who still have this season’s tags in your backpack, depending on your hunting area, you probably still have a few weeks left as you read this piece, and no doubt there’s snow on the ground right now. Don’t give up just yet.