Quote:
Originally Posted by chipj29
This has to be the most confusing post I have ever read...on any forum!  |
No kidding?????
I will not go into details as not everyone shares my views on this, but after 21 years of trying my father finally recieved the honor of having a 2009 moose permit in NH. This was truly the hunt of a lifetime for him, even after an Elk hunt in Colorado we did in 2008, we have always lived here so it has always been something viewed at a distance. Anyway, we learned quite a bit about moose this last year and we saw two bulls, three cows and one calf in the week prior to the season as well as the first three days. I will share some of what we learned, but I will tell you that once you are aware of this information if you go out into the woods looking for this sign, you will not believe the opportunities to see moose you will be granted.
Moose actually do not wander around without any real purpose, but they do cover a lot of ground. Moose in NH have a home range of 25 square miles, the bulls will expand on this starting in September as they start looking for a date to the foliage tour in October. Moose live primarily in deciduous forests, but will travel through the conifers to feeding and bedding areas. You want to find relatively isolated areas of these trees that are within close proximity to a water source, they will also spend a lot of time in log cuttings that are ten years old and newer. The saplings are the perfect height for eating the buds and tips of the branches (main moose diet). They also travel in groups during the fall, small bulls will band together and larger bulls that have found a date will stick by her side, the cow will almost always enter first so if it is September or later and you see a cow, hold tight you may be rewarded with her boyfriend as well. Be patient while traveling through areas of dense sign, very slow quite movement, with an open eye. Do not get into the habit of keeping your head down, you will miss a lot in the woods this way. Moose actually do have really good eye sight (I was spotted by a group of three that I saw at the same time at a distance of well over 300 yards) their hearing is even better, so be quite be patient and you will see something. Also as you walk through the woods you may come across an area that the trees are rubbed up. Keep an eye out because when you see one you will see more. Deer do this as well, but a deer will not typically rub a tree that is larger than 3" in diameter, moose will go much larger than that and the rubs will be higher than 3' off the ground, deer are typically 1'-4' off the ground.
Moose tracks are easy to tell apart once you know what to look for. A calf track is obviously smaller, but calves will run with their mothers for almost 1 1/2 years before heading out, so these tracks typically come with another set, slightly larger. A cows track will be between 3-4" wide and up to 6" long, pointed toes, very clean looking track, same for a calf. A bull track will start in the same size range and can go up to 6" wide and 10" long (one we came across was wider and longer than a size twelve boot minus the heal of the boot, HUGE) but the toes will be slightly rounder than a cows. Moose have two forward toes and two dew points, when I say rounded I am talking about the absolute tips of the forward toes. Bulls will also be more splayed out than a cow, unless she has seen many moons.
The area that we were in was well away from any main road and secondary road for that matter. When you see a moose grazing up near a roadway they are in fact doing what FLL stated, enjoying the salt rich soils, water and plants. Moose are most active during the hours just prior to sunrise and starting around dusk, they are huge animals that put out quite a bit of heat, they lay low in the swamps under the canopy of the trees during the height of the day to keep from getting to hot.
Since I received this information on where to look for actual moose habitat I have increased my awareness of them by a leap. In 2009 alone I saw, 6 bulls, 15 cows and 10 calves. And yes I keep these records so that I can pass the information along to Fish and Game as apart of the monitoring of the herd in NH. All the areas I saw these animals in was from Unit G and J2, south and directly west of the Lakes Region. Your probability gets higher the further north you go, but get away from the main roads and you will have far better luck than the pavement pounders with their spotlights.
Anyway good luck, hope to see you out in forest.