October 26, 2014
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Bull Moose 001
From approximately the third week of September to the end of October is Minnesota’s bull moose breeding season also called “the rut”. The bulls have a one tracked mind and are only interested in finding a female. If you want to add some excitement in your life go into the woods and imitate the call of a lovesick cow moose by using either a birch bark or fiberglass megaphone.
David Brislance and I called this week and that is when this stately gentleman came running. Beware - these are powerful animals. Be cautious and prepare to climb a tree or have an escape route. They are known to have hurt people or smashed vehicles in the past.
Bull Moose 002
We left home while it was still dark and headed into an area off the Sawbill Trail known to have a small population of moose. The first place we stopped we did not receive any response to our calls.
The second stop was more exciting. We called for about 15 minutes and then saw a cow headed our way followed by another cow, followed by a bull, followed by another bull. Four moose ran past us not even taking the time to look in our direction. The bulls were following the real thing so they were not interested in our moose calls.
Bull Moose 003
The next place we encountered this guy. It took only about 15 minutes of calling before he appeared trotting straight towards us. Most moose will answer when called but this one came in completely silent not even breaking a branch. If we hadn’t been watching he would have been on us before we knew it.
When he got close enough for good photos he stopped and stared at us with his eyeballs bulging. I decided not to call anymore because I didn’t want him coming any nearer. For about 10 minutes we stared at each other.
