Cub Slayer

Me too. I love going in to the woods at night to find bears. Its all part of the experience.

Memtb2149

Big Uncle

I recently saw a post (on a different site) where a guy drove to the private land he was hunting (pronghorn), paid the landowner the trespass fee, and killed a buck within ten minutes. Twenty minutes later his wife shot her pronghorn. To him it was a "great" hunt and he can not wait to do it again. Not my cup of tea, but to each their own.

As for the moose - I would have shot it. I have had enough hard public land big game hunts to appreciate an easy one.

bpd1982

A tale of two hunts.
On a moose hunt in 2007 I hunted hard with my guide and on day 6 just before dark I got a very nice moose.

Hunt this year for elk with wife. Told guide wife was up first as 3 years earlier I got a very nice 6x6 and she did not get one and I wanted a nice tender meat bull. Day one late afternoon wife gets nice bull. As we left wife's bull two nice young bulls walk out at last of shooting time. Guide says there is your meet bull. Bang end of 10 day hunt on day one. Great outcome and yes I did miss not riding around the mountains for the entire trip because I really like elk country.

salukipv1

If I see a shooter, I'm taking it, whether the 1st hour or the last hour...

depends on the hunt and situation..., sometimes a shooter may be any legal animal... sometimes a shooter means trophy or bust...

I can't help but think no hunt goes according to plan.....so if you wanted 10 days of miserable weather etc... and moose hunt #1 wasn't that....
book/ go on another hunt!

If I see a 70" moose day 1, it's going down!
I'd be happy tagging along with my dad, friend, cousin the rest of the time.... or another day... or fishing....or hiking... just enjoying the time.

Also it's always nice to ask about a bonus cow tag.....or wolf tag...or anything else possible to hunt to fill the rest of the time if you get lucky...

Daveboone

My first moose hunt we were severely affected by a coastal storm. Arrived on Friday with the storm at our back, Saturday socked in, sunday no hunting by law, Monday was clear but we knew the backside of the storm was going to mess up the rest of the week. We decided we would take the first bull opportunities we could...and did. we both shot nice young bulls and were happy with our decisions, but disappointed we couldn't see more of the area (northern peninsula of Newfoundland).
We eagerly went back in 2018. Weather was much better....way much better. Too warm. My hunting partners both shot bulls by Monday, and one bear. I passed on a young bull on Saturday, and was having a great time seeing new country and watching the local caribou, ptarmigan and exploring new country. I hunted all week and due to very warm temperatures despite a lot of effort, we weren't seeing anything...they were staying bedded in the swamps and cedars. Friday came with a cold frost and sunny sky. I walked up to caribou, passed a shot on an amazing bear (came for moose and didn't have one yet), and we watched four different moose for hours figuring a stalk. In the end due to the wind and the week finishing up, I very happily took a cow that we did an amazing stalk on. I couldn't be happier, and considering everything we saw I would do the week over again even if I passed on the cow tht time around. There are times to tag early, but certainly after you have one hunt under your belt, you can be much more comfortable and understanding of the circumstances to shoot or pass.

Phil from Maine

Here we have a six day season for the most part. Your permit can be for September, October, or November depending on which season you are drawn on. I go by a simple rule of not passing up on the first day something that you would be willing to take on the last day. The zone you get drawn on and the number of hunters make a difference. Also the antlerless moose season is pretty much confined to the November season.. As our more northern zones tend to have more moose in it. I know of some that had passed up on the young bulls only to end up skunked in the end wishing that they would of taken the first one after not seeing one the rest of the week. Now with a guided hunt I am thinking that if you passed on a decent sized bull the guide would be a little upset. But to each there own. Some want the meat while others want a trophy to take back home. So I believe that is up to the hunter in the end.. I would always be proud of what I had taken regardless of how big or little it is..

Oldtimr

There is a component no one has mentioned. In my state, PA, to hunt elk you must apply for a drawing. Then if you get drawn you pay for the license. Each year you apply and do not get drawn you receive a "point", that point is another entry into the next drawing. For example, if you apply for 8 years and do not get drawn, if you apply on the 9th year you name goes into the draw 9 times. I applied for 17 years before I got drawn, you can apply for a cow tag a bull tag or either one. I always applied for either sex. I got drawn for a cow tag in my 17th year of applying and I was tickled to death since I have no place to hang a bull elk head. I hired an outfitter and my guide and I hunted hard for two days from sunup to sunset in rain and wind in order to get a cow elk. On the third morning I got lucky and two cows popped up out of the woods into a turnip field I was hunting at 155 yards. I shot and my cow staggered and fell. It was over, I took a 4 year old cow after 17 years of trying to get a tag. I was happy, and grateful, the last thing on my mind was that I still had 4 days to hunt. I have a remembrance of the hunt with the tanned hair on cloth backed hide of my elk over the back of my sofa in my man cave, and a freezer full of great eating. I could not even imagine how a hunter could be disappointed in taking an animal such as a Moose simply because it was too easy. That bespeaks to me someone who has not hunted very long and experienced the disappointments of failures to score and doesn't appreciate the boon granted to him by the hunting gods by allowing him to take a magnificent animal

coolman2362

A large moose in Canada would be awesome.

Bob H in NH

I look at it slightly different from most here. It all depends on what the goal of going on the trip is. Is it to get a moose (or whatever), or have an experience to look back on and smile. Yes they can be one and the same. I know on my first elk hunt my fear was I would get a bull right away, this was offset by the fact that my wife was my hunting partner so I could still hunt, never happened, but I can understand why after looking forward to the moose hunt for years, having a vision of what it would be then it working out just to easy, yes, I can see regretting pulling that trigger.

Wife and I went to the same outfit twice for combo antelope/mulie hunts. 5 day hunts. First trip the entire camp, 10 hunters, were done by day 2. Wife and I both got nice mulie bucks on day 1 and antelope on day 2. We spent the rest of the time exploring the area. I was somewhat less than as happy as I hoped (don't get me wrong, had a blast, but was very sorry it was over). the hunting was "easy", private 50,000 acre ranch. Glass mostly from the truck, couple of blown stalks, but overall easy. I shot my deer and antelope within yards of the truck. Second time we went we told the guide the fun for us was in the stalk, so even if he found us MONSTERS we could shoot from next to the truck we would pass. He was fine with this. We still were done in less than 2 days, and we each filled a deer, buck antelope and doe antelope. We were hurrying a bit due to bad weather. Once done, I did go along to help glass for another hunter who wasn't done.

Yes, I can see regretting that decision, the experience he looked forward to didn't happen. For some its about the meat, some the experience often somewhere in between.

the old "don't pass on day 1..." saying mostly reflects to the hunter who has a standard he wants. For me, I WOULD pass on day 1 if I just wanted to keep hunting.