Rusty Myers' Tip # 5
When the rut is on, the moose are not in their normal mode, so where you saw moose a couple of months earlier is not necessarily where they are during the rut.
Look for freshly scraped ground with moose tracks, moose hair and the smell of urine and you’ll have found a rutting pit. Moose will make these indentations, urinate in them and then roll in them to get that musky smell that cows love.
Here’s a bonus tip: rub the mud from the rutting pit on your boots and you’ll be a walking moose magnet – especially if you get into another moose’s territory.
The other sign to watch for is the classic tree rub. Sometimes it is hard to differentiate between a moose rub and an elk or deer rub but for the most part, the bigger the rub the bigger the animal. These trees/bushes have been rubbed in late August and early September when the moose are losing their velvet and the moose should be rutting in fairly close proximity to where you find these rubs.
Look for freshly scraped ground with moose tracks, moose hair and the smell of urine and you’ll have found a rutting pit. Moose will make these indentations, urinate in them and then roll in them to get that musky smell that cows love.
Here’s a bonus tip: rub the mud from the rutting pit on your boots and you’ll be a walking moose magnet – especially if you get into another moose’s territory.
The other sign to watch for is the classic tree rub. Sometimes it is hard to differentiate between a moose rub and an elk or deer rub but for the most part, the bigger the rub the bigger the animal. These trees/bushes have been rubbed in late August and early September when the moose are losing their velvet and the moose should be rutting in fairly close proximity to where you find these rubs.
