​Maine Moose Hunting

Maine Moose Hunting

Where do you start?

Were you one of the lucky few chosen to receive a moose permit or are you a sub permittee on a hunt? If so, first off, congratulations! As someone who sees a lot of people coming in and out trying to prepare for a hunt, it seems to be overwhelming no matter how many times you are a part of it. So here it is, the guide to prepping for your moose hunt, from someone who may not be the most qualified but did a TON of research for her hunt last year, so you don't have to.

First things first, this is your hunt (as in figure out what kind of hunt you want to have- self guided vs guided by a registered Maine guide). You will also need to figure out how many people are in your hunting group before you try to reserve a place to stay or book a guide. The type of hunt you decide to have has a huge impact on how much you have to pre plan for, if you book a fully guided everything included hunt basically all you need is yourself and the weapon you are planning to harvest with, of course make sure you clarify with your guide before the hunt to see what you actually need to bring: Most guides will have a check list of their own they send to clients. If you decide to do a self-guided hunt where you are tenting out on the side of the road… you will need to bring more.

Now anyone who's been on a moose hunt or has talked to someone who's been on one you know there's a ton of gear that's recommended to bring and you really need to think ahead through every stage of the hunt to make sure you have everything you could possibly need. Throughout packing for your moose hunt the Montra I recommend is ‘Better to have it and not need it, then need it and not have it’ because if you are out in the middle of the Northern Maine woods, you aren't going to find a store… As an example, my sub permittee on my hunt last year brought an extra alternator for his truck, for ‘just in case’.

Other tips:

• Sight in your gun early so if you aren't happy with how you perform with it you have time to make adjustments.
• Go on lots of walks/ hikes, make sure your shoes you are going to bring are broken in and start bringing a weighted backpack on those walks.
• Practice holding up your gun for long periods of time or use small hand weights and hold them in the position you would hold your firearm.
• Located your nearest tagging station beforehand.
• Make a reservation at a butcher.
• Think about whether or not you want your moose mounted or caped or any of the other many options.
• Get off the roads! Of course, you will always get those few who are lucky and will shoot a monster the first day of their hunt standing right off the road but more often than not the people shooting moose now are getting out off the roads and walking dense areas or swamp. Scouting beforehand of course is your best bet and will give you the upper hand.
• Move everywhere like a moose could be right around the corner, because one could be, and you may have no idea! Don't get discouraged after the first few days, it happens all the time where people tag out in the last few hours of the last day.
• Always have a plan B & C, if you are getting out and hunting in the woods make sure you have the proper gear with you to get the moose out and get it into a cooler or packed with ice as soon as possible.
• Know your zone boundaries! Mark them in your gazetteer!
• “If you bring a sling, you will use the sling” Firearms on a sling over your shoulder are slower to pull up then one you are hand carrying. One horror story I was told over and over before my hunt was a man missing probably the biggest moose of his life because he had his rifle on a sling, and it got caught and twisted so he couldn't make the shot.
• ICE ICE ICE! Have a plan to cool that meat down fast if you do harvest a moose, people often underestimate how fast meat can spoil under temperatures that we don't think of as warm.
• Choose a good crowd: Some people think they need 12 people for a moose hunt, in my case there were four people total including myself which worked perfectly for us. Of course, if you are working with a guide then they may have people working for them that will drag your moose out for you, so you don't have to worry about manpower (Winches are also a magical thing.). It's also a good idea to make sure your group has a game plan before you go out to hunt, make sure everyone is on the same page.

Check out the State of Maine’s moose hunt checklist HERE.

Packing Checklist

• Maine state atlas/ gazetteer
• YOUR PERMIT (Signed by both permittee and sub-permittee)
• Game tag
• Radios (MRS and handheld)
• Garmin handheld gps (Birds eye map card works awesome!)
• Binoculars
• Compass
• Firearm/ bow for moose harvest (A backup is always a good idea to bring!)
• Case for weapon
• Firearm for other animals in season (My moose hunt was during bird season, so I brought my Remington 870)
• Ammunition for firearms
• Extra magazines for firearms
• Cover scent
• Rope
• Snatch blocks
• Winch
• Gambrel
• Good base layers
• Good hiking shoes (Well touch on the fact that the days of road hunting are near over soon...)
• Plenty of hunting clothes (Waterproof is always a good idea, so is moisture wicking)
• At least one piece of orange (The amount of required pieces changes depending on the week your hunt falls on)
• Gloves
• Face cover
• Hand/ foot warmers
• Sleeping bags/ pillows
• Moose call (If applicable for your hunt)
• Cover scent/ scent eliminating sprays.
• Game bags (Or some kind of bag to put your harvest in if you decide to quarter it out)
• Black pepper (Helps keep flies off)
• Zip lock baggies
• Coolers
• Baby wipes/ face wipes
• First aid kit
• Liquid IV (For real, stay hydrated)
• Knives (For skinning or pocketknife for other applications)
• Knife sharpener/ extra blades
• multi-tool

Packing checklist

PG 2

• Zip ties
• lighter/ waterproof matches
• Duct tape (Fixes everything)
• Flagging tape (Remember to take down on your way out)
• Plyers
• Chainsaw (Not something I normally thought of but a good friend of mine refuses to go on a hunt without one.)
• Tarps (10x20’s normally work well and fold up small)
• Spare tires and mechanical tools/ parts (Tire repair kit, 12v plug in air compressor,
• Extra gas/ fuel
• Trail camera + extra batteries
• Flashlights/ head lamps (No, not for hunting- but for moving around camp or coming out of the woods after dark.)
• Snacks (More food/ meals if you aren't doing a guided hunt with lodging and meals)
• Any kitchen gear needed (Pots/ pans, bowls, dishes, utensils, cups, ect)
• Lots of ice
• Ibuprofen/ acetaminophen (Will save you day three I promise)
• Personal items (Toothbrush, ChapStick, any medications, scent free deodorant, dry shampoo, etc.)

Now, this list can change very easily depending on how you set yourself up for your hunt. If you are doing a fully guided hunt with meals included then obviously you don't need to worry about packing full meals vs someone who is tenting out to hunt, they would need to pack a whole lot more to be prepared!

By far the biggest tool hunters can utilize are other hunters, talking to people who have been on moose hunts before to see what worked for them and what didn't. A great method of gathering information is social media! There're quite a few Maine moose hunting pages out there as well as a multitude of videos, check out about how to field quarter a moose!

As always take some of this information with a grain of salt and if you ever second guess something, confirm it for yourself. The State of Maine also tries to have as much information available as possible, weather that's checklists or statistics of how many moose were harvested in each zone on last year's hunt. Do as much research as you can, there's no such thing as being over prepared!

The biggest piece of advice I can give is have fun, I know that sounds cheesy but for some people having a high pressure hunt like this can be stressful so try not to let the fun and the experience be taken out of it: for my hunt I took a break- for an hour or two on the Fourth day of my hunt I went and I bird hunted because I needed to regroup and focus on something else, but that's just what worked for me. Overall, some people go 30 years or more without getting drawn for a permit so enjoy your hunt and do the best you can but set yourself up for success!