E-Break From Lake Superior

Late fall 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. I have learned to imitate the call of a lovesick cow moose by using either a birch bark or fiberglass megaphone.

We decided to try moose calling the other week 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.

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.

After sniffing the air he finally scented us and decided to go back in the same direction that he came from.

This guy was one of the more beautiful moose that I have seen in some time and to have a huge moose running straight towards you was about as much excitement as I could handle for the day.