# Moose/Elk Outside your tent sniffing



## phorisc (Feb 2, 2011)

Might sound like a dumb question but what do you guys do if this happens? 

I recently went camping up in the national forest by strawberry reservoir and had some large hoofed animal sniffing the roof of my tent(it was rubbing its nose up against the tent so i could see it had a horse like nose) at 6:00am

My thoughts were that it was an elk...investigating my snoring...but I donno could of been a moose as well...though i haven't seen that many moose in those woods...

Anyhow I resolved the situation by staying quiet and not startling it...mainly because If it were a moose i didn't want sharp hooves trying to crush the tent or myself and my nephew inside the tent.

So my question...
Anyone else have many encounters like this? Is it the snoring that attracted it? Or was it the smell? or the fact its a new "nylon boulder" to investigate? Or was I just lucky to have an animal investigating my tent?


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## Critter (Mar 20, 2010)

I wouldn't worry about it, just yell at it and it will leave in a hurry.


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## DallanC (Jan 13, 2009)

I've woken up to a herd of beef cows around the tent... with sloppy cow patties all over the place. -O,-


-DallanC


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## middlefork (Nov 2, 2008)

My guess a cow looking for salt from your hands. Maybe a moose but I don't think it woul be an elk. They are more a herd animal.


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## polarbear (Aug 1, 2011)

Next time pop it in the nose. If it feels like a knee cap then it's a sasquatch :shock:.


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## Kwalk3 (Jun 21, 2012)

It was me. Sorry.


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## dkhntrdstn (Sep 7, 2007)

We have had deer rub up against our tents before. same with cows and other wildlife.


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## hazmat (Apr 23, 2009)

You shouldnt have been flirting with the wildlife and leading them on if you didnt want them to cuddle with you.moose or elk come on man not cool. J/k. The first thing that animal would have heard was me chambering a round into my pistol. You are right kind of scary situation if it were a moose those hooves would not feel good


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Its kinda scary when a bull elk is raising Caine just a few yards from your tent. 

Had a bull tearing up within 10 yards of the wife and I, end of September. She slept thru the whole thing, exhausted from packing supplies up the mountain to spike camp.

Another time on the rifle deer hunt my brother and I set up a little tent camp in some rough stuff between two meadows that held some nice muleys. The nearby dark timber was full of those white russala mushrooms that the critters love to eat. I think when elk and moose eat too many of them they get a little goofy. Anyway, every night the elk would come into camp, sometimes 15 yards away, and my brother would beat on our aluminum coffee pot and throw rocks and spruce cones at the elk. It was funny, he was scared of them.

About 25 years ago while sleeping on the ground a 6x6 bull elk woke me up in the middle of the night tearing up a little Limber Pine right in front of me, less than 10 yards away. Scared the crap out of me. I couldn't get within 100 yards from that bull during daylight during the archery season. I shot him on opening day of the rifle hunt less than 40 yards below my tent. He was walking up to the tent, bugling, October 15, 6:45 am, like to say "hi" or to check me out again, or something.

So many stories....its not uncommon to have elk in camp where I hunt. We always cold camp, no fires; spray elk scent all over the place and rub sagebrush on everything.

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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

I've never had moose or elk do that. A few curious cows, yes. 

The craziest thing that happened to me while in a tent occurred several years ago when I lived in Las Vegas. After a grueling work stretch, I had a couple days off and went camping and fishing around Panguitch Lake. As I was driving towards my destination, my stomach started to inform me that it was afflicted with the GI flu. I fought the discomfort as best I could and set up camp. I then crawled into my tent and writhed in misery for a couple hours. Finally, about midnight, I barely made it out the door to relieve my stomach of its contents (which included some strawberries I ate earlier in the day.) _/O While by no means healed, I felt well enough off after that to fall asleep with the tent door open. 

The next morning, I was awakened by some rustling right outside the tent. I opened my eyes to a scene of a couple chipmunks dining on a feast of strawberries deposited outside the tent door the night before. They didn't seem to mind the half digested flavor. -O,-


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

BAM! Top of page!

Moose wander around Strawberry quite frequently. I've seen many just from the highway driving through. I've had critters come right through camp through the years - deer, elk, moose, bear, coyote. All leaving tracks right around the campfire.

As for Goob's experiences - critters just coming for the biltong.


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## Kingfisher (Jul 25, 2008)

cow and calf moose close enough to touch thru the tent door... just laid there real quiet till they left...


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## redleg (Dec 5, 2007)

Took the wife and kids up Hobblecreek for the muzzloader. In the night the 11 year old son had his bag pressed to the side of the tent. We heard coyotes messing around the tent all night. in the morning there was a wet spot on the tent and the bag. The bag smelled like pee. 
some coyote lifted it's leg against our tent and it soaked through my 11 year Old's bag.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

wyogoob said:


> Its kinda scary when a bull elk is raising Caine just a few yards from your tent.
> 
> Had a bull tearing up within 10 yards of the wife and I, end of September. She slept thru the whole thing, exhausted from packing supplies up the mountain to spike camp.
> 
> ...


This is a 2004 pic of the Limber Pine the bull tore up just a few yards from my tent in 1989:



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