# Moose - Morgan-South Rich



## moabxjeeper (Dec 18, 2012)

A good (and insanely lucky!) friend of mine drew a bull moose tag for the Morgan-South Rich unit. It's not a unit he was familiar with before he put in, but the odds were no worse than most other units, so he decided to try his luck and ended up with the golden ticket.

I don't know the area super well. The only place on the unit I was familiar with prior to him drawing was the Henefer-Echo WMA. I've heard of there being moose in there but I've never put eyes on one. My summation is the Monte Cristo area is probably his best bet for finding one with all the water and ponds throughout the area. I've yet to go with him when he's been up there but he says it's heavily wooded and there aren't many good vantage points unless the leaves come off early. As mentioned before, we have been to the Causey area twice and covered a decent amount of ground, but have yet to see anything that way.

I personally have been up with him 3 times since he got the good news, including a backpacking trip into the Causey area to get to know it some. He's been up twice that many times. Collectively, we've seen 1 small bull who was out on private land right after a late snow storm. Besides that, we've yet to see anything else at all. Not even a cow. We're not overly concerned at this point as there's still plenty of time and cooler weather coming before the hunt starts, but I think he'd be a lot more at ease if he'd seen something by now.

We're 100% willing to put in the work and I'd love to see him fill his tag. Really what I'm asking in this thread is for pointers on what to do and what of the above mentioned areas we should focus our efforts on, so as to not waste it on areas that hold few animals.

It's a long hunt and the time we've spent getting to know the unit has been well worth it. We've found plenty of places that look like classic moose habitat. We're just ready to start finding a few more animals to get more excited about. I imagine they'll be easier to find when they start rutting, which also coincides with most of the hunt dates, but the fact we're not finding any cows yet either definitely catches our attention. We did talk to a few locals in Huntsville who mentioned the DWR had taken quite a few out of the Causey area to relocate to other areas, or even other states. Go figure..

As always, any help is greatly appreciated!


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## middlefork (Nov 2, 2008)

Not much current info. My son had a tag on an adjacent CWMU in 2018 and ended up taking the only bull he saw.

Seems like the population has taken a real hit in the last few years.

Ask around when you run into other people. If nothing else moose is probably one of the only tags offered where most people will give you info if the see something.

Good luck!


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## muleydeermaniac (Jan 17, 2008)

There are a few spots I have seen some good bulls in the past. PM me if you don't have any luck and I will let you know where they are.


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## tmitty (Jun 22, 2020)

Good luck, sounds like a fun hunt.


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## RandomElk16 (Sep 17, 2013)

middlefork said:


> Not much current info. My son had a tag on an adjacent CWMU in 2018 and ended up taking the only bull he saw.


Which one :shock:


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## middlefork (Nov 2, 2008)

RandomElk16 said:


> Which one :shock:


PM sent.


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## moabxjeeper (Dec 18, 2012)

Well, the hunt starts a week from Saturday. I've been up with my friend who holds the tag 3 different times and he's been up nearly every weekend for the last month or so. Still haven't set eyes on a single moose in the area, though he did talk to some archery hunters who told him about a smaller bull and cow they'd seen a few days prior.

Does anyone have any info they'd be wiling to share? I'd love to see this guy fill his tag, but at this point, I'm afraid he might have to pull the trigger on the first bullwinkle that comes out of the woods.


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## Packout (Nov 20, 2007)

The moose hunt only gets better as the season goes on. The leaves start to fall and the moose become more active with cooler temps. He should shoot what makes him happy. Don't wear yourselves out before the best part of the season rolls around. Just my opinion...


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## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

Packout said:


> The moose hunt only gets better as the season goes on. The leaves start to fall and the moose become more active with cooler temps. He should shoot what makes him happy. Don't wear yourselves out before the best part of the season rolls around. Just my opinion...


This. 100%.


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## moabxjeeper (Dec 18, 2012)

Packout said:


> The moose hunt only gets better as the season goes on. The leaves start to fall and the moose become more active with cooler temps. He should shoot what makes him happy. Don't wear yourselves out before the best part of the season rolls around. Just my opinion...


That seems to be the general consensus. I appreciate the straightforward reply.


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## Diyhntr44 (May 21, 2020)

Sent you a pm


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## Runter (Jun 1, 2017)

I got a picture of this guy on the Henefer-Echo WMA in August. He was a few miles back in. PM me if interested in the coordinates


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## Runter (Jun 1, 2017)

Not sure if the last picture worked.


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## Withabow (Sep 18, 2013)

I have the antlerless moose tag for that same area. Lots of people at Causey and no moose the two times I've been there. A friend told me there are lots down in the private by Causey Estates. I was out early this morning at Lost Creek and talked with several guys who were headed out to fish. A few of them are regulars and say they hardly ever see anything there. I did see a gorgeous 320" - 330" bull elk on the way in just at first light. He was bugling like crazy trying to get his cows to follow him up into a canyon. Also tons of deer and turkeys, but I digress. Drove up Monte and down into Big Springs all the way to the gate at the end and talked with some elk hunters who saw a cow and a pretty good bull up there this morning, but I saw nothing. I'd be happy to trade info with you on this hunt. if you like.


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## johnnycake (Jul 19, 2011)

Runter said:


> I got a picture of this guy on the Henefer-Echo WMA in August. He was a few miles back in. PM me if interested in the coordinates


That's a great Shiras bull!


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## 3arabians (Dec 9, 2014)

Runter said:


> I got a picture of this guy on the Henefer-Echo WMA in August. He was a few miles back in. PM me if interested in the coordinates


Moab! Get some horses and get these coordinates!! I've seen a good bull or 2 in the back of this WMA over the years.

Talk about some pain without ponies though. Ouch!


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## moabxjeeper (Dec 18, 2012)

3arabians said:


> Runter said:
> 
> 
> > I got a picture of this guy on the Henefer-Echo WMA in August. He was a few miles back in. PM me if interested in the coordinates
> ...


Oh, trust me, already done!! I was very particular with my friend that I'm not being his pony. He needs to get some horses figured out before we venture in there.


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## kstorrs (Oct 29, 2012)

Moab, did your buddy tag a bull?


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## moabxjeeper (Dec 18, 2012)

kstorrs said:


> Moab, did your buddy tag a bull?


Guess I forgot about this thread! He shot the one and only moose we saw during our entire time scouting or hunting. Proof that all it takes is one.

Not much to the story either. We had literally stepped out of the car and were putting our gear on when he stops dead and looks me straight in the face. "I just heard a bull grunt". I give him a strange looking thinking he must be messing with me, then I hear it too. "Mwuahh. Mwuahh." We scramble up the opposite hillside and immediately see the bull tucked in the trees. He's only 200 yards away but not presenting a clear shot. I ask him "should I call and see what happens?" I just mimicked the sound the bull was making. Not a minute or two later, he starts making his way out of the trees coming right towards us. We lost him for a couple minutes but could hear him move. Minutes later, he steps out right in the open, staring right at us completely broadside. I got one more range on him. 102 yards. BOOM. Solid hit, but still on his feet. Told my buddy to get him again. He sort of fights me and says "that first hit was a good one". I tell him, "yeah, but he's still standing. Give him another one". BOOM. Down on the ground right where he stood.

Not the biggest bull, but when he'd been up there more than half a dozen times scouting and had yet to lay eyes on even a cow anywhere, you don't chance passing that up!


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## caddis8 (Sep 10, 2007)

and the pack job was worth it also.


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## BigT (Mar 11, 2011)

Cool! Looks awesome!


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## CPAjeff (Dec 20, 2014)

Awesome!


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## moabxjeeper (Dec 18, 2012)

caddis8 said:


> and the pack job was worth it also.


That was the best part of the story! The entire time we were quartering him up, we had the car in view literally right below us, probably not even 100 yards away. None of that absolute insanity about him backpacking in 4 miles to go after moose with no horses set up. Even so, it was just the two of us there when he took it down. It took us a good 4-5 hours to get that thing cut up and ready to move.

He had access to 2 or 3 trucks in the family but had his parent's 4Runner that day for some reason. By the time we got that thing all packed into the back of it (which barely fit - had to pull the pieces back towards mewhile he shut the door), it sagged the rear of that car so hard we got high centered on a branch coming out of there.


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## middlefork (Nov 2, 2008)

Awesome! Glad you guys got it done. And it sounds like the pack out was icings on the cake.


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## kstorrs (Oct 29, 2012)

Awesome! Glad he was able to tag one!


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## MWScott72 (May 23, 2011)

That's hilarious...getting high centered due to moose parts in the vehicle. Congrats to you guys on getting it done. Way to stick with it!


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## Pinetree (Sep 25, 2012)

Nice Job!


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