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Photo GlacierNPS, Public domain

Calling moose

Bringing a bull to you in the rut with a cow call, a grunt and a bit of noise in the brush, and where to sit while he comes.

What you need

How

  1. Call in the rut. It runs from about the middle of September into October, and the first and last light of the day are best.
  2. Set up on the edge of open ground a bull must cross to reach you: a bog, a cutover, a pond shore. Sit with the wind in your face or across it.
  3. Start soft. The cow call is a long drawn out moan through the cone, rising and breaking at the end. A bull may be closer than you think.
  4. Call, then sit still and listen for at least half an hour. A bull can take an hour to come, and many come in without a sound.
  5. When you hear one answer or thrash, grunt back: short deep grunts, a second apart. Then rake the brush hard, like a bull working a tree.
  6. Pour water from a cup or a hat into the pond from a height. To a bull it sounds like a cow.
  7. With a partner, the caller sits 50 to 100 metres behind the shooter. The bull comes toward the call and walks past the shooter to get there.
  8. He will try to circle downwind to smell what he hears. Watch that side.

Do and don't

Do
  • Know your licence before the bull shows: bull only or either sex, and the zone.
  • Be sure of the whole animal and what is behind it before you shoot. See Shot placement and the follow up.
  • Pick your shooting lanes before you call, while you can still move.
Don't
  • Do not call over a road, a cabin or another party's ground.
  • Do not stand up or move the moment the calling stops. That is when he is coming.
  • Do not overcall. A cow that never stops moaning sounds wrong.

Watch for

Danger
  • Calling draws hunters as well as moose. Wear orange and keep your back to something solid. See Hunter orange and being seen.
  • A bull in the rut can charge. Keep a tree or a rock between you and him when he is close.
  • Seasons, zones, licence types and shooting hours are in the current hunting guide and change by year. Read it before you go.

Notes

A birch bark call is a sheet of bark rolled into a cone about 40 centimetres long, pinned or laced, open at both ends. Moan into the narrow end and point the wide end low.

See Still hunting and glassing for the quiet way, and Field dressing for what comes after.

moosecallingrutwindbirch bark

Updated 2026-09-29

Related

Still hunting and glassing Hunting Moving slow through the woods and working the country with binoculars, so you see the animal before it sees you. Field dressing Hunting Getting the animal opened, cooled and clean before the meat turns. Hanging and cooling meat Hunting Getting the heat out of an animal fast and keeping the meat cool, clean and dry until it is cut up. Hunter orange and being seen Hunting Being seen by other hunters is the cheapest safety there is. What to wear, and how to move and carry game in the fall woods.