This Moose is HUGE!!!

Bopeye · August 16, 2009, 08:09:49 AM

I got this in an email and was just curious if Moose really do get this large. Comparing him to the vegetation makes him look almost as big as a bus.
Some of you guys that have seen them up close and personal could probably help me out on this. Tikaani, Okanagan, Pitw and others. What do y'all think. Do the moose get this big? I also thought moose defended themselves more with their feet and left their horns for challenging other bulls, but what do I know.
Here's the message:

IN MAINE!!

By the length of his beard and the grey legs, I figure he must be over 10 years old. He looks to be well over 8 feet at the top of the shoulder hump,and with his head up the height to the top of his antler must be about 12 feet .This guy is king of the forest, no bear or pack of wolves would dare come after him when he has this rack......Considering that a dirt road can fit 1 1/2 cars across ... this fellow is HUGE ...THIS IS ONE BIG BOY!

THE PICTURE WAS TAKEN IN ELLIOT LAKE

Yes it is a regular size dirt road.

Your thoughts would be appreciated before I send this email on to others.

George Ackley · August 16, 2009, 08:21:53 AM

Yes it is a regular size dirt road

sorry i think not,

the bulls rack is nice but far from a monster.

i will call that bull 7' 900LB with 52'' or so

photo shop

CCP · August 16, 2009, 08:32:24 AM

George everything compared to you looks small.

George Ackley · August 16, 2009, 08:36:49 AM

and the bull looks to thick to be a maine bull... photo shop

I was hunting with Max Searl in BC with his son at the time and had a larger hornd bull charge us wile calling wolf and coyotes..

they do come big. and when they are slowly walking at yea from 20 feet they look bigger

Todd Rahm · August 16, 2009, 09:10:07 AM

If'n thats a four wheeler trail or hiking path (Which I think it is)? I'd say he's an average size bull (normal, no photoshop) I might put him a lil taller but I wouldn't argue he could be in the low to mid 50's with what I can tell in the pics. The beams appear to be sagging a bit, which is generaly a good thing.

Bills Custom Calls · August 16, 2009, 09:15:56 AM

I was gonna say that ain't no road at all that is just his path going from here to there.
On the out door channel they had a moose hunt in canada somewhere and they had shot a big moose and they said the moose measured 10 ft high 10 foot wide and 10 ft long and at that time he was the biggest to date

Todd Rahm · August 16, 2009, 09:21:14 AM

QuoteBy the length of his beard and the grey legs, I figure he must be over 10 years old.

That statement there is extremely laughable. :roflmao: And the rest is well.....

In all my years I have never heard anyone refer to a bull's age by his legs or his beard? We call them bells up here and you can't determine anything from them, plus some moose have them and some don't.

Todd Rahm · August 16, 2009, 09:26:15 AM

10 feet that would be a 120" rack. :shck: I have seen a lot of 50's and 60's and a few 70's and one 82 inch rack, and believe me and John and Loren will probably back this up, any thing over mid 60 and you'll know it with out question.

George Ackley · August 16, 2009, 09:27:23 AM

my nephew seen that bull out riding his little bull

CCP · August 16, 2009, 09:45:34 AM

Quotemy nephew seen that bull out riding his little bull

:roflmao: :roflmao: :roflmao:

slagmaker · August 16, 2009, 10:04:26 AM

Must be some kind of Government secret experiential moose :shck:. Undetectable on radar. I say this cause everything else around him is casting a shadow except for him

.

Now if that pic had a time date stamp, well then there would be no doubt that its real

.

Todd Rahm · August 16, 2009, 10:20:32 AM

Could be a photo jobby, but I'm not convinced yet.

I saw that too Slag, and I could be wrong, but if that was taken, say Alaska where the sun doesn't rise and fall like else where, it kinda goes around and stays low at most points, it could be that most of the shadow is casted off the trail on the right.

If you see the second pic, there is a shadow casted (Or at least missing light) on the trail compared to the first pic. Plus in the first pic if ya look at the right front leg it, seems to be casting a shadow to the right of the trail which if the sun is at the right angle could be casting the body shadow of to the side.

The other thing to look at is the bulls feet and their placement in the pics. Its my experience that moose will put them hind legs hooves right where the front hooves were. In this case look where the front right foot in the second pic hits right behind the obstacle on the trail, and then in the first pic look where the rear right hoof hits?

The ONLY thing that really gets my attention here is the dark contrast of the hooves and lower legs. Not that its not normal, cause they call them swamp donkeys for a reason, but they seemed a lil darker in contrast (Crisper) then the rest of the image.

Plus its not uncommon for a moose to walk out on a trail like that with in feet of ya and turn and walk the other way. I don't think the photographer is as close as he appears in the pic, but I bet he was around 30-40 feet away?

KySongDog · August 16, 2009, 10:35:54 AM

Quote from: George Ackley on August 16, 2009, 09:27:23 AM
my nephew seen that bull out riding his little bull

:roflmao: I gotta get one those photoshop programs! :roflmao:

George Ackley · August 16, 2009, 10:45:11 AM

I don't have a clue how to work it you get someone that can do it right and you cant see the differences

Tikaani · August 16, 2009, 11:21:05 AM

If this was taken in Maine, and I have my doubts, it would be a Shira's moose. Shira's are the smallest of the North American moose species, generally 900 pounds and about six or so feet at the shoulders for an adult male. This moose is well over that weight and and height. My guess it is photo shopped or it is a picture of an Alaskan-Yukon moose which can average 7' at the shoulders and weight in the area of 1200 to 1800 pounds. I am with George 7 plus feet, mid fifties on the rack, but over a thousand pounds. A good method to judge a moose rack is to remember his eyes from pupil to pupil is ten inches. As for the "beard" the term for them is a dewlap, sorry Bop but I did laugh at that. Just my two cents.

Hunt hard, Die tired.
John

George Ackley · August 16, 2009, 11:31:07 AM

no Shira's moose in Maine, i think the Maine moose is ib the Canadian family

Tikaani · August 16, 2009, 11:39:31 AM

My mistake George, Eastern Canadian moose. Shiras are in the west.

John

Okanagan · August 16, 2009, 02:22:16 PM

Will ditto Tikaani and the others who judge it to be a fairly routine sized northern moose. "Regular sized road" doesn't mean a lot and it must be a narrow road no wider than tire width between vegetation. It looks more like a quad trail or wide hikiing trail. Northern vegetation is often smaller which may make the critter look bigger if we aren't used to the trees dwarfed by cold and a short growing season. A low camera angle makes it look bigger also. Don't think this one is photo shopped.

But the bottom line is... moose are huge!

I vividly recall my first moose hunt when I was slipping through the woods on a moose trail. I walked under a pole sized tree fallen down so that it stretched across the trail six inches higher than my 5'10" height. I glanced up at it as I stepped under and saw long moose back hairs stuck in the under side of the bark where a moose had rubbed his withers as he walked under.

Tikaani · August 16, 2009, 03:29:38 PM

George's nephew had me rolling. :roflmao: :roflmao:

This moose was photod on the Koyukuk river. Using the eye to eye rule he is in the 70 -75" area. Knowing rack size here is important since some areas only allow +50"

59"

40"

To give you an idea of size, I am 6'

coyote101 · August 16, 2009, 03:58:14 PM

My friend in Anchorage shot this 68-incher a few years ago.