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Before the hunting season, it a good idea to check with regional game biologists or forest rangers to get and idea where moose populations are densest. When you find a promising area, head out in the mornings and evenings to glass likely feeding areas, such as riparian willow stands, lakeshores, clear-cuts, and other forest openings. Also, look for sign, such as tracks, droppings, beds, rubs, trails, and rutting pits.
One the most exciting and successful ways to hunt moose is to call them in during the rut, when bull moose are particularly active and vulnerable. In many areas, the rut coincides with early part of the rifle season and some bow seasons. The primary call in moose hunting is that of the cow which is a drawn-out moaning sound used to lure bulls to a mating area. This can be imitated by the hunter's voice and amplified by the traditional birch-bark horn; it can be made by pulling a rope through a hole in a tin can; or it can be made by using a commercial call. Bulls can also be located or called in by imitating the grunt (also called a burp or hiccup) made by male moose during the rut. Also, aggressive bulls can be brought into gun or bow range by raking trees and brush with a moose shoulder blade or canoe paddle.
Tracking moose is another popular tactic. Light, soft snow is ideal both for seeing the tracks and moving quietly through the woods. Put simply, tracking is a matter of stillhunting as you follow fresh tracks, until they take you to what made them.
Stillhunting (without the benefit of track) can pay off as long as your scouting or glassing has given you a good idea of where the moose are. Randomly picking a spot to stillhunt rarely pays off in moose hunting. The same goes for standhunting; it's not the most popular technique for moose, but if the animals are sticking to a regular routine and you have learned their pattern well, it can certainly pay off to take a stand, for example, near a well-used game trail between feeding and bedding areas. Wherever moose are found in relatively open terrain (such as the Shiras moose of the Rockies and the tundra moose of Alaska), spot-and-stalk hunting is a popular and effective method, which involves spotting an animal from distance with binoculars or a spotting scope and carefully stalking within gun or bow range.
For many hunters, the best and easiest way to bag a moose is to book a guided trip through an outfitter. Remember, this will not guarantee you a moose, but it will probably increase your odds. Research your trip carefully and call several outfitters before committing to one.
Popular moose calibers include the .35, .45/70, .308, .30/06, 7mm mag, .300 mag, and .338 mag. Anything smaller than a .270 isn't recommended, and that caliber is considered a bit light by many hunters. A light, quick-handling brush gun in lever, pump, or semi-auto can be handy in heavily timbered areas, while a bolt-action rifle chambered for a relatively flat-shooting, long-range cartridge is best in more open terrain. Longbows, recurves, and compound bows are all used for moose, with the compound being the most popular. Hunters toting flintlock, caplock, or in-line muzzleloaders shouldn't hunt moose with anything less than a .50 caliber.
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