Thread: Fiordland Moose

It would be cool if there was a few still kicking around!

Moose seem to travel huge distances in their ranges overseas, I do wonder that if with the small population of moose that were not accounted for by hunters from back in the day, struggle to breed as a result of travelling so far from each other perhaps and not finding each other at mating season..

In 2008 while on a cruise through the Fiordland sounds , a DOC manager was doing a commentary on the history of Fiordland , i caught up with him that evening and during our conversation we discussed the possibility of any moose being still alive in Fiordland , DOC at that time belived moose still exist and number no more that 10 animals

Originally Posted by Jus

Moose seem to travel huge distances in their ranges overseas, I do wonder that if with the small population of moose that were not accounted for by hunters from back in the day, struggle to breed as a result of travelling so far from each other perhaps and not finding each other at mating season..

Raises a good point. I've watched a meat eater series where they give out Moose calls from a high vantage point across miles of open country. They know they are extremely slow moving animals and a moose that hears that call wont come to the location the call was made until some 24 hours later. If your impatient and don't return to the same spot the very next day, chances are you'll never see the bull you called in.

So Moose finding each other in dense Fiordland bush may be too difficult.

Imagine being the guy that shot one , it would be proof they exist ,but you just killed perhaps the last one …. was it Percy Lyes or one of his party in the Fifties who shot a cow and deeply regretted it .

Just saw the Stuff Article, whole script is from YouTube video including the picture from there.

Id want to use a 300wm on a moose,big animal=big calibre.No walk about needed i hope.

Originally Posted by Trout

Id want to use a 300wm on a moose,big animal=big calibre.No walk about needed i hope.

300 Win Mag, one of several ideal and very capable calibres. Anything from there up to .375 cal with bullets from 250 to 270 gn should do the job with authority with a bit of disance capability thrown in.
No guarantees a shot bull won't walk though. They sometimes do even with a hit that would drop a lesser animal. But a hit with an appropriate cal should be somewhat dissuasive.

Originally Posted by 30.06king

300 Win Mag, one of several ideal and very capable calibres. Anything from there up to .375 cal with bullets from 250 to 270 gn should do the job with authority with a bit of disance capability thrown in.
No guarantees a shot bull won't walk though. They sometimes do even with a hit that would drop a lesser animal. But a hit with an appropriate cal should be somewhat dissuasive.

I watched one soak up two 250 grain Barnes from a 338 Rum.
He probably didn't need the second one, but we didnt know that at the time. And he was in a good spot to process.

A few mooses on utube go walk about even hit with a big cal,shot placement important thats for sure.

An important thing from all those Canadian/Alaskan hunting videos - DO NOT shoot your moose while he is standing in a pond or river. Getting a tonne of moose out of a river/pond/swamp is not easy.

Originally Posted by sportco62

An important thing from all those Canadian/Alaskan hunting videos - DO NOT shoot your moose while he is standing in a pond or river. Getting a tonne of moose out of a river/pond/swamp is not easy.

It happens, sometimes, but what you say is right. It would be awkward enough working in water to break down a Moose and often the very cold water temps don't contribute to making the task any more pleasant.
Another consideration, at least to the hunt guides, is to not shoot a Moose too far from camp. Not such an issue with horses to pack out meat and antlers but I know a couple of guys who hunted Alaska years ago. They flew into camp and hunted on foot only. From high points they saw some whopper bulls and got all keen about getting over there to shoot one. But the guides promptly checked that idea as they were just not interested in backpacking out all that distance to camp. Would kinda suck to a Kiwi hunter I guess. Anyway, it all worked out for the guys I know. There were so many bulls around it was just a matter of waiting until some were handy enough to camp, and job done. They got some lovely bulls.

The sentimentalist in me says yes they’re still there but the realist says no. I think it was in Ray Tinsleys book he mentioned some other less credible sightings to the south of Dusky. I wonder if they might have moved further along but I doubt it.


There is also the mystery of Spunky Andersons bull in the late 70s, he kept pretty quiet on it and never confirmed nor denied it from what I remember reading of it. Plus the sighting in 2021 by the young guy who was an ex moose guide. There was an interview done on a podcast that seemed relatively compelling.

If they’re not gone, there can’t be many of them left. Dusky has been on my bucket list since I was a kid , mostly because of the story of the moose. I think most of us would like them to still be there, but the reality is unlikely.

Mind is not closed to idea that they’re still there. Been in the Seaforth river area twice over the years. Plenty of area to hide in, a prick of a place to travel through in places. As Ray Tinsley states, the browse line height is amazing in places, Mike river same.

Spent a lot of years in Alaska tracking and packing moose for a guide/flying outfit I worked for…..for those of us that have spent any time in Fiordland we know how rugged this place is…….Im 50/50 as to whether any still exist ,…

..I will say this ,after tracking moose ,knowing and seeing the environment they like to live in ,and as big as the bassturds are,we never tracked them into steep country ever,they dont like steep ,rugged country ….they can be very clumsy and dont like to work to hard for their tucker….and unless its a mother and calf they can be fairly docile ….until say about 10 metres!!!

I’m more of the moa massport sighting type