Where’s the best place in North America to watch bull moose during the rut?

Most folks around here know that lots of the huge, hairy monsters cruise the Maine woods about now, with their racks cleaned off, ready to fight it out over the affections of the moose cows, ready at times to do battle with most anyone or anything unlucky enough to get in their way. The possibility that you just might need a climbable tree handy adds to the fascination found in watching moose at this magical time of the year.

Parts of Maine have more moose per square mile than any place in North America. But is Maine the best place to watch moose during their mating season? Maine certainly has some pretty watchable moose, and at most any time of the year. So do a few other places.

One that has lately become near and dear to the lenses of this wildlife photographer is Alaska. Of all the places in all the world that one could go to watch moose, you’d have to include Alaska as a premier one. In fac, the top two moose-watching areas in North America are probably Maine and Alaska.

And so a recent trip to Alaska became a quest to find the answer as to which of the two premier moose-watching places in North America has the best moose watching during the rutting season.

The first part of the assignment was easy. Maine moose have been a passion of mine for some years now, and hunting them with a camera during the rut — which runs from the middle of September to late October — has been an annual pursuit. That pursuit netted a great photo opportunity last fall when two big bulls duked it out for eight rolls of slide film within 150 feet of my telephoto lenses.

You could get lucky and see the same thing if you spend some time in the Maine woods over the next few weeks. Most any place that moose are known to frequent is a good place to look for the big guys during the rut. This writer has some some favorite ones, but just as some of you choose to keep your favorite fishing hole or private hiking trail secret, I appreciate in advance your granting the same privilege.

A few words of caution: Since Maine’s moose hunt coincides with the rut in the first week of October, it’s prudent to take extra care in the woods that week if you’re in an area where moose hunting is permitted.

Hunted moose are also more wary of humans once the leaves start to change, so those interested in moose watching may need to use some of the techniques that a hunter does, approaching quietly and keeping the wind advantage.

Since moose don’t see that well, you don’t need to wear camouflage. In fact, for safety’s sake, it’s probably a good idea to wear blaze orange if you’re on foot in a hunting zone. And if you do run into a bull moose, keep that climbable tree handy!

The pursuit of moose during the rut offers the chance to see one of nature’s oldest spectacles up close and personal. The sight of those two bulls fighting for control of that Maine woods pond last October made my short list of most special events.

It was also an event you’d have to figure would be hard to beat. Yes, even in Alaska. While Alaska has lots of moose, it is a huge state, as anyone who has ever looked at a map knows. You have to know where to go looking, and getting to some of the best moose-watching opportunities — not to mention the more photogenic opportunities for a wildlife photographer — can require a bit of work.

There’s limited opportunity for roadside viewing of moose. That’s partly because Alaska doesn’t have that many roads. It’s also partly because a very active moose hunt is pursued in most areas where people can easily get to moose, and so the moose keep themselves pretty well hidden.

Oh to be sure, you can find some roadside moose. But most Alaskan moose hang out in places with terrain that makes it a bit harder to get close to them. Many hunting and fishing enthusiasts in Alaska actually fly to ponds in the back country in bush planes equipped with floats.

That’s an expensive trip for anyone and, for the moose watcher, unnecessary. Several places, including the Kenai Peninsula, where there is a national wildlife refuge set aside for moose, and Denali National Park and Preserve, can provide the moose watcher with a real good chance of seeing moose during Alaska’s short fall season.

Denali National Park and Preserve is porbably the the best place in Alaska to see the rutting moose. This wonderland that’s larger than Massachusetts is known for wildlife viewing because most of it is off limits to hunting, and so the animals are more apt to hang around in camera range.

Denali does have a paved road for the first 13 miles which anyone can drive. Access beyond the Savage River is restricted to special permit vehicles and to a well-managed fleet of school buses which carry most folks into the park for another 75 miles or so. You can get off the bus and walk anywhere except in special areas closed for wildlife — unless there’s a grizzly bear within a quarter of a mile.

On this recent trip, wildlife photographer Michael Francis and I actually saw more moose on the first 13-mile stretch than anywhere else. And while we saw most of them from the paved road, the photography usually required a lot of walking to get the best shots.

We’d usually spot a moose from the road in the early morning hours and approach to within a respectful distance until we got the best photo opportunities. Denali Park’s rules do not permit an approach closer than 75 feet. While telephoto lenses are needed, with an animal as large as a bull moose, you can get by with a lot less lens at 75 feet.

A word about that approach distance: While it may work generally, arbitrary approach distances are no guarantee of safety. The wrong bull moose wouldn’t be safe to approach closer than 150 feet, while some moose are so mellow that you can get a lot closer. Remember that wherever you go moose watching this fall.

The terrain along the paved stretch in Denali is called taiga, Russian for “land of little sticks.” The spongy lichens and mosses that cover most of the ground only support stunted trees, much of it black spruce. Walking over that ground requires a lot more energy than walking on hard soil. You sink in with each step, much the same as if walking in 8 inches of soft snow. Moose watching in that terrain can tire you out fast.

Walking out into the taiga during the moose rut requires that you keep alert as to where the animals are at all times. You’d be surprised at how quickly one of these big moose can totally disappear. And with most of the bulls displaying some form of aggression, such as when they’d stop to beat up a tree or bush with their impressive rack of antlers, you got the message that they weren’t in any mood to put up with any nonsense from a lowly human. It just doesn’t pay to provoke a bull moose during rutting season, forget about the rules.

Grizzly bears also occasionally roam those woods doing their own form of moose watching. They’re mostly feeding on berries during the rut, but you just might encounter one hoping to find a moose calf whose mother has been distracted by the events of the season.

Remember what I said about having a climbable tree handy? Well, that usually doesn’t work in the taiga. Most of the trees are just too short to bother climbing. They might work as a shield from an irate moose, but not much of that. The answer is to keep a wary eye on the body language and behavior of the big guys.

And these guys are really big! Bulls in the subspecies of moose that inhabit Alaska can grow to 1,800 pounds and stand about a foot taller than a Maine moose. And while it’s hard to judge rack width when they’re on the run and you’re taking pictures, we did see some racks on the 14 different mature bulls that we photographed in our 10 days in Alaska that approach the Maine moose record of just less than 6 feet. Let’s just say that should one of these Alaskan brothers drop in to visit the average Maine bull, the local bull would probably think twice about picking a fight with it.

But did we see any battling bulls in Alaska? You bet. Two respectably sized bulls sparred for an hour while we photographed them in low light in the dark forest where they chose to stage their battle. After an hour, one finally ran off, tired of it all. The other exhausted bull slipped into the woods to rest.

Was the battle as exciting as the one in Maine last fall? Surely. Which was the better photo opportunity? Each had its own merits. I sure did miss the light of the pondside in Maine.

And what about the ultimate question: Which of the two premier moose-watching places in North America has the best moose-watching during the rutting season, Maine or Alaska? Well, Alaska does have some handsome giants. And we did see more different mature bulls than I usually find in the Maine woods. On the other hand, Maine generally has better light to photograph them in as they’re often on the edge of a pond or clear-cut when you see them.

It’s a tough one to answer. I’ll give it a draw. But you decide for yourself. Look at the photographs and decide for yourself.

Maybe we’ll see you out there in the Maine woods this fall. Moose watching during the rut is great sport. But let me tell you something. Our rutting bull moose may look a bit scrawny compared to some of those Alaskan monsters. But don’t turn your back on one.