When it comes to bowhunting elk, few people in the world can match the skill (and success) of Danny Moore. BigDan (as he’s called here on the Bowsite) is perhaps the single greatest elk hunter in the woods today yet it’s unlikely you’ll see him on TV, or in a magazine. Dan is that special breed who we all admire. He loves bowhunting elk, he loves to help others hunt elk, and he has absolutely no interest in becoming famous like so many TV personalities on the hunting channels. All he wants to do is hunt and kill elk.
For those of you who never have heard of Danny Moore allow me to give you some background as to why this was such an honor for us:Â Dan has been hunting elk for over 40 years. He has killed 55 elk, 54 of them were with a bow. Twenty of those elk made Pope and Young. While others may have killed more elk, or have more record book entries, every one of Dan’s bulls - including one that went over 400 inches - was killed on public land. He has never hunted with a guide, and every one of his elk were called in and shot by him, and him alone. Nobody has ever called a bull in for Danny Moore. Impressive? there’s more. Dan has called in over 90 elk for other hunters - something he loves to do.
But there is something else that's very special about Dan; he never hoards his knowledge. He’s even been criticized for giving away too much information here on Bowsite. A criticism he brushes off as selfish. He visits the site several times a day and freely answers questions from people to help them get their bull. I reached out to Dan and asked him if he would consider allowing me to record a brain dump of all that knowledge. Dan agreed without hesitation.
As I was recording this Q&A with Danny I couldn’t help but think that this feature will be a treasure for both the novice, and experienced elk hunter. We are tremendously grateful for Dan's willingness to share his experience with the Bowsite community.
- Introduction - a few words about Danny Moore
- You just drew a tag for a great unit in New Mexico, you have never hunted it before. How do you decide where to start?
- What is your Go-To sound while calling in the early season?
- Can you tell if a bull that’s responding to you is mature? What do you listen for?
- If there was one thing you can tell a novice, what would that be?
- A mature herd bull has cows and won’t leave them, what do you do?
- Explain your tactics when calling and hunting solo?
- What do you think of cow calls?
- You talk a lot about bugling, and aggressive bugling, do you worry about making bulls call shy?
- How do you pick units when applying for tags?
- The temperature just climbed into the 90’s, what do you do?
- What do you think is your ratio of scouting hours vs hunting hours ?
- What is the one trick in your arsenal that has worked more than any other?
- When do you consider it time to give up on the elk you are trying to work?
- What do you think unsuccessful elk hunters are doing wrong?
- For the eastern hunter who has no time to scout an area, what should they look for to locate elk?
- What percentage of your giant elk were killed outside of the rut?
- How would you hunt the post rut?
- You’ve been hunting elk a long time, what is the biggest change you have seen in elk hunting/behavior during that time?
- If you could hunt any state, and any unit, what would that be?
- What is the secret to all your Public land success?
- Can guys call too much?
- What is your favorite shot placement on an Elk?
- How do you set up when hunting a 2-man team?
- Do you use other hunters to your advantage?
- Any final words of wisdom for elk hunters ?
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