Updated 2/14/2010
For most of the year, the moose just sort of grunts and is pretty quiet. When mating season comes around (September – October), they have a very eerie call. This is especially true if you are sleeping in a tent and hear this sound in the dead of the night.

While camping a few years back at Round Pound (T7 R14 WELS), we pitched a tent at the wilderness campsite at the end of the lake. There are lots of Round Ponds in Maine—this one is just south of Allagash Lake. Wilderness up there means just that. No campground attendants, no lights, no traffic—just us camping in the middle of the woods. During the night, we had moose walking within 25 feet of our tent. We also heard the eerie sound of a moose looking for a mate. Needless, to say it was difficult to sleep that night.

This is the sound that a moose makes. It is not a pretty sound! This sound can be heard for miles. Click HERE to hear what it sounds like and then just imagine being in a tent in the middle of the night and hearing this strange noise. A night like this is not for the faint of heart but this is one of the greatest memories of camping that I have.

Click below for other moose vocalizations:

Bull Grunt

Bull Moose Calling

Mad Moose

Last but not least, do you want to make a moose call of your own???  Take an empty metal 2 or 3 pound coffee tin. Punch a small hole in the middle of the bottom of the can with a nail. Then take a piece of yarn or a cotton boot lace that is about four feet long  and thread it through the hole, tying it on the inside so that it doesn’t pull through. Next, wet the string thoroughly.

To call, hold the bottom of the can in your left hand and  grip the wet lace firmly between your forefinger and thumb. With the lace pulled taut, pull your fingers down the lace in short, abrupt strokes to make bull moose grunt sounds; use longer strokes to emulate a lovesick cow moose.