ABSTRACT
Moose, Alces alces, are distributed throughout boreal forests of North America, Europe, and Asia. Moose tend to be unevenly distributed within their habitats, yet do not generally form large concentrations or yards. If sex ratio data are desired along with census data, several additional factors should be considered. Bull moose shed their antlers from November to March, but the majority are dropped between December and February. The sex of antlerless moose can be determined by the presence of a white area around the vulva of cows. A number of methods have been employed to enumerate moose populations. These include pellet group counts, ground observations, hunter harvest reports, and aerial surveys. The most common methods currently used to estimate moose abundance are aerial transect and aerial quadrat surveys. If it is necessary to determine absolute density, some estimate of the number of moose not seen is needed. Efficiency of observation is affected by many factors, including aircraft type and vegetation density.
