Minnesota moose are heat-stressed during summers, which is adversely impacting their survival. We used both movement and activity data to explore the behavioral responses of Minnesota moose experiencing heat stress, termed “hot moose events” or HMEs, to understand how both ambient temperature and available habitat contribute to the ability of these moose to thermoregulate. Hot moose (>39.17 ⁰C body temperature) were active and foraged during the day, despite high heat indices, and apparently failed to adopt the behavioral switch to nocturnal foraging displayed by moose maintaining normal body temperatures (i.e., normal moose), which might improve their overall fitness and survival. Hot moose also selected habitats differently than normal moose, including using open canopies that offer little mid-day protection from solar radiation (e.g., ash swamp, meadow marsh bog), whereas normal moose had a stronger selection for thermal refugia. When we further investigated the behaviors of moose prone to repeated HMEs within a summer season, or frequently hot moose, this group was disproportionately male, experienced 5x the daily rate of HMEs compared to other hot moose, and were more likely to die. Our findings suggest some moose are making behavioral choices that appear to undermine their ability to thermoregulate on hot summer days, adversely impacting their survival. Individual drivers are likely complex and include both moose health factors and the availability or arrangement of quality forage and cover types. While we were unable to pinpoint a difference in overall landscape composition between the choices hot and normal moose make, it is likely that fine-scale differences in habitat features, such as patch size, forest structure, and distance to cover, play a key role. Future forest management efforts that support both thermal and forage needs in habitat prescriptions may mitigate warming summer temperature trends that will continue to stress Minnesota’s moose population.