At last Wednesday's lunchion we were telling hunting stories while waiting for the guest to show up. One of the guys told about having to shoot two bears, so I decided to tell about the time I had to shoot a second Moose.
I was going out on the Rex trail the last day of Moose season. I saw a Bull Moose run across the trail ahead of me. I stopped at his tracks and followed them in the freshly falling snow. About 150 yards into the willows a Bull jumped up. I could see antlers through the brush, and had a good clear shot to the shoulder. I made the shot, Moose fell. I worked the bolt and chambered a new round. I heard something off to my right and looked in that direction. Here came a Big Bull, running like a freight train. I went to turn to face it and be able to get a good shot. My feet got tangled in the willows and down I went, flat on my back. Here came the charging Bull and all I could think of was being stomped to death. I raised my rifle with my right arm, sighted over the scope and barrell, fired. The .338 bullet hit the Bull low in the right chest, angling up through the heart, and breaking the spine. The animal fell close enough I could reach out and touch it from where I laid. While the animal could not get up, the front legs were still very active for about two or three minutes. Flailing the ground trying to reach me. I rolled left, got up, and ran. Then when I saw the Bull could not get up I went back slowly.
I gutted both animals and went to spend the night at a friends house at the highway. Next morning I told him what had happened. My friend told me that one menber of his hunting party had not got a Moose, and he would be greatful for the meat and tag it. I called this guy and went and picked him up. We rode 4-wheelers back in about 10 miles to the kill site. Upon arriving the guy asked a bunch of questions. He looked the site over real good, then once satisfied I was telling the truth he pulled out his tag and punched it. We cut up both animals and was back out by late afternoon.
A woman sitting listening, made a statement. “What if that Moose had made one more jump before you got your shot off”? I thought about it for a split second and realized that would have put it right on top of me when it fell. This was a 61” Bull Moose, a big boy weighing between 1500 and 1800 lbs. I would have been trapped and unable to get out from under such a large animal. Wolves and Varmints would have taken care of the remains. I had never thought of how close I had come to being trapped under that animal. All I had ever thought about was how close I came to being stomped. Either one would not have been good.
By the way, the guy that tagged the second animal? Two years later when I reported a poaching incident he was the State Trooper that came to the scene and did the investigation. I later asked my friend why he sent a Trooper to tag the second animal. My friend said “I knew you were telling the truth, and he is a good cop and would have figured it out as well”.
