Be careful out there..

huntingman121

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Jun 28, 2004
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montana
I have been an avid waterfowl hunter for 48 years. This year, I had the scariest experience in my life. Ninety nine percent of the time I have my dog with me. He had a sore back so he wasn’t with me. I don’t know how it would have played out if he was with me. This was kind of a scouting mission to walk some new ditches I have gotten permission to hunt. I almost didn’t take my shotgun as the first ditch was frozen. 😳

I was walking down the ditch, and a cow with 2 calves moose jumped up and ran towards me. I am trying to get out of their way waving my arms saying it’s okay. I wasn’t that concerned as I have been around many moose. The calves go by me, and the cow veers towards me but misses me. The calves keep going so I don’t know why but she quickly turned around and came after me. She turns around and comes at me with her front feet stomping. It was crazy how high her feet were getting the closer she got to me. I kept yelling go with your calves, they had a whole field ahead of them. I turned sideways and held my shotgun like a pistol to get some distance. But she keeps coming and her feet were getting higher to kick me. I thought when her head hits my gun I have to shoot and that’s what happened. I was scared she was going to use that big nose to clear my gun and trample me. Scary crazy deal.

I called 911, and sheriffs were there real quick. Then a game warden came and investigated and said OMG you are lucky to be alive. He found my spent shell and looked at the hole in her head. It was ruled self defense. They took her to the butcher and donated the meat to the food bank.You can see the calves in the background of the picture. They will be fine without her. They just ran off and ate alfalfa.

This was 3 miles away from the river where we see most of the moose, wasn’t considered moose country. My point always be prepared and watch out for weird things that can happen while hunting.
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Wow. That's crazy. You did the right thing.

A cow moose can be a big problem. I got to tango with a cow defending her calf on a moonlit morning while walking in for an elk hunt. It scared the crap out of me and if not for a steep bank I scrambled up, I might have had to do what you did.
 
Not a fun feeling. I was charged by a moose several years ago and had to jump into the river to escape the ordeal. I was very close to being a spot in the grass.
 
I'm going to send this thread to the idiot manager of Bowdoin Refuge. I've been telling them for three years they need to put up a warning at the visitor center advising bird hunters of a resident population of moose there, including cows with calves. What you experienced IS NOT UNUSUAL. It can take a cow up to three years to raise her calf. They have a lot of time invested in the next generation. If they weren't overly protective, moose wouldn't have survived as a species. Guys coming from back East or deep South likely know little about moose behavior and their dogs often know less about behaving in general. An out of control dog goes after a cow, she is going after the dog, dog runs back to handler, handler gets stomped to death. Any of you make it in to visit the Schaeffer Meadows ranger station in Great Bear Wilderness, ask to see a graphic photo as proof. Anyway, their response was to blow me off with "People need to accept certain inherent dangers when being in the field." Maybe. But I know from my years as an interpretive park ranger that it's the gawdam visitors center's job to inform people of the risks. Jeezus, that place is screwed up!

This year I witnessed the amazing sight of a moose on the refuge actually chasing a coyote. She was hell bent on killing that SOB. Chased it for at least ten minutes in the flats out on the dry lake bed. Too bad she didn't stomp that one to death. Must be a hundred coyotes running on that place now. As far as I could tell she didn't have a calf with her. Then I almost hit her driving out with the headlights the last day I hunted there. No calf with her then either. Those cows don't need an excuse to go after a dog.
 
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Wow. That's crazy. You did the right thing.

A cow moose can be a big problem. I got to tango with a cow defending her calf on a moonlit morning while walking in for an elk hunt. It scared the crap out of me and if not for a steep bank I scrambled up, I might have had to do what you did.
This is a rodeo I wish there was video of. But glad these were both close call stories and not the alternative .
 
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