Charging moose shot and killed with handgun...Idaho

Read the article and for a change it was pretty straight forward and not sensationalized... Worth a read

I encounter moose nearly every time I'm out exploring the Idaho woods. Never had an issue with one. Not even this mama moose and her calf...



But, I have heard horror stories about aggressive bulls. They are triggered by the color orange, oddly enough. Usually it's during mating season, though.

They are smart enough to know what orange means and get ornery!

My 3 boys and I met a Bull in the trail we were hiking on up in the Unitas in Utah. We quickly got off the trail and the bull passed us at about 10 yards. My youngest took this shot of him before we yielded the trail to him

Did you see the episode of Alaska State Troopers where the trooper shot 1 or 2 moose with his duty pistol which I think was a 10mm.


The moose was like 1 foot away.

I always thought this one was interesting.



I bet the sound of the tiny gear motors running the zoom are what finally spooked her.

My nephew works and lives on a Montana cattle ranch. Their house is ¼mile from the hard road. One spring he had to take the kids out to meet the school bus in his pickup. A momma moose and her calf had taken up residence along the little creek between their house and the road. She was an irritable old gal and would lay her ears back and act threatening whenever anyone got near.
Later in the summer mamma and calf disappeared for a while, then just the cow returned with a nasty wound on her hip. Nephew thought maybe she had been hit on the road, and likely list her calf too. The cow was more irritable and aggressive than before. One evening nephew decided to try to collect some grouse that he had seen in the pasture. He made his way to the hay yard but she aggressively came at him. He then climbed on the big round bales, but she wouldn't leave. She tried to get to him by climbing on the bales, but her leg wouldn't support her. Nephew decided that he didn't survive two tours in Iraq only to be trampled by a wounded moose, so he dispatched her.
It was a sad ending as they had enjoyed having moose within sight of the house.

Readers should understand that moose attacks are not limited to wester mountains. Moose inhabit pars of Vermont, New Hampshire, and a substantial part of Maine. Years agony’s an avid backwoods camper in Maine with my teenage son. Locals always warned to watch for black bears and moose. I had never given moose a thought until the locales educated me about how dangerous they can be. The article is informative, but if you are going where moose inhabit I suggest you do some research about them. I did hear from a Maine hiker that he carries bear spray for bears and moose.

jmorris said:

I always thought this one was interesting.



I bet the sound of the tiny gear motors running the zoom are what finally spooked her.

Click to expand...

WHAT scent blocker, laundry detergent, and, and, ...AND....were these people using?

Rubbing the broadhead was something else!!!

Moose are much larger than most people think, taller than average horses although not as heavy.

They are also mean. My aunt almost hit one and either stopped in time or did the lightest bump. The moose turned around ran down the road aways and charged the car. Absolutely destroyed the little fiesta she was driving.

You have to be careful around moose! They can reach 1,500 lbs and can be very ill-tempered.

Any wild animal can be dangerous. Ever seen a pissed off weasel or a ferret? You'd wish it were a moose. Lol.

If in an area where both bears and moose may be present I'd say that the moose is far more of a concern than the bear. Moose are just plain bad tempered.

I used to hunt bear with ML and handgun in northern Minnesota between Tofte and the Gun Flint trail. There were moose in that area as well. I ran across fresh tracks and heard what I am sure was a moose in front of me in the thickets about 40 yards out. Big tracks, not a small animal.
I already had heard that more people in Alaska were killed by Moose than by bear so this got my attention. Not very fond of black bear meat so didn't hunt for them for but 3 or 4 years total. Had a rug made of one, but never found a good place for it in our small house, so sold it. Gave the teeth to my brother and he made a necklace. Later he was the marketing manager for a firm in CA and traveled regularly to the far eastern nations like, Korea, China, etc. He wore the necklace at times and received a lot of positive attention over there. But that is a story for another time. Be careful around moose. I came to a stop in traffic one year going north out of Jackson Hole headed into the south gate of Yellowstone. A big bull moose had claimed the road as his bring traffic to a stop. The lead car had stopped, but the moose let him know who was boss by doing a good deal of damage to the front of his car.

The guy had a Dog with him did the dog bark at or chase the moose? Was the scent of a dog, WOLF to the moose, in the moose's territory enough to seriously piss the big bull off and cause an attack?

The moose was stopped by a .45, .45 acp, colt would be interesting to know.

In Alaska I was always far more concerned with startling a moose than I ever was worried about bears.

Especially crawling through the brush checking traps.

Master Blaster said:

The moose was stopped by a .45, .45 acp, colt would be interesting to know.

Click to expand...

Probably a .45 Colt since .45 acp tends to deflect off animal bone structure out here. Big and slow is not your friend when dealing with 1500 lb critters. A .45 Colt pushing 300 gr hard cast bullets at 1300 fps and delivering over 1100 ft. lbs. of energy is pretty effective compared to a 230 grain slug going 950 fps and 450 ft. lbs. of energy.

In Yellowstone Park one time there was a bull moose feeding in a meadow not too far off the road and a small crowd had gathered to watch it. At the time I was about 35 and I was standing next to a gentleman likely in his 70s. I told him these animals can be cantankerous and charge and I doubted I could out run the moose, but I bet I could out run you. He was not amused.

RETG you don't want to go UNDER a moose at 65 MPH. Going in under a moose and having it land on the drivers compartment is usually fatal in a car or small truck.

I once was fishing a stream in a rain storm. Was walking through the willow thickets on the shore and put out my hand to part the brush and put it on a cow moose snout. Don't know who was more surprised and we both took off in oposite directions. Cue me fishing with a 629 now.

Gus Chiggins writes:

Ever seen a pissed off weasel or a ferret? You'd wish it were a moose.

Click to expand...

At least it would be easier to hit.

Bush Pilot said:

We strongly encourage Californians to make friends with the offspring of bears and meese. If a cow moose or sow bear sees you're friendly toward their baby they will be friendly toward you.

Click to expand...

Hopefully, any CA folks who don't get your humor will go ahead and follow your advice