James Stella
40 Cal.
- Joined
- Sep 4, 2012
- Messages
- 368
- Reaction score
- 51
My dad and I were headed to an area we had been elk hunting in, and it required about a 2 hour drive on back roads. It was still quite dark and I noticed a large figure in my headlights. As I got closer I could see it was a moose. A very large bull.
We had seen several moose on the trip and they were very spooky. As soon as you got close to them they were gone. Now, for some reason, here was this bull standing in the middle of the road, and he would not move. As it got lighter we could also see a cow and a calf standing off the right side of the road just in front of him.
After about half an hour and just as it was getting light he finally moved off the road next to the cow and calf. Here is a short video of him just as it got light and as he is moving.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/90803536@N08/21986988650
Once he did move off the road he only went about 10
yards next to the cow and calf. I started inching forward to drive past when we noticed there was a second calf laying at the cows feet. After a few minutes we realized the calf was trying to get up but could not.
Here is a video of the all the moose together. You can see the calf in the grass.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/90803536@N08/22162701952
I pulled the truck up next to the calf and that pushed the other moose off about 20 yards. I told my dad to keep an eye on the other moose for me so I could look at the calf and see what was wrong with it.
When I walked up to the calf you could clearly tell it's back was broken right in front of it's hips. To me it looked like it has been shot. The side I could see had about a 3" hole that looked like and exit wound. Clearly this animal was going to have to be put down but I did not want to shoot it with out Fish and Game knowing. I had no cell service where I was at so we drove to the top of the closest mountain we could see and I was able to get a call out. We went through the Sheriff's Dep. and got ahold of a Game Warden. He said he did not want me to shoot it and that he would come up and look at it and decide what to do.
While waiting for the Game Warden we moved about a mile down the road to take the stress off the animals and to make it easier to find us.
Three hours later two Game Wardens showed up. They decided to put the calf down and then they loaded it on a trailer they had brought and took it with them. All three moose stayed about 50 yards from us while this was going on.
Two days later the Game Warden actually called me to update me. They skinned the calf and did a rough autopsy on it. They decided it had not been shot. There was no exit hole and no bullet. The hole I saw was the entrance hole. They determined that, most likely, the bull moose gored him. They said it did not look like he full on attacked the calf but probably tried to move him and hit him too hard. There was only the one hole and it looked like one of the tips of the antler got hooked under the calf's spine. They said they then took the meet and donated it to Hunters for the Hungry.
It was a very interesting situation. I am glad the little guy got put down because he would have taken a long time to die like that. I am also glad the meat was put to good use.
We had seen several moose on the trip and they were very spooky. As soon as you got close to them they were gone. Now, for some reason, here was this bull standing in the middle of the road, and he would not move. As it got lighter we could also see a cow and a calf standing off the right side of the road just in front of him.
After about half an hour and just as it was getting light he finally moved off the road next to the cow and calf. Here is a short video of him just as it got light and as he is moving.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/90803536@N08/21986988650
Once he did move off the road he only went about 10
yards next to the cow and calf. I started inching forward to drive past when we noticed there was a second calf laying at the cows feet. After a few minutes we realized the calf was trying to get up but could not.
Here is a video of the all the moose together. You can see the calf in the grass.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/90803536@N08/22162701952
I pulled the truck up next to the calf and that pushed the other moose off about 20 yards. I told my dad to keep an eye on the other moose for me so I could look at the calf and see what was wrong with it.
When I walked up to the calf you could clearly tell it's back was broken right in front of it's hips. To me it looked like it has been shot. The side I could see had about a 3" hole that looked like and exit wound. Clearly this animal was going to have to be put down but I did not want to shoot it with out Fish and Game knowing. I had no cell service where I was at so we drove to the top of the closest mountain we could see and I was able to get a call out. We went through the Sheriff's Dep. and got ahold of a Game Warden. He said he did not want me to shoot it and that he would come up and look at it and decide what to do.
While waiting for the Game Warden we moved about a mile down the road to take the stress off the animals and to make it easier to find us.
Three hours later two Game Wardens showed up. They decided to put the calf down and then they loaded it on a trailer they had brought and took it with them. All three moose stayed about 50 yards from us while this was going on.
Two days later the Game Warden actually called me to update me. They skinned the calf and did a rough autopsy on it. They decided it had not been shot. There was no exit hole and no bullet. The hole I saw was the entrance hole. They determined that, most likely, the bull moose gored him. They said it did not look like he full on attacked the calf but probably tried to move him and hit him too hard. There was only the one hole and it looked like one of the tips of the antler got hooked under the calf's spine. They said they then took the meet and donated it to Hunters for the Hungry.
It was a very interesting situation. I am glad the little guy got put down because he would have taken a long time to die like that. I am also glad the meat was put to good use.
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