Pistol Defense Against Moose Attack

Gun Watch ^ | 2 March, 2014 | Dean Weingarten

[marktwain]

In this dramatic video, a snowmobiler is traveling along a remote snowmobile trail.   A moose is blocking the trail, and the snowmobiler does everything they can to defuse the situation without bloodshed.  They make considerable noise to warn the moose that they are there.  Snowmobiles do not have a reverse, and the track is narrow and hemmed in by thick woods.  To get off the snowmobile would make the snowmobiler much more vulnerable.   In the deep, fluffy snow, he and or his machine are likely to bog down.   Unknown to the viewer, a companion snowmobiler is coming up from behind and could easily come under attack if the first snowmobiler allows the moose to kill or disable them.

The snowmobiler gets a little closer to get the moose to move away.  The moose does a false charge, to be met with more shouts and noise from the snowmobiler trying to defuse the situation.   The false charge turns into a very short retreat, immediately followed by a full on attack.   The snowmobiler escapes serious injury or death by sheer luck.   The moose retreats a short ways, and the snowmobiler uses this reprieve to draw a Glock pistol and chamber a round.

The moose starts to attack again and the snowmobiler uses his last possibility to defuse the situation, a warning shot.   It does not work, and the  snowmobiler fires three well aimed shots, that almost instantly put down the threatening animal.  A fourth finishing shot is fired to make sure.  All shots, from warning to finishing, take place in four seconds.  (:51 to :55) on the video.  The time from the physical contact of the attack to the last shot is 10 seconds. 

The snowmobiler then rides by to a meadow, where they stop and look back to make sure that the following companion was able to safely catch up to them.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=008_1393078390


©2014 by Dean Weingarten: Permission to share is granted when this notice is included.
Link to Gun Watch 

[Mad Dawgg]

"This may be hard to see from New York City, but a moose is a food animal. We eat them."

EGGsactly Batman.

Also: "Mynd you, møøse bites Kan be pretty nasti..." [/Monty Python/Holy Grail]

[familyop]

In some areas, snowmobiles are used for essential transportation, and a packed ice base (sometimes, only on a trail) is required for snowmobile travel. Are big city residents required to stop and detour their travel to workplaces in order to go far around big city predators (pit bulls, gangsters, etc.)? There are no police in remote areas to arrest thuggish dangerous animals, so residents are on their own to defend themselves.

[RandallFlagg]

My Wife just told me that moose can be really deadly during rutting season. I wouldn’t know.
Only thing I know was the first time I ever saw a moose here in the deep Rocky Mountains, it was taller than a freaking camper!
WOW!!

[familyop]

Next thing ya know, the animal worshipers will be demanding laws against using “assault weapons” to defend against dangerous animal attacks. [More magazine capacity could make up for small bores in some cases.]

;-)

[marktwain]

The problem is that people have a little too much empathy. They put themselves in the position of the animal. If the snowmobiler had been hurt, they would put themselves in the position of the snowmobiler.

Excess empathy is hard to deal with. Another problem is that people who live in urban areas do not see much wildlife, so they value it much more, instead of seeing it as a renewable resource.

[MaxMax]

We own the food chain.

[eartrumpet]

The family was hunting elk a few years ago and a bull moose wanted to come see us. He was moaning and swinging his head, deep in the rut. I stood up to show him I was a man and he kept coming slowly. A moose is so dim-witted and slow, you can’t change his mind once he makes it up. I suggested the morning hunt was about over and we started for the pickup as fast as the 8 year old could walk. The bull got on our trail and tailed us 100 yards back and jumped 2 fences to keep up. We got back to the pickup 3/4 mile later with him 50 yards back, still moaning and groaning.

I’ve had many close encounter with moose and managed to avoid killing one, so far.

[The_Media_never_lie]

In hind site, a tragic mistake. Maybe he thought the moose would flee.

[Bulwyf]

Sounds to me like you took unnecessary risks, especially with a child along.

I’m in northern Alberta, and if this happened to me, I would not hesitate, I would fill the moose with .308 from a semi auto.

[Hootowl99]

Last summer while working in Ontario I took a few days off and went north into Quebec for some pretty primitive camping. I have a modified 4wd truck so got back in the bush quite a ways. On a trail, I went around a bend and came face on to a moose. I had no idea till then how huge they were. If he had taken offense at my truck, the bull could have beat the tar out of it. Fortunately, the moose turned the other way then trotted away before turning off the trail and disappearing.

IMHO the snow machine guy did about as good as he could and it was damn prudent to have a firearm. I am really surprised that a normal handgun caliber would take a big game down. No way would I approach to give a final shot to positively put the animal down with a handgun. Too dangerous and just get away. I shot a deer at long distance once and didn't know it but the bullet hit him in the head and bounced off. The buck was knocked unconscious and came to as my friend and I were kneeling over him to field dress. If there had not been two of us the buck could well have been the winner. Same with that moose, he could have jumped up to continue the attack.

[Zuriel]

Well, that moose probably heard them coming from over a mile away. But then, I guess I’ve never come across a snowmobile rigged for silent running. Down periscope.

When he first saw the critter he should have behaved as the intruder he was, and shown some patience. He was carrying a gun, indicating he was prepared for ‘local resistance’; quite possibly aware of the danger of getting anywhere near a moose, and one possibly defending nearby offspring.

I spent most of my life raising livestock. I hate to see meat wasted. Hunting for food is one thing. Killing one because a guy has to get his internal combustion engine kicks by hauling his butt around in moose territory.......well, ...rant off.

[Jeff Chandler]

Good shot!

[eartrumpet]

What unnecessary risks are you talking about? Wife had a .280 Improved, I had a .375 Ouch and Ouch. If the moose came for us, he would pay dearly. Just because he was following didn’t mean he needed to die, obviously, since we made our escape.

[Manic_Episode]

You would die of stupidity.

[Manic_Episode]

Did you not see the moose attack? It was him or the moose.

[marktwain]

“When he first saw the critter he should have behaved as the intruder he was, and shown some patience. He was carrying a gun, indicating he was prepared for ‘local resistance’; quite possibly aware of the danger of getting anywhere near a moose, and one possibly defending nearby offspring.”

We are at the top of the food chain, not the moose. Humans own the woods and the animals in it.

The moose was a young bull. The chance of “offspring” being near is just about nil.

I suspect that the snowmobilers triggered a “predator response”. The moose probably reacted to them as it would to wolves.

Of course, it is possible to imagine scenarios where the bull was not killed. It is as easy to imagine scenarios where the snowmobiler was killed.

Are moose valuable food animals? Yes, I dislike seeing waste. We do not know what happened to the moose meat. Maybe it was salvaged for human consumption. If not, the ravens and wolves fed well.

Moose are not endangered. They are not rare. They are not people.

[marktwain]

“I’ve had many close encounter with moose and managed to avoid killing one, so far.”

Good for you. Moose are a valuable resource.

[marktwain]

Looks like the snowmobiler may have been the one protecting offspring. From another forum:

“I’m not a snowmobile expert, but judging by the looks of the trail as seen on the video, I know that I would have made about 5 or 10 feet backwards and that would have been it...stuck. I fully agree that waiting would have been ideal, but I think that gunning the engine a touch and consequently lurching forward a bit could reasonably be expected to convince the moose to move on. In this case it didn’t work, and he had a problem. Later in the video it becomes visible that there was a second sled behind him. Who knows how close behind, and if that affected his decision? Also, a comment made on another forum indicated that the gent in question had his young son on the machine with him, changing the picture a bit.:

http://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/8521043/m/8211067791?r=7871097791#7871097791

[trebb]

So how would you defuse the attack without makeing yourself even more vulnerable? I would really like to know what your solution is.

Interesting that folks who would call it justified if the moose was a person, will get so bent out of shape over an aggressive animal. You do what you can do to try to prevent having to kill a living creature and then you take the appropriate actions to protect yourself. This story meets the rules I go by in my personal life.

[golux]

"We own the food chain."

I think this is the attitude that that guy had who shot the black kid who was playing loud music. There are plenty of ways to get away from a frickin' moose. It's just ridiculous Rambo bullcrap and it makes REAL conservatives and pro-2A (NO infringements, restrictions or laws) look bad.