Guy shoots moose with Glock, everyone clueless about moose.

[7.62 Precision]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImgFG0kMQ88

It's funny, the guy did everything wrong and almost got himself stomped to death, yet people seem to think he did everything right.

Am I the only one who sees the mistakes he made?

[jkbrea]

Wow! The only thing I saw that you might be referring to is there was a trail to his left when he first saw the moose. But when it attacked them, I don't think he had much choice. She must have had a calf around the way she was acting. I've walked up on moose almost every year while hunting and they mostly just sit there and watch you walk away or they trot off when they see you approaching.

[Tycer]

He had every opportunity to leave. That was stupid. What a terrible way to start my day.
His gun should have been ready for work. He fired wildly. Worst of all he left the animal without finishing the poop he started.

[wvfarrier]

He needs prosecuted. That moose warned him. She had assumed the aggressive posture and moved toward him. There was NO reason for him not to back up. Then he left her. I hope wildlife officials see this video

[Mac in Mo]

It sure looked like he had ample opportunity to turn around or go around. Instead he kept advancing. Seems that he was surprised when he was attacked. I don't live anywhere near moose country and know that you don't mess with these guys. Hard to claim self defense, in my opinion. I do hope he followed up on this and didn't just leave it to rot.

Kevin

[Griff]

Since I know little about moose, I can only articulate about the last mistake he made. Posting the video on YouTube!

I know moose have terrible eyesight and are prone to attack, seemingly w/o provocation. But, if I had to guess, this guy provided plenty. But, I also wonder about his state of mind... possibly fixated on his desired route... familiarity with area, parental protection level, and ability/manuverability of his snowmobile to make a u-turn... too bad he didn't take that trail to left and simply give a wide berth to the moose.

[7.62 Precision]

At the very beginning the moose was showing aggressive body language, but probably not going to attack at that point. He should have stayed back or gone around through the trees.

As he moved up on the moose, it clearly warned with its body language, yet he closed distance and got way too close.

The moose charged, but broke off the charge at the last minute and started to move away. It probably would have left at that point.

The guy then moved his sled toward it again. The moose jumps and wheels - it feels it is being pursued, and in snow, a moose often feels defense is safer than retreat, so it attacks him and runs off again to assess the situation. Up to this point, the moose has not shown that it is really determined to attack, or he would be dead or severely injured now.

He removes his glove, and draws and charges the pistol. The moose reacts to his movement, and decides he is still a threat and turns toward him again. He fires a shot above the moose. He says it was a warning shot, but notice he drew and charged the pistol with his finger on the trigger. The position of the pistol and his reaction to the shot tells me it was not intentional.

The moose charges and he shoots it.

He is very lucky to be alive.

He should have given the moose space - it made it clear with its body language that it was not to be messed with. He could have waited, or he may have been able to move off of the trail.

He should not have closed on the moose. When he did and stupidly put himself in a dangerous situation, he should have recognized the signs from the moose and had his pistol out already.

When the moose decided to leave, he should have let it. Instead, he went after it and antagonized it further.

He should have had his pistol out and ready. Instead, it attacked him.

Finally he get the pistol out and kills it on its third charge.

Moose are very reluctant to expend energy in the winter. Expended energy can mean death before spring. So they tend to place a priority on walking where it is easy, and they are reluctant to give up a trail. A moose on a trail in the winter is very likely to stand its ground and attack. Their body language is also very clear, but very different from what most humans would recognize. We get along so well with dogs because we can understand their body language and they understand ours. A moose is not a dog. things like turning their heads and taking chomping off a bite of willow brush and chewing it is a sign of an imminent attack. What do people do when they see that? "Oh, look honey, it's eating!" "Oh, that's so CUTE! See if you can get closer with the camera!"

I have been charged three times that were seriously dangerous situations. Spent an afternoon and evening in a tree the first time, killed the moose the second time, and ran, dodged, and drew my pistol but avoided shooting the moose the third.

I have been charged many other times when dealing with a moose for one reason or another, but those were situations that I was prepared for and do not consider to be serious situations.

Moose are not deer or elk or rabbits or anything else. They are big, fast, aggressive, have crazy mood swings, and hold grudges. They are completely unpredictable.

I fed part of an ice cream cone and a butterscotch candy to a moose calf once with its mother looking on. I spent an afternoon and evening in a tree with a mother moose waiting at the bottom for me after I almost stepped on her calf. I kissed a bull moose on the nose and fed it Cheez-its, and shot another one at 10 feet when it tried to kill me. (There used to be shirts everywhere for tourists that said, "go kiss a moose" I wanted to be able to say I had done it.)

Disclaimer: Don't get close to moose, it is not safe. Don't feed moose, it is not safe, and the wrong kind of food can kill them. A moose can starve to death with a full belly if you feed them a new kind of food, like hay or grain. Don't try to kiss a moose, it isn't safe either.

[Griff]

So! It's "do as I say... not as I do!"

[7.62 Precision]

Absolutely! You do a lot of dumb things when you are 13 and think you know everything. Then when you are 16 you realize that you didn't know everything when you were 13, but you really know everything now . . .

[jkbrea]

Last fall while elk hunting in Wyoming, I hiked for about 9 hours one day and was exhausted. I sat next to a tree and was glassing a hillside where I've had previous luck. There was a game trail about 3' to my right. After a few minutes I was almost dozing off when I heard something moving quickly behind me. As I turned to my right, all I could see was black. This bull moose trotted right on by me so close I could have touched it. It continues for about 10 yards and stopped. He turned and just stared at me. He then walked away stopping every once in a while to look back. I wish I could have got my phone out quicker to take a better pic. Needles to say I wasn't sleepy anymore.
Every year I've walked up on or had moose walk up on me, sometimes within a few yards. I always give them the right of way and found if I walk away or just sit still, they go away. The cows with calves are a little more wary but I've just done an about face and walked away. Now, if I could only find the elk!

[MrMurphy]

I don't know moose. Never been to Alaska.

But the guy might not have been able to leave the trail (looked to be deep snow) or turn around, given the limited camera perspective. He also according to the youtube description, had some sort of heart condition.


He should have had a round chambered already and the gun out sooner. Me? I'd have shot it the first time it tried to run down the snowmobile most likely.

I am not taking chances with an animal the size of a small armored vehicle that's obviously upset off.

[Blaine]

I was a little ired that he didn't give the dang thing a finisher. I'm flabbergasted that he put this on YouTube....How stooopid can ya get? Personally, I would have shut the machine down, and quietly waited (with my Glock ready to go in my lap).

[vancelw]

I was a little ired that he didn't give the dang thing a finisher. I'm flabbergasted that he put this on YouTube....How stooopid can ya get? Personally, I would have shut the machine down, and quietly waited (with my Glock ready to go in my lap).

Amen

[gamekeeper]

I was a little ired that he didn't give the dang thing a finisher. I'm flabbergasted that he put this on YouTube....How stooopid can ya get? Personally, I would have shut the machine down, and quietly waited (with my Glock ready to go in my lap).

Amen

+ 1.

[7.62 Precision]

At several different point he made very wrong decisions and could easily have been killed for them.

He may have had to shoot the moose in the end no matter what. But if I have to shoot a moose in defense of life or property, then I want to at least be able to say I did all I could to ignore it. Around here, a video like that could very well destroy the defense of life or property defense.

Regardless of the mistakes he made, a moose is still a moose and a human is still a human, so no matter what happened to bring him to that point, he should have been ready to shoot the first time the moose came toward him. If you notice how still he was being at times when most people would not, it leads me to believe he was concentrating more on getting good video than the possible danger.

Anymore, if I am around an animal that may be dangerous, my gun comes out, even as I do all I can to avoid shooting it. Animals are faster than us. That's why God gave us brains and the ability to develop tools. We should really use both.

[Rifleman]

Maybe he shouldn't have been making moose calf calls?

Moose calf, calling out for mom

[vancelw]

All I have to go on is what I saw in the video. Don't know what happened before or after.

IMHO, he provoked the situation. After the first bluff all he had to do was sit and wait, instead of moving closer every time.
I think the camera was up and running because he knew what he was about to do.

I don't trust people who spend all their time "documenting" their feats instead of just living life. When you run out of things to document, you have to create something.

[FWiedner]

Sorry, I just didn't see a good reason to kill that animal.

Looked more like a thrill killing than self-defense.

"I was snow-mobiling and some dumb moose was blocking my way, so I killed it."

What a terrific thing to teach a kid.

[rjohns94]

Senseless shooting. Saddens me

[AJMD429]

They are big, fast, aggressive, have crazy mood swings, and hold grudges. They are completely unpredictable.

Just whose ex-wife are you describing, anyway...???

[Blaine]

They are big, fast, aggressive, have crazy mood swings, and hold grudges. They are completely unpredictable.

Just whose ex-wife are you describing, anyway...???

[7.62 Precision]

They are big, fast, aggressive, have crazy mood swings, and hold grudges. They are completely unpredictable.

Just whose ex-wife are you describing, anyway...???

Well, this certainly does not describe my first wife . . .

. . . which is probably why I just kept her.

Besides, she can ID every firearm in any movie we watch, and uh . . . occasionally . . . ummm . . . outshoots me.

[hfcable]

7.62 said " There used to be shirts everywhere for tourists that said, "go kiss a moose" I wanted to be able to say I had done it. "

I remember those shirts, and the even more inane Merry Kissmoose Christmas cards........getting that familiar with a moose is DANGEROUS ! but this is even worse:

a dear friend of mine, a physician who lives on Campbell lake, who is a very animated fellow who gestures with his hands when he is talkiing, was heading down the path to his house from the driveway one night talking to a friend and gesturing toward his house as he walked. he was looking back over his shoulder at this friend, pointing ahead, as he rounded the corner of the garage. There was a very large bull moose just around that corner , facing the way my friend was pointing ........and ,...... well.... welll... his finger went ALL THE WAY into that bull's rectum !!! turns out [ who knew ? ] that male moose don't like that part of the annual physical exam any more than we guys do. The moose jumped and swapped ends instantly as he described it. he was chased down the street and through neighbors yards --- holding his contaminated finger up in the air. I nearly choked when he told me this, but he still was too shaken to laugh that much !

wouldn't that have been a great video !!

[2571]

Sorry, I just didn't see a good reason to kill that animal.

Looked more like a thrill killing than self-defense.

"I was snow-mobiling and some dumb moose was blocking my way, so I killed it."

What a terrific thing to teach a kid.

Saw identical comment on another for um about this same youtube

You're both right,

[Blaine]

"I was snow-mobiling and some dumb moose kept charging me, and attacked twice , so I killed it."

I fixed it for you. Moose injure more peeps than bears. I'm positing that no one would be objecting if they shot an attacking bear after all that.....

[FWiedner]

I said exactly what I meant to say.

The moose charged, and "attacked twice", but the moose wan't the aggressor.

I don't have any appreciation for this persons conduct, nor do I find this staged defensive use of their firearm to be even slightly justifiable.

[7.62 Precision]

A moose is not a person. If a moose puts a person in danger for his or her life, then that moose needs to die. Once that moose attacked, it had to be killed. It should have been killed the first time it approached aggressively, for the safety of the rider.

The point here is that it is the actions of the guy who shot the moose that caused the situation in the first place. If it had been a person instead of a moose, and the shooter antagonized and goaded that person into a violent confrontation, and then killed in "self-defense" it would be very difficult to use a self-defense claim.

No different here.

And from his actions and the way he was holding his body, he was antagonizing the moose in order to get a cool video. I doubt he initially intended to shoot it, but he caused a very dangerous situation. One of the two was likely to die in the end.

A guy with a camera and a moose or a bear often becomes a very dangerous situation.

[FWiedner]

A moose is not a person, but the guy on the snowmobile is an a**.

[vancelw]

A moose is not a person, but the guy on the snowmobile is an a**.

+1

[Blaine]

A moose is not a person. If a moose puts a person in danger for his or her life, then that moose needs to die. Once that moose attacked, it had to be killed. It should have been killed the first time it approached aggressively, for the safety of the rider.

The point here is that it is the actions of the guy who shot the moose that caused the situation in the first place. If it had been a person instead of a moose, and the shooter antagonized and goaded that person into a violent confrontation, and then killed in "self-defense" it would be very difficult to use a self-defense claim.

No different here.

And from his actions and the way he was holding his body, he was antagonizing the moose in order to get a cool video. I doubt he initially intended to shoot it, but he caused a very dangerous situation. One of the two was likely to die in the end.

A guy with a camera and a moose or a bear often becomes a very dangerous situation.

If you extend that logic, then, the pretty girl in a short skirt is "asking for it" when she is molested

[7.62 Precision]

If you extend that logic, then, the pretty girl in a short skirt is "asking for it" when she is molested

That is not what I said, and the two have nothing to do with each other.

In this case the guy had a clear possibility of a dangerous situation, which he willfully escalated, either through ignorance or in an attempt to get a cool video. Then he found himself forced to defend himself (long after I would have, by the way).

It is similar to the idea of willfully escalating a road rage incident and then claiming self-defense when you have to shoot someone - in the end it may have been self-defense, but it was your actions that brought the situation to that point. You may have had to shoot the guy who was swinging a tire iron at your head, but you are not completely innocent in that situation.

The pretty girl in the short skirt is like the guy who rode his snow machine in the woods where moose live.

The pretty girl in the short skirt that purposely went alone somewhere dangerous where she knew there were guys who had previously molested women, with no one to help her, and gets dead drunk and passes out; that is like what this guy did. I would just hope that in that theoretical scenario there would be someone to shoot her attacker. There is room in the world for more moose. There is no room for monsters.

[Blaine]

If you extend that logic, then, the pretty girl in a short skirt is "asking for it" when she is molested

That is not what I said, and the two have nothing to do with each other.

In this case the guy had a clear possibility of a dangerous situation, which he willfully escalated, either through ignorance or in an attempt to get a cool video. Then he found himself forced to defend himself (long after I would have, by the way).

It is similar to the idea of willfully escalating a road rage incident and then claiming self-defense when you have to shoot someone - in the end it may have been self-defense, but it was your actions that brought the situation to that point. You may have had to shoot the guy who was swinging a tire iron at your head, but you are not completely innocent in that situation.

The pretty girl in the short skirt is like the guy who rode his snow machine in the woods where moose live.

The pretty girl in the short skirt that purposely went alone somewhere dangerous where she knew there were guys who had previously molested women, with no one to help her, and gets dead drunk and passes out; that is like what this guy did. I would just hope that in that theoretical scenario there would be someone to shoot her attacker. There is room in the world for more moose. There is no room for monsters.

Nice try.....You're still blaming the Girl... IMO, the guy did exactly what "all the experts" say to do...Make noise so the animal knows you're there so you won't scare it. This time it didn't work. There is no amount of Disney-Like logic that can make the moose the good guy. BTW, I'm hearing crickets on my Bear/Moose comparison......Dead bear, dead moose

[7.62 Precision]

Nice try.....You're still blaming the Girl... IMO, the guy did exactly what "all the experts" say to do...Make noise so the animal knows you're there so you won't scare it. This time it didn't work. There is no amount of Disney-Like logic that can make the moose the good guy. BTW, I'm hearing crickets on my Bear/Moose comparison......Dead bear, dead moose

You are mixing up bear and moose. You make noise so you don't surprise the bear. That's why you wear bells on your shoelaces. And watch for bear prints and bear droppings. You can identify bear droppings by the little bells in it.

The moose knew they were there - the sleds make noise. No expert will recommend going right up to a moose and antagonizing it. He wasn't scaring it, he was antagonizing it.

If a guy is stupid and antagonizes a moose, which almost kills him, what is the difference between that and antagonizing a bear? One is as stupid as the other.

Good chance of dying either way, but a bear is much more likely to retreat than a moose.

[Old Ironsights]

When I lived on Diamond Blvd I used to ski doen the greenpath to work & UAA... and there would frequently bee moose on it.

Remember the old guy who got stomped on the UAA campus back in 94 or so? There was also the woman who got her CAR kicked to.death in her driveway that year. IIRC the tally for the year was Moose 2 F&G 4...

Don't mess with a moose.

[BUCKNIFE]

Didn't take the commies long at you tube to take this one down.

[Hawkeye2]

I spent the first half of my life in Maine (won't say I "grew up" there, that happened later) and left before there was a Moose season. I belive that back then you would get more jail time for shooting a moose than a man.

7.62, I am pretty much in agreement with you. I haven't seen the video and don't really want to as I'll likely get upset. I suspect he was looking for that 30 seconds of glory he would get from being on "America's Dumbest" or whatever show that features that trash.

As for the girl, she wouldn't be to blame but she should have the good judgment and also the responsibility to avoid questionable areas and to control her expression and body language when in a dangerous location or situation to avoid provocing an attack by no good.

I have been quite close to a moose on a couple of occasions, not from choice, and not had any problems but neither of us blatntly asserted our "right" to be there or to be doing whatever. We both went our way and had a great day.

[Griff]

I once had to drive up a long way north into Ontario, (Canada), on this little two lane road. In asking a local driver about the route and places to stop, eat, etc... he told me about this one particular area, passes thru a low, swampy area, inhabited by moose. He said, (and I'll paraphrase a little), "...make sure you're thru there in the daylight, as while the speed limit is 95Kph and you'll have a much better chance of seein' 'em in the road! If you do see one in the road... slow, and come to a stop as far as possible... wait the darn thing out... and whatever you do... DON'T use your AIRHORN! Unless you want to see how much damage a moose can do to a KW!"

I was lucky, I guess, as I did see a couple, but they were on the other side of the pond area from the road.

[Blaine]

Ok I'll humbly accept 40 lashes with a dead moose tail....

[7.62 Precision]

Just make sure you stipulate that you get to shoot the moose that the tail comes from, otherwise, someone else gets all the fun.

And the tail is OK, but stay away from those hooves!