Moose arent always as easy to knock down as you would expect. In all fairness Catterman got a case of 'buck" fever so his shots may not have been as well placed as he would have like but even if he had made the 'perfect' shot the moose may not have dropped after one shot. Case in point, the first moose my dad shot took 5 shots to drop him, and get this it was all under 100 yards. Dad stepped out into a clearing near a beaver pond and there stood mister moose. Now dad has hunted for well over 40 years now, hes no slouch with a gun, probably taken more game in his life then Ive seen in my 34 years. He shot once and expected to see the moose drop in his tracks, but it just stood there. Thinking he may have flinched.. he shot again.... and again and again.. 5 shots in all. At this point he was almost speechless.. the moose was just standing there.....( at one point he thought maybe the scope had been bumped and the sights were WAY off ) Next he popped out the empty clip.. rammed another one and wracked the bolt preparing for shot number 6 at under 100 yards.... well just as he was about to shoot... the moose fell over.. dead... when they quartered it up they found all 5 shots had hit the lung/heart area..where the heart and lung should have been there was nothing but blood and goo. Well to make a short story even longer... that moose was dead on its feet after the first shot.. but continued to stand upright for well over 2 minutes, without even wavering. So when Catterman says it took him 3 shots.... I just snicker and think about my dads little experience.

 

Thud,
I know your right with this, a friend of mine last year was getting his moose and decided to get a cow so the meat would be better than a bull in the rut so he shot that cow in the shoulder/spine area. Well believe it or not she didn't go down, shot her in the neck, head shot twice then at less that 40 yard another shot in the neck and she finally went down to learn that she had a calf with her. Don't have to tell you that he was dissapointed but that how tought they are/can be don't forget that Wildlife can almost completely shut their metabolism/Heart beat/breathing down when under stress or seriously hurt.

Tony

 

With large game shot placement is much more critical then small game. No offence to your friend but a head/neck shot is a very poor shot placement when hunting large game. Aim for the critical heart/lung area ONLY. Talked to a guy once that tried for a head shot on a giant bull moose. One shot the sucker dropped in his tracks. He got all excited and ran off to get his buddies to help quarter it up. Returned not more then 15 minutes later to find the moose gone, no sign of blood or anything. They looked for hours thinking that it may have gotten back up and wandered off. With snow on the ground they could find no signs of blood or even hair.. anywhere. Best they could figure that head shot had actaully hit the antler or even skull , and bounced off !... stunning the moose ... while he was gone the moose recovered , got back up and walked back into the bush, with a massive headache no doubt. There's a reason they call that area "heartbreak ridge' LOL

 

Moose is probably one of the most challenging animals to bring down without a doubt... Now I am not a hunter, but I watch a few hunt shows on TV from time to time. What I find interesting is that watching their shots, they appear to be very low in the chest... They seem to be able to down the animal, but I guess my ideas on anatomy would put the shot a little higher towards the middle of the chest...

Did any of you catch the article on CNN a couple months ago about the Feral pig shot in the south... Something over a 1000 pounds I think... They had to use a back hoe to lift it... ended up burying it out there. That was one BIG PIG. Almost thought it was a Rhino for a moment.

 

The Alaskian land is a beautiful sight too see....thanks for sharing catterman. How do you like your 300 Browning?

 

Thudd,
As per head shot, This should be a good shot as well but all depend what kind of gun you use. Don't go moose hunting with anything smaller than a 30-06 and it's not even that big... Myself I use 300 Rem Mag, Recently got a 300 Ultra mag and that's kill on both side (Kick like Hell) and on the market to get a 300 Short Mag. Shoot a moose in the vital, neck shot or head and It should stay in it's track...
Talking with Experience

 

When I got my moose in Alaska, it was about 200 yards I took one shot with my Browning .300 WM. I heard the bullet hit but it didn't move. I had a good rest so I was sure it was a good hit right behind the shoulder. The bull just looked at me for a few seconds and started walking away. I just watched it and it took half a dozen steps and fell over dead.
My second moose I shot with a bow. At 15 yards I think I shot 2 feet under it. Talk about Bull fever. My second shot was over 60 yards and I hit it in the chest. He took a couple steps and stopped so I shot again and hit it in the front leg. My wife helped me track it and she found it about 70 yards from where I shot it about 5 rows into a corn field.

 

Why does an experienced hunter even think about a neck shot?

 

In the old days, that is where people aimed so they wouldn't ruin any meat. When my dad taught me how to hunt he told me to always aim for the head or neck. As I gained more experience I learned that a shot to the vitals was more effective.

 

Gary660R,
Because If you don't want to look for your moose for hours you go for the spine/neck area and will paralyse it. I seen heart lung shot on moose that got us running forever. Haven't seen many neck shot that didn't work and as you could see, I said by experience... those were my own personal experience and that's the way I was teach by my father who learn from my grand father and ....

Thanks and I could say that I'm only 27yo but shot more moose and guide people than many peoples in this forum.