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Old 08-17-2018, 04:14 PM   #1
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He hit me first!

We were camping along the Cache La Poudre River last week with our camping buddies. Our neighbor, who was a local weekend warrior who hunted the region for elk, told us where we could go to see some moose. We went where he told us in two cars as they wanted to stay out longer than we did.


We were not disappointed. They saw 20 and we saw a dozen, perhaps more. They were all very healthy and were magnificent. We saw 3 of the largest bulls we had ever seen. We saw a cow with twins. We had to drive between two yearlings along the gravel road. We got held up in a narrow canyon by a huge bull who was in no hurry to leave the road. Finally, a tool driving an FJ Cruiser came from the opposite direction and began to slowly pressure the bull by driving him toward us. The bull started circling around confused at where to go or what to do. Thankfully, he left the road and climbed about 60 feet up a heavily wooded 50 degree slope to escape. It amazed me that an animal that size and that heavy could make such a steep climb.


By the time he left the road it was getting dark so we had to drive back to our campground in the dark. When we hit the CO14 highway it was quite dark. The road was good asphalt but the vegetation came right up to the right-of-way in numerous spots.


We were about 10 miles or more away from where we had seen our last moose, cruising along at the 45mph speed limit. All of a sudden I saw a flash of black and brown near the right mirror, heard and felt a big thump and heard my DW let out a surprised exclamation.


There was no time to even take the foot of the gas or identify what we collided with. I looked in the rearview mirror and saw a large moose calf standing kinda wobbly in our lane and slowly shaking his head side-to-side. I thought I must have hit a deer but the color, size, knobby knees and shape of the head didn't match a deer. My wife got a better look and convinced me it was a moose(our 13th that day.)


I could also see headlights approaching from behind but the vegetation was so close there was no place to even pull off the road. I had to drive about a half mile before I could pull over. After making sure my DW was I checked out the Kia. I was sure it must have busted the mirror but there wasn't a scratch, dent or tuft of hair on it.


We turned around and drove over that road in both directions several times but couldn't find the moose. There was no cell service in the canyon. I wanted to report it in case the moose suffered an injury to its head, jaw or teeth that would affect its ability to function or eat.


I have driven many, many miles over 58 years, much of it in the deer-infested Texas hill country, and never hit a deer. Now it appears I have been hit by a moose. Go figure.
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Old 08-19-2018, 10:08 AM   #2
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I have been in that area many times (family in Ft. Collins) and the moose are HUGE!! You're lucky you didn't hit an adult!
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Old 08-19-2018, 10:56 AM   #3
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Yes moose are very difficult to see at night because of their dark color. Consider yourself fortunate. Had you hit one broadside there's a much greater chance of being seriously injured or killed because with their long legs and size they easily can come right through your windshield.
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Old 08-19-2018, 06:06 PM   #4
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It's interesting that just a few minutes ago a Denver TV station newscast just reported wildlife officials are taking notice of the rapid expansion of the moose population. They are finding many have moved into the northern and eastern parts of Rocky Mountain NP and are putting GPS collars on a dozen or so to study the effect on the habitat.

Elk have traditionally been the biggest threat to motorists in Colorado. Not too many years ago a family of three was killed when they collided with a bull elk on I-70 a number of miles EAST of Denver. The day we saw all the moose we were listening to a Greeley FM station which was reporting a moose was wandering around in the city.

I used to drive from my home in Boulder several times a year to visit my mother on her farm near Big Spring, TX. One night coming back another driver in a Camaro and I were driving at about the same speed. We met up near Amarillo and traded turns being the leader at about 10mph above the speed limit through the Texas panhandle, across northeast New Mexico and picked up I-25 north in Raton.

I was leading a little past Pueblo when I hopped off the interstate to get some gas. I got back on the freeway pretty quickly. A few miles north I saw the faint glow of red emergency lights flashing on the other side of the crest of the hill. I slowed way down as I crested the hill. As I crested the hill I was greeted by a scene right out of a modern day "Dante's Inferno." On the right shoulder was a Colorado State Patrol cruiser. The single trooper was still in the car talking on the radio.

The entire scene on both sides of the highway was covered with a dull red substance that looked like paint but the carcass of a large horse off the right made it clear that it was blood.

Off the left side of the road on its wheels but facing sideways was the Camaro. The body was in good shape but the horse had completely sheared off the windshield and roof. There was no sign of the driver. I assumed he did not survive the collision.

I briefly thought about stopping but I didn't think there was anything I could do to help but a lot I could do like get in the way. A very dark night on the backside of the crest of a hill on a freeway with high speed traffic driving through slippery blood convinced me the best thing I could do was keep driving.

I really don't believe in luck. People of faith will have their own opinions. All I know is I didn't want to press on with my gas getting low and I fortunately got fuel at a very fortuitous time for me but not for the driver of the Camaro.
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