How a Muzzleloader Deer Hunt Landed a Hunter Between Two Raging Bull Elk
Daniel Xu 10.10.13
Jeremiah Moseley may have ended Utah’s muzzleloader buck season opener without a deer, but he did catch two bull elk on video. A few days ago we shared the video of these two bull elk fighting and it was an instant hit. With 14,000 Facebook “Likes” on the post alone, we thought it may be worthwhile to track down Mr. Moseley and see if we can get the story behind the footage.
Jeremiah’s video was taken on the first day of Utah’s muzzleloader deer season, September 25. Jeremiah and his friends were hunting near Utah’s Strawberry Reservoir, one of the state’s most popular fisheries. It was a slow opener for the hunters. Jeremiah says that while there seemed to be a large number of elk in the woods, deer seemed to be unfortunately absent. The group returned to camp and Jeremiah decide to unwind with a short hike around the area.
At about 300 yards from camp, he spotted the first bull elk.
“He was probably 60 yards from me, standing broadside,” Jeremiah recalled. “He was just standing there scraping his horns on a tree and it didn’t seem like he cared that I was there. I started sneaking up on him a little bit and I took a few pictures. I thought it was cool seeing a big bull elk in deer season.”
With Jeremiah hunkered down in camo, the large elk probably wouldn’t have thrown a fuss even if he saw the hunter. However, Jeremiah’s photo session was about to get a little bit more violent with the entrance of another, larger bull.
“That’s when I heard a bugle on the other side of me,” he said. “I look over and there was another bull which was considerably bigger. He was coming down a trail towards the first bull, which turned and started walking towards me. I said to myself, ‘this is something pretty interesting right here.'”
Jeremiah stayed to film, thinking that perhaps the two bulls were well acquainted with one another.
“I thought they were just going to hang out,” the hunter said. “I’ve seen bulls just hang out when they’re in a bachelor group before. I started filming and they walked up real close to each other and started going at it.”
It was a wrestling match that nearly drew in the only spectator. For the most part Jeremiah wasn’t worried. He managed to skirt around the edges of the fight except for when a charge by one of the elk nearly threw his opponent into the hunter-turned-cameraman.
“I was a little cautious but I thought as long as they stayed in distance I’d be okay.”
Jeremiah chuckled and admitted that elk can be very fast. A near brush with an elk’s backside wasn’t enough to send the hunter running for cover, instead Jeremiah said he could use the terrain to his advantage if he had to.
“They backed up into me but because it was such a rolling area I just had to really step to the side. I didn’t want to stop filming,” he told OutdoorHub. “I think 10 people could’ve stood there and they wouldn’t have cared. I was so close to them I could see their eyes.”
While Jeremiah may not have bagged any deer that day, he certainly did have a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
You can watch Jeremiah’s video below. Includes strong language.
http://youtu.be/e4GRTchgpLs
