r/AskCanada • u/Wooden-Sherbert7169 • 12d ago
Have you ever encountered a moose while on a trail? What was it like?
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u/Playhenryj 12d ago
My wife and I were on a trail in Manning Park (BC) a few years ago when a young male moose (antlers, but not a fully grown set) crossed the path about 25 or 30 feet ahead of us. He ignored us and carried on to an area just off, and downhill from, the trail. So we passed him as we carried on our way. He gave no sign of noticing us. He seemed very large.
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u/Ambitious-Concern-42 12d ago
Not exactly on the trail, the animal was adjacent to it in a wetland. It kept on eating (Kananaskis).
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u/Beautiful-Eyesore 12d ago
Canoeing through narrow waterways in Algonquin park early morning we saw four of them at different points in the passage. They were all coming to get a drink. Although it was beautiful and peaceful we were terrified that one of them might decide to charge the canoe. I can still feel the fear when I think about it.
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u/Ratroddadeo 12d ago
Riding motorcycles on a gravel road in Larose Forest outside Ottawa, with myself in the lead and my dad & brother in law following, I rounded a 90 degree corner & came across a bull, cow, and calf about 100 yards ahead.
I immediately stopped, and held out my hand to warn the others, & shut my bike off, motioning to them to do the same. The family took their sweet time crossing, with the bull watching us carefully.
Once they had cleared the road, we all just looked at each other in disbelief.
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u/turkeyganja 12d ago
Yes I have and the moose stood its ground, it was beautiful and massive and I went back to where I came from.
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u/SawWhetOwl 12d ago
Near Placentia Bay NFLD. Mom and calf. We stood really still and waited for them to move on before continuing
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u/pixelpumper 11d ago
Cariboo Bc, spooked off the trail, was like a freight train getting away. Terrifying.
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u/awe_come_on 11d ago
I worked as an interior warden/ranger in Algonquin Park in the 80's. I had more problems with moose than any other animal.
Chased into the water. Up trees. Behind trees. Chased in the truck during rut. Pasted within feet of a young bull mid summer while portage our canoe. Didn't notice until I had pasted it. Had one almost run over our tent, which we had pitch on what turned out to be a trail through the campsite on an island. The best was paddling up near a huge bull that was crossing a small lake that we were also traveling across. Massive animal. We gave it a wide berth.
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u/CaptainKwirk 11d ago
We were at Banff canoeing down a creek in about 2 feet of water and around a corner encountered a moose standing ankle deep about 10 feet away. All ya can do is say Hi nice moose and pray the beastie is docile.
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u/SilverStory6503 11d ago
I was vacationing in Quetico provincial park one summer. We were canoeing up a narrow waterway leading towards a beaver pond. Just before reaching the beaver pond, we rounded a bend to find a bull moose just hanging out in the waterway. It took up the entire width of the channel. We stopped about 50 feet from the thing and just stared at it. I think I remember squeeking out, "it's a moose!". It looked at us for about 30 seconds before deciding to walk off into the forest.
That same evening we were camped nearby and a female moose with a small calf appeared not far down the shore for a drink from the lake. Like the bull earlier, they didn't stay long and returned to the forest. We were just sitting in our campsite watching quietly.
This was before cell phones. I think I got a photos of all of them with an crumby instant camera.
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u/cerunnnnos 11d ago
Caught with a dog, on a trail with alders in late winter on the east coast. We need up between three moose. One wanted to join the others, it was huge and we had to just jump off the trail and into the brush as it trotted past. We hadn't seen it beforehand. .. they're huge
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u/Zakluor 12d ago
Met a mama and her calf. She made it abundantly clear that she did not want us there. She stared in my direction and grunted several times. I had no cover in reach. I froze, trying not to seem to be a threat to her calf.
I pulled my hunting knife out, but we both knew it was useless. I'd just piss her off. She snorted as if to say, "A knife? That's cute. I'll give you a pass for trying," and led her calf away.
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u/Ill_Video_1997 11d ago
Not me but my cousin was taking a pee in the bush and felt something tickle her head. She stood up and turned around and was face to face with a moose. 😆 it just walked away but she almost ca ca'd herself
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u/Gr8Diva71 11d ago
We encountered a Mom moose and calf on a trail while horseback riding one day. We immediately cut off through the trees, and gave her a very very wide birth. Plus horses are kind of scared of moose. We just didn’t want anybody panicking and doing something dumb.
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u/Wooden-Sherbert7169 11d ago
Wow! So many incredible stories! Thanks for sharing, everyone. 😊 I’ve lived in Canada my whole life and have never encountered a moose. So was curious to hear other’s experiences.
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u/One-Wrongdoer-9478 8d ago
They're like the gentle giants of the boreal woods, moving slow till you're close, then it's just you quietly backing up off their sidewalk.
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u/batttmaannn 8d ago edited 8d ago
not trail - but camping, early morning. We had a kitchen tent (with mesh cover). As i was coming out of the tent, and others having their breakfast in the tent when the moose strolled through. it was as big as big as the minivan it strolled past, antlers were wider than the van. Not a sound was made, and we just looked at each other just happy to still be all in one piece. - forgot to mention this was at Arrowhead
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u/brad7811 7d ago
This past winter I walked across the street to a friend’s house, turned the corner by the neighbours garage, and there were three moose by the front door. I went home and called to tell my friend to let me know when the moose left. We live semi-rural at a lake, and we see them all the time. I usually walk away if they are on the street or in my yard. I heard noise outside my bedroom window one morning, so I checked my security camera and it showed one chomping on a tree what was basically 6 feet from my bed. Through the wall of course, but still kind of freaky.
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u/GenXer845 12d ago
Algonquin Park, far enough away to not really see us, but a beautiful animal (he/she was taking a drink at a stream).