A Canadian hunter was airlifted to the hospital after a moose he shot twice fought back and kicked him in the head.
Rodney Buffett, 38, is an experienced hunter, but was medevaced out of the woods on Newfoundland’s south coast after just a few hours on Saturday morning.
The mauling began after Buffett spotted a 14-point male moose. He shot the animal twice and said both bullets hit him.
The moose went down and put all four legs in the air. Buffett approached the animal, which he assumed had died.
Rodney Buffett, 38, got more than he bargained for when a moose he shot fought back and kicked him in the forehead
‘I thought he was dead. I laid my gun down and turned back to my fiancée and told her to bring down my knives,’ Buffett told CBC News. ‘When I turned around again he was up.’
The moose then charged at Buffett and hit him with his antlers. Buffett said that the moose then threw him in the air.
The animal then began stomping on him while Buffett desperately tried to grab hold of his antlers.
Buffett (left) is an experienced hunter and assumed the moose had died after he shot it twice
‘I held onto his antlers and tried to steer him away,’ he said. ‘But it seemed like forever.’
The entangle lasted about five minutes. Buffett’s fiancée could only watch from a distance using binoculars.
Buffett managed to kick the moose in the face a few times. After that, the animal simply trotted away.
Buffett (left) was with his fiancee who could only watch the ordeal from a distance using binoculars
Paramedics hiked almost two miles through the woods to find Buffett. A medevac helicopter took him to a hospital in St. John’s.
He got stitches and staples to his head, hands and chest.
Buffett was kept in the hospital for testing over the weekend, but said he didn’t have a concussion or any other internal injuries. He also has a hoof-shaped bruise on his forehead.
‘They tell me I’m hard-headed,’ he joked.
Buffett got stitches and staples to his head, hands and chest but was otherwise uninjured
The moose charged Buffett, threw him in the air, and stomped on him before running away. He thinks the moose probably died (file photo)
Buffett isn’t letting the experience phase him. He plans to go hunting again this coming weekend, despite his terrifying ordeal.
He thinks the moose probably died after he ran off.
‘He was too old to be doing that. He definitely bled out,’ said Buffett to Metro News. ‘The adrenaline going through him too, I guess.’
‘I really was disappointed I never got him,’ said Buffett. ‘There’s a lot of meat going to waste there.’