Moose On the Loose

Name: eRegulations
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Stories from the Hunters of Nevada's first-ever Historic Moose Hunt

Two photos of a successful moose hunt showing a hunter posing beside a large bull moose with broad antlers in a grassy, wooded area. In the second image, two hunters celebrate with a high five beside the harvested animal. — Hunters celebrate a successful moose harvest in the field. The photos highlight ethical hunting practices and responsible wildlife management in North America.

By Luke Briant

I have always had a strong passion for hunting and conservation. I was so excited to turn 12 because I finally could apply to hunt Nevada big game animals. I begged my Dad to put me in for every species Nevada had to offer. Little did I know something crazy was going to happen.

On tag results day my Mom & Dad picked me up early and told me we are going to the NDOW office because they wanted to verify my hunting license. This seemed very strange as I knew I had a valid license. There was a lot of staff there & one of the biologists gave me a long paper like a receipt and asked me if all the information was correct. What I saw changed my life forever! “Resident Antlered Moose Tag.” I was shocked! I thought everybody was trying to prank me. I got one of the two moose tags in the state out of around 25,000 applicants.

My dad, mom, sister and I loaded the trailer with all the equipment we needed to hunt for 2–2.5 weeks. Our hunting party came two days later. I was so excited to hunt with close friends, family, and other young hunters. For four days we only saw deer and elk. On day 5 my mom and I sat on a pond for 9 hours waiting for a big moose bull to come in, but we only saw a cow moose and her two calves come in.

We decided to move to another range. After a long day of packing and unpacking camp, we had just enough time for the evening spot. Right away I spotted a very small bull moose, and a cow with two calves. Then another cow, and another bull moose. For the next two days there were many bulls but none big enough to harvest. On day nine, our friends spotted a small bull with another big bull and a cow. I decided to go for this bull, but he was 500 yards away. We quickly set up on a little rock cliff. Now at 350 yards, he walked closer and closer to a creek below us. He stopped at 259 yards. The bull was broadside, perfect. I told my dad “I’m taking him” and he said, “go for it” and then BOOM! The bull immediately drops in his tracks, and I’m shocked. I just harvested one of the first Nevada moose. We hiked down to begin to butcher this amazing animal. Luckily, one of our friends who came with us is an actual butcher. Six hours later of straight butchering and caping, it was time to pack out. Back at camp dinner was thinly sliced up moose heart and tenderloins, delicious.

When we got home our hunting party generously helped us process the meat. In the end we harvested well over 350 pounds of moose meat. All in all, it was an amazing experience. I feel so lucky to have been part of one of the first moose hunts in Nevada! I am so thankful for my family, our friends who came out to help me, NDOW and everyone who helped us leading up to the hunt. One of the great things about this experience is how willing and helpful everyone was in wanting me to experience a great hunt and harvest. I’m grateful and proud to be a hunter in Nevada.

Four hunters pose proudly beside a large harvested bull moose in a grassy field surrounded by trees and hills under a clear blue sky. — A group of hunters celebrate a successful moose hunt in Nevada’s backcountry. Ethical hunting practices like these support wildlife conservation and habitat management.

By Craig Santos

The 2024 Nevada Big Game Application process started out for me like it does for most Nevada hunters: The excitement of a new hunting season. Of Course, this year was different; this year I had the opportunity to apply for one of the first Nevada bull moose tags in the state's history. The day tags were going to be posted, I woke up feeling anticipation and excitement to see what tags, if any, I may have been lucky enough to draw. I checked several times online to no avail, but unbeknownst to me, Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) had been attempting to call me. More than an hour had passed since I had last checked tag results when my brother called telling me he thought I pulled one of the moose tags. After going back and forth, and telling him, “You better not be messing with me!”, I checked my phone; sure enough, there was a message from NDOW, attempting to reach out before the news became public. As I returned the call, several NDOW employees in the room congratulated me on being the lucky recipient of one of the two once-in-a-lifetime tags. It was like hitting the “Hunting Lottery”.

After several days of excitement and hundreds of calls and texts from well-wishers, reality set in. I began to worry, wondering "How am I going to get this done?" While I'm a lifelong multi-generational Nevada hunter, I was unfamiliar with the northeastern part of the state where most of the moose had migrated and settled. I also had the added pressure of making sure this was a successful hunt, not only for myself, but also for NDOW, given this was such a high-proﬁle hunt. My life-long friend and avid outdoorsman, Rob Boehmer, and I discussed the idea of either venturing on a do-it-yourself hunt as our family was so accustomed to, or enlisting the assistance and knowledge of a Nevada-Based Outﬁtter. After much deliberation, we concluded, and Rob recommended I talk to Austin Hughes with Double H Outﬁtters, based out of Winnemucca, Nevada. Within minutes of speaking with Austin over the phone, I knew he was the right person for the job. He possessed a vast and current knowledge of the area, and I learned of an unexpected connection between our fathers. He immediately put my mind at ease.

In July, we took an early scouting trip, across NV Hunt Areas 6 and 7, covering more than 400 miles of Nevada’s most cherished riparian and lush vegetative territory, I had no doubt Austin was going to put me on a bull moose of a lifetime.

I had planned to spend the first week in September hunting, but I kept my expectations low, since the temperatures were in the mid-high 70's. I thought of it more as a scouting trip than a harvesting trip. I arrived with seven of my closest family members and friends.

Opening day started around 4:00 AM with lots of coffee and a prayer offered by my lifelong buddy, Rob. We went back to an area in the northeast corner of the state where we had found a dropped, matching set, of moose paddles back in July. This area was also known to be a wintering ground for a large bull moose seen there over the past two-years. After spending several hours behind glass and working through aspen stands, we were unsuccessful in finding a moose. We spent the rest of the day driving and glassing different locations throughout the region, still with no success.

Day two started the same as day one: early morning, lots of miles, no moose. We got a little down time during the afternoon and decided to have lunch in Jarbidge. After lunch, our group decided to split up and scout different areas. Late that afternoon, we received a text from one of the guys in the other group; they had spotted multiple moose. That night at camp, excited by the reports, we decided to go back to that area the next morning. Within minutes of first light, we located a bull moose I wanted to harvest. My son Matt and two of my guides, Austin and Tanner, loaded up and started on the trek. With family and friends observing and documenting the experience from a ridgetop more than a mile away, we made it to the location where we had seen the bull moose. We set up within 320 yards of the moose and sat on him for at least 20 minutes before he presented a perfect standing broadside shot. I fired one shot and the rest was history; the ﬁrst legal Nevada bull moose was on the ground.

I was blessed to have my closest friends and family members with me to experience this once-in-a-lifetime hunt. A huge thank you to Austin and the boys with Double H Outﬁtters and to NDOW. To call this trip "successful" wouldn't scratch the surface; my guides, family and friends, and all the folks at NDOW made this lifelong Nevada hunter's dream come true.