Snow and ice covered the road making driving hazardous and compromising the braking ability of all vehicles…and animals.
Just past the Soldotna city limits, Charlie entered a curve and encountered a young bull moose standing spread legged in clumsy defiance in the middle of the road. It was past the peak of the rut, but the amorous young bull, in his hormone driven state, was looking for love, or maybe a fight.
Charlie said he laid on the horn, but the moose just stood there, frozen in the glare of the headlights and his lustful dreams.
Still traveling at 40 miles per hour, the front end of the El Camino struck the moose at about knee level and catapulted the beast up over the top of the cab and into the bed of the vehicle.
When, finally, Charlie was able to pull over and stop, the damage to the car appeared to be minimal and the moose was lying dead still in the back.
Charlie told me that he wanted to get a moose that fall but hadn’t figured on taking one this way. Anyway, he thought this is great! If Doreen is at her mother’s, he could just pull in, give them the moose and the El Camino as presents and all would no doubt be well. Surely he would be forgiven for whatever he’d done to set off Doreen’s latest tantrum.
It seemed perfect. He thanked his lucky stars.
Charlie drove on, whistling to himself. A few miles down the road he began to hear an occasional loud, metallic thump. He feared it was a mechanical malfunction. After several thumps he looked in the rearview mirror and saw that the moose had revived and was struggling to get up and out of the bed of the El Camino. The truck bed, slick with ice, kept the animal from rising, but it began to kick violently, making dents in Doreen’s newly rejuvenated town truck...
(It gets better!)
Jake Jacobson has been guiding in Alaska for more than 50 years, and he’s recorded his adventures and misadventures in five books – Alaska Tales, Alaska Flying, Alaska Bears, Kodiak Alaska Deer, and Alaska Hunting. Each book has over 200 pages including photos. All five are now available at Sportingclassicsstore.com.