N.L. moose hunter left with hoof-shaped bruise

GRAND BANK, N.L. • Predator turned into prey during a brawl between man and moose in Newfoundland after a gunned-down bull bounced back with a vengeance, sending its hunter to hospital in St. John's in a helicopter with a hoof-shaped bruise on his forehead.

It all began when Rodney Buffett, 38, an avid hunter, spotted a massive bull moose about 200 yards in the distance, he said. Buffett sized up his target and fired two shots. The moose dropped in its tracks, he said, so he ran over to inspect the animal.

His fiancée was standing on a hill with his buddies, Buffett said, looking at the scene through a pair of binoculars. He called for them to bring him a knife — then the moose flicked its legs.

“I just thought it was the nerves going out of his body,” said Buffett. “When I turned around again, he was on his four legs running with his head down and his antlers coming after me.”

Buffett said the moose plowed into him, piercing his skin and thrashing around its 14-point antlers.

The bull tossed its head and chucked him into the air, he said. When Buffett hit the ground, he said the moose trampled him several times. The moose-man tango seemed to go on “forever,” he said, but likely lasted about five minutes.

Buffet said he grabbed the animal by the antlers and kicked him in the head and after a struggle, the moose ran off and presumably died.

Buffett's friends ran to the road to flag down paramedics, who called for a helicopter.

Buffett said his wounds were stitched and his punctured ribs were stapled, but he managed to escape serious injury.

RODNEY BUFFETT VIA CP Rodney Buffett says a fiveminute brawl with a moose left him with a hoof print on his forehead.