A man visiting Louisville, Colorado, was charged, knocked down, and stomped by a mother moose while hiking in the mountains above Boulder, leaving a bruise in the shape of a hoof print after his group encountered her calf along a narrow switchback trail.
The man and his wife had traveled to Colorado to visit their son, who lives in Louisville, a town just outside Boulder, and the group set out on a hike in preparation for a longer 10-mile hike, according to the Denver Gazette. They reached the summit without incident, but trouble began about a half-mile into their descent, when the group came across a baby moose near a waterfall loud enough to mask other sounds on the trail.
The baby moose bolted the moment its mother appeared, and the mother moose then charged one of the men in the group, per the Denver Gazette's account. He fell during the encounter, and the moose stepped on his back, leaving the hoof-shaped bruise. He also threw his trekking pole at the charging animal as it closed in.
How the Group Fought Off the Charge
Another member of the group began throwing rocks at the moose, and the animal ran off, according to the same report. The area where the charge happened included a switchback with a narrow side drop, adding to the danger as the group scrambled to react along the trail.
A woman in the group, who works as a physician assistant in a trauma unit, witnessed the entire encounter and used a first-aid kit to tend to the injured hiker's cuts and bruises, the outlet reported. The group then finished the remaining two miles of their hike before heading to the emergency room. The Denver Gazette based its account of the man's survival on reporting from the South County Star.
Running and placing a large obstacle between themselves and the animal lines up with official state guidance for moose encounters. Colorado Parks and Wildlife instructs people charged by an aggressive moose to run and put a large obstacle, such as a tree, boulder, or vehicle, between themselves and the animal rather than standing their ground.
Why Cow Moose Get Defensive in September
Cow moose remain protective of calves born in late May through June, while bulls begin experiencing testosterone spikes as the fall rut approaches in late September, according to RJourney.
Adult Shiras moose in Colorado can stand up to 6 feet tall at the shoulder, weigh up to 1,000 pounds as adult males and up to 750 pounds as females, and reach sprint speeds of up to 35 miles per hour. Despite being the smallest of the four North American moose subspecies, their mass and speed make close-range encounters on mountain trails life-threatening.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife reports that more than 80% of moose attacks in the state resulting in human injuries are triggered by a dog's presence, since moose perceive dogs as predators akin to wolves. The encounter described here began when hikers encountered a calf and then its mother.
A Growing Population Along the Front Range
Moose were not always part of Colorado's mountain landscape. State wildlife officials reintroduced the species in 1978 and 1979, releasing 24 animals in North Park, and the statewide population has since grown to more than 3,000. In nearby Rocky Mountain National Park, moose density increased 49% between 2020 and 2025, according to the National Park Service.
Wildlife officials with Colorado Parks and Wildlife's Loveland office have reported that annual moose-related calls from Boulder and Larimer counties rose from zero in prior years to 10 to 15 calls annually, with two to three involving direct threats to human safety, per Fox 61.
Boulder County has seen severe moose incidents before. In a Hoodline report from November, a woman walking her off-leash dog near Jamestown was hospitalized with head and back injuries after a young bull moose knocked her down and stomped her multiple times.
Feeding big game like moose is discouraged, and aggressive moose should be reported; repeat offenders may sometimes be relocated. It remains unclear whether wildlife officials responded to locate the specific cow and calf involved in this latest encounter near Boulder, or whether any warning signage has since gone up along the trail.
