A mountain biker in Bozeman, Montana defended himself against a charging moose attack using his helmet.
Brian Steddum told the local NBC affiliate that he came across the moose during a mountain bike ride on a fast stretch of trail. When he turned the corner and came face to face with the moose, he said he realized there was really no place to go.
“I slammed on my brakes trying to figure out where can I go.”
The mother was about 50 feet away when it nudged her calf to go into the woods so she could take care of some business. Steddum was starting to get the picture.
“I yelled at her and said, ‘No, don’t you do it,’ but I figured, if I’m going to get hurt, I’m going to get hurt fighting,” Steddum said.
As the moose got closer, Steddum describes a bob and weave by the moose, and as she brought her head back around he popped her in the nose with his helmet. It was no match for the 1,500 pound moose, which broke Steddum’s forearm and stepped on his hip.
Steddum, who spent six years in the Army, said he plans to return to the same trail once his arm heals in about eight weeks.
“I feel like I’m very lucky,” he said.
