Western Moose Hunt

Like a carrot in front of a mule, marquee trophy tags are dangled before hunters to motivate them to open their wallets for conservation. Broadly speaking, hunters have two ways to snatch the carrot: digging deep into their pockets and purchasing a hunt at auctions or playing the odds—the very long odds—via various lotteries and drawings. But obtaining that tag is only the beginning of a fraught process. When Shooting Editor John B. Snow was lucky enough to draw a highly coveted Utah moose tag, he learned firsthand the complicated reality that comes with Western trophy hunting.