Shiras bulls are relatively small, even a trophy animal like this one. They can hide like pheasants before and after the rut. Even when animals are tough to spot, Shiras moose tracks betray their presence.

A gagging cough exploded from nearby bushes, setting me on my heels and standing my hair on end. Before my heart could complete its flip, oak brush was popping and hooves were thundering across freshly crusted snow. Antlers flickered behind a heavily needled spruce. Then the forest was quiet.

Such was my introduction to Utah’s Shiras moose. Seven months before, I had jogged down my driveway and discovered a State of Utah letter atop my pile of mail. I ripped open the envelope. Sure enough, I had drawn the permit I’d applied for during more years than I cared to count. Now, on another morning that same year, I was discovering how tricky November moose can be.

All three varieties of North American moose make the same irritating alarm cough, but few hunters have heard it. Only non-rutting, thoroughly spooked moose seem inclined to warn the world -- a fact I became painfully aware of as my Utah hunt progressed.

Shiras moose, sometimes called Wyom-ing moose, are found only in the Lower 48 states -- Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Washington, and Colorado. They are the smallest of the three moose varieties, seldom weighing over 1,000 pounds and seldom growing antlers more than 45 inches wide.

In spite of their size, Shiras moose are still magnum animals requiring magnum shooting gear. On this hunt, I was using a 75-pound compound bow with arrows weighing more than 600 grains. The combo generated about 65 foot-pounds of penetrating energy -- a decent setup for an animal with slat-like ribs and a massive torso.

Broadheads for moose are most im-portant of all. A high-friction head will squander arrow energy on impact, so I favor cutting-nose designs. Excellent choices with traditional fixed blades include the Zwickey Black Diamond, Magnus Snuffer, Bear Razorhead, and Satellite Titan. New-generation mechanical heads with slide-back blades like the popular Rage two-blade also penetrate well and cut a large hole. For moose, I dislike mechanical heads that butterfly open from the front, or fixed-blade heads with large nose cones or other penetration-impeding components. Such designs might be okay for deer, but they lack the deep-slicing nature required to penetrate half a ton of hide, muscle, and bone.

At 1,000 pounds, the Shiras moose might be America’s littlest moose. But I had always wanted a trophy of this variety. I previously had taken a smallish “paddlehead” on a bowhunt in Wyoming, but the thought of finding a mature bull thrilled me.

A bull moose of any variety is one of my favorite animals -- large, tasty, and surprisingly wary. Oh, spectacular antlers add to the appeal. During the late-September and October rut, moose can act like dummies. But they tend to be more skittish at other times of year. They can hide well in spite of their magnum bodies, disappearing in willow patches and timber stands like dark-gray puffs of smoke. All you find at times are their eight-inch tracks in snow or mud.

To the uninitiate, Utah might seem like the last place to look for a quality bull moose. But this state bulges upward near its northeast corner, rising from arid flats, broken buttes, and the Great Salt Lake toward high, rough, and heavily timbered Wasatch and Uintah Mountains. These ranges teem with elk, mule deer, black bears, mountain lions -- and Shiras moose.

Late-fall moose habitat might surprise first-time moose hunters. Many people view moose as bog-trotting animals that spend their time up to their chins in lily pads and willow brush. But fall moose are most often found in high mountains among rocky ridges, sagebrush slopes, and timber-choked canyons. The moose sometimes live higher than the elk.