UPDATE: Wildlife officials say witness wrong about bull moose kill at Brainard Lake

A moose was shot and killed by an apparent bow hunter this week near Brainard Lake, once again bringing up the issue of wildlife watchers and hunters crossing paths in popular areas.

Carla Johnson of Boulder was walking near the lake at 3:45 p.m Wednesday with a friend from out of town when she said she came across a group of people looking at a moose in a clearing about 30 or 40 yards away. She said eventually a group of almost 20 people had gathered to watch the moose graze.

“Everyone was ‘oohing’ and ‘ahhing’ and it was beautiful,” Johnson said.”They were just beside themselves with excitement. Everyone was really enjoying it.”

But Johnson said the mood quickly turned when the moose was shot by a hunter who emerged from the bushes just a few yards from the moose. Johnson said she did not hear a shot, so assumed it was a bow kill.

“All of a sudden, the moose turned and was looking at us, and then all of a sudden it just dropped to the ground,” Johnson said. “We all gasped, we all went into shock. People started screaming, like we were witnessing a murder in the middle of the most enjoyable part of the day.”

Johnson — who frequents the area often — said it was a traumatizing event to witness, and does not know why hunting is allowed in an area where so many people go to see animals.

“All I can say is that to have hunting be legal in state parks is an act of insanity,” Johnson said. “It just ruined everybody’s experience being at Brainard and some may never come back.”

It’s not the first time a moose being shot near the lake has triggered outrage. One year ago a bull moose killed by a bow hunter triggered so much outrage that Colorado Parks and Wildlife barred moose hunting for a quarter-mile extending out from the high water mark of Brainard Lake until the U.S. Forest Service access gate closes, usually on or about Oct. 12.

So far in the first year of the ban, Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokeswoman Jennifer Churchill said there have been no reported kills in the restricted area.

But even with the restriction, Churchill said there will be times like Wednesday where hunters and wildlife watchers will overlap.

“It’s important to understand that we have a multi-recreational state,” Churchill said. “No one’s recreation trumps another in our state. We try to provide access and the ability for anyone to pursue their recreation.”

Churchill also pointed out that moose were reintroduced to Colorado in 1978 with hunter dollars and that hunter fees go towards paying for the parks. She said hunters also play a role in moose population control which is important in Boulder County to protect willow carr habitat.

“It is true that we need hunters and we think that they are very important to our work,” Churchill said. “We also recognized we have a lot of people that want to pursue other recreation.

“They can have competing interest, but we try to manage them so everyone can do what they would like to do and avoid conflict by educating people. Wildlife watchers need to be aware of hunters, and hunters need to be aware of wildlife watchers.”

Mitchell Byars: 303-473-1329, byarsm@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/mitchellbyars