Mr Webster later returned with his friend Jeff Erickson to break through the ice and recover some of the meat for dog food and bait. They also took the heads, which they plan to clean up and use as "very unique" wall mounts.

Mr Erickson said that the animals had appeared to be "frozen in time" adding: "It was such a surreal sight - so serene and quiet, but a stark vision of how brutally harsh life can be."

Male moose regularly fight each other during the mating season, which peaks in late September and early October.