Before Casey Bradford, 23, set out on the opening morning of Haines' moose hunt last Wednesday, his mother, Candi, had a gut feeling that her son would strike his first bull and redeem a hunt two years ago when he was mauled by a bear.

"You're going to get a moose today," Candi told him. "It's going to be a good day."

Casey has hunted with his father, Scott, for about 10 years. But this was only Casey's second year with his own permit.

In 2019, a brown bear jumped on Casey's back while he and Scott were hunting at their usual spot near Wells Bridge at 25 mile. It tore a leg muscle and damaged nerves. Casey spent five days at the hospital in Juneau. Undeterred, he joined his father again last fall. Scott punched his tag with a kill on the second day of that hunt.

Would this year be Casey's?

"If we see a legal moose, he gets to shoot it," Scott told the CVN on Tuesday last week.

The next morning, at about 5 a.m., the Bradfords headed to their spot, near where Casey was attacked by the bear. "It was really quiet - not much going on," Casey said. "The moose weren't really talking or anything."

Then, at 7:30 a.m., Casey and Scott spotted a cow. "A bull must've caught her scent, so he came calling."

"It was about a 10-yard shot. He came right to us, which is really unusual," Casey said. "He kind of walked out, stood there and looked at us while he was eating some bushes."

"Man, he's legal. I better get him," Casey thought. He pulled the trigger. "I hit him spot-on. It didn't take but maybe a step."

Casey said the bull was about an average size for Haines. Its meat will feed his family for a year. "It's definitely a good thing with the whole pandemic going on and having all that extra food going towards our family," Casey said.

As of Wednesday afternoon, eight moose had been checked in: one in the spike-fork antler category (usually a yearling), six in the three-brow-tine category (usually an older bull) and one with antlers over 50 inches, according to Alaska Department of Fish and Game wildlife biologist Carl Koch. Koch said he was aware of nine harvests so far, but one hadn't been checked in as of Wednesday.

"This is the slowest year since I've been doing it," said Koch, who started the job in 2015. He said it could be due to the warm weather and rain. Frost usually speeds up the hunt. The moose might be hunkering down in this week's bad weather. Last year hunters checked in 17 moose in the first five days of the season.

Hunters have three days to bring their moose to the check-in station at the Fish and Game office. Haines' moose hunt is limited to 250 permits with a harvest guideline of 20 to 25 animals.

The moose hunt is scheduled to end on Oct. 7, but state biologists can cut it off earlier.

Based on population surveys last year, biologists are estimating 350 to 400 moose in the valley, a healthy population. Haines has an antler restriction to protect breeding (middle-aged) bulls. By Tuesday, no sublegals-moose whose antlers don't fit the restrictions-had been registered. Koch advised hunters, "If there's a mistake, do the right thing, and let us know as soon as possible so we can get the meat to charity."

Casey said he knew right away that the moose in front of him was legal since he could see that its antlers had three brow tines, but that's not always the case. Koch said hunters will sometimes track a moose for several days before confirming its antlers fit the law.

Casey said hunters commonly see only one legal moose a season. That moose might hang around all day or appear for just a second. Scott, who has his own tag, said he hunted for several days after his son harvested the moose. He didn't see another one.

He said the way the moose last Wednesday emerged, stood, stared and stuck around was very fortunate. "It was like it was meant to be."