Freeing the young bull moose tangled up in a volleyball net wasn’t an easy job for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks personnel to tackle.

A Bitterroot Lake resident called the department’s regional headquarters in Kalispell on Tuesday morning to report that a moose was caught in a volleyball net along the south shore of the lake.

“We had to figure out everything we could possibly need without actually seeing the situation,” said Kent Laudon, a wolf management specialist who was recruited along with biologists John Vore and Eric Wenum for the job.

Laudon said there was some brisk research on potential sedatives that could be used and the crew was on its way to Bitterroot Lake.

It turned out that the moose was not only tangled in the net, but the net still was attached to a pole with a concrete base that the moose had managed to uproot.

“We thought we might have a shot at physically restraining him. The bull told us, pretty much in short order, that that was not going to work,” Laudon said.

“He could actually move that pole around pretty good. When we got close enough, he showed us what he could do, and it was a lot.”

The three men regrouped and considered lassoing the moose’s hind legs, but that idea also was abandoned.

The Fish, Wildlife and Parks veterinarian in Bozeman was contacted to get a prescription for the proper mix and dose of drugs, and a tranquilizer was administered with a dart gun.

“That particular cocktail we used worked like a cinch,” Laudon said.

The men waited for about a half hour for the drugs to work, and then set about cutting the net from the moose’s antlers.

“We gave him a reversal agent and about 10 minutes into that he stood up and was a little wobbly for about seven minutes,” Laudon said. “He wandered off to the edge of the property and started to browse like nothing ever happened.”

Laudon said the moose had been stuck in the net overnight, and some property owners apparently attempted to free it but got a similar hostile reaction from the animal.

“Maybe even more, because he was probably a little more fresh then,” said Laudon, who regarded Tuesday as an unusual day on the job. “It was kind of fun.”

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com.