Jackson’s Famous Grumpy Moose Still Standing Despite Gunshots And Plane Crashes

Of Wyoming’s most elusive trophy big-game animals, one prize continues to stand impervious to hunters despite taking several bullets throughout the years.

Jackson’s Grumpy Moose statue is a local icon that has stood the test of time since it was first put out to pasture in 1994. Marty Peet installed the ferrous cement moose with her late husband Charles in an area called Bryan Flat along U.S. Highway 191.

While the plot of land it sits on has since been turned over to new owners, it still bears the name Grumpy Moose Ranch, a well-deserved homage to the resilience of its resident moose.

Peet told Cowboy State Daily she and her husband were originally in search of a creative way to mark their land that would make it easier to give directions to friends and visitors.

“It was very difficult to tell people where to turn on the highway,” she said. “There were no markers or mailboxes back then.”

It wasn’t until the couple spotted a similar moose statue outside a restaurant in nearby Pinedale that they were inspired to create Grumpy Moose.

“[Charles] looked at me right then and there and said, ‘I know what we should put out as a marker,’” Peet said.

Peet said they sought the help of city council to identify the statue’s creator and then commissioned him to create a similar piece to set out where their land meets Highway 191.

The sculptor, Peet said, was known for being highly anatomically correct in his projects and created an accurate rendition of an Alaska Moose, which are larger than the ones found throughout Wyoming.

Naughty Cowboys And College Students

Grumpy Moose was originally an unwelcomed addition to the neighborhood and locals made sure they knew it, Peet said.

“When it was first put up, it was sort of a controversy,” Peet said. “And I think the hunters and various naughty cowboys took shots at it.”

Instead of leaping into action to defend her beloved moose, Peet said she and her husband simply “hoped for the best” and eventually the drive-by shootings stopped.

While it appeared this was the end of Grumpy Moose’s struggles, Peet said a group of rowdy college students who were visiting from the University of Michigan for a summer camp later toppled the statue. That incident, she said, forced them to mount Grumpy Moose deep into the ground using steel bars. 

She suspected these sturdy supports are partly the reason why Grumpy Moose has continued to stand the test of time.

Locals later warmed up to Grumpy Moose, Peet said, after she dressed it in Christmas decorations. Many visitors, she said, paid visits to her land every year in the wintertime to climb on the festive moose and take pictures with it.

While she isn’t sure if the new owners will keep up the tradition, Peet acknowledged they have “a lot of money” to help them do so.

Local horseback riding group Willow Creek now offers its visitors the chance to travel through what it calls “Moose Meadow” and highlights Grumpy Moose as a key attraction to look out for from horseback.

Plane Crashes

Charles Peet was a hobbyist pilot who began flying small planes at the age of 19. He continued flying for 67 years before turning in his license at 86.

Peet built his own airplane in the barn on Grumpy Moose Ranch and mowed his own landing strip into his lawn. He would often fly between Driggs-Reed Memorial Airport and his ranch where he would buzz by his neighbors’ houses to the amusement of his family below.

During his flying days, Charles was involved in not one, but two crash landings just feet away from Grumpy Moose. Charles told The Salt Lake Tribune after his second crash in 2018 he experienced engine trouble right over Grumpy Moose.

“With a rough engine that thing could quit on me any time,” Peet said. “I came in high and fast because if the engine quit, I wanted to be on the runway. I just wanted to survive it.”

He also acknowledged having “almost hit the moose” upon landing.

Marty Peet told the publication that given Charles’ many exploits, her husband had experienced “about 29 lives” packed into his time on Earth.

International Acclaim

Marty Peet said Grumpy Moose continued to grow in renown as more and more travelers that passed through Jackson were struck by the statue.

Peet recalled once meeting a couple from London while visiting South Africa for a road race. The couple was excited to learn the Peets hailed from Jackson because their son had visited the area that winter. 

“I said ‘oh, was he skiing?’” she said of their conversation. “No, he was snowmobiling. I said ‘oh, well, did he go up to Yellowstone?’ No, he did, but he liked a place down by some hot springs. And I said ‘oh, he was down probably by the stinky springs on the way to Pinedale.’”

“And I said ‘we live along that road, he probably went over our road down to his snowmobile.’ I said, ‘we have a moose statue.’ She said ‘we saw photos of that moose, that was one of the highlights of his trip.’”

That’s when she knew Grumpy Moose had grown into something much larger than a simple statue.

“People know that moose because they were in Jackson,” she said.

Jackson Walker can be reached at walker@cowboystatedaily.com and Jake Nichols can be reached at jake@cowboystatedaily.com.