BOISE, Idaho — Brady Murray drew a moose tag for unit 73 in southeast Idaho, and what followed captivated the hunting community, with his son Cooper attempting to harvest a moose.
Brady grew up in Idaho and now lives in Utah. In 2007, the Murray family welcomed their first son. Nash was born with Down syndrome, and after advocating to adopt orphans with disabilities, the Murray family adopted Cooper out of China.
WATCH | Coop's hunting story and the work it took to harvest a moose—
For more information on Cooper's adoption story, click here. For more information on Racing for Orphans with Down Syndrome, click here.
"People with Down syndrome are super capable, you just got to give them a shot," said Brady. "We loved Nash so much we felt in our hearts we should adopt another child that has Down syndrome, and that's adopted Coop."
This past summer, Brady and Cooper spent hours practicing shooting at the range. When August rolled around, they started scouting for moose in unit 73. This father-son duo spent essentially every weekend hunting through September.
"Yeah, that was one thing I was so impressed with Coop, he never complained once," said Brady. "We were on long four-wheeler rides, big hikes, and we were up there when it was cold."
In October, they brought along Nash and Cooper's other brother, Mason. On this trip, they found a moose, and after about an hour of stalking it, Coop took his shot and harvested a giant moose after all that work.
"It was magic," said Coop.
"Were you nervous?" asked Brady. Coop let out an emphatic no.
"He never gets nervous for whatever reason," said Brady."
Throughout the saga, Brady was posting updates in an Idaho Facebook forum, and the community started following their journey. Throughout the process, people offered advice. They supported the duo, and they cheered when they saw Coop with the moose. It also led to a big surprise.
"I was just so amazed when Chad Draper of Blue Ridge Taxidermy out of Blackfoot reached out and said, 'I've been following the story and I want to donate a shoulder mount of Coop’s moose as a gift to him, '" said Brady.
"I just think that is a great representation of what our Idaho hunting community really is."
