My father ran a mining railroad in northern MN for three decades. Memory says that he issued instructions to locomotive engineers to NOT use the air horns when encountering adult moose on the tracks.
Too many instances of the large males taking it as a challenge. They sometimes charged the locomotives. Many shambled off the right-of-way into the swamps after derailing an F9 or GP-series diesel-electric! Others were not so lucky and were disposed of by the DNR.
If the head-end crew couldn’t rerail the locomotive using frogs, a wrecker had to be dispatched from one or the other end of the 70-mile line.
The other factor that I do not believe anyone discussed was when the Moose are in the RUT.
When they are out looking to mate with Mrs Moose they will do things that they would not during the rest of the year. They are way more aggressive.
Deer/moose will travel more in the middle of the day during the rut. They will fight to the death practically with other bucks. Where as the remainder of the year bucks will hang out and eat together seeming to get along fine.
However, throw a cow in heat in the mix and they go insane.
I have seen the exact same thing with our dogs. Even with the Chihuahua. He will be calm and nice as he can be. Bring a bitch in season around and he turns into a crazy bug eyed demon. Natures way.