Dan Moore, 71

Dan Moore was born in Los Angeles on March 13, 1948. In 1960 his family moved to the Olancha/Lone Pine area and Dan started what became his lifetime passion — archery/bowhunting. The next years were school, then summers working the Cottonwood Pack Station, in the High Sierras.

He enjoying bowhunting in California. But another dream called him. In 1972 Dan moved to Montana, settling in Butte. Dan took up mining. Off hours found him fishing, stalking deer and trying a new challenge — elk.

By 1977, he decided to start an Archery Pro Shop in Kalispell. Big Sky Archery was born. In 1979, Dan asked out a girl he’d been thinking about for two years. Melanie and Dan married seven months later in February 1980. Later that year he became a father; a son he named Cody. His family was complete when April was born in 1982.

But Dan was hunting every archery season. The bulls got bigger, the freezer more full.

In the late ‘80s, Dan bought property on Prince of Wales Island, Alaska. For the next 20 years, Dan was there every May, hunting bear and halibut fishing.

PSE sponsored Dan’s bowhunting. He won Bowhunter of the Year several times and was the 1990 PSE catalog cover, packing elk horns from his 1989 hunt. Dan’s hunting became magazine/newspaper articles and book chapters.

2003 brought the best change. Grandchildren Brooklyn, Maddox and Payton were his continual delight. He rarely missed a game and made coming home from school an adventure.

In 2008, he sold his Alaska cabin and built a home in Landusky, Montana, with his brother Ron. Dan then spent every summer and fall there, bowhunting deer, antelope and, of course, elk.

Dan bellowed in anger, teased children continually, left piles of stuff everywhere, helped new bowhunters and had a million stories to tell. He loved his wife, children and grandchildren without end. Dan’s dreams took him across the USA, Alaska, Canada, even South Africa. He couldn’t wait to hunt antelope in Nevada. He was doing what he loved when he left us Aug. 14, 2019.

Dan Moore’s service will be held at 2 p.m., Friday, Aug. 23, at Family Life Christian Church, 1075 Foy’s Lake Road, Kalispell, with a reception following. If you wish to join us in a toast to Dan, please stop by Fatt Boys Bar & Grille, 1307 Hwy. 2 W., Kalispell, from 6 p.m. on.