When Andrew Koerner and his friend Terry White set out for a day of riding snow machines in Alaska, they never expected that their day of fun would end up saving an animal's life.

While they were headed home, the pair spotted a moose in distress that was stuck beneath the ice of a frozen creek.

Photo: YouTube/9NEWS

They knew they had to help this poor animal and that every second that passed was a matter of life or death for him.

“You could just tell by his eyes that he was just so ready to get out of that hole,” Koerner told KTUU. “That’s when me and Terry looked at each other and were like, we’re not going to leave until this little guy is out of this hole.”

Photo: YouTube/9NEWS

Without hesitation, the men began to dig an eight-foot hole around the moose to try and free him from the ice. Luckily, several other men nearby saw the men digging the hole and quickly came to help them.

One of the men happened to have a sledgehammer and quickly got to work, breaking chunks of ice.

Photo: YouTube/9NEWS

Although it's unknown exactly how long this moose had been trapped there, they assumed it had been a few days. The moose was even missing fur on the back of his neck, which showed that he tried to free himself at one point, but to no avail.

After chopping up the ice for an hour and a half, the men finally freed the petrified moose.

Hear the brave rescue story in the video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYDVSCZ5KEo