Moose permit

[sidelock]

Got my Moose permit in the mail today. MT has lots of moose but tags are hard to come by.Been aplying for 14 yrs and this is the first and probebly the last.

 

[gmww]

Get a big one and post the photos!

 

[fw707]

Congratulations!! Hope you get a gollywhopper of a bull!!
You'll probably get a freezer full of meat at least. I've heard it's better than elk, so it's gotta be good. :grin:

 

[gmww]

If you don't mind some advice. I shot a bull moose up in Canada. Once it's down butcher right away as the meat will spoil real quick.

Moose is some of the best eating meat I've had. :hatsoff:

 

[paulvallandigham]

Whoa: Spoilage depends on several factors. Air temperature needs to be below 40 degrees, to keep any meat from spoiling, or else you have to be in thin, dry air, that freezes every night, like happens at higher altitudes. In dry conditions, the bacteria can only survive in the soil, or plants, as few as there may be, and of course, in and on the body of the animal you kill. And on you. But bacteria need heat, moisture, and food to survive and reproduce. Moose tend to be a low land animal, but not always. If you are huning in the early Fall and its hot, then spoilage is a serious concern. You will need to be prepared to pack ice, dry ice, or have some way to cool the meat down quickly to preserve it. Because the moose feed and live in swampy territory, there is all the moisture in both the land and air needed by bacteria. And, obviously with a caracass that size, there is enough food for millions of bacteria to feed.

The best tip is to time your hunt when it is cold enough that the " no-see-ems " are not out. If you have to hunt wearing a nead net to keep the bugs from eating your alive, You are going to have trouble keeping that meat from the bugs, and from bacteria unless you have access to a cold storage facility within an hour. A moose shot after the first snow fall, even if the temperature is rising, is the smartest time for taking these animals. The cold not only produces the snow, and reduces air temperature, but it also kills the bacteria in the air, and on the plants, and ground. It also dries out the air until the temperature gets above 45 degrees.

 

[rusty]

I have only shot one moose so I am know expert ,but one thing I do know is that once they are down the fun is over with.But once all the hard work is done get ready for some real good eaten.What type of firearm will you be useing and what cal...TC..rusty

 

[Waterman]

I have never hunted moose, and have no intention to. That said, several people over the years have told me that the best place to shoot a moose is...








In the back of your truck!!!! :rotf:

 

[sidelock]

I will be hunting at 7 to 8 Th. ft. after Sept 15 and a good chance of good snow. Thanks for the info and good wishes guys. :thumbsup:

 

[gmww]

Well here is what I've seen first hand. Bull was put down at 6:00 pm and it was getting dark. Had to leave due to Grizzlies in the area. I wanted to stay but outfitter said it was too risky. They lost another outfitter a couple of years back in the same area to grizzlies. We did not gut it as it would increase the likelyhood of attracting grizzlies overnight. Frost over night like it had the past several. Early next morning there was frost on the hide. It was gutted and packed out. Steam from the cavity was obvious even after the cold night before. Some of the meat was already beginning to spoil.

Nother hunter, same camp put down a bull calf in the water. He came back to camp and got a couple of us to help get it back. Body heat is lost faster in water so you would think the meat was cooling down. It was in the water for an hour before we got to it. Took an hour to get it back to camp in a boat. At camp it was gutted and butchered. Some meat began to spoil. Frost was still on the ground. The outfitter explained that Moose are like that if you don't get it cooled down right away.

Third Moose shot by my partner in the water. We (5 of us) immediately gut, skinned and quartered right where he lay. From the time he shot it to the time we got it to the butcher was 1 1/2 hrs. No wasted meat.

So the moral to the story is butcher as fast as you can. Or if you have to leave it overnight gut and pack it with snow. Just my opinion based on being there doing that. :hatsoff:

 

[gmww]

OOPS my error, it should read 3 1/2 hours not 1 1/2 from kill to butcher.

 

[paulvallandigham]

That hide is a great insulator, and it is usually found on top of a pretty good layer of fat! That is why you want to gut the animal quickly, to begin cooling it from both inside and outside. Get that hide off quickly too. I kllled my first deer at 7 A.M., but it took us most of the day to get her out to my car. We gutted her at the kill site, but I had to take her to a check station before I could legally remove the hide. When I got the hide off, there was a pad of fat above her hind legs that was still warm to the touch at 4 P.M. That is nine hours after she was killed, and about 7 1/2 hours after I gutted her. The rest of the meat was cool to the touch, but not that area covered by fat. I understand that it common in many provinces to hunt Moose in groups of 4. Whenever anyone gets a moose, everone else stops hunting, and all 4 go to work skinning out and quartering up the moose. There is usually enough meet in the one moose to keep all 4 families in meat all winter, so no further moose are hunted, even when there are additional tags. Makes good sense to me.

 

[Greenmtnboy]

Hay thats great,
Where are you hunting?
I have land up in the Yaak and am trying for a tag up there,
Good Moose pop :hatsoff:

 

[asabai]

Now that you have had 14 years to plan for a moose hunt, what will you bring our to shoot?

 

[barebackjack]

I was lucky enough to draw a once in a lifetime moose tag for North Dakota, with a bow. Ended up shooting the state record.

Believe you me, it is better than beef. Melts in your mouth, cut it with a fork.....mmmm mmmm good!

Cook as you would venison, slooooooow, there is little fat as with most wild game.

Will you be hunting the rut? If so, you can make a real cheap bull moose call with a tin coffee can, and a flat tennishoe lace. Punch a hole in the bottom of the coffee can, thread the shoelace through, and tie a small washer or nut on the end of the lace that comes out of the bottom of the can. To call, simply dampen the shoestring with water, hold the coffee can under your armpit upside down, and pinching the shoestring between your index and middle finger pull sharply down....you should get a ooooowwwhhhhaaaa! sound. Works like a charm.

Get a bigun!

Boone

 

[Joel/Calgary]

There is periodic discussion on some hunting boards of field-processing game without opening the body cavity, except to get the tenderloins. You wind up leaving the guts, backbone, pelvis and ribs in the field. I've never tried it, and it contravenes the regualtions in some jurisdictions, but some folks swear by it. It cretainly cuts down on the possibility of fecal contamination of the meat, and on what you have to pack out. Here are some links, if you might be interested:
[url] http://home.att.net/~sajackson/guttless.html[/url]
[url] http://www.huntingnut.com/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=27[/url]
[url] http://www.casperstartribune....n_spaces/efd7bf39fa69794c87256f17002103d6.txt[/url]
(towards the bottom of the article)

A variation, or maybe elaboration, on this continues on to boning the flanks and ribs, and the neck if you're not taking it out intact, and finishes with opening it up to get the heart and/or liver.

As with conventional field processiing, this can also be taken further to completely boning the carcass out in the field to absolutely minimize the pack-out weight.

Joel

 

[paulvallandigham]

All muscles are surrounded in the body by what we call gristle- sinewous white tissue. They do not allow fluids to penetrate the meat. If you happen to nick a bowel, or the bladder, either during the shot, or by sloppy knife work- we all have a learning curve when it comes to using knives- simply rinsing the meat off with water, and then drying the meat with paper towels, or any other kind of towel is all that is needed to remove the stink. I suppose in a difficult case, where a jacketed bullet exploded in the gut, I would use baking soda in my water bath to rinse the carcass and meat, but a small nick does so little harm it is difficult going to that extreme.

I personally like the heart and Liver, and I would not leave the filet mignon, the loin under the spinal cord behind for the coyotes. If hunting in an area where CWD is an issue, take rubber gloves to wear, and leave the skull and spinal cord and vetebrae behind, for sure. I also like to tan my hides as a trophy of the hunt. Some I leave the fur on, and others I tan with the fur off to use for making clothes and other articles. The methods used to skin out an animal shown tend to cut the hide up into pieces, and that is a waste. To each his own. The most I have had to do is use a string to tie off the anus, before cutting it out, before pulling everything from the lungs down to the anus out in one pull, after removing the heart and liver. I leave the hide on as required by state regs. but wipe the inside of the carass out, with paper towels, and then put bags of ice inside to begin the cooling process. Cool and dry fights bacterial growth, and therefore spoilage. One good idea mentioned in the articles is freezing water in milk jugs to use to keep the carcass cold. Saves money over buying bags at gas stations, and quick stops. Amd. those Gallon size blocks of ice take a long time to melt. :bow:

 

[gmww]

Hey Joel one of the first things the outfitter did with the Moose we shot was to take the tongues. (sp?) Served them up that night for dinner along with the ribs. Best darn ribs I've every had. Was pretty tasty, tongue and ribs that is.

He also had his guides take the bladders intact. I forget what it was they needed the scent for. Anyways they were pretty happy to get them.

 

[cable]

this method works great on moose: no gutting and no giat gut pile to slip and slide in; also you skin the animal first so cooling starts right away. you can [and should] also remove the ribs [required in alaska] as you use this technique [i use a small hatchet to do this]. i have completely cut up [and boned out when we were allowed to do so] a very large bull in UNDER two hours using this method. wil never cut up another moose any other way.

 

[mark fish]

Cable has got it right skin first.
I skin one side then remove that sides quarters and head, roll the carcass,skin and remove the remaining quarters.
When you are ready to gut the ribs hopefully your partner is quick cooling and cleaning the quarters at a nearby cool running stream.
Cable is also correct on boning when you can especally the massive rear quarters got to cool the meat close to the bone as soon as possible.

 

[sidelock]

I'll be in the Big Hole. Thanks , and I hope you get one next year. :winking: