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Wow, that's what I was going to say but the opposite. The time I had moose I didn't like that gamey taste at all. I guess it really depends on how or who cooks it perhaps.
We need a great cookout contest of Moose & Caribou I bet bullwinkle gets his butt kicked by rudolph
All depends on a few factors:
a. If you chase after a moose, or just scare it to the point that it runs from you like there is no tomorrow, or you have to keep on shooting it several times, maybe the adrenaline rush or something gives the meat a bad taste. I have noticed that such moose smell sort of "musky" when skinning it, and when this happens I usually don't want a share of the meat. I just tell my hunting partner to keep his moose, and don't tell him why. So, I hunt from an stationary position (a high point by a large field of low growth, or a tree stand), and place my shot carefully to drop it right there. I use a .338Wm with 225-grain TSX, and usually take one shot.
b. The idea is to keep the meat cool, dry, and clean, so we skin and quarter the moose right after killing it. The knife I use to open-up the hide along the belly and lower legs, is never used on the meat unless carefully washed first.
c. Right after skinning one side of the moose from tail to neck, we remove both legs from that side, the back strap, the neck meat, and any meat on the outside surface of the ribs, and put each of these meats and parts in game bags. next we cut a small opening by the small rib on that side in front of the tenderloin, and carefully slice and pull the tenderloin out through the hole. My hunting partner showed me how to remove the tenderloin with bare hands. he only used a small knife to cut across the rear end of the tenderloin, then with his fingers he separated the tenderloin from the ribs, and pulled out in one piece! We hang the bags nearby to air-dry the meat and to keep it cool. Next we stretch the hide or spread a clean tarp on the open side of the moose (on the ground), and roll the moose on the other side, and proceed to remove the legs, back strap, etc., from that side, and hand all these meats in game bags to cool and air-dry.
By now the heavy work is almost done, so we reposition the carcass with the sternum UP and debone the ribs. In some areas of alaska it's illegal to debone the meat, but not where we hunt.
We bring the meat home and hang it in a cool place that's free of flies, and spray a mixture of citric acid and water on the meat.
Appreciate the detailed description of how you do it. i always fully gut before removing the tenderloin...but I think I'll try your method. When you describe the small rib...is this the highest rib...the one nearest the head?
Great stuff, very detailed Ray. I appreciate it. I've only ever harvested a deer, never a moose.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dakster
I have about your expereince Ship - been hunting a few times with folks that were "professional" hunters. Don't think I could do it all by myself. ALL of them spend more money hunting that the "food" is worth...
One other tidbit - I can only imagine the mess gutting a moose. I hope you have the stomach for it.
Well, I have been hunting probably 15 times, and certainly not with "professional" hunters. Not even with quotation marks, lol. I've always been with friends my own age, and I've never actually shot at anything, because I've never seen anything. Granted, the land I hunt on is not stocked, and I don't think the deer population is all that high, honestly.
As far as gutting it, it isn't that bad in my experience. Of course, I'm used to gutting it after I take it back to my camp site, so you can hang it up when you cut it open, which saves you from having to pull the organs out, but I saw something about how you have to harvest the animal on the spot after the kill in Alaska. I openly admit that I saw that on Alaska State Troopers, but why would they make that up? The whole harvest ticket thing and all that.
I guess I wasn't really that clear. I was really more wondering how you get yourself established hunting up there. Finding a spot to hunt, all that. See, where I grew up, everything is private land, and so you have to know someone with land to go hunting. I was under the impression that since Alaska is largely owned by the government, people can hunt on public use lands. Maybe I'm terribly wrong, I don't know.
Well, to find a place to hunt you look at a map and find what looks like a good place, then you do more research. You look at the regs book to see if you can hunt there at all and when the season is open, and what the regs are. Much of Alaska has antler restrictions...you can only shoot a spike/fork or a moose with more than 50 inch antlers. Then you check the land ownership. If it's native land you find out which corporation owns it and if they allow hunting on it. If it's state land you are good to go as long as it's outside a state park...and even then you can often hunt it, and if it's federal land but outside a national park or reserve you are usually good to go. Other than native land, very little of Alaska is private land, the vast majority of the land is state land or fed land.
Or you can do the short cut and make friends of someone who hunts all the time and has already done the research.
Right now I'm researching a new hunting spot. I have called biologists, talked to a couple of locals who I know and I might even take a scouting trip. I'm looking at either a brand new spot or one that I hunted years ago and have a little bit of knowledge about. It's really a pain to have to spend the time finding a new spot...but I'm tired of hunting in South Central. Too many people.
Much of Alaska has antler restrictions...you can only shoot a spike/fork or a moose with more than 50 inch antlers.
How the living hell is a person really supposed to know if the antlers are greater than 50 inches, as opposed to say, 49.5 inches, much less even being able to discern if they are even 43 inches from a distance away (in which case knowing the idiocy of so many bureaucratic control freaks, I am sure some Fish and Game a-holes would love for it to be a felony for violating game laws).
Mil dots (or even hunting-specific reticles designed specifically to judge antler size) are just not that accurate (not to mention by the time you mentally did the calculations, the game would probably have moved, if not fled), and if the answer is "experience" (judging antler size from a distance) that's a pretty p-iss poor answer, as the the law would revolve around nothing but an educated guess, at best (not to mention would beg the question as to how a person even gets experience to begin with, since who would risk taking their very first shot if they know they can be legally sanctioned for making a mistake based upon a mind-bogglingly idiotic regulation).
How the living hell is a person really supposed to know if the antlers are greater than 50 inches (as opposed to say, 49.5 inches, much less even being able to discern if they are even 40 inches... in which case knowing the idiocy of so many bureaucratic control freaks, I am sure some Fish and Game a-holes would love for it to be a felony for violating game laws).
Mil dots (or even hunting-specific reticles designed specifically to judge antler size) are just not that accurate (not to mention by the time you mentally did the calculations, the game would probably have moved, if not fled), and if the answer is "experience" (judging antler size from a distance) that's a pretty p-iss poor answer, as the the law would revolve around nothing but an educated guess, at best (not to mention would beg the question as to how a person even gets experience to begin with, since who would risk taking their very first shot if they know they can be legally sanctioned for making a mistake based upon a mind-bogglingly idiotic regulation).
Are you a lawyer? You would make a killing up here during hunting season...if you can make your arguments stick.
How the living hell is a person really supposed to know if the antlers are greater than 50 inches, as opposed to say, 49.5 inches, much less even being able to discern if they are even 43 inches from a distance away (in which case knowing the idiocy of so many bureaucratic control freaks, I am sure some Fish and Game a-holes would love for it to be a felony for violating game laws).
Mil dots (or even hunting-specific reticles designed specifically to judge antler size) are just not that accurate (not to mention by the time you mentally did the calculations, the game would probably have moved, if not fled), and if the answer is "experience" (judging antler size from a distance) that's a pretty p-iss poor answer, as the the law would revolve around nothing but an educated guess, at best (not to mention would beg the question as to how a person even gets experience to begin with, since who would risk taking their very first shot if they know they can be legally sanctioned for making a mistake based upon a mind-bogglingly idiotic regulation).
It really is as simple as erring on the side of caution and not shooting at the animals with the smaller antlers.
I actually know an attorney who shot an undersized moose. He turned himself in and then got off because the law required him to turn himself in. It's the 5th amendment. It works.
Another part of the question is this: if a person lives in, say, Nenana, does that person typically buy all their food (except for a small amount that they hunted) at the store in town? It kinda seemed to me that there were at least a couple of people living quite remotely in the interior, and I was wondering about the logistics of getting food; i.e. where do you get it, how often do you go, do most people buy in bulk, etc.? I guess I was under the impression that people living remotely, especially in the interior and other parts of the Unorganized Borough, got a pretty sizable amount of their food by their own means, but it's starting to sound like I was way wrong.
Great stuff, very detailed Ray. I appreciate it. I've only ever harvested a deer, never a moose.
Well, I have been hunting probably 15 times, and certainly not with "professional" hunters. Not even with quotation marks, lol. I've always been with friends my own age, and I've never actually shot at anything, because I've never seen anything. Granted, the land I hunt on is not stocked, and I don't think the deer population is all that high, honestly.
As far as gutting it, it isn't that bad in my experience. Of course, I'm used to gutting it after I take it back to my camp site, so you can hang it up when you cut it open, which saves you from having to pull the organs out, but I saw something about how you have to harvest the animal on the spot after the kill in Alaska. I openly admit that I saw that on Alaska State Troopers, but why would they make that up? The whole harvest ticket thing and all that.
I guess I wasn't really that clear. I was really more wondering how you get yourself established hunting up there. Finding a spot to hunt, all that. See, where I grew up, everything is private land, and so you have to know someone with land to go hunting. I was under the impression that since Alaska is largely owned by the government, people can hunt on public use lands. Maybe I'm terribly wrong, I don't know.
Sounds like you need to make a friend that has a place to hunt or can point you in the right direction. I still double check things just to make sure. Eventually you will be able to figure it out on your own. FWIW, I called Alaska Fish and game - they sent me all sorts of hunting and fishing information for free. They sent me the 2010 stuff when I called last October and then automatically sent me 2011 brochures a couple of months ago. To be honest, I was more interested in recreational fishing, so I did not pay attention to the hunting stuff. Kids fish for free, but you still need to submit a "catch card." The lady at Fish and Game I spoke to on the phone was really nice and helpful.
After all, the government of Alaska wants you to visit and spend $$$. (Not that I blame them, afterall, I live in one of the biggest tourists states in the US)
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