We ran as fast as the muskeg would allow, working against a deadline of the setting sun to get to the moose we had just taken before darkness closed in. Suddenly, the enormous animal was there before us, impossibly huge and hauntingly still. Standing there, a queasy feeling brought a knot to my stomach.
My hunting partner looked over, the pained expression on his face evidence that he, too, had the knot. We'd both been around dead moose before. Our dads were hunters, and we would inevitably help butcher and pack meat when a moose was downed and thus had firsthand experience in field-dressing, quartering and packing.
Facing it on our own was a very different reality and responsibility for a couple of 14-year-olds, as we were back then.
Daunting task
Any first-time moose hunter who's never experienced the process should realize that bringing a downed moose from the field to the table is daunting. The enormity of the animals, which seems obvious while observing them in the field, suddenly becomes a cold reality when a big carcass is lying in a muskeg swamp. Experience with smaller big game helps, but it does not completely prepare one for dealing with the largest deer on the planet.
Before you press the trigger on a moose, questions should be answered. Do you have experience in field-dressing big game? If you have experience with deer or caribou, field-dressing a moose is basically a larger version that requires considerably more effort. Explaining the entire process here would be far too lengthy, and even a detailed explanation would only offer a general idea.
There are so many variables to contend with in the field that real-time experience is a must. There's also a wealth of information on the internet, including a good video on the Alaska Department of Fish and Game website.
The basics are to get the animal skinned out without tainting meat (by puncturing intestines or stomach), cut it into packable pieces while keeping it clean and dry, and cool it quickly. A good skinning knife with a sharpening device or one of the new change-blade knives, a lightweight tarp in the 6-by-8-foot range, parachute cord, close-weave game bags, a bone saw and citric acid spray are the basic equipment requirements.
If packing the meat out will take more than a day, you'll want to get it off the ground, where air can circulate around it, and you'll want to hang a tarp over it in case of rain.
The longer it takes to get the meat out, the greater the possibility of a bear finding it. Pay attention when you return to the carcass and be prepared in case a bear has taken possession of your moose. As inviting as it will be to leave your rifle behind while you pack meat, it may not be in your best interest. But remember, killing a bear to defend your game meat is not legal; it's not considered a defense-of-life-and-property situation.
A heavy load
How will you get the animal from where it's shot back to the vehicle that brought you to your hunting destination? Unless you are in an area where you can drive some sort of ATV right up to the animal, or you have horses or some other pack animal, you are going to have to put it on your back and haul it out.
That being determined, you then must ask yourself, "Am I capable of tying a moose hindquarter onto a pack frame, lifting it to my shoulders and walking away with it?" The hindquarters of a typical yearling bull moose will weigh around 100 pounds. A mature bull will have hindquarters weighing 150 pounds or more.
My hunting partner looked over, the pained expression on his face evidence that he, too, had the knot. We'd both been around dead moose before. Our dads were hunters, and we would inevitably help butcher and pack meat when a moose was downed and thus had firsthand experience in field-dressing, quartering and packing.Facing it on our own was a very different reality and responsibility for a couple of 14-year-olds, as we were back then.
Daunting task
Any first-time moose hunter who's never experienced the process should realize that bringing a downed moose from the field to the table is daunting. The enormity of the animals, which seems obvious while observing them in the field, suddenly becomes a cold reality when a big carcass is lying in a muskeg swamp. Experience with smaller big game helps, but it does not completely prepare one for dealing with the largest deer on the planet.
Before you press the trigger on a moose, questions should be answered. Do you have experience in field-dressing big game? If you have experience with deer or caribou, field-dressing a moose is basically a larger version that requires considerably more effort. Explaining the entire process here would be far too lengthy, and even a detailed explanation would only offer a general idea.
There are so many variables to contend with in the field that real-time experience is a must. There's also a wealth of information on the internet, including a good video on the Alaska Department of Fish and Game website.
The basics are to get the animal skinned out without tainting meat (by puncturing intestines or stomach), cut it into packable pieces while keeping it clean and dry, and cool it quickly. A good skinning knife with a sharpening device or one of the new change-blade knives, a lightweight tarp in the 6-by-8-foot range, parachute cord, close-weave game bags, a bone saw and citric acid spray are the basic equipment requirements.
If packing the meat out will take more than a day, you'll want to get it off the ground, where air can circulate around it, and you'll want to hang a tarp over it in case of rain.
The longer it takes to get the meat out, the greater the possibility of a bear finding it. Pay attention when you return to the carcass and be prepared in case a bear has taken possession of your moose. As inviting as it will be to leave your rifle behind while you pack meat, it may not be in your best interest. But remember, killing a bear to defend your game meat is not legal; it's not considered a defense-of-life-and-property situation.
A heavy load
How will you get the animal from where it's shot back to the vehicle that brought you to your hunting destination? Unless you are in an area where you can drive some sort of ATV right up to the animal, or you have horses or some other pack animal, you are going to have to put it on your back and haul it out.
That being determined, you then must ask yourself, "Am I capable of tying a moose hindquarter onto a pack frame, lifting it to my shoulders and walking away with it?" The hindquarters of a typical yearling bull moose will weigh around 100 pounds. A mature bull will have hindquarters weighing 150 pounds or more.
by Steve Meyer, ADN | Read more:
Image: Steve Meyer
[ed. It's a young man's sport, unless you have an ATV or boat with a jet unit that can get you somewhere near where you might actually bag a moose. But then again, so do a lot of other folks.]
[ed. It's a young man's sport, unless you have an ATV or boat with a jet unit that can get you somewhere near where you might actually bag a moose. But then again, so do a lot of other folks.]
