moose dressing

[HappyHunter]

I will be on a moose hunt this fall in ontario.  

Field dressing something this large is new to me.  Any help?

Is it best to leave skin on until home?  We are on a fly in trip for 7 days and home is another 18-20  hour drive to northwest Indiana.

I will be with an experienced moose hunter but his meat always seems to be full of hair.  I want to minimize this if possible.

Any suggestions, books, magazine articals?

Thanks you!

Fred a/k/a HappyHunter

[dakotashooter2]

While I haven't field dressed a moose I have skinned a few. Make sure you have a couple of good knives, a saw, rope and sharpening tools. Moose hide is thick and tough. Being a fly in trip I think it wil be almost mandatory that the moose is skinned and boned out to reduce as much weight as possible, otherwise you may be charged for extra weight and or trips. At a minimum it will need to be quartered. The thick hide is also very good insulation. If the weather is above 40 you will need to remove it to get the meat to cool. I skinned one that had been in a 40 degree cooler for two days (hide on) and the meat was still warm to the touch near the bone. The use of game bags may help to keep it clean.

[John Y Cannuck]

Lots of variables in moose hunting, like where the moose decided to fall for example. (In the worst mud hole it can find).
Your friends meat being full of hair, is probably his fault. Got to keep it clean. The butcher won't do it for you. The above advice on tools is right on. If you are a gut hook user, pick one with a big opening. A small block and tackle, or a portable hand winch can be usefull too.

[Daveinthebush]

One if by land, one if by sea!

1. We first skinned him down the back peeling the hide towards the belly to have a work area.  Then sliced down the outside of the legs and peeled them. We were not interested in te hide. The legs on that one side were removed and carried to the boat. Then the back strap.  We then rolled him over and repeated the process until all 4 legs were off. Then we removed the head and neck.  Then the side ribs cutting along the back bone and the belly until free.  Rolled him and repeated the ribs. "Still have not broken the guts."  The only thing remaining was the pelvic section which was detached from the guts and placed in the boat.  Head lastly.  All this, and the guts are still in the same place as where the moose landed.

2.  Was in the water.  We tried baiscally the same process but had one hell of a time. This was a bigger moose.  He is my Avitar at times with me holding my .44 that I shot him with.  We were cutting under water, feeling for the joints and such.  It was not pleasent but it went basically the same way.

Advise. Have some extra rope along to hold the legs up and to help position the body.  If at all possible, a come-a-long or a pulley system that will hold 1,000 pounds.  2-3 (1 w/gut hook) really sharp knifes and a diamond hone to touch then up, a bone saw, plastic gloves, garbage bags or game bags, someone to help you, and plan your time accordingly.  We ended comming across the Yukon at 1 a.m. in the morning!

Have students comming shortly so if you have any other questions, please ask.

[freddogs]

:lol: I'm not an expert. In Wyoming my buddy and I shot two moose bowhunting. We boned out both animals and took out boned out meat and the racks. My buddy took his hide. It weighted 85 lbs. on the meat cutters scale.
We skinned one side of the moose and then boned out that side. After it was all boned out.We flipped it over and skun the other side then boned that out . Left guts in cavity. We hauled our meat in ziplock bags. One and two gallon. Meat cooled down once we got it in smaller chunks. A fillet knife works good for boning. We had to backpack our meat out ,so that's how we did it.
Works for elk too.

[DennisB]

Happyhunter:  Wish I could go with ya!  Lots of good advice above, but I'd add to what Daveinthebush mentioned about your animal landing in the water.  A fly-in will limit the amount of gear you're gonna be able to take, but several lengths of 3/8 and 1/4 nylon will save your bacon--er, moose.  The worst (or most fun, depending on perspective) time I ever had with a moose was a small bull a buddy put four .45-70 slugs into right at sundown, on the edge of a small lake.  We were at it past midnight and for the better part of the next morning until our air taxi on floats came in to haul the meat out.  (I told my buddy I wouldn't be able to hunt with him anymore unless he brought SCUBA gear)  After all that, tho, the meat from that moose was the absolute best eating!  Good hunting,

[Moose-Hunter]

Happy Hunter,

I have some step-by-step pictures, per se, of a moose that I skinned and quarted and it might help you and give you an idea of what type of work you'll be getting yourself into!

[HappyHunter]

Are these pictures digital, can you post?

Thanks!

Fred A/K/A  HappyHunter