Meat Care Shooting your trophy is just part of being a successful hunter. Taking care of your trophy after it is down is the most important part of your hunt. Whether you are going to take the meat home and eat it yourself or give it away, should make no difference in how you take care of it. Every time someone brings in dirty or spoiled meat it just gives the state more reason to stop non-residents from moose hunting without a guide. Bring plenty of meat bags, about nine large meat bags per moose. If you choose to shoot a moose in the evening remember you have chosen to work into the night getting it skinned back to let the heat out. A moose is a large animal and the body heat will spoil the meat no matter how cold it is. So if you don’t want to spend the time to take care of a moose in the dark, don’t shoot one in the late evening. Simply gutting a moose is not enough, you have to skin the top side and lay the quarters back and open the rib cage. In Unit 21, where we hunt, the meat must remain on the bones of the four legs and the ribs. You will end up with the 4 legs with bone in them, the 2 rib sections with bone in them, and everything else can be boned out. Remove the hind quarters at the hip joint, the front quarters at the rib cage, and saw the ribs off the back bone. Then bone out the backbone and neck completely. When you are done there should be no meat left at the kill site. You will have 4 quarters, 2 rib sections and about 3 bags of boned meat. Remember also that the antlers cannot leave the kill site until you are on the last trip carrying the meat out. Then the meat needs to be taken back to your camp and hung up with a tarp over it so it doesn’t get wet. Do not leave it lay on the ground. If you are on a float trip, do not leave it in your boat when you stop to camp for the night. When you stop to camp, hang your moose up. This is a lot of work but it must be done to keep your meat from spoiling. It’s not only the right thing to do but it is the law. If you don’t take care of your meat and salvage every bit, the Fish and Game can arrest you, fine you, and seize your trophy depending on the severity of the offense. No one wants to come all the way to Alaska and lose their trophy. So take care of your trophy and salvage all the meat.
