Ideas to bring home a moose....

[adamkolesar]

Talk to the attendant on the ferry home. Tell them you killed a moose and they'll do their best to keep your rig away from the engine room. (Every little bit helps for that long journey home).

 

[Sako76]

Thanks!

 

[Blackbird69]

Built this cooler box for Newfoundland last year out of OSB and 2" foam board. Cost about $200. It was 1100 qts and held 4 moose that were processed and vacuum sealed on the island. Processing there was cheap and gets your meat frozen. Less than $200/moose. We threw a few bags of ice in with the meat but didnt need to. 44hr drive back to Wisconsin. Thats a 6.5ft box truck. Had about 15" of space left above box, under topper for gear.

Very nice! How did you fasten everything together, liquid nails and spray foam? It doesn't look like you made a wooden exoskeleton and filled it with 2" foam board. Hopefully I will have to make one of these some day.

 

[Aluminum Rain]

Very nice! How did you fasten everything together, liquid nails and spray foam? It doesn't look like you made a wooden exoskeleton and filled it with 2" foam board. Hopefully I will have to make one of these some day.

I did basically build the frame from OSB and 2x4. Then cut 2" foam as tight as was practical and used Great Stuff to seal the edges and hold it together. I wanted it air tight in case we used dry ice. It has 2" foam/osb top lid not shown. Used screws to secure the lid. Also put a pvc pipe with cap in the bottom for a wet ice drain.

 

[Aluminum Rain]

Had to take screw gun with in the truck.

 

[eaglemountainman]

Chest freezer. Run extension cord to motel room at night...cooler mode while traveling. No real need for a generator.

 

[Macmathews]

Chest Freezer and generator easiest way to go

This

 

[Larry Bartlett]

some great ingenuity and thoughts on this thread. Impressive

 

[Muskykris]

Our booking agent said the processing would be $400/animal Canadian. Is that what everybody else is paying?

That’s decent, we have paid $500 the past 3 years in Ontario for cut and wrap.

Last year I shot on the last day, deboned it and packed it into a chest freezer with horizontal dividers. 24 hr drive home… probably 30hrs with the motel.

Chest freezer was perfect
This will be our method moving forward if we shoot towards the end of the trip

 

[warhawk07]

That’s decent, we have paid $500 the past 3 years in Ontario for cut and wrap.

Last year I shot on the last day, deboned it and packed it into a chest freezer with horizontal dividers. 24 hr drive home… probably 30hrs with the motel.

Chest freezer was perfect
This will be our method moving forward if we shoot towards the end of the trip

for what its worth, another vote for the freezer in the truck bed idea i have a BC moose hunt in September and plan to power it with a honda generator. the issue im currently thinking through is how to tie down the freezer to make it "steal" proof while im hunting. currently planning on building a simple frame for the bottom of the freezer, take out the freezer "feet", screw frame into the feet holes, and either chain or bolt the frame to the truck bed. any ideas here would be appreciated

 

[PA Hunter]

I have been driving to Newfoundland moose hunting every other year for some time. It is always easier just to debone the meat in game bags put them in the coolers and drive it home. It’s even easier just letting their country butcher just process it there and you pick it up the next day already vac packed. Plenty of ice at the gas stations in Newfoundland. I take an enclosed trailer but usually bring 5 to 9 moose back depending how many I hunt with. It’s a pain dealing with quarters especially if they freeze in a big chest freezer like a big block of bloody ice. I have two big chest freezers in my trailer and many assorted coolers but if it’s just you and another guy you don’t even need a trailer just a few 150 qt coolers per person and debone.

 

[Aluminum Rain]

I paid just under $200 Canadian for a cut, vacuum seal and freeze at a local place in Newfoundland. My buddies bull was much bigger. He paid about $240.

 

[vtmooser]

We shot two bulls in NL last year. The guides quartered them in field to be flown out. We had the quarters chunked and brought home 200 lbs frozen each. Probably left 50 lbs of hamburger on the carcass by guides choice!

 

[ammonnhonduras]

So what is the verdict. Your hunt soon approaches. How do you plan to get the meat back?

 

[JGBowman]

So what is the verdict. Your hunt soon approaches. How do you plan to get the meat back?

My father-in-law has a chest freezer I can use. I am just going to put it in the bed of my truck and drive it up. Plug it in when I get there. Then it will be good to go when I need to use it.

If there is time I will have a local butcher process it. If not I will debone everything while I am there and process it when I get home.

 

[0815]

They say 16-20 cft freezer space for a beef. That is right around 411-511 quarts. Three 150 qt coolers should just work fine. That's what I take for upcoming Colorado cow moose hunt.

 

[TheGrayRider]

One of my happiest days on Earth was solo pushing a set of Alaska-Yukon moose antlers, 6 offshore ice chests of moose meat, a gun case, a large back pack, and a duffle bag through the Chicago O’hare Airport to the Economy shuttle bus on those rental carts.

You should have seen the looks of the other passengers when the economy parking bus driver made me get on the shuttle bus with the moose antlers because he thought they would shatter in the cargo area of the bus.

Life is good, TheGrayRider.

 

[JGBowman]

As I am rereading all of this and thinking about the trip. I may not take a chest freezer in the back of my truck. Here is my logic.

The outfitter said a mosse will require 7.5 cubic feet of cooler space. Also, based upon the responses on here that seems to be accurate estimate. 7.5 cubic feet is equal to 225 quarts. My truck bed is 6..5 ft. I can easily fit 225 quart worth of coolers in the back of my truck and keep my hard tonneau cover on the bed. I have a hard tri-fold tonneau cover so if I need to fold it up on the way home I can. Hopefully because I have a big set of antlers to bring home.

 

[Boston1]

This is a great thread with lots of great information. I hope to drive up this fall (2023) and pondering a European mount of the skull/ antlers. It looks like most folks bring back a cleaned skull cap. Has anyone tried to clean a skull for CWD import? Or is it easier to have that work performed by a NL taxidermist and have it shipped?

 

[JGBowman]

This is a great thread with lots of great information. I hope to drive up this fall (2023) and pondering a European mount of the skull/ antlers. It looks like most folks bring back a cleaned skull cap. Has anyone tried to clean a skull for CWD import? Or is it easier to have that work performed by a NL taxidermist and have it shipped?

I caped out my skull and removed the lower jaw while using a 55 gallon drum as a table. I scooped out the brains with a stick. Then used a garden hose to wash it out. Wrapped the entire skull in plastic wrap so it did not dry out.

We crossed the border at 2am with 4 hunters, 4 moose, and 5 guns. They never looked at our guns, meat, tags, or skulls.