Moose Meat Quality

[jedi]

i shot a shiras moose in 2019 in wa. teeth aging came back at 7 1/2, i think thats about when they start hitting full maturity. meat quality is off the charts. taste and tenderness is primo. hoping the border is open for you. great meat to have on hand.

 

[PA Hunter]

I have only harvested Eastern Canadian moose from Newfoundland and can’t tell the difference from young to old. Moose I must say is my favorite meat and I really do not like venison at all. I think you will be very happy with whatever moose you harvest for table fare.

 

[spike camp]

You can easily make any cut from deer,elk or moose…taste like crap, or have a bad texture.

Take the same cut, prepare it well, cook it properly…and that same piece of meat will be fabulous.

 

[RFOUST89]

i shot a shiras moose in 2019 in wa. teeth aging came back at 7 1/2, i think thats about when they start hitting full maturity. meat quality is off the charts. taste and tenderness is primo. hoping the border is open for you. great meat to have on hand.

Thanks! How long did it take you to get drawn?

 

[jedi]

Thanks! How long did it take you to get drawn?

i had 11 points that year. ny buddies fil drew the same tag this year with max points, says he figured hed die before drawing, so ill be over there again to help. (side note, im taking my daughter to alberta when shes 12 for moose, 8 now. should be a blast)

 

[Beendare]

My cana
.

 

[Where's Bruce?]

Moose meat is our absolute favorite...take good care of it in the field, and it is worth every ounce of your efforts.
I personally don't notice any real taste or tenderness differences between spikers, full mature bulls, cows, etc.

The hide on a bull moose in rut can smell pretty nasty, especially around the head and neck, so I change my gloves after removing the hide and definitely before touching/cutting any meat for removal, and the meat has been just fine.

A rutting caribou bull is far, far worse in my experience, and that nasty smell is also in the meat.

^^^THIS^^^
His advice on field dressing is spot on. Quickest way to ruin the meat is sloppy quartering. It is also worthwhile to allow the quarters to age. I do this with every big animal I kill. Aged meat is always much more tender...even on trophy bulls. The Canadian moose I killed was exceptional table fare but I shot him during archery season in velvet and he had been traveling from the swamp to the nearby crop fields at night to feed. Huge difference between that and shooting a rutted up bull that has been feeding on crap. Get half the hide off, quarter it, then repeat and hang on a hook for a week or two. The meat will relax nicely.

 

[gunnerblue]

I have only eaten Shiras moose and it was the best tasting wild game I've ever had (well, except for impala stroganoff). My wife uses ground moose for burgers, pastas, casseroles, meatballs...it is all delicious. For the record, all of this has come from bulls- not yearlings but not old bulls, either.

 

[Scooter90254]

This single worst eating game meat I’ve ever had was Moose. Tasted just like skunk cabbage smells. Problem l is you never know how someone took care of it.

 

[MtnMuley]

I've had several moose over the years and it's ranged from unbelievable to terrible. Big bulls and yearling bulls that were so tough, you could barely chew through the tenderloin. I've personally yet to have a tender moose steak besides the tenderloins of most. I killed a younger cow late Nov once and and had it meticulously cleaned and hanging within 2 hours and into a cooler for 5 days. Cut and wrapped it meticulously once again and the thing tasted like soap. Only way I could rid that taste was to smoke it for a half hour before cooking on the Traeger. Couple of the big NWT bulls I've eaten were pretty gamey, but I'll put that on how it was handled and packaged at base camp. A friend killed a bullwinkle last year with a perfect shot and we took great care of the meat once again, and the flavor (including fatty ribs) were amazing, but it was as tough as leather. Crossing my fingers this years big bull will have that flavor and the tenderness of a beef loin.

 

[Short Track]

I'm glad to hear I am not the only one with a lousy tasting Moose. At least I don't feel so bad.

 

[Kjenkins011]

Interesting hearing all the different opinions!

 

[Brent]

I've had the great pleasure of putting several moose in my freezer ranging from yearling bulls all the up to old and mature. All were fantastic. My favorite age is 4 years old. You get the meat quality of a younger bull, but you get near the same amount of meat as an older bull.

My best tasting and most tender bull was a two year old I stuck an arrow through on the third week of the season. The meat was fantastic, just not enough of it.

My biggest bull was a rutter. He tasted fine but he smelled a bit funny while cooking.

My oldest bull was one I killed on opening day in September. His meat was a little tough, but he tasted great.

 

[Elkhunterdan]

That’s good news to hear. Going this fall to Newfoundland to moose hunt!

 

[Trial153]

If you don’t like moose you probably don’t like meat. You’d be hard pressed to find better table fare from a wild animal.

 

[SaltySailor]

You can easily make any cut from deer,elk or moose…taste like crap, or have a bad texture.

Take the same cut, prepare it well, cook it properly…and that same piece of meat will be fabulous.

THIS ^^^^ And take care of it in the field.

 

[r1elkins]

Like you, I haven't had moose since I was a kid. I remember it being one of the best steaks I ever ate. Just got my Alaskan moose this year, and ate steak last week...tasted amazing. Just as I remembered it. I like it better than the Wagyu x Belted steer that is also in my freezer.

 

[z987k]

Like you, I haven't had moose since I was a kid. I remember it being one of the best steaks I ever ate. Just got my Alaskan moose this year, and ate steak last week...tasted amazing. Just as I remembered it. I like it better than the Wagyu x Belted steer that is also in my freezer.

I think if more people knew how good moose was, we'd be raising them on farms.

 

[Short Track]

A rutting caribou bull is far, far worse in my experience, and that nasty smell is also in the meat.

My Caribou guide asked me if I'm trophy hunting, or hunting the meat. I said both. He said come before the rut, or after the rut. I Caribou didn't smell at all, 1 week before the rut. They say they drink the doe piss during the rut.

 

[Kevin Dill]

One thing I never worry about is whether the bull I just shot will be good eating. They've all been excellent no matter their age or rut status. I've killed, skinned and butchered bulls which smelled like 1400 pounds of rich stench...literally nothing but that sweet muskiness, urine and black mud. I've killed bulls that I watched lay in muddy urine-soaked rut pits....skinning them was no joy though I didn't complain either. Just practice good technique and keep that meat clean and cool. The bull I killed this year was no exception...a nice stinker which yielded around 550 pounds of gorgeous meat. We've been eating it and it's just as wonderful as any of the others I've taken.

One thing about my hunting camp (which honestly bugs me) is that I have no meat pole. You'd have to be there to understand the setting and why that is, but carrying loads of meat to any trees big enough to support a meat pole is just out of the question...too far and way too difficult. I've thought about cutting trees to make poles and then packing them (a 2 man effort) to the airstrip to build an A-frame meat pole setup. Daunting, with 7 strong poles required to construct a braced hanging rig. And I know enough to know how hard it is build a really stout wobble-free pole which will last years. So my moose meat has to be sustained via the ground method. Not ideal but very workable if given detailed attention. The key there is to keep flipping the bags of meat on a schedule, and use anything possible to keep it elevated even slightly to allow air circulation beneath the bags.