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Thread: Dragging a moose by its hind leg

  1. #11
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    Central Interior of our beautiful british columbia.
    Posts
    6,384

    Re: Dragging a moose by its hind leg

    I have dressed and packed many moose over the years. I have dragged them with pick ups, ATV's, by the head, by the back legs, boned them out in the bush, quartered them, every situation calls for different methods of retrieval. By far my fav, is getting them out whole, with an ATV, and dealing with them right by the truck. Backward/forwards totally depends on where they die, and the distance you have to go. A long drag, i like to get the noggin off the ground. If its just a quick tug to the truck, ill just hook up to them through the rear hocks, and let the 1000 Can Am eat!! moosin
    "A good day hunting is mud on your truck or blood on your hands"

    “Some people go to church and think about hunting……………others go hunting and think about God!”

    It's actually called the 375 "ouch and ouch"!!

    "Not asking for any spots or anything like that............................................"

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Feb 2017
    Location
    Cariboo
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    402

    Re: Dragging a moose by its hind leg

    ^^^ That’s cheating. Not everyone has a processor in their hip pocket

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Northern BC
    Posts
    3,195

    Re: Dragging a moose by its hind leg

    It is almost always easier to quarter them where they fall over instead of dragging them through the mud and dirt. Meat stays way cleaner and you have to turn them into pieces you can handle anyway. You are going to get better quality meat if it’s cooled faster. Not sure why anyone would waste the time to get an animal out whole when you could be skinning and quartering. Gotta turn ‘em into little pieces to fit them in the freezer anyway. Might as well get a start on the process.
    And you are a lot less likely to hurt yourself with smaller, more manageable pieces.
    Last edited by KodiakHntr; 10-21-2024 at 12:45 PM.


  4. #14
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    Prince George
    Posts
    3,783

    Re: Dragging a moose by its hind leg

    Quote Originally Posted by KodiakHntr View Post
    It is almost always easier to quarter them where they fall over instead of dragging them through the mud and dirt. Meat stays way cleaner and you have to turn them into pieces you can handle anyway. You are going to get better quality meat if it’s cooled faster. Not sure why anyone would waste the time to get an animal out whole when you could be skinning and quartering. Gotta turn ‘em into little pieces to fit them in the freezer anyway. Might as well get a start on the process.
    And you are a lot less likely to hurt yourself with smaller, more manageable pieces.
    .

    Absolute best advice!!

    I’m sure I’ve been part of over fifty moose retrievals and some solo. Many were well off the beaten track, because success is way higher. Get the hide off!! Get the guts out if you have to leave it overnight!!

    As silly as it sounds, I often gut even when doing the so called gutless method. I have to get the tenders and heart out anyway, plus I like to save the belly in one piece. Instead of cutting up the middle, I go around the side that’s up and follow the rear of the rib cage. When one side of the moose is done, flip and finish removing the rest of the belly. Tenders are exposed, guts roll out clean and the edible organs are easy to reach.
    I harvest carrots. I kill animals.

  5. #15
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Nanaimo
    Posts
    756

    Re: Dragging a moose by its hind leg

    Quote Originally Posted by KodiakHntr View Post
    It is almost always easier to quarter them where they fall over instead of dragging them through the mud and dirt. Meat stays way cleaner and you have to turn them into pieces you can handle anyway. You are going to get better quality meat if it’s cooled faster. Not sure why anyone would waste the time to get an animal out whole when you could be skinning and quartering. Gotta turn ‘em into little pieces to fit them in the freezer anyway. Might as well get a start on the process.
    And you are a lot less likely to hurt yourself with smaller, more manageable pieces.
    if I shot a moose before noon, I would start cutting the meat on the site where the animal fell. It it is late in the afternoon and you are solo hunting, it feels safer to pull the moose close to where the truck is. THere will be a 10 hour of work in the dark. The farther away from the truck, the more discomfort one would feel.
    Last edited by elker; 10-21-2024 at 02:59 PM.
    Life is too short and time goes too fast. Hunt, hunt, and hunt....

  6. #16
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    Pemberton BC
    Posts
    1,966

    Re: Dragging a moose by its hind leg

    Quote Originally Posted by KodiakHntr View Post
    It is almost always easier to quarter them where they fall over instead of dragging them through the mud and dirt. Meat stays way cleaner and you have to turn them into pieces you can handle anyway. You are going to get better quality meat if it’s cooled faster. Not sure why anyone would waste the time to get an animal out whole when you could be skinning and quartering. Gotta turn ‘em into little pieces to fit them in the freezer anyway. Might as well get a start on the process.
    And you are a lot less likely to hurt yourself with smaller, more manageable pieces.
    100% agree. The only situation that I may want to retrieve a moose whole would be if it was in a really nasty place to cut up and pulling it up to the road was reasonably simple. Or if some heavy machinery happened to stop by like in the above pic

    Moose hide WILL retain heat for a long long time. I first fully realized how well it retained heat when we shot a moose on top of a ridge late afternoon, many years ago. Did gutless method and carried what we could down with us then came back the next morning to retrieve the rest. There was a light dusting of snow. The meat was all skinned and cool but the head was still intact. We skinned out the skull and the meat on the head was quite warm, it had not cooled very much at all.
    Last edited by Gateholio; 10-21-2024 at 02:50 PM.
    Knowledgeable shooters agree- The 375 Ruger is the NEW KING of all 375 caliber cartridges. ALL HAIL THE NEW KING!

  7. #17
    Join Date
    Jun 2007
    Location
    Northern BC
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    3,195

    Re: Dragging a moose by its hind leg

    Quote Originally Posted by elker View Post
    if I shot a moose before noon, I would start cutting the meat on the site where the animal fell. It it is late in the afternoon and you are solo hunting, it feels safer to pull the moose close to where the truck is. THere will be a 10 hour of work in the dark. The farther away from the truck, the more discomfort one would feel.
    Thats a personal comfort issue for sure. I myself don’t have that problem but I can see how it could affect someone.

    That said, even solo, if you can get a machine to it, you have an idling bike and headlights.
    Last years very large bull was 4 hours even from the knife coming out to all the quarters and loose meat bagged and loaded and the head strapped down on the sxs. And that was at -25*C, so it really shouldn’t be 10 hours.


  8. #18
    Join Date
    Apr 2017
    Location
    North of Hope
    Posts
    2,624

    Re: Dragging a moose by its hind leg

    We get them out whole, winch them onto a atv trailer, cover up with tarps, drive to the truck and winch them into the back, and off to the butcher shop 2 hrs away. If we can't make the shop we hang and skin it in camp. Super easy. When you take them straight to the cooler there are no worries about 2 or 4 legged meat thieves in camp, the butcher gets it skinned and it's nice and clean that way too,

    I don't like breaking down an animal in the dark right beside the gut pile. that's just asking for trouble.

  9. #19
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
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    P.G. 7-15
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    2,100

    Re: Dragging a moose by its hind leg

    Meanwhile in PG... Rarely more than 2 hrs to home, drag to the truck, gut, put whole in the truck, skin and 1/4 on the shop hoist.
    No one on their death bed ever said; I should have spent more time at work.

  10. #20
    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Nanaimo
    Posts
    756

    Re: Dragging a moose by its hind leg

    Quote Originally Posted by KodiakHntr View Post
    Thats a personal comfort issue for sure. I myself don’t have that problem but I can see how it could affect someone.

    That said, even solo, if you can get a machine to it, you have an idling bike and headlights.
    Last years very large bull was 4 hours even from the knife coming out to all the quarters and loose meat bagged and loaded and the head strapped down on the sxs. And that was at -25*C, so it really shouldn’t be 10 hours.
    This is remakable efficiency! I may be able to do it in 6-7 hours with my experience with one bull this year.
    Life is too short and time goes too fast. Hunt, hunt, and hunt....

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