Moose gutless or conventional method?

[AK_Skeeter]

This may be like Ford versus Chevy.....once your bull is down, do you prefer gutting or gutless method?

 

[NUGGET]

Gutless is what I do now but my dream is switch over to gutted......with moose buggies

 

[william schmaltz]

Gutless. It only takes a couple hours to break one down so no need to waste the time trying to move and gut one.

It’s somewhat situational and we have gutted two. Once was an area infested with brown bears and we shot the bull at last light in an alder opening so we dumped the guts and retreated. The other was a hard headed friend who insisted - we put a tarp under the hinds, dumped guts on the tarp, and hauled them away. It made things cleaner and lighter, but I still don’t think it’s necessary.

 

[AlaskaEd]

I don’t remove the guts on moose. The tenderloins are the only hard part to get to, but that’s much easier than dealing with a huge gut sack, especially when you’re breaking one down alone with only some ropes. Moose are big enough that their guts settle to the bottom side and leaves plenty of room to work on the topside and clean it off. Then roll it over and finish the other side. Last get in there and weasel out the tenderloins and whatever else you want to take.

 

[Jim1187]

Here due to regulations, conventional is the standard. The entire carcass, including hide but not internal organs must be presented for registration.

 

[AKDoc]

My clear preference is to remove the hide, keeping the guts in place, and then flip it over and do the other side.

If I take one at last light, then I gut it out to cool over-nite for field butchering the next day. It seems that most of my injuries are when I'm pushing the limits and I'm tired. Two years ago I shot one at last light, but we went ahead and safely got it all done that night because we were flying out in the morning....we were up until 3am!

 

[WCS]

Unless required by law I don't see any reason to gut a moose. It just adds to the workload. Hunting with a friend a couple of years ago he started cleaning a moose without me and started gutting it. By the time I got there (about 30 minutes after the moose hit the ground) he looked like a dinosaurs tampon and the guts weren't out of the moose yet.

 

[Werty]

Gutless

 

[cnelk]

Can’t do gutless if ribs are required to take.

 

[Maverick1]

Gutless.

 

[cnelk]

^^ so you’re sawing the ribs off when the paunch is right next to them?

Good for you. Not for me.

 

[Stuie88]

By the time I got there (about 30 minutes after the moose hit the ground) he looked like a dinosaurs tampon....

That's a new expression to me. I can't stop laughing

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

 

[william schmaltz]

Can’t do gutless if ribs are required to take.

Pop the ribs at the joint with a hatchet. Takes about a minute to break off all 13 then cut em off.

 

[NUGGET]

If you can’t cut the ribs off using the gutless method without poking the guts you need to stop hunting.

 

[Trial153]

A hatchet does the trick easy easy enough. If you see it done once it will make sense to you.

 

[Kevin Dill]

A hatchet does the trick easy easy enough. If you see it done once it will make sense to you.

This for sure, as I've done it.

Though I'll say that having removed and packed all the ribs, I'd only do it in certain situations where it was required or perhaps desirable. I taught myself how to do a running fillet of the rib meat and thus the 'rib roll'....so named because you just roll the accumulated meat along as it comes away from the ribs.

I'm a gutless hunter when it comes to large animals. You can quote me on that. ;-)

 

[cnelk]

Ive been doing gutless before it was 'cool', but Im Equal Opportunity Field Gutter - sometimes I gut, sometimes I do gutless, depends on variables.
No right way or wrong way

 

[Krieg Hetzen]

I have family members who want the liver and kidneys and I want the heart so it’s always gutted for us. However we remove the hide on one side, then front and rear quarters on that side, then back strap on that side and finally the ribs on that side. Makes getting to the guts easy and less messy as there’s a giant opening. My unit also makes me take the front quarter, rear quarter and the ribs, all with meat on the bone.

 

[Kevin Dill]

Even after doing a very good gutless butchering job I walk away realizing there are edible things I could still recover. They are not legally required however.

Heart, kidneys and liver.
Tongue
Side/belly
Caul fat

A true subsistence hunter who believed in using every possible thing would probably bag up another 60 pounds of edible stuff after I'm done cutting.

 

[NUGGET]

After eating moose tongue from the last 3 moose I’ll never leave that behind again. By far my families favorite part of the moose. Tongue tacos!!!