Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Idaho Moose

Panhandle covers a lot of terrain types. From to rolling fields and piney ridges of the Palouse to the steep and timbered canyons in the Silver Valley. So it’s hard to give you much help with this amount of info.

Thanks for all the info, very helpful.

I know this can be very animal-size dependent, but what would be a safe bet on cooler space for transporting the meat home? I currently have a 120 qt and 2 65 qt’s.

Also, moose being the size that they are, are bone-in quarters manageable or is it recommended/mandatory to debone before packing out?

I got both of my moose out bone in, as far as the legs went. The backstrap, tenderloins, ribs and neck meat was all boned out.

Plan for after the shot. I shot my Idaho moose close to a road. I was solo and had a bum leg so was using a cane. I was able to use the cable winch I had packed into the truck. That winch is the only way to safely lift the hind leg solo to remove the hind quarter. I put down a disposable plastic painter's tarp that unfolds to be big enough to set the meat on. A cordless sawmill would be handy as well but I had a hatchet and bone saw. I had large game bags and needed several. I had a game packer hauler frame. I had a few ratchet straps and those really locked down the meat to the frame as was packing out to the truck. I had a bright LED later in case was going to be there overnight breaking the moose down.

As for before the shot, I got one of the large funnel calls as I was hunting the rut. You make a sound sort of like a beef cow moaning. Good times. I went back a second time that season after the leaves fell off the trees along the creeks and found it easier to spot moose. My unit ran cattle, lots of black cattle, which should be against the law as black cattle in the distance pass for moose. The ranchers did break the law by leaving the cattle on the land beyond the deadline to remove.

My other advice is shoot until the bull hits the ground. My first shot double-lunged and the bull merely looked my direction and began strolling away further from the truck which was only gong make things tougher for me and my bum leg. Bull tipped over after 3rd round of 250 grain .338 Win Mag.

Good luck on your hunt.

This! Congrats! Be!safe and enjoy the hell outta it! Great boots will keep you hunting longer and farther day in and day out!

I'd say, before you take the shot, have a pretty good idea, how you are going to get it out. At my age I prefer an ATV. Packs are ok but they get heavy and it needs to be a good pack. A few knives and a sharpener are handy. I also like having a sawzall and battery to do some cutting up. Makes things go smoother. I cut all the legs below the knees and cut up the middle of the back and skin down. A tarp to lay the meat out is very handy, put the meat in bags as you take it apart. Then flip the moose on the hide so it's always laying on hide. Once flipped work down from the spine again skinning. Cut out the back straps quarters etc. Once that is all done take the ribs off and take the tenderloins out and heart, liver etc. then reflip it and take the ribs from that side and tenderloins.

The ratchet straps and tarp are good ideas, thanks. I'll be sure to practice follow up shots from field positions. Last thing I'd want is a wounded moose strolling away.

Thanks, I'll be sure to provide an update come October.

My plan is to carry the meat out on my back, as I do not have an atv. I have a day pack with a load shelf for the initial load out as well as an external frame meat hauler for secondary trips if I'm fortunate enough to get a moose on the ground. The process you described is similar to what we do for deer when backpack hunting. We usually do a "gutless" method on deer when packing them out. Would it make more sense to gut a moose to help with initial cool down and moving the animal while processing due to the size of the animal?

I don't like the gutless method. I've done 2 moose and at least a half dozen elk that way they all were almost too tough to chew. Meat needs to be left on the bone until it cools, or at least goes into rigor, so the fibers don't shrink up. That makes it tough.
With elk, I like to gut and skin them. If possible, I actually like to leave them out on the hill overnight before I dice them. Obviously, that doesn't always work especially in an area crawling with bears or wolves. So far, I've been lucky that way.

It's been years since I gutted out a moose. The pile of guts is horrible and a mess to try to work around. JMHO Getting it skinned and parted out and laid out on a tarp in cotton bags goes a long way toward getting it cooled off.

I did mine via the gutless method and would do so again. My meat was great.

If by yourself, be advised it's hard to get an 60-80 lb pack on your back. Might want to practice a bit before you get there.

Thanks again for all the replies.

Does anyone have input on the amount of cooler space that may be required for transporting a critter this size back home, boned or deboned?

Our hunting camp beer math:

Figure about a pound per quart for space if frozen, but leave about 10% for ice if not - all of the meat is at least deboned, most of the time it's sliced and vacuum sealed.

Dry ice is pretty common in Idaho, but you have to keep it from touching the meat as it will burn it, and it will penetrate quite a bit of insulation if left alone overnight.

I usually fly frozen meat in 48 quart Coleman coolers just about every year, 45 pounds frozen will fill a 48 quart cooler at just under 50 pounds for the airlines, we've moved as many as 13 coolers at once.

We've used bigger coolers, but the pound per quart seems to work out pretty close with any size.

We have helped deliver meat across the country with a small chest freezer in the pickup bed, or on a trailer, and using the vehicle inverter on the road in the day, and unplugging at night.

Having butchered a bunch of moose, i always quarter them out with the guts in, peel the hide back as far as you can then remove hind quarters, front shoulders with neck meat attached, rib meat, backstraps, then roll it over and do the same to that side, once you get all the meat out then you can go inside for the tenderloins, once all the meat is removed and it's cooled down go ahead and bag it using quality game bags. To remove the rack use a long bladed bone saw so you don't bust your knuckles on the rack, btdt. If you get yourself into a situation where you have to drag he meat, leave the hide on the quarters, this will help keep the meat clean. I've never used coolers to haul meat home but i'm only 5.5 hours away from home so I can't help yuo much there. I'm betting that when you get one down, you're going to be shocked at how big they can be. Good luck on your hunt.

From a few years ago on moose meat yield from a carcass:

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbt.../10900182/Please_describe_how_much_meat_

It is ridiculous to carry heavy bones out, if you are going to be packing it out. Bone out the meat and leave the garbage for the varmints. Those bones are useless weight in a pack. It's your back, but it would be bones out if I was doing it. Hell, I even bone out antelope. It helps cooling, also, in case warm weather is an issue.

Have done the boneless method on 2 moose I’ve shot.

Unless you can drive to it . Skin and debone on the spot

Good luck packing a rear moose quarter out if you don’t debone it.

I’d throw a chest freezer in back of pick up and plug in each night before day of hunt to stay cool

I used 2 150 qt coolers and moose fit boned out.

I love Idaho panhandle. Back in the day I worked 2 summers there USFS trail crew. Calder Ranger District, St Joe Forest. Also took a horse back Middle Fork Salmon elk hunt one time, 35 miles back into FC Wilderness, out of Yellow Pine. Got some excellent moose video at 9,000 feet on that one - I'm stil getting crap from family, about flying 3,000 miles to take moose video...... . Hey, that near 50" bull came walking thru camp- what's a fellow to do? No video then, but the next day I bumped into him at about 30 yards trashing timber down the mountain a ways, and I had my brothers camera with me.

Smaller moose than here, but still.... After 20 something of the critters, most of them packed a mile or more, and creeping age, that skid-loader ain't a bad idea!

Take 10 heavy duty game bags (Not that cheese cloth crap!) and a friend - or an enemy you really don't like. I try to leave bone in the legs for hanging (not an option for you perhaps), and bone the rest out if packing any distance, but prefer to leave all the bone in for aging if possible.. I don't do "quarters". 4 legs, 2 rib sides, back, neck, and loose meat (backstraps, etc if boned).. Yeah, that makes 9 usually, but I carry 10 - and have needed or used all of them on occaision.

As said, your moose will be somewhat smaller thn those up here most likely, but the last moose I weighed out up here was a 3 or 4 year old. Hind legs alone, detached from pelvic girdle, went 92 and 93 pounds, respectively, bone in. It wasn't a particularily big moose for here. I have had hinds well in excess of 120#.

My WAG is that you will end up (from a big mature Shiras) with about 300 -350 lbs of boneless meat, if that helps in figuring cooler capacity. Bigger coolers will keep the meat frozen or cold better, but are harder to handle. Choose your poison. From years of traveling out of the bush with caribou meat, a "normal size" cooler will hold about 50# of packaged meat, then frozen, then cooler loaded, if that helps. I know, as the airline has a 50# limit on bag weight, and the coolers I used (cheap ones), weighed several pounds each, and I usually had a little space left on top. One can get more meat into a cooler by chilling the meat first, loading it into the cooler, and freezing the whole works together. It will stay frozen longer this way also, big chunk vs buncha little chunks.

"Ecology and Management of North American Moose" by Smithsonian Press is the best moose book I know of. I've read mine several times, and it is worth every cent of the $80 I spent on it some 20 years ago. You might be able to find a copy in a library somewhere. A truely superb picture book is "mMoose" by Michio- a Japanese photographer. He got et by a Kamchatka bear...

Moose are basically whitetails in habits, are probably the most vocal of all cervids, and anyone who tells you they are dumb is full of crap. But hunting techniques in similar habitats are much the same. It is an absolute blast to call one in. But beware of killing a bull during rut if you are into moose meat for dinner. Chances are good you could get a stinky.

There are videos and how-to's out there on technique- you really don't need to buy any of the calls or horns, but it doesn't hurt either. Mouth -made calling works about as well, so I often do not carry an amplifier, as do breaking sticks, whacking trees with a stick, thrashing brush with same, rustling plastic tarps, and who knows what else.

Some will tell you moose are solitary animals. They are not - they just like their space from others. The best bait for moose is another moose. I have killed several bulls that I was clued into first by a cow's body posture. And not during rut.

Good luck, have fun (oh, you will!)

This article was in today's news. Apparently Idaho moose numbers are down quite a bit in recent years and they don't know why.

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Moose are one of the West’s most majestic animals and a once-in-a-lifetime hunting opportunity.

But Idaho moose are under threat.

In February, Idaho Fish and Game drastically cut the number of moose tags because of population declines across the state. In 2019-2020 there will be only 634 moose tags available each year, a 22% decrease from 2017-2018, which also saw an 8% reduction compared to 2015-2016. The Panhandle region of Idaho saw the largest reduction in 2019-2020, a 45% reduction in moose tags and the elimination of antlerless tags.

But why exactly moose populations are declining is unknown.

“We have seen the most severe declines in northern Idaho and southeast Idaho, but we don’t know exactly why they are declining,” Hollie Miyasaki said in an interview with the Idaho Statesman. Miyasaki is a moose, bighorn sheep and goat biologist with Idaho Fish and Game.

Idaho Fish and Game also does not know exact moose population numbers, but estimates there are 10,000 to 12,000 moose in the state. To estimate moose populations, Idaho Fish and Game relies on harvest information.

“It is hard to do a survey because moose do not herd up in the winter like deer or elk. To estimate populations, we use harvest information like hunter success rate, or the percent of hunters who successfully harvested a moose, hunter effort, or the number of days to harvest a moose in a hunt, and antler spread of harvested moose,” said Kara Campbell, regional wildlife biologist for the panhandle region with Idaho Fish and Game.

State biologists use these three harvest metrics to estimate the size and age of moose populations in different hunting units across Idaho.

“Biologists and hunters have both reported declines in recent years, leading to the big cut in moose permit levels this year,” Campbell said.

Wildlife biologists do not have clear answers, but the likely suspect is a combination of habitat loss, ticks and predators.

“Idaho moose live in most of the state except the southwestern portion and around urban Boise. Moose range has been expanding in the south-central region, where we typically would not see good moose habitat, but decreasing in northern Idaho, where we typically see good moose habitat,” Campbell said.

Good moose habitat includes plentiful forage and shade from the sun.

“Recently burnt forests with new growth are great moose habitat. But wildfire suppression reduces good moose habitat. We need wildfire to open up dense forests. Old growth forests are too dense for moose,” Campbell said.

Wildfire is a natural part of many Idaho ecosystems, but with homes and lives at risk, state and federal agencies promote wildfire suppression. Until recently, the U.S. Forest Service suppressed and controlled all fires rather than allowing natural forest fire cycles. Without thinning and new growth caused by wildfires, moose have less feeding and breeding habitat.

According to Campbell, moose populations are highest in areas 40 years after a major wildfire.

But habitat loss is not the only probable cause of moose decline. Tiny ticks also could be a big problem.

“Moose are susceptible to ticks. Moose are not good groomers,” Campbell said. “High tick loads used to die off in the winter, but with warmer winters, we don’t see tick die-off that we used to see. So moose can accumulate ticks at high loads, up to 10,000 ticks per moose.”

According to Campbell, these ticks can spread disease and ticks gorging on moose blood meals can weaken the moose, making it vulnerable to predation.

“Predation is an ongoing research area,” Campbell said. “Moose rely on deep snow to avoid predators in the winter. We don’t always have deep snow. Without deep snow, then predators like wolves and mountain lions have an advantage over moose.”

Climate change brings a mixed bag for moose. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency predicts hot, dry summers and warm, wet winters for Idaho into the future. Hot, dry summers lead to more wildfires and possibly more moose habitat, but warmer winters with smaller snowpacks put moose at risk of tick infestations and predation.

Idaho is not the only state seeing moose declines. In Utah, for example, moose reached a record population size of 4,000 in 2005, but the population dropped to the most recent estimate in 2017 of 2,650 animals.

“We are not alone in our concern. All of the Western states are looking at this,” Miyasaki said. “In fact, we just had a big workshop and are working on a moose management plan for the next few years. Hopefully that plan will come out later this year.”

Idaho Fish and Game officials met with representatives from Utah, Wyoming, Washington and Oregon to create regional and state-specific moose management plans.

Idaho Fish and Game is ramping up a large moose study to look at the multiple factors contributing to moose decline. The project will radio collar moose to understand where they go and how they die.

“We are radio collaring moose in four different areas across the state,” Miyasaki said. “To put a radio collar on a moose, we use chemicals to sedate the moose from a helicopter, then we land, put a radio collar on the moose and do health tests. We can use the radio collar to tell when the moose dies, then we locate the animal and collect information about how that moose died.”

This radio collar research combined with moose hunt data will help identify the biggest causes of Idaho moose decline and dictate actions to protect the moose populations. Hunters have been asked to submit DNA samples in the past but Fish and Game plans to request more tissue samples next year, Campbell said.

Moose population declines mean less moose hunting tag availability, a conservation strategy largely supported by hunters.

“Comments from the public have been extremely supportive. Some hunters said we should have done this sooner,” Campbell said. “People understand this is not just a local concern. It is a concern across the region. Moose is an iconic species we all want to conserve.”