Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Backpack Hunting Moose Goo??

Talking about the food, not what comes out of the south end of a northbound moose.

I stumbled onto a recipe for moose goo on one of the ultralight backpacking pages and have to admit it dosent taste to bad, actually better than most of the $3 blocks of sawdust that pass as an energy bar. The basic recipe is corn flour (not corn meal), honey and peanut butter. Calorie break down is about 70% carbs, 15% protein and 15% fats.

Has anyone used this on the trail? The site suggested serving on tortillas or rice cakes or even baking it into cookies. They seem to love it based on the caloric value to weight and use it for half of their meals for the longer trips.

Like I said the taste is actually pretty good (for its intended purpose, I wont pass up a steak for moose goo) but I cant imagine eating it for meal after meal.

Anyone have any other trail food that they would like to share? The mountian house dehydrated stuff is pretty good but gets a bit pricey after a while. For trail mix I use a blend of m&ms, bannana chips and cashews.

Here is a link to the Backpacker.com forum, with some goo variations and other recipies:

http://forums.backpacker.com/thread...ID=59929&messageID=975734#975734

Some good stuff. I like the Snickergoo recipie, but I have quite a sweet tooth. I like these Goo's for get up and go breakfasts, or the eat while glassing in the early morning. I have taken cereal and powdered milk, but the breakfast bars and goo are much easier adn take up less space.
About any cookie bar recipie can be used and modified. Add more honey, fruit and nuts to increase the calories. Add fiber or protien powder, you can really do some modification.
Matt

I use the little cheese and cracker or cheese cracker and peanut butter cellophane wrapped snacks you see at the grocery. The c/o ratio is pretty good. Walnuts actually have better c/o than cashews, but I like cashews and always take some. Butter is hard to beat, to add to freeze dried. My favoritest MT. Hse. is the blueberry granola breakfast cereal. You can add hot or cold water depending upon temps. I love the stuff and they finally started making the packaging smaller on it. I do freeze dried morning and night usually and lunch is RTE stuff. Some trail mix (don't care for banana chips, just personal pref) some of those cheesecrackerthingies some sausage and cheese, some crushed fritos a candy bar or cliff bar for later and wash it down with Metr-X usually diluted by that time to a watery concoction I wouldn't drink in town, but it tastes good out there. Those meal replacement drinks have made a big difference on how hard I can hunt on backpacking hunts, I can't reco them strongly enough.

VS,

My breakfasts are pretty similar to 1AKhunter's, only I make my own and pre-package individual servings in a ziploc "snack" bag, with powdered milk included. (bulk granola, chopped almonds, dried cranberries)


I nibble throughout the day, rather than eached a scheduled lunch, etc. My trail snack bag has home made trail mix (granola, M&M's, nuts, dried cranberries), a Power Bar, a Clif bar and a Costco Protein Bar , plus/or a few sticks of homemade jerky for protein. I'm still undecided on the protein bar, the covering melts in warmer weather, otherwise I think it would replace the jerky.

Lunch is a wholewheat bagel and swiss cheese with a little bit of the above trail snacks. Half of the bagel is usually eaten mid day and the other half around 4 or 5 pm.

Dinner is Mtn House.

You may want to do a search on this forum as this, and Moose Goo, were discussed in depth a year or so ago. JmF and Ed T, IIRC, had a bunch of comments.

Here's another link for you on Pemmican and Moose Goo:
http://www.kifaru.net/cgi-local/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=001016;p=0

Thanks guys, I tried a search and didnt come up with anything, I guess I didnt look far enough back.

VS

I just did a 3 year search for Moose Goo and didn't find anything anywhere either. Somewhere there was a thread and JimF was connected to it....

Kinda related, if interested, here is the pemmican thread (2004) It has a linkfor , and a little discussion on Moose Goo:

https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads...true#Post308148

Y'all

I have tried various recipies of moose goo. It seems to me that it is just too sugary. I admit that I have a (NOT) sweet tooth. When I messed around with the "new age pemmican" as discussed on the link that Dan posted, I discovered a few things. (I think)
....As I suspected it might, it provided a good long term "slow burn" fuel source.
....As E mentioned, it is long on protien and fat. This is not entirely bad, but one needs to be careful.
....Relevant to E's preference for complex carbs....I agree!! (but) with the stipulation that many of the bars available do no use much in the way of (real) whole grains, and it is not the most convenient thing to boil up a pot of steel cut oats every whipstich.

My current thinking is as follows.

The diet that we follow on a 3-5 day cross country trek with pack, rifle, and all that has some unique requirements. Our daily diet of salads, lean meat, fruits and veggies etc. are great but it's hard to carry it.

So.........

....A small amount of refined products AKA simple sugars are OK, but we need to watch it in order to avoid spikes.
....We need some calorie dense slow burn foods for both long term energy and packing efficiency.
....A high fiber complex carb component is valuable and maybe essential but not the easiest to carry or prepare.

Given the unique needs of a BP hunter, we have some challenges to face.....

A high quality complex carb brekky is probably ideal, but we usually need to roll out of the bag, get to our glassing spot etc. right as dawn cracks. We also need to be on stand or at least still hunting until the last glimmer of dusk so the time when we would prepare a substantial meal comes after dark.

Hence.....

My current idea is that the Pemmican recipie has some benefits. A small square in the AM serves to break the fast along with a quick cup of tea and some water. When mid-late AM comes along, this is the time to get after a complex carb higer fiber meal. You have time to prep and to clean up without interfering with the key hunting hours. A small chunk of pemmican offers the protien supplement if needed for this meal as well. Later afternoon is a good time for "dinner" Again, this is a time where you have prep and clean up time. After the last bell, when the sun is down, the tent or tarp is set up and the bag is rolled out, the pemmican has some utility as the evening snack without cooking odors etc. to attract Yogi after you retire.

So.....I think that's what I think about that.....maybe..... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

JimF

Jim,

Have you tried ProBars? They are made from whole grains, nuts, seeds and dried fruits. They are blended not baked. Best tasting bar I have eaten. They are starting to show up at health food stores or you can follow this link. I think they will become a big part of my 2-3 day hunting trip staples, along with the pemmican using the peanut butter or almond butter as the fat. Let me know what you think if you try the Pro Bars.

http://www.theprobar.com/

Ed T

Ed:

Thanks for the tip, that looks like a winner. Over 100 cal/oz and whole foods to boot. I'm moving back to Tahoe for the summer and have a lot of hikes planned. For sure these will get tested first thing.

JimF

Jim,

I think you will really like them. They are supposed to be coming out with a Berry flavor soon. The samples I had of it were very good as well. They also are going to have a gluten free bar soon.

Ed T

Just ordered a couple of dozen to try them out, JimF and Ed T you boys is ususally on the money, not expecting this one to be any different. Thanks 1ak

Back to the goo...
http://www.ultralightbackpacker.com/
I tried this last year- good stuff, but it seems awful heavy...

CCM, Thats the site I originally stumbled upon for the goo.

Today I had the house to myself and made about a million different batches to try to find a nice balance based on the feedback. I know Jim commented it seemed a bit to sweet and after sampling a bit to much my stomach decided it did not want to eat that much goo at one time without some changes.

Baking into "mookies" did not fare to well but I did decide that how the goo is delivered makes all the difference in the world. I cut way back on the honey and my final recipe is two parts corn flour, one part peanut butter (maybe a bit more than one part) and one part honey. The original recipe tasted good but was to sweet to eat a full meal of. I tired adding several different ingredients such as fruit, jellies etc but the texture made it unappealing.

For delivery flour tortillas are pretty good and I like the idea of having several already made up for eating on the move with minimal mess. The second option was to use a light weight bowl (the sealable/reuseable ziplock bowls are great) and spoon it onto something. Regular rice cakes have always left a lot to be desired but I found some flavored ones today. The toffey flavored cakes from Quaker Oats added a touch of flavor without pushing the limits on sugar overload. The last of the venison jerky was a nice way of providing a balanced meal that left me full without feeling bloated.

Despite my wife thinking Im loosing my mind I have committed myself to running on mostly goo for two days with a few supplements. I figure if it is going to be unbearable or a dietary failure I would rather find out in the comforts of home that ten miles from the truck and six hours from home.

I tried carrying the pemm-goo in a ziploc for a long day hike but it was a warm day and it got too soft and was a bit of a mess. The ziploc sandwich containers were great and weigh a fraction of an ounce each. To date, my favorite delivery system is seasoned rye-krisp.

The pemm-goo is really just the original moose goo recipie with most of the honey taken out. The fillers in the PB are rice flour, soy milk powder, and shredded jerky. The soy milk powder dries out the mix making it a bit less runny. Chopped raisins can also be added. I think a chunk of goo, some crackers and one of Ed's bars could get you near 800 cals. for about 6~7 oz. Add a big soup packet for any meal when it's cold, and I think you might have something.

JimF

I admire your discipline in checking your trail food, i.e. Moose Goo, but it seems to me the hallmark of a good marriage includes the verse "for better or worse" seems the wife should be sharing in your experiment and subsisting on Moose Goo as well. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" />

Let us know how that goes over when you broach the subject with her <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Well almost three days of moose goo and jerky and I lived to tell about it. I convinced my wife to sample it and she agreed it tasted like sweet peanut butter but she was not willing to follow my disciplined lead. The final recipe was two parts corn flour, 1 1/4 parts peanut butter and one part honey. The added peanut butter was based on a desire for a bit more protein, it had no effect on the taste or consistency. I tired some powdered soy milk but did not like the taste. Baking has still been a failure but I will try again when I have time, maybe I will make it as a sheet and cut it into bars after they have cooled.

I planned out 1500 calories of goo on rice cakes and flour tortillas, 500 on jerky and another 500 on gatorade and misc trail mix (bannana chips and almond M&M's) for each day and went about my usual routine. Even hit the treadmill on an incline with the pack (wife said she would take out my knees if I went through the neighborhood wearing my pack and hiking boots). I forgot to get an exact weight for the daily ration but other than the liquid it was under 1 1/2 pounds. If water is available the dehyrated stuff is still a bit lighter per hundred calories but the goos/jerky convenience of being ready at all times is rather handy.

I think the goo was a defininte success. It held up for three days with no signs of drying out (tortilla got a little crunchy and it went from a goo burrito to a goo taco). I wouldnt want to pack myself to the limit at one time but by eating 4-5 smaller meals mixed with the jerky and trailmix I had no problems at all. I didnt feel a big sugar rush after taking it and never felt a crash, just a steady fuel stream. For a day hike or even one night over I would pack the goo and jerky and be completely happy. If out for more than two days I would probably throw in a mountain house meal or two for dinners. Its still nice to get something hot at the end of a long day.

Now if I can just convince her why trekking poles are $100 I will be ok.

Thanks again for all the tips and feedback from everyone.

VarmintsInc, Quite an experiment and glad you survived the test <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> . Thanks for posting the results (especially the no sugar high or crash).

I swear, you people are going to get me to try this stuff yet!