Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska "Gamey" moose/caribou

I'm going to post this on a couple different places. I think it's worthwhile.

The moose I shot this fall was shot way late in the season (Sept 28 or 29) and was going into rut. In the round, the bull had only a slight rut musk to it. It was most properly cared for in all aspects, and the cooling/aging temps were excellent. In the butchering, the odor became stronger, or more apparent, anyway

I'll not shoot another after the 20th, unless it is a cow, but a couple previous bulls, shot earlier in the season, also had the off flavor. They were all 3 year olds, and I have a theory that some bulls of that age just go hog wild over the breeding thing,hormones, and drinking piss, even tho they haven't a clue, and almost certainly won't be accepted by a cow. Much like some human teenagers.....

When I opened the critter up, the several gallons of blood inside really stunk, and further experience with it determined that the rutty scent was almost entirely in the blood.

The meat has a definate "tang" to it (trapped blood) - not inedible, but not all that pleasant either. Heavily spicing it doesn't handle the problem, nor does a salt water soak (just made it salty rutty!). Plain water soak helped.

Then I tried throwing some baking soda into the water I use to defrost the cuts.
Bingo! The objectionable flavor is almost entirely gone, and it seems to also serve to tenderize. Assuming the flavor is uric acid based (what it tastes like) - this makes sense. Baking soda neutralizes acids

Soak an hour or more.....rinse with plain water. File this one away, if you will....

This is not to say it is acceptable and correctable meat wise to shoot bull moose and caribou (and other species which get rank in the rut) in full rut. Don't.

Never ate a gamey moose, but I will try the baking soda if I happen to fell one.

John

I'd prefer never to get another one like that myself....

A few years back I shot a big bull on Sept 11 that was in full rut, tho it was early. Had he not had misformed antlers on one side he would have gone about 59 inches, instead of 53 inches spread. His neck was all swollen up, his tongue was pink, his belly was empty, and he came roaring in to the call... But he hadn't been fighting and gotten all punctured up yet, nor, probably, had he been drinking urine from rut pits yet.

One of the best moose I've ever eaten.

You pays your money and takes your chances, but should hedge your bets as well, if possible.... hence my vow to henceforth not shoot any bulls between Sept 20 and late October - i.e late pre-rut and rut.

I note that soaking in water helped... and thats what we do/did with hogs that had a bit of stench to them. Soak in ice filled cooler and let it drain... for at least a week or more. It actually helps.

Nice to know about the baking soda though!

Jeff

Interesting info las, thanks! Knock on wood, I've not eaten rank moose, but have also not eaten any shot after Sep 20.

Jeff

Me either.Had a few tough ones but it never was gamey.My last elk stunk so bad I'll never hunt them again.

rutty scent .......i've been there.....could not even eat it. and NO amount of spices etc was taking care of it. i shot the 54" bull off the hot springs road while it was "playing with 4 cows... in the end a old musher ended up with it...then he gave me a "rutty moose",it was differnt than my so called rutty moose...this was 20+ years ago he said that my moose was not rutty but pumped up on adrenalin..there was a taste diffence neither whice is good. BTW, a rutty boo, if there meat touches anything it will taint it.(this inclueds cold truck beds and come spring thaw u WILL be reminded of that boo ;(...

I like moose as an eating critter, but I was put off of that for a few years after being given about 100lbs of meat by an old boy one year....

Decided to start my new wife at the time off right with moose meat, as she hadn't tried any yet ever. Used my favoritest burger recipe (she was big into charcoil grilled burgers) and made beautiful big patties....

Grilled to perfection outside on the deck....Gorgeous kaiser rolls, fresh morel mushrooms fried in garlic and butter.....

So you can imagine my disappointment when I took a big mouthful and immediately puked it up on the floor in the kitchen....

No way shape or form could I gag it down. Tried soaking meat in coca cola, milk, salt water, instant coffee, you name it. Nothing. Not the ribs, not a steak, not a roast was edible.

Couldn't even use it for coyote bait, as they wouldn't touch it.

I've killed quite a few bull moose over the years and have never had one that tasted gamey. Some shot on opening day and a few shot within a day or 2 of closing. I didn't know bull moose drank cow urine, that's a new one to me. Now caribou, that's a whole nother story.

Sounds to me, like that Moose was a "sour bone". It can, and does happen, even in Federal & State inspected slaughter houses, with the best beef available.

It�s usually caused by poor bleeding. I�ve seen it happen even when the steer is bleed out on the kill floor. If there is a blockage somewhere on the critter, a good portion of blood stays in the animal. When that happens, the heat of the animal will turn the blood sour very quickly with the retained heat the carcass holds, even though it�s been skinned, bagged & hung in the carcass cooling locker.

If one were to stick his finger in alongside a large bone, the smell is one you won�t quickly forget. Although smell is almost impossible to describe in writing, it is a rancid, putrid, rank scent, that identifies the entire carcass as worthless for human consumption. Frankly, when we received them, we had to toss them into the waste bbls, as the rendering company would paying .03 @ lbs for an otherwise worthless carcass.

For the bulls that are in the middle of the rut and a bit rank, before cooking, try soaking the meat in Buttermilk about 6hrs before cooking. You will not get any buttermilk flavor in the cooked meat, but the cooked meat should come out with a much milder flavor.

Respects,

Richard

We have used plain milk for years on gamey stuff... It does make a difference...

bull moose drink cow piss, but caribou take it to another level.


Larry-
Interesting approach with the baking soda. Thanks for the post.

Yes sir with milk you can eat sea ducks.

Geeze...I've only been treated to 2 moose steaks...one when I was about ten years old & the other about ten years ago. Absolutely the best tasting meat I've ever had.

Interesting stories here. Sounds like "moose roulette". I wonder if the size of the moose has anything to do with the rankness that has been encountered. It'll be interesting to see Mule Deer weigh in here.

Yessss!

I've never tasted moose that I couldn't stomach. Obviously, the very best are generally those, regardless of size, which are taken in the pre-rut August season. But, I've also eaten very good moose which had bellies full of piss and little else. I've eaten some young bulls from winter which tasted alright but were tougher than leather, and some winter giants which were just about as mild and tender- for the season- as one will find. The absolute worst, and winter moose rate as willowy overall- was one which was both winter and still suffering from rut-induced injuries and infection. I might never kill moose again if that had been my first.

But even dogs, at times, won't eat rutty caribou bulls. That says something.

Both me and my father shot late September bulls (3-4 yr old's) in Alberta Canada. That stuff was flat out rank, never again. The hunting is great during the rut, but the meat not so much.

I've shot deer and elk during the rut, neither compare to moose we shot. We pretty much made sausage out of it, and few well marinated roasts.

Had a bull elk that way once, the baking soda trick works. give it a try.

Coca-Cola works good as a tenderizer, but I don't think it helps with gaminess. I shot a bull once that turned out to be 9 and a half years old. I had to learn all about tenderizers.

A moose is a very large animal and if you don�t how to handle a large animal in the field, or you do not take precautions to keep hair off the meat you will have problems. I also make sure my hands do not touch the meat IF they have been handling the hide because it will transfer a pee taste to the meat. Did you also know that the neck meat of a large bull could taint other meat? I always keep the neck meat in it own bag and separated from other meat. If you gut shot or cut the guts with your knife wash off the knife and meat with blood or water if not you will be sorry.