Moose, better than elk?!?!

[mxracer317]

Hey guys, I just finished watching the latest YouTube upload on the MEAT EATER channel; “ Yukon giants, northern Alaskan Moose part 2”.

Spoiler alert… They got a good size bull.

But that’s not the reason for my post. The reason is that I’ve never actually eaten moose meat, and I hear that it is absolutely delicious. Apparently, some people love it more than elk!

I really wanna try moose meat and the only way to do it is to harvest a moose. My resident state is Utah and that’s basically a long climb to get a moose tag.


Would anyone have any suggestions for someone with no points harvesting a younger cow moose sooner than later AND which states would be best to try to accomplish this?

Ideally, if I could go the self-guided route that would be better. I’m not really interested in spending a ton of money… The experience of a self guided hunt is what makes harvesting the animal so rewarding for me.

 

[Gunner46]

I've had both moose and elk once. They were both outstanding. Better than whitetail, pig, or bear by a looooong shot!

 

[ashersdad]

According to goHunt, looks like Colorado is your best bet. A few tags in Wyoming too. Good luck and yes, moose meat is that good in my opinion.

 

[FlatlanderAZ]

Moose is yummy. We have elk and moose in our freezer right now. The moose inventory gets raided long before elk.

 

[Khunter]

Colorado is expensive, and hands down is your best bet to put a non resident cow moose tag in your pocket within a small handful of years. Getting a little tougher but a nonres drawing cow moose after a couple years used to be automatic. see the web link.

Have arrowed and eaten 3 shiras moose. great stuff. and the hair on moose hide is a beautiful trophy as well.

https://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/Hunting/BigGame/Statistics/Moose/2020MooseDrawnOut.pdf

 

[squirrel]

for a couple K you can look at Ontario fly in. You get a really cool adventure and a decent chance to bring home meat. They are in a pickle on issuing tags right now, but you might look into it. Price will be about the same but instead of paying the state you will pay the outfitter/pilot/province. Float plane ride is always a highlight for me, though others go all "white knuckle" for the duration.
Search Nakina moose.

 

[Arcola]

Moose ranks higher than elk in our house. I'm personally less biased. I tend to enjoy the differences in each species for what they are.

 

[Salmonchaser]

Moose then elk, white tail, black tail, mule deer. Sheep is surprisingly good.

 

[Salmonchaser]

Caribou pre rut is right behind elk. Post rut yuck.

 

[Dougfirtree]

Moose is awfully good. Don't rule out hiring yourself out as a packer. I know folks who have drawn a moose tag in Vermont and they generally bring some friends along who get paid in meat to pack out.

 

[Wildabeest]

...who get paid in meat to pack out.

Just don’t ‘splain it that way to the game warden...

 

[Gerald Martin]

I have personally eaten meat from 3 Shiras and one AK moose. Two of the Shiras were great flavor, but tough. The other Shiras was tender and delicious as was the AK moose.

To me it ranks at least as high as elk if not higher. Antelope is still better than either....

 

[Bowhuntrben]

Colorado is your best bet. I got a shiras a couple years ago. No elk yet to compare it to. I think it’s good, but honestly I think midwest (corn/ soy bean/etc. fed) whitetails taste better.
That said, I’m hoping to take my dad for a cow moose in a couple years. They’re fun to hunt!

 

[buffybr]

I've been lucky enough to have drawn two Montana Shiras moose tags, plus I took a friend moose hunting and he shot a B&C bull and gave me one quarter, so I've eaten 3 moose. My first moose was a 50" bull that when I checked him in to FWP the biologist called him a "gummer" because he was so old that his teeth had worn down to his gums. His meat tasted like a tough, old willow bush.

My second moose was a 40" bull that was younger, but the steaks were still on the tough side. The burger was great in hamburger helper, chili, and tacos. The meat from Larry's moose tasted about the same.

I've also been lucky enough to have shot 3 dozen elk. Most were 5x5 or better bulls. The steaks from the older bulls have been on the tough side, their flavor and the flavor of the burger from all of them has been excellent. I would rather eat a cheese burger made from elk meat than one made from beef.

I also got 500 pounds of burger from the American buffalo that I shot, and again, I like elk better. This buffalo was the only animal that I've shot that I had commercially processed. I had the processor cut the back straps and tenderloins into roasts (steaks), and grind the rest into burger with 10% beef fat. When we cooked the first roast we chewed, and chewed, and chewed. The flavor was great, but the meat was TOUGH! So I ground all of the roasts into burger.

And I've been lucky enough to have shot 3 bighorn rams from Montana's Unlimited units. Wild sheep meat is by far the best tasting wild meat that I've ever eaten.

Alaska allows non-resident moose hunting without a guide, but getting 300+ pounds of moose meat back home to the lower 48 can be very expensive.

Like squirrel posted, Canada has over the counter non-resident moose tags, but as far as I know, a guide is required for all non-resident big game hunting. Again, if you fly to Canada getting the meat home will be expensive. You can drive to many Canadian moose areas which would make getting the meat home cheaper.

I have brought home at least one <50 pound cooler of meat from two Alaskan and two Canadian hunts.

Several years ago I did a combination moose and caribou hunt in Newfoundland. Unfortunately, my guide and I didn't see any caribou and although I could have shot 3 different bull moose, none had the antlers that I wanted so I passed on shooting them. There were other hunters in that camp that were there for the meat, and they did shoot a small bull and couple of cows.

I've booked an Alaskan Brown Bear hunt this year that has the option to also shoot a moose, so hopefully I'll be able to taste Alaskan moose meat in September.

 

[Letthemgrow]

Pretty tough to beat a spike elk for me.
I've only shot one moose, a shiras and while the flavor was great, in the end I ground the back straps for burger. It was that tough. Awesome tacos though.

 

[406Born]

Rank of best tasting meat in my opinion based on animals I have taken.

1. Antelope
2. Moose
3. Elk
4. Deer
5. Bear

 

[MThuntr]

I've had moose several times and the ones from Montana (Shiras) have been exceptional in flavor but tough. All shot at the peak of rut so maybe that's a thing.

I think flavor is as good or better than elk. Honestly it was actually pretty close to horse in uniqueness of flavor.

If you want to shoot a moose, I think raffle and lottery tickets may have better odds of drawing for lower 48. Or you could head to AK or Canada for relatively inexpensive hunts.

 

[Gerald Martin]

I think flavor is as good or better than elk. Honestly it was actually pretty close to horse in uniqueness of flavor.

Hmm....Do I sense a potential clandestine Hunttalk meat gathering expedition in the desert in the future???
Asking for a friend.

 

[YoungGun]

I would certainly place my moose and my buddy’s moose, both bulls from SW Montana, higher on the list than any elk in taste. There wasn’t a bad cut of meat on either one of them. I’ll also second the statement that the hide is a real trophy from any moose. I had my entire bull tanned, and it was worth the weight of the pack out.
Montana offers cow only hunts, but I suspect other states have better odds.

 

[Bowhuntrben]

Colorado is expensive, and hands down is your best bet to put a non resident cow moose tag in your pocket within a small handful of years. Getting a little tougher but a nonres drawing cow moose after a couple years used to be automatic. see the web link.

Have arrowed and eaten 3 shiras moose. great stuff. and the hair on moose hide is a beautiful trophy as well.

https://cpw.state.co.us/Documents/Hunting/BigGame/Statistics/Moose/2020MooseDrawnOut.pdf

I would certainly place my moose and my buddy’s moose, both bulls from SW Montana, higher on the list than any elk in taste. There wasn’t a bad cut of meat on either one of them. I’ll also second the statement that the hide is a real trophy from any moose. I had my entire bull tanned, and it was worth the weight of the pack out.
Montana offers cow only hunts, but I suspect other states have better odds.

Do you have pics of the hide? I’m considering doing that if I take my dad for a cow. Just wondering what they look like completed.