Moose Loading Logistics

[HereDuckyDucky]

As my wife and I get ready for her moose hunt, I have yet another moose logistics question:

Do you guys prefer to load them whole into the bed of a truck / onto a trailer? Or do you prefer to quarter and haul in game bags?

For those who load whole, what's your preferred method for accomplishing that in the field?

RW

[jackelope]

I've never shot a moose, or been moose hunting for that matter so take this with a grain of salt I guess.... but the first thing that comes to mind is why limit yourself to being that close to the road that you *could load a moose whole into your vehicle?

[trophyhunt]

My plan if we kill our moose on the road or close enough for our rope and snatch blocks, is to load it whole. We will be in grizz country or I’d probably just quarter it. The only way we will be able to load it whole is use a small winch at the front of the bed of my truck and use ramps to pull it up. Eventually we will quarter and hang all the pieces and body meat safely at camp. Camp is in town.

[trophyhunt]

I've never shot a moose, or been moose hunting for that matter so take this with a grain of salt I guess.... but the first thing that comes to mind is why limit yourself to being that close to the road that you *could load a moose whole into your vehicle?

Josh, from what I’ve learned in this adventure, we have a good chance of killing a moose right on the road. I guess during the rut they travel the roads a bit.

[jackelope]

Ahh. They seem to like the roads. I've picked up 3 moose sheds and all of them have been either on a closed road or right along side it.

[HighCountryHunter88]

We've used snatch block to a cut bank and then backed the truck up and 4-5 guys heav-hoed it in

[Okanagan]

The situation will dictate how much you break down the moose.  It's a good idea to start the hunt with flexible plans and options rather than a predetermined intent on how to process a moose.  As an outfitter friend of mine told a hunter who asked if they quartered their moose, “Well, depending on where the moose is, we kind of hunk them.”

IE.  On a moose not far north of the Canadian line near Oroville, I backpacked 9 hunks 400 yards to a road.  A quarter was too heavy to carry across little strips of bog and several little 40 foot high rocky ridges.  That one had jammed itself into a depression the size of its BIG body, forcing me to lift entrails to gut it and then start cutting off accessible hunks till the weight was reduced enough to move and position the rest.  OTOH a moose on level moss right beside the road once got perfect quartering.  Another one got floated whole across a lake to a logging road.  Using a 4x4 and a big pulley block tied to a tree, we pulled it above the road, tied it off, repositioned the pick-up and slid it down into the truck bed whole.  We drove to a ranch we knew and hoisted the bull up with a big John Deere tractor to skin.

Your moose hunt with your wife will be an adventure you will never forget!  You can't foresee everything but several knives, a sharp saw, light strong rope, block and tackle, plastic to lay meat on, etc. are easy to take along.  Where the moose falls, how steep, brushy, dusty/gravelly, how far from a road, temperature and how much time you have to work on it will all influence how big of pieces you cut the moose into in the field.  Can't wait to hear your story!

[Tinmaniac]

I have never pulled out a moose but have pulled 15 elk out whole.My advice is you better have a few buddies on call if you get one down!We always have 1000' of good strong rope or haywire,3 big snatch blocks and tree straps with shackles.4x4 truck and winch with at least 150' of cable and a tow strap to make a noose for pulling it out head first.You need 2 way radios so you can talk to each other when the head gets hung up 50 times.High banking and backing the tailgate into the bank and pulling the animal in works good.A nice low trailer works good too.A good sized moose is going to be beyond heavy,just getting it into position to gut will be a chore.If you plan on hanging it whole you better have a nice wide strong gambrel,ours is homemade for hanging elk whole.We also have a big homemade angle bracket with a pulley on the end that we chain strap around a tree about 12' off the ground so we bring a ladder.We use the winch to hoist it up in the tree.A decent come along can be handy as well.Good luck once the animal hits the ground the work begins.

[NOCK NOCK]

Bring a cordless Sawzall, best thing to have with a moose on the ground. They are BIG. I couldn't even roll mine over, let alone lift it.

[steeleywhopper]

Bring a cordless Sawzall, best thing to have with a moose on the ground. They are BIG. I couldn't even roll mine over, let alone lift it.

The Sawzall is a must and has worked wonders for us in our family moose ventures. I would also add that we have killed a couple of different moose in E.Washington throughout the years and 2 of them were within 40 yards of where we could get the truck to them. We decided that quartering  and packing to the truck was the best and easiest way to get them in the truck. Getting them in whole is cool but moose are big critters and getting that meat cooled quickly was first on our mind.

[huntnnw]

wouldnt even entertain the idea of bothering to load whole and makes not much sense to me. If it is dead in a road you have a flat nice spot next to the truck to process it.

[HereDuckyDucky]

Only reason I considered taking it out whole is because I have access to a place to hang it whole.

RW

[Bango skank]

I have never pulled out a moose but have pulled 15 elk out whole.My advice is you better have a few buddies on call if you get one down!We always have 1000' of good strong rope or haywire,3 big snatch blocks and tree straps with shackles.4x4 truck and winch with at least 150' of cable and a tow strap to make a noose for pulling it out head first.You need 2 way radios so you can talk to each other when the head gets hung up 50 times.High banking and backing the tailgate into the bank and pulling the animal in works good.A nice low trailer works good too.A good sized moose is going to be beyond heavy,just getting it into position to gut will be a chore.If you plan on hanging it whole you better have a nice wide strong gambrel,ours is homemade for hanging elk whole.We also have a big homemade angle bracket with a pulley on the end that we chain strap around a tree about 12' off the ground so we bring a ladder.We use the winch to hoist it up in the tree.A decent come along can be handy as well.Good luck once the animal hits the ground the work begins.

That sounds like a hell of a lot more work than disassembling an elk on the spot

[Stein]

If I had a helicopter that could lift it, I would consider taking it out whole.  Otherwise, it's coming apart and going into the truck, even if it dies in the middle of the road.

[Tinmaniac]

To each his own.I have done it both ways.I always look forward to playing trucks and winches.I never look forward to packing them out on my back.Our butcher always tells us he wishes they all came in this clean.These are all November and December kills when an animal can hang for a bit without worrying about spoilage.