How not to spoil a moose on record-hot opening day

WARNING:This story contains graphic photos

Moose season is always a hot time of year for New Brunswickers particularly this fall.

A string of hot days has experts warning hunters to get their moose meat out of the heat as soon as possible.

"The hotter the day, the less time you have to get your moose out and have it in good shape," said Troy Grant, who has been a butcher in the Woodstock area for 25 years.

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Moose season kicked off Tuesday with scorching hot temperatures in the low 30s Celsius, and ahumidexof 40 C for much of the southern and central part of the province by afternoon.

In that kind of heat, the butcher Grant said hunters need to be quick getting their moose out of the woods before the meatstarts to spoil.

"Time is working against them on a hot day," he said.

Shortly after 7 a.m. on Tuesday, PamHallett-Seelywasout on her first moose hunt, whenshe slew her first moose ever.

"My cousin spotted one I told him to shoot it and he said, 'No you shoot it,'"said Hallett-Seely, who was hunting in theWoodstockarea with her two cousins.

"It was pretty exciting. Wedid some hollering and screaming and that was the end of it."

Her moose dropped to the groundjust off the road, where the trio gutted the animal, before bringing it in for weighing, and then to thelocal meat shop for butchering.

Hallett-Seelysaid she put blocks of ice into the moose carcass after it was shot.

"You have to move fast on a day like today," said the Woodstock native.

Jean Bertin, a provincial government spokesperson, said hunters should be prepared when harvestingmoose meat.

"When it comes to the harvesting process during moose hunting season, the [government] would suggest the opinion of a local butcher as to what are the best ways of preserving a carcass in preparation to be butchered in warm weather," he wrote in an email to CBC News.

Organization is key

Hunters should already know how they're going to get the moose out of the woods in a timely fashion, Grant said.

The first thing to do is get the body heat out of the moose carcass and make sure to field dress, or gut, the animal.

Get that moose out of the heat

7 years ago

Duration 0:52

Moose season is always a hot time of year for New Brunswickers particularly this fall.

Hunters should wait to do the field dressing by their vehicle if themoose carcass is not more than an hour away. Thatway flies and other insects won'tget into the carcass.

But if the body is farther away, the animal should be gutted as soon as possible, Grant said.

"If it's going to be three, four, five hours before you get it out of there, well that's just practically a no-no on a day like this," he said.

Hot winter coat

Larry Henderson, a meat cutter for 50 years specializing in deer and moose,saidhe expects hot days during the moose hunt to bequiet.

"We've only seen three moose today," Henderson said."That's all, it's too hot."

In his experience, the moose hide will accelerate the spoiling of meat, no matter how much ice is packedinside the carcass, he said.

"Ice is only going to cool parts of the inside," said Henderson. "That coat keeps a moose alive in minus 40 temperatures. It's a thick, thick, heavy coat, and on days like today hot to the touch."

"SoI've got three rule number one: take the hide off. Number two: take the hide off. Number three: take the hide off. That's the answer. As soon as you can."

Size matters

Grant said the size of the moose can also makea difference.

A small moose doesn't carry as much body heatas a bigger moose and isn't going to deteriorate as quickly.

"It's got so much more bulk to it and so much more body heat," Grant said.

Once the weather starts to cool down later in the week, hunters can extend their time for dressing a moose and getting it out of the woods.

Until then, however, the moose should get to the butcher's as soon as possible so it can be stored in a cold environment.

But organizationisn't always that simple, particularly when a moose is shot but not killed.

Grant said amoose can sometimes run off and it might take several hours before it's found decayingin the woods.

"Today, no doubt there are going to be moose in New Brunswick that are going to be completely spoiledand not edible at all."

Spoiler alert

Grant said deterioration can start in two to three hours, and after six hours a moose decayingin the woods might start to smell.

Sometimes when a big bull is left in the heat for six to eight hours, on a truck or in the woods, its shoulders can turn green from all the body heat. Typically, Grant said, he can trim any decayingpart off the animaland the moose is still edible.

"They need to understand it but not fear it, unless they're pushing their luck with time limits," he said.

The moose hunt lasts through Saturday.