2022 Big Game

[Little Dutch]

I'll upload a photo when I get around to shrinking one down enough for the site to accept it.

I got my bull moose on the 12th. I took him in the afternoon, about 30 minutes before sunset. Then my hunting partner and I spent most of the night skinning, cleaning, and hiking him out. It was heavy work.

I knew going in that moose are big animals, but wow. It was like breaking down a steer. Getting the guts out was considerably more difficult than an elk, the connective tissue in there was no joke. There was no way for us to hang him up, so we had to do it on the ground. We got most of him, but were frankly just too tired to get the ribs.

The 4 quarters and extra meat we were able to get was 408 hanging lbs at the processor. There's a fair amount of bone weight in that figure from the legs of course. But I'm pleased with how this hunt went, and I'm very glad I didn't shoot the small boy I had a chance at on the 11th.

I had decided on a European mount instead of a shoulder. I'm looking forward to getting that back. I'll get the skull in a few weeks. The tanned skin will likely be over a year.

Edit to add antler measurements taken by the CPW

Right side base circumference was 6 & 4/8"
Left side base circumference was 6 & 2/8"
Spread was 44 & 2/8"