A pickup bed makes a handy table

Same critter from the last post. She was a calf. Small enough three men lifted her into the bed of the truck.














After we got her in the truck we thought "why haul the guts home?" So we started to open her up.

We typically split them up the middle. I've tried splitting the hide up the spine and taking the quarters off with out ever opening up the abdominal wall (like ADF&G recomends) but you miss out on the liver, kidneys, heart, and the teeny tiny tenderloins. I also think about saving the stomach and lungs for Haggis, but I haven't done it yet.














I've never used a gut hook. Here Dad is opening her up using a hunting knife with a finger next to the point so he doesn't puncture the gut.


Notice that we skin the hide back quite a ways before splitting the gut open, this helps keep hair off the meat. Moose hair seems to shed very easy, I can pull it out by the hand-full. In my opinion moose hide is only good for leather or raw hide, not fur.