Outdoors
The BDN outdoors section brings readers into the woods, waters and wild places of Maine. It features stories on hunting, fishing, wildlife, conservation and recreation, told by people who live these experiences. This section emphasizes hands-on knowledge, field reports, issues, trends and the traditions that define life outside in Maine. Read more Outdoors stories here.
East Grand High School students in Danforth got a hands-on lesson in processing wild game Wednesday, learning how to butcher, package and preserve meat from a bull moose.
The Maine Warden Service recovered the moose last week after it was illegally shot in northern Maine during Maine’s antlerless-only moose hunt, which ran Oct. 26-31. Warden Tyler Leach quartered the animal and packed it out of the woods before delivering it to Hatch’s Meat Cutting in Merrill for cold storage.
Rex Crocker, a Danforth resident who previously worked as a professional meat cutter and held several roles at East Grand School over the years, helped students break down the animal. He brought his own cutting tools and shared his experience with the class.
Becky Cropley, an educational technician at the school, demonstrated how to can moose meat, a preservation method that allows it to be stored without refrigeration. Students also learned how to vacuum-seal meat for storage.
The school had not held the activity in several years because it depends on an illegally killed moose being recovered and made available for educational use.
The lesson was part of East Grand’s outdoor education program, which is in its 30th year. The high school elective is open to students in grades nine through 12 and meets every other school day from 8 to 9:30 a.m. Students learn outdoor skills including map and compass navigation, fire building, canoeing and riflery, as well as teamwork and leadership.
This year’s class has 12 students and is taught by Maine guides Dave Conley and Tammi Matula. Matula also teaches physical education and health at the school.
“The students were pretty excited to be involved with the whole process,” Conley said. Each student took home about 25 pounds of meat.