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.
Students worked alongside experienced meat cutter Rex Crocker, who brought cutting tools and helped them break down the animal. They also learned how to vacuum-seal meat for storage.
Becky Cropley demonstrated how to can moose meat, a preservation method that allows it to be stored without refrigeration.
The school had not held the activity in several years because it relies on an illegally killed moose being recovered and made available for educational use.
“The students were pretty excited to be involved with the whole process,” said Maine guide Dave Conely, who assisted with the class. Each student took home about 25 pounds of moose meat.