Growing up in Maine, wild game is a dietary staple. If you don’t hunt, you know someone who does. You have a friend who happened to tag a few deer that season and gives you a little meet. Or a kindly neighbor brings you a shopping bag full of moose meat.

That last one is how I scored a half a freezer full of moose meat.

Sitting home one day, I hear a knock on my door. Answering it, it’s one of my neighbors who tells me that he purchased the land way down back behind my house. We chat for a bit, I give him the green light to access his land by using the old right-of-way that is on my property and I thought that would be the end of it (as long as I didn’t have vehicles impeding on my driveway, people driving on my lawn, etc.) He sets to work clearing some trees, making the ROW wide enough for a vehicle to pass through again. Four days into it, he’s back at my door. He hands be a WalMart grocery bag and tells me it’s a gift for letting him use the ROW.

I opened the bag and I’m pretty sure I was express ticketed to Heaven. I’ve had deer off and on through the years. I’ve tried bear, rabbit and wild turkey (even bagged a few turkeys myself). But nothing has ever compared to what my taste buds feel when I have moose. It’s delicious and there are probably 50 ways I can cook it.

Given that I know so many tried-and-true ways to cook moose meat, it’s surprising that I set out to find something new to do with the first mini bag I thawed. After trying that tasty delight, I’m happy I did.

This recipe doesn’t specifically require moose meat. You can use venison, regular beef, or pretty much anything. And, I also made a few changes of my own, which I’ll note in the directions. Total cook time is 5-6 hours on High.

Crock Pot BBQ Moose

In a bowl, add the first 8 ingredients. Reserve 1/2 cup for sauce later (which I did not do. I dumped it all in the crock pot). Trim excess fat from meat if using chuck roast. Put meat and onions into a 4 quart crock pot (or dutch oven). Pour liquid over meat. Crock pot time: Cover and cook 5-6 hours on high. Dutch oven time: Cook covered for 3 hours at 325-degrees F. Remove meat from liquid and serve with sauce.

Sauce: Heat reserved spiced liquid, ketchup and butter in a sauce pan until butter melts. Set aside in fridge. Heat through and serve with meat.

So, more notes on how I did this are: I didn’t use the cayenne pepper (personally not a fan), and I didn’t make the reserved sauce for the end. Did it matter that I just dumped all the initial sauce in with the moose and onions? No. It was still tender and juicy meat. It was delicious, and I’m definitely planning on making it again before all of the moose meat is gone. I’m also thinking of trying it with venison too.