Moose Chili

Last night I made moose chili for dinner. This is not an uncommon meal in our house, I also make a mean deer steak- fried with onions and butter. Many people feel that eating wild animals is cruel, even gross. To this I say "are you kidding me?". To all of the people out there who eat meat, do you have any idea where it comes from? What it ate? What it's quality of life was? I commend the people who seek out free range/ grass fed etc. meats from local farms. For me, if I am eating beef or chicken or pork, this is the only way to go. To all of the people who would rather not acknowledge that that steak on their plate came from a cow, who was fed the wrong feed (cows should not live on corn) and lived in cramped quarters, and then slaughter in a very inhumane way, shame on you.
     When you start to look at quality of life though, you can not tell me that a moose, who has lived it's entire life doing just as it is supposed to do, does not have a great quality of life. When an experienced and respectful hunter shoots one, it's death should be instant. This is as free range and organic as it gets, people. I have complete respect for the animal that filled my belly last night, and that will continue to on many nights to come.
     Many hunters hunt for sport. I find this shameful. The taking of any life just for fun is just plain wrong. On the other hand, hunters who hunt for meat are a respectable bunch. They know how to kill an animal with the least amount of suffering possible, and they know how to use as much of it as they can. My Grandfather, for instance, who will be 85 this fall, got a deer and a moose this fall. I eat the meat, him and my grandmother eat the meat, and so do numerous other people. It will all be used. For people that hunt and feel they can not eat all of the meat themselves, there is a program here called Hunters for Hunger which allows you to donate part of the meat to local food pantries.
       Before you judge those of us who eat off the land, please take a good look into where your meat came from. Know that it is not just "meat". It was once a living animal with feelings like you.

a young moose near Eustis