Processing hunters’ bounty a family affair

With hunting season in full swing, area meat processors are staying busy. One multi-generational family operation has built its business from the ground up, offering its clients high standards and a personal touch that have seeded customer loyalty and expanded the customer base.

In its 12th year of processing meat for farmers and hunters, Bear Mountain Meats in Palmer is up to its eyeballs in moose, as another year’s harvest comes in. Located on a sprawling meadow in the shadow of Lazy Mountain, Bear Mountain Meats has built its reputation on quality cutting and diligent meat care. “We’re very picky,” said Tony Dahl, co-owner of Bear Mountain Meats. “We turn away as much meat as we take.” Proper meat care is critical to a good final product. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game says keeping meat clean and cool in the field is the best way to ensure its freshness for processing.

Once meat is removed from the animal, it should be placed in clean, dry game bags and hung in a cool, dry, well-ventilated place. Meat should never be wrapped in plastic garbage bags, and game bags should never be stacked on top of each other.

While it is often easy to identify properly handled meat, all moose, caribou and other game processed are not created – or handled – equally. So Dahl has made it a strict rule to never mix meat when returning it to customers.

“Keeping people’s meat separate is our thing,” he said. “Everyone gets their own meat.”

Dahl’s eye for meat was honed in his previous vocation as meat manager at Fred Meyer. Each fall, he would take on small-scale moose butchering as a side hustle. As demand increased each year, he and his father, Steve, saw an opportunity. They launched Bear Mountain Meats in 2012 with 180 square feet of cold storage. Today, that capacity has expanded to 2,000 square feet, along with a butchering facility, retail store, and still growing database with more than 4,000 customers from Homer to Fairbanks to Valdez.

Robert “Bo” Deschamps is one of those loyal customers. He’s been taking his fall moose to Bear Mountain since the early days of the operation.

“Tony and Steve are great people. They take good care of us,” he said. “We like our meat clean and well taken care of. Other places mix meat. At Bear Mountain, they take our meat in, and we get our meat back. They’re just a good bunch of guys who produce great products.”

Bear Mountain Meats is a true family affair, too. In addition to the father-son owners, Tony’s wife, Brigitte, and the couple’s two children all help keep the operation running smoothly.

These days, that means keeping a meticulous inventory of game meat taken in and each customer’s order for how they want their finished product processed. Some customers want a variety of cuts – steaks, roasts, etc. Others want it all ground for burgers and sausage. Bear Mountain Meats offers 20 different varieties of sausage, including popular choices like jalapeno cheddar, teriyaki, and BBQ. On sausage-making days, 200 links per minute can be processed.

Dahl also offers customers an all-natural option for their sausage. Instead of adding commercial fat to sausage, Bear Mountain saves the fat from naturally raised, Alaska grown beef it processes in the months before hunting season. “We take the time to vacuum seal it and hold it for months,” he said. “It’s cool being able to offer that option.” Similarly, nitrate-free curing is also an available option at Bear Mountain. As they do every year, hunters will keep Dahl and his charges hopping through September. But there won’t be much of a break after that. “I’ve already got 60 head of cattle and 50 hogs scheduled for October,” Dahl said. With the holidays right around the corner, that means specialty items geared toward festivities that revolve around the dinner table. A bacon-wrapped prime rib roast is a perennial favorite, as are custom hams seasoned with the company’s own spice blends.

Hunters wishing to have their moose, caribou, or other game animal processed can call Bear Mountain Meats for availability.

FIND OUT MORE

https://bearmountainmeats.com/

www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=hunting.meatcare