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Long Range Hunting & Shooting
Retrieving downed animals
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<blockquote data-quote="tjbill" data-source="post: 273194" data-attributes="member: 5502"><p>I have never left one of my kills overnight, but have left the skin on overnight when I was younger. EVERY deer that we didn't get the skin off right away has been the gamiest and toughest meat we have had. The most important thing is to get the meat cooled all the way through as quickly as possible. The food safety standard for cooling meat is to get the INTERNAL temperature below 70 degrees within the first two hours and then below 40 (or 41 depending on what health code you fall under) within the next four hours. Now in real hunting situations, I don't carry a stem thermometer and it might take 6 hours just to get the animal back to the truck, you could be hours from the nearest town, it could be 50 - 60 degrees, etc. So here is my rule that I do everything in my power to follow - make a good shot and a quick recovery then gut and skin the animal as quickly as possible and then break the animal down into smaller pieces if possible, and if not at least open up the chest cavity and the shoulders. If you do this right away it will quickly lower the temp of the meat even on a warmer day, but if you leave the skin on it will insulate (that's a big part of how they stay warm) the big muscles and keep it well above 70 degrees for several hours even if the temperature is around freezing. And as was stated before, get the meat off the ground as the ground will insulate the meat that it is in contact with and cause that section to turn pretty quickly. You wouldn't buy prime grade tenderloins at the grocery store and then leave them in the trunk of your car for several hours, so do your best to take care of the animals you harvest.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="tjbill, post: 273194, member: 5502"] I have never left one of my kills overnight, but have left the skin on overnight when I was younger. EVERY deer that we didn't get the skin off right away has been the gamiest and toughest meat we have had. The most important thing is to get the meat cooled all the way through as quickly as possible. The food safety standard for cooling meat is to get the INTERNAL temperature below 70 degrees within the first two hours and then below 40 (or 41 depending on what health code you fall under) within the next four hours. Now in real hunting situations, I don't carry a stem thermometer and it might take 6 hours just to get the animal back to the truck, you could be hours from the nearest town, it could be 50 - 60 degrees, etc. So here is my rule that I do everything in my power to follow - make a good shot and a quick recovery then gut and skin the animal as quickly as possible and then break the animal down into smaller pieces if possible, and if not at least open up the chest cavity and the shoulders. If you do this right away it will quickly lower the temp of the meat even on a warmer day, but if you leave the skin on it will insulate (that's a big part of how they stay warm) the big muscles and keep it well above 70 degrees for several hours even if the temperature is around freezing. And as was stated before, get the meat off the ground as the ground will insulate the meat that it is in contact with and cause that section to turn pretty quickly. You wouldn't buy prime grade tenderloins at the grocery store and then leave them in the trunk of your car for several hours, so do your best to take care of the animals you harvest. [/QUOTE]
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