Meat care in the back counrty

[NYSHUNTER]

Just wondering on some other techniques on handling meat care in the back country.

My method is to get the meat cooled asap by hanging it up where the wind blows quite nicely, but recently a friend sent me a video clip with some well known back country hunters talking about soaking the meat in streams or a lake to cool it faster. Has any one tried this out and what was the result ? Also they talked about using citrus acid on the meat which i have never done before.. Any thoughts ?

 

[gusd]

I have had no problems with doing it the same way you already do. Getting it cool by hanging it in the coolest place out of the sun and keeping it dry has always worked great. On the other hand anytime I have had meat get wet I have had spoilage. I have even found ice melting in a cooler and getting the meat wet even though it is still cold to do damage.
I personally would never put meat in a stream or lake unless you had some high quality water proof bags to put it in to keep the meat dry then it would make sense to me to do that.
I would also think that unless I was willing to drink the water out of said stream or lake I sure would not want to put it on meat that I was planning on eating.

I have on an early Sept. elk hunt when it was 75 degrees out hung the meat over a stream in the shade seamed to be the coolest spot I could find

 

[Timber338]

I've never submerged in a stream but that certainly could work in warm temps with a heavy construction grade garbage bag or something similar.

I just hang in a cool spot like you are doing.

At my truck I have several 120 quart coolers and keep one of them filled with frozen water bottles. I can fit 1/2 an elk in one cooler (front & rear quarter plus a backstrap and heart and other small boned meat like neck/rib/etc) in a single cooler. Then surround all the meat with frozen water bottles. When the ice melts it stays in the water bottles and does not get the meat wet.

Keep in mind most freezers cannot freeze that many bottles in a short period of time, so plan ahead and get them in the freezer at least a full week before the hunt. I also put a bunch more water bottles in the freezer right as I'm leaving so I have another freezer full of frozen water bottles when I get home in case it's warm.

 

[cowboy]

I have on an early Sept. elk hunt when it was 75 degrees out hung the meat over a stream in the shade seamed to be the coolest spot I could find

If you have a stream with shade you might consider cutting some lodge pole and laying them across the stream just above the water line, lay your bags of meat on the logs, then covering the meat bags with tree boughs. The tree boughs seem to hold the cool air from the running water - we do it also to keep them pesky camp robber birds off the meat bags.

Never been a proponent of putting meat into the water, or putting meat into a plastic bag and then submerging it but sometimes you gotta do whatever it takes to save your meat.

 

[bigngreen]

All our antelope go in the water as soon as we can get too a creek, makes a huge difference in how good they are. On elk if we have to leave them we knock the quarters of leaving the hide on and bag the trim and hang it in a shaded area with good air flow, air flow is critical, more critical than temp unless you can really pull the temp down fast. Whenever I cut meat we use a pile of water, water everywhere, makes for much better quality meat, we skin then spend a lot of time washing!
Spraying stuff on the meat that is exposed to air can help especially in keeping the flys and such from contaminating the meat or from mold starting but if at all possible the best is just getting wildgame processed as soon as possible to it cooling down.
NEVER put wild game in plastic bags of any kind warm, never put any temp meat in garbage bags as they are treated with stuff you don't want on your meat.

 

[NYSHUNTER]

BIG,

I heard that citrus acid powder works well for the flys. I never used it call me old fashion but i always hung it up and got it out as fast as possible

 

[Nzrob]

I hang the meat or lay it out in a shaded area to get it cooled down then place it in old pillowcases for the carry out. If it needs to be kept longer ( like another day) I put the pillowcases full of meat into a large plastic bag which is then buried beside the river or lake where the ground is cooler.

Rob

 

[Catahoula]

My friends & I have placed meat in streams with no bad results. Black pepper shaken on the critter will keep flys away. Sometimes you have no choice. Seems like the weather is never "just right" for meat to cool. One time on an elk hunt we killed a small bull early on a warm day. We gutted him & laid him on his back in a small creek. The water ran right through his chest cavity & hind legs. We continued hunting most of the day for another elk. Loaded him up that evening & got him home. The meat was fine.
Thanks, Kirk

 

[Wachsmann]

Not that I've shot an elk but everyone I have ran into and work with that has killed and elk or 5 say the biggest thing is to get the hide off the meat asap. I've been told the hide on and elk is greatly thicker than a deer and holds the heat even when hanging with the chest cavity open, cut in half, etc, etc. Even with the chest open and hanging the hide still need to come off is what I here all the time. Several guys has told me of there mistake and not removing the hide to find the meat spoiled by the next morning even when there was snow on the ground. One hunter even stated he had ruined 1 and 1/2 because he thought it was cold enough and now will never take a chance without removing the hide regardless of how long he has to stay on the mountain. Anyone ever have experience like this not that anyone ever wants to put this out there but its something to be learned from those that haven't ever had the experience yet.

 

[RockyMtnMT]

For me it is all about getting the body heat out and keeping the meat dry. The colder out it is the less hard it is to do. Getting it off the ground is a big factor in cooling. Warm out the hide must come off. But it is all about the initial body heat. The animal is about 100deg, gotta get that out.

Water breeds bacteria. My opinion is do not get it wet unless you are in the process of butchering. Keep the meat open to air. I always put the meat in heavy reusable game bags to keep flies and dirt off.

Once the body heat is out it can hang for quite a while even in pretty warm temps. I hung an elk for a week on a hunting trip in Sept when daytime temps were hitting in the 70's. Night temps down near freezing. Was a bit worried, but the meat was good. Key was getting the body heat out right away.

Steve

 

[Pdvdh]

NEVER put wild game in plastic bags of any kind warm, never put any temp meat in garbage bags as they are treated with stuff you don't want on your meat.

Plastic bags are the only reasonable option I've identified or used for backpacking game out of the remote backcountry. Meat goes into game bags first, and then large tough plastic bags. Keeps me, my backpack, and camp from smelling like bear bait.

 

[Timber338]

Plastic bags are the only reasonable option I've identified or used for backpacking game out of the remote backcountry. Meat goes into game bags first, and then large tough plastic bags. Keeps me, my backpack, and camp from smelling like bear bait.

You certainly have reason to want to keep Griz out of your camp. Not nearly as big of a deal in Colorado.

But since you brought up bears, they are the number one reason my buddies lose elk meat. And it's always the guys who are gassed after quartering an elk and don't move the quarters far enough away from the gut pile.

I will always pack quarters back to camp or hang them really high. Never had a bear come into camp with or without quarters hanging.

Just this past year a buddy shot his first cow and was more interested in taking it easy at the truck with a beer after the first pack out and left his quarters near the carcass. Bear ate both front shoulders the first night. He won't he hunting with me next year.

 

[bigngreen]

Plastic bags are the only reasonable option I've identified or used for backpacking game out of the remote backcountry. Meat goes into game bags first, and then large tough plastic bags. Keeps me, my backpack, and camp from smelling like bear bait.

I have no issue with cooled meat or clear plastic bags, I do it all the time but warm meat where you remove the air access you raise the possibility of spoiling meat greatly, unless your in cold enough weather that the cold will get to it fast. Garbage bags are common but they are treated with few things that will taint your meat as well, I used to give guides some heavy, clear, food safe plastic bags when I ran the meat shop and they worked great and I never got into tainted meat as long as it was reasonably cooled down when put in.

 

[Timber338]

Do you think all construction grade bags have chemicals on them? What I've found recently is all garbage bags including lawn bags have some kind of perfume/scent made to cover the smell of garbage.

I luckily had an old garbage bag stored away that did not have this perfume on it and I used to it stuff my bear hide in. Otherwise I hate putting anything in my pack that is scented.