Getting meat home

[BoomFlop]

Outside of the obvious cooler and if time allows to take to a processor before returning. How do you guys prepare the meat for a long distance travel home? Do you put in freezer bags, bring wax paper and wrapping paper?

Let me know the best way you have found.

Thanks
Steve

 

[KMLampson]

Define long distance? It usually takes me two - three days to drive home. I quarter my game, place it in good quality game bags, and place it on frozen 1 gallon water bottles in a large cooler. If the meet stays cold and dry, it's no problem driving three days home. I've had friends cut and wrap in camp, it seemed like a hassle, but everyone does things differently. I like to process my game at home, I feel that I can take my time, and I don't have to worry about dust and dirt, or bugs if it's warm out.

 

[BoomFlop]

In regards to distance, it is a 2 day drive. This is not a back country hunt either. Depending on time, we would have the ability to at least debone before the return trip. Not sure about the option of frozen milk jugs however.

Great help and good idea.

Thanks
Steve

 

[KMLampson]

I've also used block ice, double bag the blocks in heavy duty black trash bags, the super thick contractor grade bags you get from a lumber store, that way water won't leak out. This part is important, super market Glad trash bags are prone to leak and don't cut it. Did that last year on a friends elk hunt, quartered the animal and drove two days back to their house. Meet was clean, cold, and dry.

 

[Muddyboots]

Lots of threads on LRH on this that might help.
I prefer cloth game bags, pillow cases etc to allow the meat to breathe and drain during trip home which is about 25-27 hours on average. I prefer meat be kept off bottom of cooler to allow water to be periodically drained during trip. I made a cooler support grate for this purpose. I like block ice since it seems to hold up best for me. I also buy a foam pad that I cut to be slightly bigger than cooler top and squeeze it in over top of everything to add another barrier for top of cooler. I also tape cooler top seam with duct tape. Throw moving insulated tarp over it. Set cooler on couple of 2x4's to get off bed of truck which can get hot.
LINK: Cooler Grate

 

[gigem82]

Alaska Fish and Game has some really good advice given that most hunts are days away from civilization. Worth checking their site. https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=hunting.meatcare

 

[171farm]

Use dry ice as much as possible to keep the meat dry. It's funny how easy that stuff is to find out west at grocery stores. Here in the east id have no idea where to even start.

Word of advice, do not have dry ice even in a cooler in the cab of your truck or in the suv unless you keep the windows open. Dry ice releases CO2 and displaces oxygen. It can kill you.

 

[257WTBY]

I may be the odd man out here but when I lived back east and traveled out west to hunt we took a chest freezer and put it either on trailer or in the bed of the truck and we had a little Honda generator to power it. We deboned all out meat put it in cloth meat bags and put it in the freezer. We would run the generator 3-4 times a day for about an hour and it never froze the meat but definitely kept it cold enough. We usually had 2-3 drivers and would pretty much drive straight thru to get home. The good thing is if you were lucky and had a first day kill it kept the meat cool the whole time we were there and the trip home. I'm with the group Id rather cut and pack at home in a clean environment.

 

[skipglo]

Outside of the obvious cooler and if time allows to take to a processor before returning. How do you guys prepare the meat for a long distance travel home? Do you put in freezer bags, bring wax paper and wrapping paper?

Let me know the best way you have found.

Thanks
Steve

I take a deep freeze with me on a trailer ...have for years....pack my groceries in it on the way out....and hopefully fill it with game on the way back. Freezer on front of trailer and utvs on the back

 

[Rick Richard]

I debone the meat and place in large igloo ice chest. I place bags of ice over the top of the meat and place brown paper bags on top of it before closing the lid. The most important part is to make sure the drain is open and able to continuously drain. On a three day drive, I usually only have to add a couple of bags of ice through the drive.

 

[Lee Deming]

I debone the meat and place in large igloo ice chest. I place bags of ice over the top of the meat and place brown paper bags on top of it before closing the lid. The most important part is to make sure the drain is open and able to continuously drain. On a three day drive, I usually only have to add a couple of bags of ice through the drive.

I've heard that water frozen in milk jugs keeps the drain problem more manageable. And you can drink the water if you run low. I've tried this and like the results better than bags of ice.

 

[Lee Deming]

I take a deep freeze with me on a trailer ...have for years....pack my groceries in it on the way out....and hopefully fill it with game on the way back. Freezer on front of trailer and utvs on the back

I had some friends out from West Virginia. They killed two mule deer bucks and a cow elk. They fit all of that meat in a small freezer that they carried in the back of their 6 foot box pickup and ran a generator for a few hours each day. Worked great for their 8-day trip.

 

[skipglo]

I had some friends out from West Virginia. They killed two mule deer bucks and a cow elk. They fit all of that meat in a small freezer that they carried in the back of their 6 foot box pickup and ran a generator for a few hours each day. Worked great for their 8-day trip.

Yup! Learned that years ago and you can buy a used freezer cheaper than an 80 litter cooler all day long! And your kids aren't going to put their beer in it and leave it at the lake!

 

[Bull_Mtn]

I recently returned from Montana to Arizona with a cooler full of frozen food. I found there was a shortage of dry ice along the way. I had the best luck finding dry ice in Albertsons or WinCo.