Tips for Meat Care on a flat land (no trees) multi-day hunt

[NEMTHunter]

We debone our game and pack the meat in ice in coolers. It has always worked for us. Another thing you should consider is a tarp to reflect the sun away and give shade for the coolers. Set it up in a way that you still get air flow around the coolers. Or forget the tarp and stack square bales around and on top of the coolers. you will be good to go.

I agree with the above post. You want it good and cool before sealing it.

 

[Bob Wright]

We always bring a freezer and generators. But anything mentioned above is all good too. You might want to bring a fridge type thermometer just to monitor the packed meat. Good luck on your hunts.

 

[muleskinner1]

Don't even think about sealing your meat at this time. When you get home after the game has been cooled the work begins. It is called processing. You will want to learn how to do this. Roast, steaks, tender loins, chops, sausage and etc. will all come from your kill. So educate yourself so you know what you are doing. Or you can take it to a butcher and let him cut and wrap. All at his cost.

 

[bigngreen]

When we hit Wyoming for goats we pack water, big cooler packed with ice, ziplock bags, bumper hanging gambrel and a cutting table. Within an hour of a goat tipping it's cut and in the ice and were rolling to the next one.

 

[just country]

morning, 4 108qt. ice chest full of bag ice large chunks.
2 very quality large tarps to cover the entire bed of the
trks. when game harvested, gut put game in trk. bed.
put ice in the chest cavity of the game. put ice on carcass.
cover the game with the tarp. drive to town. put in meat
locker to chill. have use this method, works great.
justme gbot tum

 

[Jeffrey Van Zandt]

South WY. Once we get to hotel, we are planning to debone, vacuum seal and keep in cooler. Hotel fridge is not enough. We got 3 Lifetime 77Qt Coolers from Walmart and other 3 we had for camping etc likes of igloo, coleman 65Qt

better to dress it and debone in the field before leaveing then when back put in ice chest or bring out whole and find a cutter with a meat locker

 

[David Lindler]

WY Antelope and Deer. I dont think we are ready for elk yet

Large guailty coolers with ice and rock salt. Ice should last at least 7 days even hot weather. Leave drain plug open to let bloody water leak out. Put more ice on top as needed. This process soaks a lot of the blood out if the meat that improves the flavor of the meat. Rock salts lowers the temp of the ice and protects against bacteria. I use this process all the time in the west and hunting down south for even two week hunts, with no problems. Rock salt does not make meat salty.

 

[David Lindler]

OK.

Where(ish) in Wyoming?

If you're out in nowhere, you will have to debone it and put it in coolers. I would recommend icing it, but keep the ice in bags, i.e. don't let the meat get waterlogged. Keep the meat in game bags and keep it clean!

I love the 150 quart Igloo coolers from Sam's Club for $69.94. They will keep ice for days.

Those coolers from Sam's are great. Have 3. Keep ice a long time.

 

[Josebigsky]

You've received some great advice. Here's what we do:

1. Before you leave home take large tubs like a Rubbermaid roughneck storage box fill with water and place it in a freezer this will take 3 days or so to completely freeze.

I do this at home in a chest freezer. My hunting buddy does this at his local market's walk in.

These blocks fit very well in a Yeti 125. A little chipping is required.

2. Fill one or two coolers like this and don't open them till game is boned and ready to cool.

These last 5 days as described putting it in the shade of the truck.

 

[1Moose]

Anyone here try rinsing and a short soak in ice water for pronghorn (after skinning and quartering, of course), followed by transfer to just ice in another cooler? Was recommended to me by a rancher who said they needed to do that with their sheep to minimize any gaminess when they slaughtered them. I tried it just once last year and it seemed to work great.

By the time I butcher and hike back to my truck I'm definitely an hour plus after the kill and sometimes the weather is quite warm/hot, so I can appreciate the desire to get things cooling quickly. I won't call much of anything about elk hunting easy, but I'm sure happy there is shade where I hunt them.

 

[ofbandg]

Good tips so far. I would add that if you are renting a truck try and get one with a cover on the back. A truck box can get very hot in the sun. It can heat up even more if the exhaust is close underneath so you may want your cooler sitting on a slab of white styrofoam. I use large Coleman coolers (the ones with two wheels) and we fill them with ice that we make in our own freezer at home. We buy mixed nuts at a local store (because we like them) and save the square plastic jars they come in to fill with water and freeze during hunting season. As they thaw the water stays inside the jar and, as a bonus, can be used for other things, but mainly it keeps longer and dryer in the cooler. The meat is boned and bagged and the jars put on top and it will last days in even the hottest weather.

 

[skipglo]

We are going on a 5 day hunt on pretty much flat land that has no trees and shade to hang meat. No streams nearby either and we dont want to go near wildlife water source. Have you been in such situation? This is our first time on hunt like this and we really appreciate any tips or tricks for meat preservation and care

You didn't say how you are getting in and out of the site...but if you drive right to camp take a deep freeze and a generator on a trailer. We have for years now. Only way to preserve your meat on 8-10 day hunts in warm weather. You only have to run the Genny 6-8 hours a day to keep the meat cold.

 

[loaders_loft]

I would not vacuum seal until it is completely cool, or you will be sorry.
Debone it, cool it until the next day, and then consider vacuum sealing.

Can you expand on this for me? What was your experience?

 

[BallisticsGuy]

I've dealt with the same basic situation once. I just put 3lbs of dry ice in a really good cooler that sealed but not perfectly (lest it pop) with 20lbs of wet ice under the dry ice. That kept for 7 days in 100deg heat with 35lbs of fresh venison added on day 3. We just didn't open the thing almost at all. If you dig a hole a few feet deep (get to cold dirt) to put the cooler in and provide it with shade it works even better.