Saving Meat in the Heat

WestNDMuleys

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Hello, Tomorrow morning is opening day and I couldn't be more excited. Taking the long weekend off of work and plan on hunting hard. I have a handful of awesome bucks in my sights that I have been watching since June. All of my hunting experience has been whitetails in the midwest in the colder part of the year. The one question I did have and there is an obvious answer but was hoping someone would have some insight into some tricks. It is supposed to be 90 degrees tomorrow and saturday and that being said I just was wondering if anyone had any insight into how to handle the meat to save it so it is good to use. The obvious answer is to deal with it ASAP which is my plan but figured maybe there was good tricks. (skin the entire deer right away first, gut it right away?) I will be hunting within a mile of the truck so getting back to it won't be an issue. Also I will have my cooler and I will be about 30 minutes away from a gas station with ice available.
 
You should be fine if you're 1 mile from the truck. Of course gut it first thing. Some people will bone it at the site. If your not set up for that, don't skin it until its out of the field for general cleanliness. I don't know how long it takes for a deer to spoil, but I've taken a half day to get one out in the heat and it was just fine. Keep it dry and clean in the field and cool it out as soon as you can.
 
You should be fine. Get it gutted and skinned asap. Spend some time cutting off and discarding any blood shot meat! Rinse or wipe off as much blood as possible.

I hunt mostly in California in 80-90 degree heat. We gut and skin our deer asap. I hang it in a deer bag in the shade during the day and take the bag off at night. (The bag is only to keep the flies/yellow jackets off). It will stay just fine for two or three days, easily. It will get a leather like skin on the outside. That's what you want.
 
If it is a buck worth mounting I am going to cape it out. Whether I mount it or not my thoughts were that if I had time to just debone it right in the field and get it right to my guy who will make jerky. But that being said it easily could be 4 hours between when I harvest the animal and get it deboned.
 
I would plan on having a block of ice in the cooler and ready to go as you likely will take 2 trips to bring the deer out and I think you would want the meat on ice if possible between trips. If it melts, just get another block for the next day. I would gut, skin, quarter and get it out as fast as possible and on ice. I wouldn't debone, but you could.

Good luck!
 
You are right about skipping the deboning part. But it seems like it could be a huge hassle to bring ice with everyday. But that being said, if it was the difference between saving the meat and losing it, it would be well worth it.
 
Some gold bond sprinkled down there and a good pair of moisture wicking underwear.....wait are we talking about something else?
 
LAST EDITED ON Sep-01-16 AT 12:16PM (MST)[p]Keep some jugs of water in your freezer. When you leave, toss them in the cooler. Cape and quarter meat asap and place in game bags. Hang if possible in the shade while you finish up, otherwise lay out bags in the shade. If there is running water nearby, you can lay the bags there as it will be a few degrees cooler. Carry a good trash bag with you and you can also submerge the meat to cool it off. A deer can be packed in one trip, especially if you bone out the meat.
 
Our antelope hunts have typically been during hot weather. We aim to have the meat on ice within 1 hour of the animal expiring. The meat has always tasted great.
 
>
>Keep some jugs of water in
>your freezer. When you leave,
>toss them in the cooler.
>Cape and quarter meat asap
>and place in game bags.
>Hang if possible in the
>shade while you finish up,
>otherwise lay out bags in
>the shade. If there is
>running water nearby, you can
>lay the bags there as
>it will be a few
>degrees cooler. Carry a good
>trash bag with you and
>you can also submerge the
>meat to cool it off.
>A deer can be packed
>in one trip, especially if
>you bone out the meat.
>


^^^^^This!^^^^^
 
>Some gold bond sprinkled down there
>and a good pair of
>moisture wicking underwear.....wait are we
>talking about something else?

Is that where they're putting all the ice? Doesn't that make a mess? LMAO

Zeke
 
LAST EDITED ON Sep-01-16 AT 06:27PM (MST)[p]I'm in Arizona and do alot of August and September hunts in the heat. I am a HUGE fan of freezing small water bottles (I do three packages of 24 bottles each) that I put in my big ice chest every time I go out. Ice will stay 4 days usually even over 90 degrees that way if you park in the shade. I like to bone out the whole thing as quick as you can, hang in game bags, then make your hikes to the truck. The water bottles can then be scattered all around your game bags of meat once in the ice chest. If I'm mounting, I use an old blanket and put the cape and a bunch of frozen water bottles in there as well to keep the cape cool...
 
As everyone said, gallon milk jugs or plastic water bottles work great, but you might not have access to a freezer? If not, I just get blocks of ice (not cubes!!!) and they last a few days in a good cooler. If getting ice daily is an issue, you could get blocks of ice, then some dry ice on top and then seal the cooler with duct tape. That should last a week or more.
 
I recommend getting the hide off as fast as possible too. It traps a lot of heat in. Also I carry black pepper to sprinkle on it. That keeps the flies and hornets away. Always look for shade and work towards it. Drag him there immediately, shade takes better pictures too. I gut first too as it helps cool faster and doesn't take that long. Keeping clean is very important so I always have pillow cases and a sheet with me. Cheap easy and breathable. Good luck.

DZ
 
LAST EDITED ON Sep-02-16 AT 06:35PM (MST)[p]The suggestions provided by others all are "best practice." Good luck on your hunt...let us hear about the details...hth
 
Learn the gutless method. It is quicker and keeps the guts from getting on the meat.

The dirt, feces and bugs are going to get the meat before the heat. Get it in the shade, quartered and bagged quick to keep bugs off.

I typically debone anymore if its more than a 1 mile from the truck. I can do a deboned mule deer in one trip typically if I had to because of heat.

I shoot an elk the 21st of august in southern Utah and we quartered it and we were done about 5 pm and it was 80 degrees out. We took head, tenders and back straps out with us and left the rest hanging in game bags. I went in and deboned it the next morning around 10 am and carried it out.

A few hours earlier, I would have had to get it out same day. It also helped that elk was still alive when we found it so it was a fresh kill with a follow up shot.
 
Thanks for the help guys! Went out today and had a blast, had to crawl on my backside around a steep hill in the badlands to get a 55 yard shot at a nice 3x3. Missed though! Wind was howling pretty good so I should have gotten much closer. Didn't aim for any wind in my shot either. Sunday and Monday I will be out all day.
 
The key is to keep the meat dry, whether cooling it by or in a creek, or putting it in a cooler. Hence the frozen water bottles. Which also kick butt cuz you have ice cold water to drink as they melt (throw one in your pack!)

In your case of only being a day out you are fine. But if several days and not cooling down at night, you can save meat by pouring vinegar over it to kill bacteria growth.

Powder
 
I completely agree with elktaker. Learn the gutless method period. It doesn't matter if you can drive up to your critter or have to pack it out. Get the hide off ASAP, take your quarters off and get them in a good breathable cloth or game bag. Since I started using this method, the meat quality has improved tremendously.

The other pointer to help improve meat quality is to pack several pairs of rubber gloves. With the first pair on try to carefully cut off any hide that is going to transfer nasty onto the meat. For example, a bull elks hair all around its belly up its chest is covered is piss. Carefully skin all that hide off and through far away. Also carefully skin off any sent glands. Once done with the foul stuff change gloves. As you breakdown the animal, you may get your hands covered in more foul stuff, just change gloves.

The gutless method takes a little longer than just gutting the critter (about 45 minutes longer on an elk for me). But if you factor in the quartering, skinning, cleaning up after you get back to camp it is a major time savor. Practice it on smaller animals first and you will pick it up pretty quick.

All that said...I have come across some kill sites where bad hunters have used the gutless method to minimize the amount of meat they take home. I have seen where careless people have left the tenderloins, most of the backstraps, and cleanup around the pelvis was pathetic. Don't be one of those scrumbags who have no business hunting at all. With the gutless method done properly you can save more meat and your meat will be so good, you wouldn't want to leave anything behind.
 

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