Game Care in Hotter Climate?

rockclimber · Jun 24, 2009

Hello everyone. I'm relatively new to hunting out West (nevada). This will be my second year and i've drawn an early archery tag. Last year i hunted a unit with much easier access, I learned a bunch and came close to getting a shot on several occasions.

Anyhow, this year i've drawn a unit with much tougher access and it has gotten me to thinking. What specifically do i need to do to make sure i don't mess up the meat in a hotter climate? Most of my experience is hunting whitetails in pennsylvania. Hunting nevada is like hunting on mars (in a good way!) compared to a treestand in a big oak tree. Archery season in PA is cool/cold so there is little worry.

I'll be hunting in august in nevada. If i'm lucky enough to get a buck i imagine it will be a time consuming chore to get it to a meat processor. Does anyone know of any links with good info on game care in warm/hot weather? I know the basics...i can field dress no problem. I know enough that i can quarter if needed to hike out. Game bags - check. Is meat laying around in 80 degree (or hotter) weather OK? Do i need to take iced coolers with me (in camp)?

Tips, suggestions, links, a good joke....lay it on me!
Thanks!
RC

nickman · Jun 24, 2009

This situation is always an issue.

First and foremost, gut him out, get the hide off and hang the deer in some shade.....preferably tree shade.

Now, you have to go about those things in the order of reality, depending on how far you are from your camp. You may well want to hang it where you can and move your camp back to the deer.

Obviously, you don't want to drag it back to camp without the hide.

If you can skin it out and hang it overnight to cool off, you will gain a lot of time to actually get it to a cooler.

You can quarter it and hang the quarters to cool and bone out the ribs if you want to, and have some daylight.

Pack your camp as early in the morning as you can, saving the quarters for last, then head for town.

You will get lots of opinions, but the bottom line to wasted meat.....heat.

"Hope for the best, plan for the worst and be prepared to adapt."

Moondog · Jun 25, 2009

What nickman said. If you are able, take ice chests with plenty of ice to your camp. Your best scenario is to be able to quarter the animal, pack it out and get it in those coolers asap.

Main thing to consider is that the heat is not your friend, so do whatever you can to keep the meat cool.

Good luck on your hunt.

MsDestiny · Jun 25, 2009

Lots of coolers and instead of regular ice... take some Dry Ice... it lasts a little longer than regular ice and cools the meat faster in combination with a insulated cooler.

Destiny

I'm not very good at quilting or sewing but I can make a nice Grenade Launcher

Buckblaster · Jun 25, 2009

I built a insulated meat box with 1/2" plywood for the exterior and 3" thick styrofoam in the middle and 1/8" fiberglass reinforced plastic panels on the inside and sealed it to be waterproof with a drain in bottom. I painted the outside white to reflect the heat and would think it would keep ice for a week in 80 degree temps. Inside dimensions are 41"x27" and 29" high. It should hold 2 quartered up elk with lots of ice. I'll let you know how well it works on my elk hunt on the 3rd week of Sept.

Dikndirt · Jun 25, 2009

I agree on everything said. Moisture and heat is a big factor. Try not to let the meat get wet after it glazes over the first time. Cool dry is much better than cool damp. Bacteria thrives with moisture.

glass_eye · Jun 25, 2009

If you're going to quarter the animal and put him in an ice chest, rather than taking him whole to a butcher, than I suggest using the gutless method. Why bother to gut him and make a bloody mess when you can quarter and bone him out on the spot without gutting.

HunterHarry · Jun 25, 2009

You have to keep the meat up out of the melting ice.
The water will ruin the meat.
Wrap the ice in multiple garbage bags.
Use a metal grate to keep the meat elevated in the ice chest or use dry ice.
Last fall I boned out my kid's deer & antelope, put it in deer bags & put in my ice chest with a block of dry ice above & below.
After arriving home from Wyoming (20+ hourss later) the meat was near frozen with ice crystals throughout.

In situations where you don't have access to ice, quickly dress the animal and let glaze.
use an old sleeping bag to insulate it during the day.
Bring the carcass or meat out at night and expose to cool night air and in morning cover completley with the sleeping bag and keep in shade.
(Use caution in bear country)
This will get you by untill you can get to locker, freezer or a place where you can get ice or dry ice.
This has worked for me in the 100 degree days of blacktail hunting or early elk hunts.
HH

Ozzman · Jun 25, 2009

Another thing you will want to look out for is fly's... As we all know, it doesn't take long for a fly to find raw meat! One thing I have done to help with this (especially while my meat has been hanging overnight) is through some ground pepper on the meat. Its strong enough to keep the flies off, but doesn't hurt the meat.

Hopefully you wont have to deal with that problem because you will have it quartered out and in a cooler, but figured it would be good to know just in case.

redrabbit · Jun 25, 2009

Dry ice works well. Keep it in a sealed chest.

Rather than using bags of ice that melt and get the meat wet, come to camp with a large ice chest filled with gallon water jugs or water in 2L soda bottles that have been frozen.

Keeping the ice chest under a sleeping bag in the shade of a tree will help ice longevity also.

Elk in AZ seem prone to turn green (meat and cape) if especially the neck hide is not removed. I have seen a few capes go bad in a short period of time due to not removing the thisk hide from the neck meat. Not good to see the trophy brought into the taxidermist and see him remove clumps of hair from a ruined cape.

Also, get the hide off and separate those large heat sinks of rear quarters.

RR

Lambo · Jun 25, 2009

Rockclimer, this is all great advice. Nothing could be more frustrating than trying to keep meat in hot weather.But it can be done. After the kill, dont dally by taking tons of pictures, get to work and bone it out. Then hang it in the shade where the air can circulate around it, but keep it clean and dry, you may want to put it in meat sacks to ward of flies. durind the day you can take it down and wrap it up in sleeping bags and blankits. This can help keep it cool during the day. Then hang it back up in a tree at night. The ice is a great idea. However, you might want to know beforehand where the nearest meat locker is and get it there quickly.
One thing that I have done in years past was to only hunt in the afternoons if it is hot. That way if I make a kill I have the rest of the evening and night to cool it down and then head to a meat locker early the next morning.
I hope that this helps a little, good luck
Lambo

Dikndirt · Jun 25, 2009

glass eye has good idea but dont neglect the tenderloins on the inside..they are the choicest cuts on the animal. a hard azz warden can cite you for waste if you leave them behind in some states.

Huntnfever · Jun 25, 2009

Everything said is good advice...another is that an elk is much larger and keeps in heat more then a smaller animal...People overlook that. I shot an elk in 30 degree weather, didnt have a sharp enough knife, went to get help, lost the elk and it got close to below freezing in oct...I didnt get the windpipe out and lost the elk to spoilage...learned my lesson i was a 18 yo kid thought there is no way its too cold to loose an animal its freaking snowing...nothing worse then loosing all the meat of your first elk cause u were stupid. good luck let us know how it goes

has anyone seen my kittie

glass_eye · Jun 25, 2009

>glass eye has good idea but
>dont neglect the tenderloins on
>the inside..they are the choicest
>cuts on the animal. a
>hard azz warden can cite
>you for waste if you
>leave them behind in some
>states.
I carry a small bone saw and cut through the ribs near the spine, than it's easy to reach in and cut out the tenderloins.

rockclimber · Jun 25, 2009

Thanks so much everyone for the generous information! So it sounds like gut, skin and quarter. Hang it at night, insulate it during the day, watch out for flies, use game bags if necessary. Or better yet stick the quarters in iced coolers making sure to keep them dry. Dry ice? Do you have to watch out that the meat doesn't get "burnt" coming into contact with the dry ice?

Also how big a cooler(s) do you need for a typical quartered muley buck?

I must say....taking iced coolers sounds like a recipe for no deer. If i so much as take a camera i have bad luck. No camera and i'll shoot the biggest buck in town...go figure!

Again thanks! If anyone has any other tips feel free to jump in.

I've been shooting my bow several evenings a week and am looking forward to season!

Cheers
RC

califhuntn · Jun 25, 2009

Quartering the animal is ok if you bring it down close to camp or have help getting it out. If you are going at it alone and will be several miles from camp then I would advise boning the animal out. The bones hold a lot of heat and are unnecessary weight. Besides you can't eat the bone. It does make it a little more awkward to pack on your back but a good frame pack will take care of that.

JR

Moondog · Jun 26, 2009

>Thanks so much everyone for the
>generous information! So it
>sounds like gut, skin and
>quarter. Hang it at
>night, insulate it during the
>day, watch out for flies,
>use game bags if necessary.
> Or better yet stick
>the quarters in iced coolers
>making sure to keep them
>dry. Dry ice?
>Do you have to watch
>out that the meat doesn't
>get "burnt" coming into contact
>with the dry ice?
>
>Also how big a cooler(s) do
>you need for a typical
>quartered muley buck?
>
>I must say....taking iced coolers sounds
>like a recipe for no
>deer. If i so
>much as take a camera
>i have bad luck.
>No camera and i'll shoot
>the biggest buck in town...go
>figure!
>
>Again thanks! If anyone has any
>other tips feel free to
>jump in.
>
>I've been shooting my bow several
>evenings a week and am
>looking forward to season!
>
>Cheers
>RC
>
>
A 50 quart will get it done. We take 2 coolers with ice for each deer and usually have plenty to keep the meat cooled. Let the meat air cool first and it helps with the ice. If using dry ice, then its more than enough especially if you bone it out.

Lambo · Jun 27, 2009

ditto what Huntnfever said about getting the wing pipe put of your animal. If left in it will hold heat and sour the meat quickly. Also you might want to make sure that the rear end is carefully cut out and disposed of, and make sure that no fecal material touches the meat, you will either have to trim it out or risk further spoilage. One of the biggest mistakes that I see when people gut an animal is that they sometimes leave the bladder inside the animal and for some reason it is usually always full so care must be used to remove it or you could end up puncturing it and spilling urine all over precious meat. Oh ya , I usually take a bone saw, two sharp knives, and a good sharpener,and some rope with me on all my hunts
good luck and good huntin
Laqmbo

DirtyTough · Jun 27, 2009

I would think your best bet would be the gutless method unless its pretty close to the truck. It'll take up less cooler space that way and less weight to pack out. I am not sure if we are the only guys to do this but we take a Sea to Summit dry bag with us and put the meat in there. Then we hike down to the nearest creek and put the dry bag in it. It cools the meat super fast.

HunterHarry · Jun 27, 2009

LAST EDITED ON Jun-27-09 AT 05:23PM (MST)[p]

The gutless is a great way to go and I've used it for years, but you can actually cool the meat too quickly resulting in meat so tough it is barely edible.
It is called "cold shortening", here is an explanation:

Cold shortening is the result of the rapid chilling of carcasses immediately after slaughter, before the glycogen in the muscle has been converted to lactic acid. With glycogen still present as an energy source, the cold temperature induces an irreversible contraction of the muscle (i.e., the actin and myosin filaments shorten). Cold shortening causes meat to be as much as five times tougher than normal. This condition occurs in lean beef, wild game and lamb carcasses that have higher proportions of red muscle fibres and very little exterior fat covering. Without the fat covering as insulation, the muscles can cool too rapidly before onset of rigor mortis.
Thaw rigor is a similar condition that results when meat is frozen before it enters rigor mortis. When this meat is thawed, the leftover glycogen allows for muscle contraction and the meat becomes extremely tough
HH

HunterHarry · Jun 27, 2009

Here is another example of "cold shortening".

califhuntn · Jun 27, 2009

That was too funny.

JR

Huntnfever · Jun 27, 2009

thanks lambo forgot about the butt-hole...i have seen that ruin meat also...if you go gutless and bone out, you have to be extreamly certain what the states laws are on leaving parts of animals and every state has different rules..

has anyone seen my kittie

sageadvice · Jun 27, 2009

Gutless method. How long does it take to do a elk that way?

a deer?

Joey

redrabbit · Jun 27, 2009

Harry,

A couple of items for your input as a professional.

I have for many years placed alternating layers of ice and game meat in an ice chest with the drain plug pulled. I have packaged the meat within a week (keep adding ice) with not observable bad effects and notice a leeching of blood from the meat. Last time I took some of that meat for sausage into the processor, who was also a Safeway butcher, he cautioned about water getting between the muscle fibers.

Also have heard/read the quartering and boning to detach the muscle ends before rigor mortis ends will lead to tougher meat.

I hope life is treating you well.

Doug

redrabbit · Jun 27, 2009

Joey,
The gutless method is quicker and cleaner. There is also a rib-roll technique to get the rib-meat in a no-waste state like AK.

Doug~RR

Lambo · Jun 27, 2009

I have been able to completely take apart an elk by myself in only two hours. May take a bit longer for a large bull, however, by using the gutless method heat will escape quickly. I am by no means an expert, but this is what my dad taught me as a young boy, we allways had extreamly tender venison
Lambo

HunterHarry · Jun 27, 2009

Doug.
Yes, water has bad effects on meat to a degree.
It rapidly increases bacteria growth and also leeches taste and natural fluids from the flesh.
However, slaughterhouses use a method known as "hot wash" where they spray down a carcass with scalding hot water, this kills most surface bacteria, then they are flash chilled.
In today's sue happy environment they do this to kill salmonella and ecoli bacteria.

Yes, leaving the muscle ends attached until rigor sets in is crucial to tender meat.
I once shot an early season blacktail with daytime temps soaring.
I hurridley boned the animal and watched the muscle fibres twitching as my blade seperated the muscle groups I backpacked the meat out and chilled it asap..
The steaks off that buck were the toughest I had ever eaten due to the "shortening" effect.
The shortening does not affect burger though, and I love burger.
HH