Dirty wildgame.

[Valley1320]

I have to say I was a little surprised to see how many of your customers bring in antelope with the hides on. As a new hunter, one of the things what was very strictly stressed to me was to get the hide off quick, ideally within the first half hour of harvesting to help the meat cool.

Alot of those antelope were in our shop within a hour and were packed full of ice. Altho they are a few that were not taken care of well enough before they got here. We prefer guys to bring their game just gutted and if it's hot and they want the cape to split it down the neck and pile ice on it.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Three boned out Caribou, no trees to hang anything so we had to make little meat tents when we stopped for the night to camp.
We treated the meat with citric acid in a squirt bottle and it darkened up a bit. No difference in taste.

 

[Valley1320]

Three boned out Caribou, no trees to hang anything so we had to make little meat tents when we stopped for the night to camp.
We treated the meat with citric acid in a squirt bottle and it darkened up a bit. No difference in taste.

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That's cool!! I've heard caribou is really good

 

[Valley1320]

And another one done

 

[WyoDoug]

I have had butcher friends tell me repeatedly that the quality of the meat rises substantially the better you place the shot and the better you take care of it and clean it in the field before the processor gets it. I confirmed that with my own experiences along with four bouts of meat related poisoning from bad antelope meat. I used to have a friend that I would no longer eat any of his wild game he cooked because of the food poisoning.

 

[RafterH]

Although a lifelong Texan ( and I have seen what was described above), I was taught to skin and quarter an antelope as soon as humanly possible. We carry coolers with ice so we can take immediate care of the meat. Also prefer to do my own butchering of all game and waste of good meat angers me. The flavor and quality of meat starts with the shot and can go up or down depending on ones ethics. If one does not know how to care for the animal, get a mentor.

 

[AggieHunter]

When I quartered an animal for the first time I slipped while taking off the hind quarter which resulted in me sliding down the hill a little and it hitting the ground. I tried to clean up before I took it into a processor and went in apologizing to the guy but after seeing some of these animals mine was probably not as bad as I thought.

 

[Taylord9]

Yucky

 

[WyoDoug]

I can tell you first hand, I watched people skin their animals and lay the quarters, backstraps, and tenderloins on bare ground (not snow covered or anything like that). It was so dirt crusted that I shook my head. I worked at a processor before I went back into the military and I shaved a ton of dry meat off carcasses, sometimes in rather thick layers to make me sick. Things we trimmed off and disposed of: blood shot, dry meat, dirty meat (including meat with hair on it). All that is wasted and reduces the amount of meat you got back. Some processors will not clean anything off the inside body cavity so if you like ribs like I do, you want to clean that out really good with cool water and a brush. There is a contamination risk processors don't like there. I want my ribs and brisket with the bones so I clean mine really well and cool it.

 

[WyoDoug]

Think about this when you watch other videos about how to clean and skin a carcass. There are a number of videos out there where they actually lay raw meat directly on grass and that. Keep in mind that most grass in the wild prolly has some residue of another animal applying their "scent" to it or relieving themselves. Plus grass does not keep dirt and bugs from getting to the meat. This is something I shake my head at when amateurs try to make a how to video and do stuff like that.

 

[Carbon]

I always keep a new space blanket in my pack. I've used them a few times over the years as a blanket, but much more often as a ground sheet for backstraps, tenderloins, hearts, etc. when quartering before packing. QUarters get hung in trees with paracord to cool and then game bagged just before being strappet to the pack. It's a cheap way to do it and with a little practice, very easy to keep the meat clean.

 

[WyoDoug]

I always carry two cheap plastic tarps in my pack. They fit compact when they are folded up and disposable when you get them soiled with blood and that. Keeps them nice and clean. Space or emergency blankets work great too and take less space than a tarp I think. Even a sheet of plastic would work and it does not have to be super thick.