Hung deer quarters in our back country camp.Above the crick in the shade, perfect temps.but in the morning a pine martin chewed through my game bag and ate a lb or 2 from a quarter. Nothing I tried could keep them out of the meat. In desperation we sank the meat in the crick for the next three days,when we got the meat out it was rancid and spoiled.Any one have any suggestions for keeping these little buggers out of our meat? Someone suggested peeing on a sock or rag and tying it to the rope above the meat,claims they will not climb past it,anyone try this??
Meat vs Critters
- Thread starter Much2hunt
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HighDesertSage
Well-known member
Pack the meat out.
Wyatt G
Member
If you put the meat in a dry bag before you submurge it should be good, or if the creek is small enough you could build a platform to where the meat is just above the water.
Bambistew
Well-known member
Pack it out. A deer is one trip, take care of it and go back and have more fun if you have too. That meat is your number one responsibility after you shoot it. No amount of "hunting" or camping left on your vacation should preclude the waste of that meat.
Putting it in water is probably the dumbest thing you could have done, short of not packing it out after you had animal problems.
Gr8bwana, meat spoils in water, period. Using it as a method to cool it quickly seems to work for folks, ive never done it, and would only do so if it was in a bag. You can macerate in water as long as it doesn't freeze. It's slower, but will still work. He also had it hanging for a couple days, so the breakdown of tissue had already begun and bacteria had started to multiply. Adding moisture increases the speed dramatically.
Keeping meat dry is paramount to salvage.
Putting it in water is probably the dumbest thing you could have done, short of not packing it out after you had animal problems.
Gr8bwana, meat spoils in water, period. Using it as a method to cool it quickly seems to work for folks, ive never done it, and would only do so if it was in a bag. You can macerate in water as long as it doesn't freeze. It's slower, but will still work. He also had it hanging for a couple days, so the breakdown of tissue had already begun and bacteria had started to multiply. Adding moisture increases the speed dramatically.
Keeping meat dry is paramount to salvage.
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Elkmagnet
Well-known member
Unfortunately you failed to properly care for that animal. Why did you not pack it out and get it to a cooler?
Getting it dry and keeping it dry is as important as keeping it cool.
The only thing I can think of that may help keep critters off of your kill is to electrify it with a bear fencer.
http://www.cabelas.com/product/UDAP...=GoogleProductAds&WT.z_mc_id1=04208728&rid=20
Getting it dry and keeping it dry is as important as keeping it cool.
The only thing I can think of that may help keep critters off of your kill is to electrify it with a bear fencer.
http://www.cabelas.com/product/UDAP...=GoogleProductAds&WT.z_mc_id1=04208728&rid=20
Elkmagnet
Well-known member
It's like s.t.d's when you put your meat in a creek you are putting it in everything up stream that may grow bacteria whether it's a wallow, dead animal, fecal matter or just a stagnant pool in a sunny spot.
If you don't want to pick up a bad bacteria be careful where you put your meat!
Khunter
Well-known member
In that situation, leaving the horns, if any, behind or turning in to game department would have be appropriate. Certainly no trophy was earned. Also appropriate to tell game department what happened and let them fine the responsible person or not.
You guys dumped meat into a creek and left it to rot for 3 days without even checking on it based on what you wrote. Clearly meat preservation was low on priority list or a close watch would have been kept on the meat.
Instead of leaving camp each day, the killer could have stayed behind to fend off critters. That was a choice made along with choosing to not pack it out to cold storage right away.
You guys dumped meat into a creek and left it to rot for 3 days without even checking on it based on what you wrote. Clearly meat preservation was low on priority list or a close watch would have been kept on the meat.
Instead of leaving camp each day, the killer could have stayed behind to fend off critters. That was a choice made along with choosing to not pack it out to cold storage right away.
MontanaWild
New member
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2012
- Messages
- 299
High, dry and cool otherwise it's straight back to the cooler or freezer. Meat is the number 1 priority when you shoot an animal. Creek is only a short term solution to get the meat cold unless you have waterproof bags to keep it dry and cool.
putm2sleep
New member
Yes
Use a heavily soaked piss rag -
And hang it directly above your meat!
-
Then soak the meat in the creek
To get rid of the piss.
Use a heavily soaked piss rag -
And hang it directly above your meat!
-
Then soak the meat in the creek
To get rid of the piss.
RobG
Well-known member
Maybe stringing a rope between two trees and using it to hang the meat from would work. A practical way to do this might be to hang the meat on a long rope from one tree, then use another rope tied to another tree to pull it away from the first tree. Anything heavy enough to consume 1-2 pounds of meat would have trouble hanging on to a swinging rope... a martin is only 2-3 pounds so it might not have been the culprit.
If you go that route leave the free ends dangling and tell these other folks to go piss up it; you aren't the first person to do a back country camp with the expectation of being able to hang meat for days (if the temperature is cool enough)... My dad has done plenty of wilderness camps in the Bob Marshall and it is ludicrous to suggest that it is normal to stop the hunt and pack out the first animal shot.
If you go that route leave the free ends dangling and tell these other folks to go piss up it; you aren't the first person to do a back country camp with the expectation of being able to hang meat for days (if the temperature is cool enough)... My dad has done plenty of wilderness camps in the Bob Marshall and it is ludicrous to suggest that it is normal to stop the hunt and pack out the first animal shot.
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I've done plenty of them too, and it's not ludicrous if that's what you need to do in order to keep meat from spoiling.
mtmander
Active member
As said above , pack the meat out if you want to eat it
RobG
Well-known member
Sure, if the weather is warm and it is obvious that it will spoil you have to leave. I was going to qualify that statement to that effect but thought it was pretty obvious [edit... I edited my first post to be clear on this]. However heat wasn't his problem. He thought he had a solution... it was a bad idea and he is now looking for how people normally do it. Can't say I've never heard of a person busting a hunting trip because of pine martens....
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We once saw a camp in the Ruby Mountains of Nevada that had 2 deer hanging in a tree on Sunday when we arrived. The temps were in the 30's at night but in the low 70's during the day. Those deer were not in game bags and were hanging in the sun whenever we drove by. Over the course of a week they looked like they were turning into jerky on the bone. They were right off a main road so it's too bad the game warden didn't see it and cite them.
HSi-ESi
Well-known member
+"whatever the total is" on packing it out.
Field meat care is all about planning. I know it's been posted before, but here is a good video on the subject
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeO_wT4Yqto
I know unforeseen stuff can happen in the course of any extended hunt. But a meat haul trip should be one of the options on the table. I once had a 36 mile day (18 out, 18 in) to get a sheep on ice. Temps were warm and we weren't prepared enough to take care of it in the field. It sucked and burned a day of hunting for me - but that is what it is sometimes.
As for critters on the meat - if all else was equal (temps were good, meat was cooling well and staying dry). I would try to move the meat stash a couple of hundred yards (make sure it was hanging well away from the tree trunk). If my critter got into it again - then I'd do a meat run. I can see leaving a piece of worn clothing on / near the meat - but I wouldn't piss on it. And it's not that effective at keeping critters away.
Field meat care is all about planning. I know it's been posted before, but here is a good video on the subject
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeO_wT4Yqto
I know unforeseen stuff can happen in the course of any extended hunt. But a meat haul trip should be one of the options on the table. I once had a 36 mile day (18 out, 18 in) to get a sheep on ice. Temps were warm and we weren't prepared enough to take care of it in the field. It sucked and burned a day of hunting for me - but that is what it is sometimes.
As for critters on the meat - if all else was equal (temps were good, meat was cooling well and staying dry). I would try to move the meat stash a couple of hundred yards (make sure it was hanging well away from the tree trunk). If my critter got into it again - then I'd do a meat run. I can see leaving a piece of worn clothing on / near the meat - but I wouldn't piss on it. And it's not that effective at keeping critters away.
izquik72
New member
Were you by chance camped in a saddle?
Happened once to me, shot a buck got back to camp around 1 am. Hung the meat took a nap before busting camop and hiking out, around 2:30 some snapping foxes had there way with the fresh venison. After they were chased off a bear came in and worked on the rest of it. We were sleeping 30 ft away. Pretty much lost the whole thing.
NEVER again will I camp in a natural crossing for creatures of the night.
So to sum that up. Hanging meat is great but do it high enough from the ground and far enough from the limbs that varmits wont be treating themselves to your harvest.
and Dont hang it in a saddle or along a game trail.
Happened once to me, shot a buck got back to camp around 1 am. Hung the meat took a nap before busting camop and hiking out, around 2:30 some snapping foxes had there way with the fresh venison. After they were chased off a bear came in and worked on the rest of it. We were sleeping 30 ft away. Pretty much lost the whole thing.
NEVER again will I camp in a natural crossing for creatures of the night.
So to sum that up. Hanging meat is great but do it high enough from the ground and far enough from the limbs that varmits wont be treating themselves to your harvest.
and Dont hang it in a saddle or along a game trail.
Rob,the first reasonable comment I have heard, I have hung meat for years with no problem,this time It caught me off guard I saw the little bugger. Thanks Man
Thanks fora reasonable solution and comment
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