Proper Meat Care for Antelope

[Engineguy852]

Antelope is by far our favorite meat. We try to shoot antelope first thing in the morning if possible, skin and quarter them at kill site and put in game bags. I prefer to leave quarters bone in because bags of boned out meat can clump up in game bag and take longer to cool. When we arrive at the truck we will hang the quarters in the wind and have lunch and let them cool naturally as much as possible. Then we have two large coolers filled with frozen water bottles, I like to layer a row of bottles on the bottom then stack quarters, then bottles again, so no meat is in contact with each other. Probably overthinking it but it’s so delicious, we do our own processing too.

That’s a great idea! I’m probably going to use it shall I draw a tag this year. Do you think dry ice on the bottom may work even better? I’ve heard Remi Warren talk about having the bottom layer of a cooler be dry ice

 

[WyoDoug]

That’s a great idea! I’m probably going to use it shall I draw a tag this year. Do you think dry ice on the bottom may work even better? I’ve heard Remi Warren talk about having the bottom layer of a cooler be dry ice

Keep in mind warm air rises and cold air sinks. I would recommend dry ice wrapped in newspaper on top or separated from the meat with cardboard. Otherwise, the meat on top just might still spoil. When I transport game in the field, I put ice on top and open the drains to keep everything dry.

 

[Engineguy852]

Keep in mind warm air rises and cold air sinks. I would recommend dry ice wrapped in newspaper on top or separated from the meat with cardboard. Otherwise, the meat on top just might still spoil. When I transport game in the field, I put ice on top and open the drains to keep everything dry.

Thanks for the input. This will be my first time hunting out west in warm temps so this is all new to me. Maybe I’ll just keep with the water bottle idea and open the drains. I’ll only have to go 5 or 6 hours before I can get the meat to a freezer. So my plan is to probably leave it bone in then debone when I get to where I’m going

 

[WyoDoug]

Thanks for the input. This will be my first time hunting out west in warm temps so this is all new to me. Maybe I’ll just keep with the water bottle idea and open the drains. I’ll only have to go 5 or 6 hours before I can get the meat to a freezer. So my plan is to probably leave it bone in then debone when I get to where I’m going

I do this frequently when my freezer is empty during the spring. I freeze a number of 2 liter soda bottles full of water and put them on top of game when I transport it home for butchering.

 

[Bob-WY]

I use ice jugs as well in the field. Crack the cooler lid to let heat out as well. You are dropping 100 degree meat in there. Coolers aren't really coolers but insulators, they will hold in heat, so Crack the lid