What to do with the meat

[land7601]

Good Evening All,

I have posted on here a few times with some novice questions and I have another one for you.

I am heading up to our unit on Saturday and there will be two of us with an elk tag. This is the first time I have hunted with more than one tag. What do we do if we fill a tag early? I am worried about meat spoilage, so do we end the hunt early or can we continue hunting?

Any advice would be much appreciated!

Alex

 

[Elkhunter24]

It's going to depend on the weather. If it's cool out you will be ok but if it gets warm your going to have to get the meat out. Keep it in the shade and hang it up in a breathable bag not touching each other.

 

[Speeddmn]

Need more information.

Typically, kill an animal, bone it out and put it in coolers, keep hunting. Are you days/many hours from home? Are you close to a processor/home?

 

[WapitiBob]

Elk will keep for over a week in coolers with ice. Been there many times.

 

[farbedo]

Coolers packed with ice will keep meat for at least 2 weeks. The 120 quart Coleman coolers that Wally World sells for like $65-70 work quite well.

Option 2, if you can hang the quarters in shady trees, and keep the animals away from them (hang them high), they will keep a week or more that way as long as the night time temps are below 40F. I've seen moose quarters in Alaska stay in good shape that long by laying them on logs to keep them off of the ground and get good air circulation.

Jeremy

 

[land7601]

All good to know, I appreciate it!

We are hunting elk and will be a good hour or more from the closest town, and about 4 hours from home. I was more worried about leaving the meat out in the open for 3-4 days at a time. There will be shade and the weather should stay relatively cool so it sounds like we should be in good shape to continue hunting.

 

[genesis273]

All good to know, I appreciate it!

We are hunting elk and will be a good hour or more from the closest town, and about 4 hours from home. I was more worried about leaving the meat out in the open for 3-4 days at a time. There will be shade and the weather should stay relatively cool so it sounds like we should be in good shape to continue hunting.

An hour from the nearest town is nothing. After packing one out, take it to town/processors walkin cooler, get a hotel room, shower, good night sleep, and go back hunting with no worries about the meat.
That's what we do anyway.

 

[Epfd217]

I would recommend against just "leaving the meat out", unless you're using some type of game bag. With the weather right now being in the in between temps, you may have a frost overnight, but get into the 60's during the day. This will still allow flys and other insects to be active and you want to have the meat protected. Igf its cold and colder at night, then you have little to worry about.

 

[prhunter]

We hunt in warmer weather due to our location and coolers with ice have always worked well for us. Usually more than one person hunting in our party and not everyone kills the same day. If you run out of ice just go to town and get some more.

 

[sbhooper]

Coolers packed with ice will keep meat for at least 2 weeks. The 120 quart Coleman coolers that Wally World sells for like $65-70 work quite well.

Option 2, if you can hang the quarters in shady trees, and keep the animals away from them (hang them high), they will keep a week or more that way as long as the night time temps are below 40F. I've seen moose quarters in Alaska stay in good shape that long by laying them on logs to keep them off of the ground and get good air circulation.

Jeremy

I have kept bagged elk meat for several days hung in the shade. As long as the bone is out of it, it can do pretty well. Coolers with ice are always better, though, if you have that option.

 

[NoWiser]

We kept a bull in coolers for 16 days in New Mexico last year. Not an ounce spoiled on us.

 

[Poke 'Em]

I am worried about meat spoilage, so do we end the hunt early or can we continue hunting?

Take the advice others have mentioned with regards to keeping meat, but at the end of the day, if you're not confident your meat won't spoil, then the hunt should be over.

 

[farbedo]

As a good read on backcountry meat handling, the Alaska Game and Fish have a good publication. Here is the link to their page on it: http://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=hunting.meatcare

You can keep meat in good shape for a surprisingly long time even in warm weather. It just take some planning.

Good luck on the hunt.

Jeremy

 

[Rebel702]

A good answer from Montana Wild via Mystery Ranch Packs:

Now that we have all of our meat back to the truck we want to make sure all the meat is cooled down before going in the YETI. If the meat is packed into the cooler tightly before cooling, the environment can actually insulate the meat in the center and cause it to spoil. Under very hot temps this isn’t an option and you’ll need to put all the meat in the cooler on ice. This time it was about 45-50 degrees out and was perfect to cool the meat before placing it in the cooler. We typically will put 5-10 pounds of dry ice, 3-4 blocks of ice as well as 3-4 bags of crushed ice into our YETI prior to leaving to hunt. This allows us to have ice for well over a week even in 80-90 degree temps. We lay the hind quarters on the solid ice blocks, then add half the crushed ice, place the front quarters on top and then add the remaining crushed ice. This allows us to travel for multiple days if needed before needing more ice or putting the meat into a freezer.
(See full blog http://www.mysteryranch.com/post/how-to-pack-out-an-elk-the-definitive-guide

 

[wytex]

I would skin it out and hang it in the shade to cool then put it in coolers. Make sure to game bag it, flies are on their last hooray here now. Keeping it in the shade will do wonders on the cooling part. Rebel702 is right, don't put warm meat in coolers tightly packed.

 

[sbhooper]

Also, if it is warm enough for flies to be an issue while hanging it, use generous amounts of black pepper on the meat/bag. It keeps them off.

 

[land7601]

Great advice everyone, thank you! This elk hunting stuff gets expensive...

 

[sbhooper]

Great advice everyone, thank you! This elk hunting stuff gets expensive...

No kidding! Just getting there and back is expensive now. Several years back, my buddy and I could leave the house, go to Colorado and kill a couple cow elk and return for about $400 each. Ain't happening now!