HOT WEATHER and MEAT

[Scott Teaschner]

When it is warm it is critical to get the animal skinned quikly to cool the animal as quikly as possible. Antelope is one of the best eating critters there is but most people never skin them quick enough and the meat is spoiled! Elk bloat very quickly and there such big animals there trapped boody heat can quickly deteriate meat quality. I find any kind of shade to put the meat under in meat bags. Freezers and ice are great but I generally have neither on my back when I am in the back country. Even antelope hunting it may be several hours before I am back at the truck. Old timers would set up screen tents out on the prairie they would hang the meat in. The canopy kept sun of the screen the flies out and the breeze would keep the meat cool. Once meat gets a caseing on the outside bugs cant bother it and you just cut the caseing away to reveal fresh meat. Some guys would rub pepper on meat to keep bugs off till it cased. No mater what cooling meat off as soon as possible is the best in hot weather and that starts with getting the hide off to eliminate traped body heat.

[Rick McGowan]

Heres a good tip, I don't use the cheese cloth game bags anymore, they rip real easy and the flies can blow the meat right through the cloth. You can buy nice tight weave game bags and I do have some "whole deet" sized ones, but the cheaper option is to go the charity outlet stores and buy used cotton pillow cases, the king sized ones are the best, but hard to find. Usually I get them for .50-$1 each. Nice tight weave to keep the flies out, but thin to let the meat cool off. You can also use sheets to make BIG bags, just fold them over and get them sewn down two sides.

[Don Stokes]

If you don't have bags, peppering the meat heavily can help to keep the flies off.

[RC]

I field quarter any deer or pig I kill within minutes of recovery. In warm weather I always have a cooler with ice in the boat or truck when I`m hunting. Usually a critter is boned out within an hour of an arrow going through it and is on ice within 45 minutes to an hour of that.Never had a critter go bad except for one that was gut shot and found way late.I`ve killed pigs when it was over 100 degrees.
  I never can understand why anyone would drag a critter for so far when you can bone one out and just carry out what your gonna eat.If I`m hunting a place with easy access I have a cart I sometimes use. I like to use it as well if I`m hunting a food plot or maybe near houses so as not to stink up the place. There again thats usually easy access. A carcass does not run off the deer but the dogs and yotes it drags up does.RC

[iron_llama]

My animals get gutted immediately and skinned out as soon as I get it home.  If it's too late in the day to process the carcass I put the quarters on ice.  

I know a game processer in Minenapolis who takes a 6' chest freezer with him when he goes hunting.  He keeps the freezer half-full with bags of ice and plugs it in at his hotel room or hunting camp overnight.  When he tags an animal he guts it, puts it straight in the freezer, fills the cavity with ice blocks, and drives straight to his hotel room to plug in the freezer and freeze the animal solid.  That's probably a bit more than I'd do but I don't think he looses much meat to spoilage...

[Benoli]

Several year back I was lucky enough to take a deer in Northern CA. Knowing the ride was 12 hours of 90+ degrees to Southern CA, I hung the deer out at night and tossed in my sleeping bag for the ride. The meat was still cool to the touch upon arrival.