Warm weather harvest care

[Slickhead]

Anything special you do on warm weather harvest?

[Cmane07]

There was a thread about this earlier if you search for it but I always gut them as soon as possible and then put the meat in a cooler with some ice.

[bswear]

the " secret" if you want to call it that is the hide.  Being from a butcher family we always want to skin ASAP.  Once the skin is off the chance of spoiled meat is much lower  unless you are caught very far from a cooler.  Also, if the meat has a funny smell be careful.  Good luck!

[Trumpkin the Dwarf]

Can't speak to deer. I kill those once it gets cold. Elk? You gotta get the hide off the meat, the meat off the bones, and then the meat needs to be hidden from flies via game bags. Any breeze flowing over exposed/game bagged meat will cool it quite quickly.

[Bill Carlsen]

Stop at a convenience store and get at least 2 bags of ice. Place one in the chest cavity and one in the pelvic area until you can get the animal to a cooler.

[Pat B.]

I get my meat on ice ASAP.  Very seldom do I gut one anymore, just pull the quarters and backstraps after peeling the skin back. Then the quarters go in an igloo with ice..

[wandering monk]

This is a post from a while ago but it is quite appropriate for the warmer seasons...the September and October seasons can provide a few challenges...but we can figure a way to deal with them!

its that time of year...for me to get my "walk in" ready...no its not some huge and expensive job...but one that works perfect to age my meat properly when its too hot to do it in the shed etc.

I have been doing this for many years after finding out a long time ago that if venison or elk isnt aged some it just does not have the flavor and texture we like so much. Wild game in general gets a bad rap a lot of times just because it isnt handled as well as its domestic cousin...

I have an old refrigerator in my garage that I keep for the purpose of always having ice on hand and a place to cool down my meats. In August I give it a super cleaning with some spray nine and bleach if necessary.

I bone all my meat 100% , clean &  dry it thoroughly. I have plywood shelves I have cut up for stronger shelves, and I like to keep around waxed boxes too. I place the meat with a towell over it to help from drying out too much. I set the thermostat at just above freezing...(the only way to really get it perfect is to get some stuff to starrt freezing and then back it off a hair.)

   


We keep the meat and all the scraps for sausage and grinding in there at about 33-34 degrees for at least one week...after that it has started to get that pretty pink color...and is OK to do any final cuts & wrap it up...this freezer will hold one elk plus a deer or three to 4 deer if all boned properly.(or one Buffalo) I dont put anything in my freezer you dont want to eat...bones, fat and grissle etc are left for critters in the field.

I keep 1 gal jugs in the freezer compartment to help the costs of electricity a bit...and also have excellent frozen blocks for the cooler on a trip. I use purified water too so that if and when it melts we have good drinking water or for other purposes in a camp. I re-freeze new water in the jugs when I get home and keep the ice on hand. I usually do the same in my chest freezer when it does not have any wrapped meat in it too.

this has worked so well for me over the years I just thought I would share it with you folks that might not know about this method...especially good for the early seasons that are about to start out west and anywhere its still pretty warm out. Walk in coolers are OK...but I havent had an animal cut up by anyone else for me in 35 years...I am just way too picky. Plus you get used to different things that might not be considered "regular" cuts etc...for example I with Deer, Elk & Antelope I like to make as many as possible "steaks" for the grill. I love to run my grill even in mid winter! We dont really cook roasts anymore... I also like to "cube" all my trims and scraps for either being ground , used in stew or similar. I just grind it on demand, but even making burgers has sort of not been to much a practice for a while....we also can a lot of stews with garden vegetables & herbs for dry stored meals. It really helps on freezer space, and is a really quick & easy meal right out of the mason jar into the frying pan...great on campnig trips too(no ice needed, plus its all from a harvest and garden too)

this has been my alternative to using a real"walk in" to let my harvests age a bit...also a few little things I gave adopted over a lifetime of hunting....I hope it is of some value to others.t

[LB_hntr]

X2 what bill Carlson said.
Put a couple bags of ice in the chest cavity the rope or bunjee cord chest cavity closed.
I might be wrong but I always believed if you are going to ice the chest cavity leave the hid on as it insulates and keeps the cold from the ice in. At least this is how I have been doing all these years. Just keep it hanging in the shade with Ice and get to processor asap or process yourself. I have had deer hanging this way many time for 5 days during last week of October in Missouri temps at deer camp.