Hot Weather - Meat Care

[YosemiteSam]

I took the family kayaking along a local river yesterday.  We stopped at a place that had numerous game trails in/out.  I've seen deer there back when I was a river guide but never had the time to explore much past the shoreline since I was on the clock.  Made me entertain the idea of kayaking down the river for deer at some point.

My question is regarding meat care during warm weather.  Our season runs early compared with most of you -- Late August until Late October.  Midday temps will be somewhere in the 90s here.  Next to the river is much more comfortable but 30 yards away will see 10-15 degree jump.  If I have a 2-3 hour paddle to get back to my vehicle (easily a half-day or more affair from shot to loading into the freezer, more if gut-shot), would I just be wasting game?  Anybody have experience dealing with meat in hot weather?

[pdk25]

Depending on the water quality, you could get it cooled off quickly in the creek after gutting it. I would entertain canoeing rather than kayaking and bringing a high quality cooler with 2 bags of ice for the transport back home, one for the cavity, and one for between the legs.

[olddogrib]

Use the gutless quartering method (lots of videos) and get the quarters into a "marine" grade cooler w/ice and you should have no problems.

[Matt Quick]

Pat gave you good advice. Nothing wrong with gutting your animal and then dropping them in the creek to drop the internal temp.  If you don't have room to take ice with you consider keeping it in truck so it's there when you get back.

[YosemiteSam]

Glad to hear it.  The water temps are quite cool since it flows out of the bottom of a large dam less than 10 miles away.  Sounds like cool & wet is better than hot & dry.

pdk25, my yak is a tandem -- plenty of room for a couple of coolers and camping gear if needed.

My wife had the idea of taking 2 coolers, one with just ice & doing the full deboning job in the field so everything can go into an ice chest for transport.  Sounds like, once again, she's right.

Thank you for your thoughts.

[Blaino]

I like to freeze 2lt bottles and have just for this kinda stuff. Blocks of ice last way longer the cubes of ice.

[Warden609]

I like it hot. Early September here can be awesome hunting, but a challenge for game meat care. We like to fill our empty milk jugs with water and freeze them. Saves money on bags of ice. When a deer hits the ground we go gutless method( when time allows) and debone the meat asap. The cooler is already cool from the jugs and we just add the meat.

On another note. We use the same setup bow fishing so the fish are cool and don't spoil on hot summer nights.

[olddogrib]

Some will advise against wetting the meat unless it has been contaminated with dirt, urine or feces, due to promotion of bacterial growth.  I don't doubt it might, if you wet it and then it was hours before you got it on ice.  I've dragged field dressed deer down a mountain river for years with no spoilage, but I got them on ice as soon as I got back to camp.  If you had a cooler of ice or dry ice and got it on there in a reasonable amount of time I think you'd be fine either way...I do prefer a canoe.

[Trumpkin the Dwarf]

I'm going to go against the common thread here. Don't get it wet. Debone the meat. Put the chunks on a frame of branches to get air flow around it and dry it some via evaporation. Use citric acid spray to keep flies off and inhibit bacterial growth (buy citric acid powder, and carry a spray bottle). Then keep it out of direct sun on the way home.

[J. Holden]

I may go against the grain also.  I've always read that heat, moisture and dirt will wreck your meat.

I'd skin it and quarter it.  Maybe some game bags, keep it clean and get it to a cooler of some sorts asap!

-Jeremy

[pdk25]

The moisture from ice or creekwater in the chest cavity and abdomen will not cause a problem. It isn't bathing the muscle other nthan the tenderloins, IMHO.  I would prefer to use ice if possible, though. Obviously, it is a different ballgame if you use the gutless method or do more than gut it in the field.

[Roadkill]

I get the hide off as soon  as I can. I spray the carcass down with vinegar, wipe it clean and dry, inside and out to kill bacteria and clean off dirt.  Quarter and in a dry cooler with frozen water bottles.   Lots of really hot days in August here in Nevada.  I would think using the river to cool it down would work-we just do not have many rivers, maybe 7 in the state

[Scott E]

Maybe research the gutless method and pack a cooler full of ice in the kayak. If you can make a good shot and de bone the deer quickly you'll be fine. You'll also find a couple game bags are much easier to carry in your kayak than a whole deer.

If you can't carry a cooler with ice to your hunting spot have one ready in the truck.

Just be prepared and move quickly.

[mnbwhtr]

I went on a caribou hunt in Nunuvat a few years back where the quarters of meat put in the lake to keep them from Grizzlies. Other than losing it's color the meat was excellent when we returned home. Just to note, you have to put the meat down about four feet or the grizzlies will still smell it and take it.

[nek4me]

I haven't had to handle meat in hot weather but would think putting it in a breathable game bag and then in a damp burlap or canvas bag would keep it cooler than air temp until you could get it on ice. Same effect as a cooling towel or old fashioned fish creel.

[durp]

elk season is early out here...ive killed bulls in mid afternoon with temps in the high 80's to low 90's and had to leave them till the next day then had a 10hr horse pack just to the truck and another 4 hour drive home...no cooler or ice...
the meat was just fine.

get them quartered and skined then slit the meat all the way to the bone and prop it open to let the heat out (it will spoil first next to the bone!!!)...sack em to keep flys and bee's off.

a deer close to a floatable river is nothing to worry about at all !!!

[stillhunter]

Would sealing them in clean plastic bags and then putting the meat in the cool river work ,maybe slitting them to the bone like Durp says or is this a bad idea? At least it seems it would keep the grit,etc off from it and would still cool it down quickly.

[LongbowArchitect]

I bone out my elk (gutless method) & put the meat in game bags like most people do. But when I get them back to base camp (5 miles from the trail head) I put each game bag of meat in a 10 gallon zip lock bag (available at Walmart) and submerge them in the creek beside our camp. By the next morning they are ICE cold and I start packing them out to my Pelican cooler in my truck at the trail head. I use frozen gallon water jugs in my cooler topped off with chunks of dry ice. By the time I get my meat to my cooler the dry ice has evaporated but has kept my frozen jugs of water totally frozen. Ice will keep in my super cooler this way for 14 days or more in hot weather. By the way, I stuff an old down mummy bag on top of my dry ice and frozen jugs of water in my cooler to help keep them from thawing. It takes me two full days to get 4 large bags of meat out and I've never lost any meat this way.

[kbetts]

Just a thought right now, but I've been looking hard at the "tuna bags" used by offshore fisherman.  Seems to me you could put an entire skinned deer inside and keep it cool and clean.

[PrestonTaylor]

Hey Yosemite. We've killed some deer farther south in Cail in the early season when it's hot out. One buck took me about +4 hours to quarter and pack out a few miles and couple thousand feet in the 90 degree heat of afternoon. Get yourself a set of quality game bags, I like the Caribou Gear game bags, they are lightweight. You can separate the quarters into their own bag, and put the rest of meat pieces into a separate bag (so 5 bags total). Once separated from the body, they'll start to cool and should be fine for the pack out. Once at the truck drive to some ice and cool it off in coolers.

And if you're dealing with a deer sized animal, I don't like the gutless method. We eat the liver, kidney, heart, tongue, tenderloins; my friends eat the cheeks, stomach, lungs. There's quite a bit of choice meats left in the guts. Don't neglect these. I haven't killed an animal as big as an elk, so can't speak to that as far as saving time and energy with gutless method, but it still seems like a waste to me. With bears (which are a lot of work to process) I still eat organs from them.

Good luck this fall!