After the Kill, Meat Care Tips-New Hunter's Resource

[ScottR]

So you have your first big game animal down, and breaking it down for a pack animal isn't an option. It will all be going out on your back. I want to hear how you prepare your meat for the packout, and what you do once you have it at the truck.

The first thing that I always do is get the hide off, the hide is meant to keep the animal warm when it is alive. I am trying to do just the opposite. That meat needs to cool down and quick!

Because I am a backpack hunter, I always bone out the meat. My methods may not be pretty, but they get the meat off of the bone. Meat actually turns green from the inside out, opening up the quarters to get every usable piece of meat off the bone helps tremendously to keep it cool.

What do you guys do?

 

[25contender]

I do pretty much the same. First tag the animal then since most of my hunts are solo now I bone out my elk. I try to plan ahead and most of the areas I hunt have quite a few drainage's with cold water streams. I first place the meat in game bags and hang the meat. If it is warm out like most of bow season I carry some large plastic bags with me. After I am finished with the meat and it has been hung I then pack up my first load to take back to the truck. If it is warm I put the meat that is left in the game bags for the next trip in the large plastic bags and submerge them in a close by stream to keep it cool. I do the same at the truck if it is warm I place the meat in a close by stream to keep it cool if I don't have Ice. Then just Head back in to get the rest of the meat.The last trip will be with the horns,cape and camp if I can handle it. If not the camp comes out last.

 

[*******]

Depending on how long I think the pack will take I have a couple different strategies. If it is only going to be a few hours I will skin, quarter, debone, and simply hang the meat I'm not packing first trip in a tree.

If it is going to be a longer pack out (several hours to overnight) I will split the large muscles group up (the same I would for butchering at home) and let them cool and set up for as long as I can in the shade while I deal with the rest of the animal. I start with the hinds and by the time I am done the fronts and caping the head the hinds are well set. I then hang and pack as fast as I can.

If it is going to be a couple days I will split the large muscles groups down and find a place to stash them to cool. If there is a snowbank nearby I will toss the meat in a plastic bag and bury it. If there is a creek nearby I will double bag the meat and sink it in the water. My longest pack has been two full days and the night in between. I stashed the meat in some snow and it was cool and fresh for the last trip out.

Back a the vehicle a big cooler with some ice or dry ice is handy if you expect a long pack. I was able to take the loads I packed out to a cooler at a butchers between trips.

 

[Never in Doubt]

How long would you guys be comfortable with boned out cloth bags of deer meat hanging in the shade, in weather where the days high is about 65-75* and the low is 50-45*? There is usually some sort of breeze blowing too, I know that seems to help keep it cool.

 

[ScottR]

In those types of conditions I want to get it back to the cooler ASAP! My preference is freezing temperatures at night, or a dry bag and a creek to get it cool when the temperatures are warm.

 

[THelms]

Once my animal is down I'm getting the hide off those quarters asap as well! I like to hang my meat in the shade, preferably with a breeze (air circulation is important) I'll take as much as I can carry the first trip. On an elk that is usually both fronts(boned), both straps, and the tenders. I'll get this in my cooler or home to the freezer (I butcher my own) as fast as I can. If I have the luxury of a helping hand then we obviously get more out at once. I then go back in and bone out the hinds and get each one of those out, usually one at at time but I've done both at once a couple times when the distance and terrain allowed it. The point is, get it skinned and hung up in the shade and breeze to cool. I've built a "grate" of limbs over a creek once to capture that cold air, it worked very well. Obviously, if the temps are cooler to cold you have more time but getting the hide off and getting it hung up in the shade and breeze is still tantamount to having the best table fare possible.

 

[libidilatimmy]

While I agree that skinning the animal quickly is a good idea, it is not the first thing that I do when breaking down. I prefer to leave the hide on until after completed with the quartering process to give me a some way to lay the quarters out on the ground without contaminating with foreign debris. Next, I'll hang in a shady spot and skinning and de-boning occurs for the subsequent loads. I'll leave the meat on the bone while hanging (if temps aren't too warm), much easier to handle and hang that way, and bone out for each load as I go. This way you give your legs and back a break in between the hauls during the time you're preparing the next load.

 

[Never in Doubt]

In CA it's warm here and I usually skin one side right away, take off the quarters then roll it over and do the other side. Once in the shade and in a breeze they cool down ok. Then unless it's going to be night soon, I hike out and get them on ice in the truck in 4-6 hours after the kill. There's usually no trees around big enough to hang a deer so that's not an option for me. So far the meat has always been delicious. Some guys here say it's fine to leave them in the shade for a day or two. They hang the meat bags at night and cover them with a sleeping bag during the day for insulation. I guess that's one nice thing about hunting solo, when I'm ready to go, I go! (I hunt the high sierra's and not the 100*+ A-zone like many people do. I tried that and it's miserable.)

 

[win264]

What NID said I have hunted A zone and if you kill a deer in the AM it's too hot to pack it out so I would wait till evening then go. I would quarter them just like NID said and hang it in a cotton pillow case. Good thing the deer are small!

 

[Dearhunter3450]

This might be a stupid question but can I bring a quartered animal to a processor? I do not butcher my own game, I have no idea how to do so and I would hate to ruin good meat

 

[tdcour]

This might be a stupid question but can I bring a quartered animal to a processor? I do not butcher my own game, I have no idea how to do so and I would hate to ruin good meat

You bet you can! There are tons of youtube clips and such teaching how to quarter deer. I can't say I'm great at it, but once you do it a couple of times you will be pretty good at it. I know its actually cheaper where I'm at if you quarter it out, and even more cheaper if you bone it out. The less processing they actually have to do results in cheaper meat.

 

[ScottR]

We have some videos planned for breaking down animals. I will see if we can get breaking down a buck on the list.

 

[Dearhunter3450]

Thank you guys. I just didn't want to walk into a processor with a sack of meat and have them throw me out lol! I will study up on proper quartering game. Thanks again

 

[WapitiBob]

I was skeptical of this with the first cpl cuts, but he separates the major muscle groups which I think is the best way to go.


http://youtu.be/xijmge8_NJw

 

[gonhunting247]

I do pretty much the same. First tag the animal then since most of my hunts are solo now I bone out my elk. I try to plan ahead and most of the areas I hunt have quite a few drainage's with cold water streams. I first place the meat in game bags and hang the meat. If it is warm out like most of bow season I carry some large plastic bags with me. After I am finished with the meat and it has been hung I then pack up my first load to take back to the truck. If it is warm I put the meat that is left in the game bags for the next trip in the large plastic bags and submerge them in a close by stream to keep it cool. I do the same at the truck if it is warm I place the meat in a close by stream to keep it cool if I don't have Ice. Then just Head back in to get the rest of the meat.The last trip will be with the horns,cape and camp if I can handle it. If not the camp comes out last.

25contender,
I've generally shied away from plastic bags at all, due to them not breathing and holding heat, but this sounds like an interesting option if need be! I can see how this could be useful especially on long pack-ins during early season if it's just not cooling down at night! Thanks

 

[gonhunting247]

I process all my own game and if it's cool enough I like to quarter game rather than bone it out( where practical of course), just because it's so much easier to clean up and process if not all sides have been exposed in the field. Obviously if its too warm for cooling good,especially on elk size critters or if it's just too dang far to carry the bones out too, then I bone it out. I guess the weather and distance dictate my method in the field!

 

[25contender]

The plastic bags are only used to submerge the meat in Game bags in the cold water creeks between trips. When the meat is removed from the creeks the plastic bags come off.

25contender,
I've generally shied away from plastic bags at all, due to them not breathing and holding heat, but this sounds like an interesting option if need be! I can see how this could be useful especially on long pack-ins during early season if it's just not cooling down at night! Thanks

 

[BrandonM]

This is all good stuff. One hard lesson I've learned over the years is that it isn't good enough to put them in just any game bag. The canvas and cotton game bags can be detrimental to your end product. I used to buy the el cheapo game bags from a Wal-Mart-type store for a couple of bucks and call it good. I liked the fact that I could throw them away when finished and they were cheap. However, they are made of cotton which does not dry quickly nor breathe well, and promote bacteria growth in short order. The canvas bags do the same and are much heavier. I didn't buy into the "quality game bag" argument for quite some time...until I used them. Complete game changer, in my opinion. They breathe unbelievably well, dry quickly, and are made of synthetic materials which don't rot. Tie this into the killer cooling tips in this thread from others and you have a good system to ensure proper table fare when you're 'back at the ranch'. I've also found that a gentleman named Larry Bartlett has some really good meat care tips in his videos on meat care. His website is: http://www.pristineventures.com/products.html. His T.A.G. Bags, and Caribou Gear's Big Game Bags, are the two best out there in my opinion.

 

[alaska2go]

This is all good stuff. One hard lesson I've learned over the years is that it isn't good enough to put them in just any game bag. The canvas and cotton game bags can be detrimental to your end product. I used to buy the el cheapo game bags from a Wal-Mart-type store for a couple of bucks and call it good. I liked the fact that I could throw them away when finished and they were cheap. However, they are made of cotton which does not dry quickly nor breathe well, and promote bacteria growth in short order. The canvas bags do the same and are much heavier. I didn't buy into the "quality game bag" argument for quite some time...until I used them. Complete game changer, in my opinion. They breathe unbelievably well, dry quickly, and are made of synthetic materials which don't rot. Tie this into the killer cooling tips in this thread from others and you have a good system to ensure proper table fare when you're 'back at the ranch'. I've also found that a gentleman named Larry Bartlett has some really good meat care tips in his videos on meat care. His website is: http://www.pristineventures.com/products.html. His T.A.G. Bags, and Caribou Gear's Big Game Bags, are the two best out there in my opinion.

Best game bag bar none ! You guys might also think about packing a piece of Tyvek house wrap. You can take a 8'x8' piece of tyvek fold it down into a 12"x12"x1" and it weighs nothing. It gives you a place to lay your meat and work on it without getting it dirty. I then use it to reflect the sun away from the meat and give it shade.

 

[BKC]

Best game bag bar none ! You guys might also think about packing a piece of Tyvek house wrap. You can take a 8'x8' piece of tyvek fold it down into a 12"x12"x1" and it weighs nothing. It gives you a place to lay your meat and work on it without getting it dirty. I then use it to reflect the sun away from the meat and give it shade.

Tyvek, why didn't I think of that? I have been using those cheap rescue blankets but I like this idea better. Thanks A2Go