Preserving meat at camp

[Star882]

I'm new to the site but have fallowed it for a couple years now. My question is me and a couple friends are heading over east for a few days of hunting and my worry is if someone gets one opening day and we stay to hunt a couple more days. I just don't want the meat to spoil. We plan to hike in 4 miles or so. What do most people do to preserve the meat on multi day hunts?

[Big6bull]

1st choice Get it out and drive to a town with a game locker. Or get it out and deboned. Then pack it in cooler and ice. In bags and cooled already of course.

[billythekidrock]

1st choice Get it out and drive to a town with a game locker. Or get it out and deboned. Then pack it in cooler and ice. In bags and cooled already of course.

 

[Duckslayer89]

Definetly debone and just put it in a game bag in the cooler but be sure to keep the drain open on the cooler and let the water out! Makes the ice last longer and the meat doesn't get soaked! Done this many times with packing elk out of the alpine and long deer trips. Use block ice if you can or at least one block at the bottom of the cooler lasts way longer man good luck!

[Star882]

Definetly debone and just put it in a game bag in the cooler but be sure to keep the drain open on the cooler and let the water out! Makes the ice last longer and the meat doesn't get soaked! Done this many times with packing elk out of the alpine and long deer trips. Use block ice if you can or at least one block at the bottom of the cooler lasts way longer man good luck!

.  You like using game bags over just a garbage bag? Is that just to help soak the blood out of the meat?

[lokidog]

Garbage bags can collect moisture inside if the meat is warm, but they will also keep moisture off the meat with ice over them in the cooler.  I use white kitchen bags as I have seen maggots go through cheesecloth.  Some of the canvas bags are probably good though.

Ideally, if the temps are cool, I would hang in canvas until cool and then put in garbage bags in the iced cooler.

[jrebel]

Depending on where you are...you will have to get the meat to a cooler sooner than later.  The temps have been warm over here and not conducive to hanging meet more than about 24 hours.  I assume if you are hiking in 4 miles you will not have a cooler with ice.  If you are hiking it to the cooler you should continue to a meat locker to assure the meat is good.   

With all that said if you high enough you could probably keep it cool if you hang it in a shady hole on the north face for a couple days.  I imagine the nights up high are getting pretty cool these days.....just needs to stay in the shade to retain the cool temps of the night.  I would still pack it out. 

[cooltimber]

put lot's of pepper on the meat and pound it in!,cheese cloth bag's,hang high in the shade,need a breeze

[pcal]

put lot's of pepper on the meat and pound it in!,cheese cloth bag's,hang high in the shade,need a breeze

You are 100% CORRECT!!!!!! I pour the pepper down the throat and rub it inside the cavity and the exposed hams, too. I wrap the whole deer with my sleeping bag and hang it in the shade during the day if I'm still up on the mountain. I bring it down and lay it out to expose it at night and pour water over it to get an ice glaze if its cold enough and get it back up the tree during the day. Pepper is a very effective repellent to blow flies.PS: I was just on the weather forecast for the north cascades and they are predicting that we are going to get overcast and lowering temps from Friday and a 50% rain low and snow above 3k ft. The weather is predicted to get even cooler as the week progresses so by next Friday(17th) the highs are going to be in the 40's even in the lower Methow Valley, so I feel that this will not only bring more deer lower but put the blow fly danger less.I have brought my kills  down in one day in hot years and put it all in coolers with an inch of dry ice in the bottom of my coolers. The dry ice you can buy from Walmart is a smarter choice as it kills any insects because the CO2 gas from the melting smothers the eggs and maggots before they can do any damage without the water from ice needing to be drained. I put a few #'s in the bottom of the coolers with a layer of rags or newsprint to keep from freezing the meat.It works for mushrooms,too. Good luck and enjoy your hunt!!!!!