Free: Contests & Raffles.
Get the hide off, bone it out and get as much airflow as possible. Keep meat out of the sun, if available use a creek bottom or drainage as air temps will be cooler. Good game bags allow airflow and help keep the meat clean. Elk, I would take as much as possible and go. Come back for camp as that will free up more room for meat. Have a plan at the other end, IE coolers, freezer or meat locker. Deer split between two guys is definitely a one trip deal for me but it's all about how much weight you can handle. A good pack makes a huge difference.
Say you get an elk down just before dark. Do you quarter and hang over night then pack out at daylight? or do you bone it and hike out in the dark? I know every situation is different but just looking for everyones opinion or experiences. Thanks!
It s a matter of temperature, humidity, contamination and time. Each one is such a variable that allowable times can vary beyond reason. As cool as possible and as fast as possible would be the best. Small clean pieces cool faster. Flies can destroy the best laid plan. Bears and all the rest will ruin a good situation.
Th most important step in the whole process is the initial cooling of the meat. Once the meat is cool or cold, it will stay that way for a very long time. I bone everything, regardless of distance (packing bones is dumb ). So deer go out in one trip, elk are a bit more. Once meat is cool, I will put in garbage bags and submerge in a creek. If no creek is available, a shady geothermal pocket will do. Get it up off the ground. If you do quarter and hang, seperate a few muscles down to the leg bone to help release heat. Meat isn't as fragile as some will make it out to be. Get it to at least air temp before stuffing it in a bag and you will be good.If I shoot one at dark, I'd debone, hang, and pack come daylight.
Quote from: BLRman on February 26, 2016, 07:30:40 AMTh most important step in the whole process is the initial cooling of the meat. Once the meat is cool or cold, it will stay that way for a very long time. I bone everything, regardless of distance (packing bones is dumb ). So deer go out in one trip, elk are a bit more. Once meat is cool, I will put in garbage bags and submerge in a creek. If no creek is available, a shady geothermal pocket will do. Get it up off the ground. If you do quarter and hang, seperate a few muscles down to the leg bone to help release heat. Meat isn't as fragile as some will make it out to be. Get it to at least air temp before stuffing it in a bag and you will be good.If I shoot one at dark, I'd debone, hang, and pack come daylight.In a plastic bag and into a creek is the gold standard. Bone is not only bad news because it is heavy to pack out though. From what I have heard old timers used to say bones cause spoilage, but me thinks that it wasn't the bones per say but getting the meat out of it's hair coat and off the bone enhanced heat transfer and cooling.
Has anyone sprayed vinegar or other on their meat bags? Would think that would help with insects? Thoughts?Have always boned and not lost any meat. Always looking for a better plan.........
When using the horses we've left the bone in over night on lots of elk, if it's in the 30s there's no issues with the bone being left in.....but with that said you definitely can never leave a hot elk on the ground with the hide on, like BLRman said...it's never cold enough for that..that ground contact kills the cooling process
Quote from: kentrek on March 06, 2016, 07:10:12 AMWhen using the horses we've left the bone in over night on lots of elk, if it's in the 30s there's no issues with the bone being left in.....but with that said you definitely can never leave a hot elk on the ground with the hide on, like BLRman said...it's never cold enough for that..that ground contact kills the cooling processI've heard a pretty fascinating story from a member on here. A bull was shot in the September afternoon and recovered the next day. The bull had bedded down with it's legs underneath him and died like that. Minimal ground contact and zero spoilage. Of course that can't be counted on happening, 99.99% of the time, they are going to flop on their side and 50% of that animal is on the ground.
My buddy killed a bull in Colorado a few years ago on our November deer hunt. Temps were into the single digits at night. It was a bad 6 miles out and required multiple trips. We figured it was plenty cold, so to keep the meat from freezing we left the hide on but gutted and propped himopen, then skinned as we boned out. The next day on our second trip, we rolled him over to bone out the other side and that ground side had bone sour started in the hind quarter. Lesson learned. It's never cold enough
Just came across this thread and got me thinking,If you completely bone the animal out whether deer or elk how does one cleanly leave proof of sex attached?Is this considered processed and can be removed in the field when fully boning the animal?
Quote from: Oh Mah on April 09, 2016, 09:48:23 PMJust came across this thread and got me thinking,If you completely bone the animal out whether deer or elk how does one cleanly leave proof of sex attached?Is this considered processed and can be removed in the field when fully boning the animal? I just skin back the sack and leave the berries attached to the meat. It's pretty easy.