The Cabela's article:
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/community/inthefield/fieldguides/guidebooks-story-1.jsp?hierarchyId=87&title=Good%20Meals%20and%20Quality%20Trophies%20Begin%20in%20the%20Field%20&contentId=ross_early_season_care&categoryId=SEARCH_ai Good Meals and Quality Trophies Begin in the Field
With temperatures hovering in the upper 90's, it's very difficult to focus on hunting season, especially with the sweat that keeps stinging my eyes. Difficult or not, hunting season is coming and with it the cooler temperatures that we all look forward to. While the later seasons will require a return to layering, the early archery and muzzleloader seasons will require hunters to take extra care to ensure that their meat and trophies are properly cared for.
Author: Frank Ross
Two overwhelming factors demand that you plan and execute proper field care in warm temperatures. First, because it is illegal as well as unethical to waste portions of wildlife fit for human consumption, which means a minimum of four quarters, tenderloins and backstrap of any game animal. Secondly, and of equal importance, you don't want to lug all of that heavy meat back to your vehicle and then find out it has spoiled because you didn't take a few simple precautions. It wouldn't make sense to expend all the energy it takes to make a successful hunt, only to have your game rot before it reaches the freezer.
The benefits of game meat are many. It contains no growth hormones, chemical additives or antibiotics, and is healthier than anything you will find in a supermarket. Elk, deer, antelope and moose all have less fat, cholesterol and calories than beef, lamb or pork, which makes their flesh not only tasty but good for the heart.
Plan ahead for success and you'll be ahead of the curve when you begin the task of field dressing your game. Take along some clean cloths, fresh water and a game bag to keep the flies and bugs off of your meat. Bees and sweat flies can be particularly annoying during this process, so take along some insect repellent for yourself as well. Just make sure you wash your hands before handling any meat after applying your repellent.
The most important step is field dressing the animal as soon as it drops. That means removing the guts, heart, lungs, liver, esophagus and other internal organs, as well as cleaning out the rectal bone. After removing all the entrails, roll the animal over to drain the body cavity, then use a clean rag to wipe off excess blood, bone chips, dirt, partially digested food particles and other foreign matter. Do not use creek water to wash it out, as it may be infected with various forms of bacteria and will actually hasten spoilage. Once you've washed out the body cavity, use your cloths to dry off any excess water, which expedites spoilage.
The next step is cooling the meat as quickly as possible. Even after evisceration, the neck and shoulders still retain a lot of heat, which must be dissipated to stop the meat and hide from spoiling. Spoiling usually starts in the neck and radiates backward throughout the whole animal. Time is critical, even in cool weather. Bacterial growth begins at any temperature over 38 degrees Fahrenheit and maggots can hatch within eight hours if the carcass is exposed to flies and other winged insects, which is a given anywhere in the field.
Any experienced meat processor will tell you that the most common mistake made by hunters is not skinning soon enough. Without air circulation, an animal can sour quickly, even in cold weather. When the weather is hot, you've only got a couple of hours to get that hide off so the meat can cool and develop a protective crust.
Only leave the hide on long enough to keep the meat clean, if the animal is going to be dragged on the ground, or if it will be transported over dusty forest service roads in the back of an open pickup. If you have ambitions of tanning the hide, or doing a shoulder mount, dragging your trophy is a bad plan. If you have help, a game pole will work for smaller animals, but you might want to consider other options such as Cabela's Magnum Game Carrier or the Deer Sleigh'r Sled which is easier to pack along to remote areas. Smaller game such as deer and antelope, if transported whole and reasonably quickly, can be skinned back at camp. But larger animals such as elk and moose, which usually have to be packed out in pieces on several trips, should be skinned and quartered in the field. While you're at it, remove all fat, because what little fat there is on a game animal begins going rancid almost immediately, which gives a nasty taste to the meat.
Use good sturdy game bags that are both insect-proof and breathable. Cheap, cheesecloth bags rip easily, and do not protect the meat from birds and blowflies. Get the animal off the ground and out of the sun. Hang it in the shade, off tree branches or, if a cool creek is running nearby, place the covered meat on poles near or above the water. But don't get it wet. Water is the other great enemy besides lack of air circulation. Wet meat will not glaze and sours very quickly. Keep it dry, shaded, preferably in the wind and never cover it with a tarp or plastic bags.
In higher altitudes, even with the best of care, meat hanging in camp will not last more than two days during typical weather, from late August through early October. For lower altitudes, were temperatures don't fluctuate much in the evenings, the time is much shorter. For later seasons, when nighttime temperatures drop into the 20s, hanging meat can last three to five days. That means hunters in the early seasons, who get their game early, but wait for friends to fill their tags before breaking camp, should find a freezer locker in the nearest town or debone their meat and chill it in ice chests. When using a cooler, do not place meat directly on ice. Frozen water bottles work best. Also, do not use baggies or plastic wrap when simply chilling meat, as plastic holds in heat and moisture. Freezer paper or aluminum foil is the way to go, and you'll want to keep the water drained out of your cooler. You can use plastic when the meat finally goes into your freezer back home, but preferably with a vacuum sealer.
Those driving some distance with game bags should remember the importance of air circulation. Don't stack and don't cover them with a tarp that traps heat and cuts off airflow. If you have a topper, leave the back window open to ensure adequate circulation and reduce the ambient temperature.
If you opt to take your animal to a meat processor, taking the time to bone out the meat is a simple process that pays big dividends at the dinner table. Many processors cut meat with the bone left in if it isn't deboned by the owner, but if you ask an honest cutter, they'll admit that deboned elk or deer tastes much better than one with the bones left in. That's because bones and bone marrow impart a more "gamy" taste, as does the fat. Get rid of both and remember that an animal is what it eats. If elk and deer have been eating alfalfa or corn, they're going to taste better than those that have existed on sagebrush or saplings. If you get a gamy animal, it's going to stay gamy. If quality table fare is more important than trophy size, you might want to scout areas where their diet will produce better tasting meat. However, that said, a huge 6x6 muley mounted over the hearth could help you develop a taste for sage.
Lastly, always remember that the better you clean your animal, the better quality of meat you will have. Most hunters know how to take care of their meat, but there are those who leave hair, dirt, gravel, twigs, leaves and pine needles on otherwise well-dressed meat when they deliver it to a processing plant. As for burger and sausage, it's only as good as the meat you put in it. Don't expect processors to work miracles with ground meat if you throw in tendons, muscle, gristle and all the other things you wouldn't eat on a steak. Chances are, it's going into the grinder without much, if any, trimming.
Much of what applies to meat preservation also applies to hide and trophy care. Bacterial growth starts at the same temperature for meat or hides and air circulation is just as critical. You'll want to keep the hide cool, never get it wet and remember that hair can start slipping after only one and a half days of 60-degree weather.
A common complaint from taxidermists is hunters who don't give them enough hide to work with; the most common mistake made by those skinning out a trophy is cutting it too short. For a proper head mount with full sweep of the neck, a good taxidermist needs nearly half the hide cut well behind the shoulders at mid-rib so the brisket and front armpits are all there. That means peeling the hide off the front part of the animal literally like a sausage, all the way up the neck to the base of the skull.
If you don't know how to cape out a head, cut it off at the first vertebrae and let the taxidermist do the rest. Many taxidermists prefer to do it themselves, since the hair on a head is short and mistakes are hard to repair. The most common error by do-it-yourselfers is a cape with four eyeholes, which happens when they cut into the membrane right above the eyeball. Sliced lips are next and almost impossible to repair, as well as leaving the nose attached to the skull instead of the hide.
Below the head, where the hair is long on the neck, brisket and shoulders, nicks, cuts and holes are relatively easy to repair. In fact 90 percent of a taxidermist's work is repairing the blemishes of skinners and tanners. That said, try to skin as cleanly as possible, leaving meat, fat and muscle tissue on the carcass rather than the hide. Otherwise, you or a taxidermist will have to spend extra hours scraping the hide clean. Your time is free, but his is not!
When packing, storing or transporting hides, think dry and cold; moisture and heat are the big enemies. The best way to store a hide in camp is folded up, hair on the outside, skin on the inside, in a breathable burlap sack kept off the ground in the coolest, shadiest spot you can find. The hide also can be kept in an ice chest as long as the ice is in a plastic bag and water are kept below the hide, or if a piece of burlap separates the hide from the melted ice.
Salting a cape removes the moisture in which bacteria thrive, but most taxidermists advises not to salt unless you absolutely have to, and then only if you do it thoroughly and well. It's no use salting a cape with the head still attached because the unsalted portion of hide on the skull will invariably spoil and ruin the whole thing. It's best to freeze a cape with the head attached and take it that way to your taxidermist. And never freeze a salted cape, as it will slowly rot in the freezer.
If the head has been skinned out and you only have the cape to deal with, make sure all the fat and meat has been removed before salting. Salt cannot penetrate fat, meaning those portions will spoil, and it can only penetrate about a half inch of meat. Rub salt into every exposed portion of skin, paying close attention to all edges, eyes, lips, ears and mouth, then roll up the hide and store in a cool area. After 24 hours, shake out the wet salt and do all over again. That will remove about a half-gallon of moisture from the average deer hide and over a gallon from a full-grown bull elk - but even that may not prevent spoilage for long in hot weather. Freezing without salt is by far the best option, and for a real trophy it's well worth a run to town no matter what the distance.
If you have great expectations, based on pre-season scouting, it would be best to locate the taxidermist you intend to use and ask how he wants you to deliver your future trophy. Most prefer their capes fresh over frozen and frozen over salted, but it's best not to assume. Once you've taken your trophy, get it out of the woods as fast as possible and let a professional take care of it. Leave your friends to hunt alone, or rejoin them later, after you've delivered your cape. It's an extra effort, and might not be as much fun as sitting around camp and reliving your moment of success, but when you think about the consequences it just makes sense. After all the work you've put into scouting, hunting, and hide care, the last thing you want to show off is a monster rack mounted on a bald head.
Gear List
Alaska Game Bags
Cabela's Magnum Game Carrier
Field Dressing Kit
Deer Sleigh'r Sled
Gambrel & Hoist Lift System
