Rotten Meat

[Gobble Doc]

How much time do I have to have between killing the deer (actually having my son get a deer) and getting it to someone to butcher and make sausage?  Assume the kill will happen when the weather isn't very cold, say September.   

[JKEEN33]

If it's still warm in the days, bone it out and get it in a cooler or to the shop asap.

[ICEMAN]

It totally varies.
 
In warm weather, (any weather in my book) you need to get your animal gutted and skinned as soon as you can. As soon as the animal hits the ground your hunt is over and it is now time for meat care.
 
Get the animal cooling. Some guys soak them in a river in a trashbag to cool them, others hang them in shade. Direct sunshine is bad. Trapping heat in any kind of bag is bad.
 
Get it cool, and tranport to a cooler place. We often simply lay blocks of ice around the game in transit to the garage and hang them in the cool garage for a few days before we butcher.
 
If you are a newby to getting game to a butcher, read up a bunch, maybe get some big huge coolers and be ready to atleast quarter the animal and get ice under the animal....
 
Good luck.

[link]

I'd say the most important thing is to get the hide off asap, let some air get to it and it should start to dry and cool off. But use common sense, and get it to the cooler as soon as you can.  Also, know in advance where you're taking your meat. Driving around town looking for a locker for a couple days dosen't help.

[Heredoggydoggy]

#1= Get the hide off ASAP--or sooner!

#2=  Get the meat hanging in the shade, or iced in a cooler ASAP--or sooner!

Main thing is to get the hide off and the cavity cooled.  Once skinned, the meat might get a dry surface but that won't hurt.  The hide holds the warmth, and sours the meat quickly.

[Gobble Doc]

Thanks for everyone's suggestions.  I've got a much better idea about what I'm going to be dealing with.  I'll consider it like a turkey, get it gutted and on ice ASAP. 

[time2hunt]

Don't forget open the hind quarters up just cut down the inner seam to the bone, thats your biggest chunk of meat and the heat will hold there the longest.

[True Sportsman]

Don't forget open the hind quarters up just cut down the inner seam to the bone, thats your biggest chunk of meat and the heat will hold there the longest.

This is a great piece of advice. My dad and I lost his first bears meat to bone sour. It was in September and 90 degrees plus that day. We left the hide on and drug the anmal back to the truck to process. It was our first big game animal killed, and we didnt know what we were doing.

After losing that bears meat, I bone out every animal, unless it is really close to the road. After boning out everything, the meat tastes great, cools very quickly, and keeps me from worrying. Its really not a big deal to do this after youve done it a couple times. I put all meat in white breathable game bags and ice it down as soon as possible.

The quicker you get the meat cool, the better it will taste...

[Big P]

great thread I hope all new hunters are reading this

[Axle]

There are a lot of variables on this. The most important for me has been keeping it dry. If it gets wet and doesn't dry quickly (which is difficult on the wet side) then bacteria will grow quickly and that is what will cause the bad smell and taste.
I've hung meat for up to 5 days in temps where the daytime highs were into the low 90s. I just find a cool spot on the hill. Above a small stream in a steep ravine works good.
I will not hang meat in wet weather.
I also process the meat as quickly as possible but sometimes when you are out on a hunt and have a specific return date, you will have to implement the best temporary strategy for keeping it cool and dry till you head out of the woods.

[ICEMAN]

We have gotten meat wet before in the process of cooling and did not get a bacterial issue. We have iced deer and bear down in creeks, then hung them and patted them dry, kept good air circulation and no problems. Even when meat is iced down it often gets wet...  Heck, it seems that most Elk I bone out are during a freakin downpour... 

[demontang]

My experiance is its all about field care, get to the animal as fast as you can. My elk I shot last year was 10min after shooting light, I quartered it out and left the hide on half of it tell I got it out and had it packed out at dark drove to camp with it in the bed of my truck (cold night) got up ran down and got it ready to go to the processer. The meat was fine none spoilded. 

My bear was shot on a day that was 90+ out, I gutted it ran down to a store got a bag of ice throw it in side it. Drove 45 min home, skinned it out and got it to the processer and he told me that he never got a bear in that the meat was in such good shape 

I think cooling it down is key to it not spoiling

[Gobble Doc]

This all makes sense to me that colder is better.  Cold temps mean slower breakdown of the meat by enzymes, slower oxidation,  and slower bug growth.  If my son manages a deer this archery season I'll post a follow up on how we manage.  Thanks everyone.

[Wanttohuntmore]

I and my dad and hunting partner pretty much bone everything out, usually since we are miles from a road.  We usually are packing a couple game bags each (elk season last year I had 3 pillow cases and one large heavy duty game bag).  I boned out the meat, laying each piece on the large game bag out of the dirt.  I would flip the pieces to help cool it as I was working on the rest.  Then, since my elk was in about 3 miles, and it was dark, I split each pile up into the 4 bags and hung in a tree over a creek overnight.  Worked out great!

[DoubleJ]

Once you get it cool, i.e. breaking the animal down and put into coolers or better, a 34-36 degree fridge, you have some time.  We skin and bone out our animals as soon as we can.  The meat goes into those cloth Alaska game bags and into a fridge at 34-36 degrees.  There it sits to age.  The enzyme "Smell" we look for normally hits about day 5 and is strong enough to pull the meat, cut into steaks, and freeze at about day 7-8.  Called wet aging and we love it.  So much better IMO than even aging on the carcase outside in mid 30's weather.

[Instinct]

Do u need to age? Cuz if and when i harvest my animal i was gonna drive down back hhome and put the meat in the freezer then process it later

[STIKNSTRINGBOW]

Do u need to age? Cuz if and when i harvest my animal i was gonna drive down back hhome and put the meat in the freezer then process it later

There is a whole 'nuther thread on that !
I dont do it, but others do... 

We have gotten meat wet before in the process of cooling and did not get a bacterial issue. We have iced deer and bear down in creeks, then hung them and patted them dry, kept good air circulation and no problems. Even when meat is iced down it often gets wet...  Heck, it seems that most Elk I bone out are during a freakin downpour... 

  X2
been there
Water is not the enemy, warmth, moisture, and lack of circulation are the enemy.
It might sound confusing, but meat can sit in water, water cannot sit on meat.  as long as it is rinsed thoroughly, then allowed to dry, you are fine, it is when the water stays on the meat w/o circulating, that you get stagnation, and bacterial growth.

[DoubleJ]

Do u need to age? Cuz if and when i harvest my animal i was gonna drive down back hhome and put the meat in the freezer then process it later

You don't need to age, thats a personal preference but, I would not freeze, thaw to process, and then refreeze.  That will KILL your meat.  Unless you're talking about burger meat.  Then it's OK to do that.  Steaks and roasts?  No way.

[TikkaT3-270Shortmag]

Mt grandfather would hang meat til it started to get a little mold on it then wipe it off with vinegar.  He said its more tender because it is broken down.

[Annette]

Don't forget open the hind quarters up just cut down the inner seam to the bone, thats your biggest chunk of meat and the heat will hold there the longest.

[PA BEN]

Do u need to age? Cuz if and when i harvest my animal i was gonna drive down back hhome and put the meat in the freezer then process it later

You don't need to age, that's a personal preference but, I would not freeze, thaw to process, and then refreeze.  That will KILL your meat.  Unless you're talking about burger meat.  Then it's OK to do that.  Steaks and roasts?  No way.

You have to Waite 36 hrs. Rigger to set in and then go out of the meat. I try to go 4 days. I hung a deer in 70 degree temps when the temp went down in the 30's at night for 4 days once, no problem. Hang in the shade and put a tarp over it to shade the meat. BTW, I shot a deer thanksgiving day, it was 22 below. By the time it got the hide off it was froze solid. We had a January thaw and that's when I cut it up. It was a 4 point w/t in the rut. Best eatting deer ever.

[cohoho]

I agree in aging deer, bison and moose...  But not Caribou, Antelope and Elk...  Such yummy morsels they do not need aging!!!!  On almost every trip I bone it quickly then get it cool as possible.  We all know that is darn near impossible sometimes.  We carried large bags and drop the meat into river to get it chilled if we do not have time due to packing the rest back, etc...  Once it is dry- Keep it dry as possible- moisture is a killer...  Cooler spot in shade by a creek is always good... Most times as long as the hide is removed immediately your fine, but most leave it on way too long- especially Antelope and Caribou types...  I have a 150 quart cooler with a rack that sits on either bags of ice or three or four blocks of ice.  Keep the drain open and let the water melt and drain.  The rack will keep the meat in heavy canvas game bags or TAGS bags, off the water slurry...