Elk down.

[DeKuma]

I always find that the water is too cold and causes the fat to harden on my knife and saw.  I keep a rag or wipes and use those or just use my pant leg to clean them off.  The saw is the worst.  Seems I can never get it clean until I get home and put it through the dishwasher.  Of course, my wife love it when I do that.........

[saylean]

Good topic, I got a quick question for those of you that hunt in the early bow season, once you have an elk down do you have much trouble with flies or bees around your meat?

If so what do you use to keep them at bay. I have heard pepper works and also I think it was water mixed with a bit of vinegar.

Last year, our hunting party got 2 elk in early archery...the yellow jackets got there real quick on the semi warm day...Basically, we used meat sacks, cut the legs off, put one in each sack and then hung them from trees to keep them out of the dirt while we worked on the rest of it. We didnt use anything to really keep the bees off. They seem more concerned about getting a quick bite to eat than stinging anyone. But they were a nuisance....might have to try something new this year...if we get anything..

[fishseeker]

There is a product on the market the you can apply as you skin, called secound skin I think, My Cuz had some. We had an elk to skin and the bugs were bad. He started putting it on and no more bugs. can't remember were he got it but I will try to find out. No taste to the meat and I'm Darned picky about my meat!

[popeshawnpaul]

Early season pays to wait until dark sometimes to keep the flies and stuff away.  I usually am hunting with a partner.  I have 4 quarter game bags, and cut each quarter off quick and get them in a bag.  I take turns getting a quarter off and bagged while my cousin hauls it to the truck.  Then when he gets back, I haul one out while he gets the next off.  Then switch again until it's completed.  Ice and beer help.  For you nitpickers...it's just going to waste you hours in the dark.  Get it off quick and go.  You can clean it up later. 

Oh, don't start drinking the beers before you have half the elk out.  It just makes for a long haul the last couple quarters.  Just my 2 cents.

[robb92]

I also carry most of the same things you all carry. I will also add some more things to my pack thinks to you all.

[Houndhunter]

yuck, beer and packing out an elk, that would make me sick

[TheHunt]

I've never had a problem using them, but I've read that we're better off using food-grade bags from a butcher. 

I use the garbage bags on top of normal heavy cotton game bags when I need to submerge the meat in a creek to help cool it out when it's over about 60 in the cool draws.  I always carry 4 garbage bags for this purpose (plus, they help in the rain).  I think that you only want food-grade bags touching meat, but I never have the bags touching meat, so that may be why I've never had a problem.

Cool and dry are the major buzz-words for caring for meat.  You have to get the original body heat out of the animal as quick as you can.  I like to submerge the quarters in a creek for a couple hours to get the temp moving down quickly; I put them in heavy cotton game bags then in garbage bags to keep the water off.  Body heat comes from proteins breaking down in the meat, and stopping this process is what we attempt to do to reduce spoilage.  Air circulation all around the meat is a must: you can, and will, lose meat if you leave it lying on snow since no air is moving around the meat to carry the heat away and snow is an insulator.  You can leave meat hanging in a cool creek bottom in 70-75 degree days for a week without worrying about losing meat, but you have to hang it or build a bridge between stumps to keep it off the ground. 

 I soak my bags in the summer time in a bucket of lemon juice and crushed red peppers then hang them over the line to dry before vacuum sealing them for the season.  This works well for keeping the critters away from the hanging quarters, but it doesn't help any for the cleaning process.

What is the receipe for the bucket of lemon juice and crushed red peppers?  That is a great idea. 
What is a food grade bag?
Lastly, if you put a quarter in a creek how do you keep the water out of it?

[Todd_ID]

What is the receipe for the bucket of lemon juice and crushed red peppers?  That is a great idea. 
What is a food grade bag?
Lastly, if you put a quarter in a creek how do you keep the water out of it?

I hear there is a coating on most garbage bags that is a no-no for meat.  A butcher should be able to give you much better info than I.  Submerging meat in water is a trick because I have to make sure the quarters are small enough to be able to tie the bag securely so no water gets in.  My solution to that is just shoot small elk, but sometimes it happens that I accidently kill a big one.  In that case I just cut the lower leg bone out like I do when processing the meat.  Then the quarter goes in a meat sack then into a garbage bag and is waterproof.

Recipe.....hmmm.  The way I do it is to put one gallon of water in a 5 gallon bucket, then I add one of the large bottles of lemon juice from Costco and probably 2 tablespoons of crushed red peppers (like you put on your pizza).  I stir it a bit with a stick and let it heat up in the sun for an hour or so to let it cook together.  Then I put in a meat sack and swish it around long enough to thoroughly soak it then pull it out and hang it overnight to dry.  One mixture is enough to do about 4 game bags.

[WDFW-SUX]

garbage bags and any part of game is a huge NO NO.  capes, meat, skulls and hides can all be ruined in a short amount of time.

[Todd_ID]

garbage bags and any part of game is a huge NO NO.  capes, meat, skulls and hides can all be ruined in a short amount of time.

I agree, but you can lose meat quickly if you can't get the body heat out of it.  I should clarify my posts above to say that I only leave the bag on while the meat is submerged.  It comes off as soon as the meat comes out of the creek.  I always have the meat in a cotton game bag, and the meat only stays submerged for an hour (or two hours on a hot day in a warm creek).  Sometimes sinking the meat in a creek is my only option for getting the body heat out.  I prepare for that by carrying 4 garbage bags in my pack during September.

[CP]

How many of you leave the hide on when quartering?

[WDFW-SUX]

Using a garbage bag for the creek is a good idea water will ruin meat too.

[ICEMAN]

We have argued this many times. Water will not ruin meat. We have completely submerged meat in rivers, hosed meat off with the garden hose, rinsed meat with gallons....all meat was fine.

The issue is to be sure to get it to dry properly if wetted. Think about it..., how many times have you shot an animal when it was pouring buckets of rain.....

Meat is approximately 75% water content, before you get there... Water will not ruin meat.

[MIKEXRAY]

I agree with Iceman in regards to cleaning off meat with water. I have always used water to clean off the meat and have never had troubles. I think its much better to clean, pat dry & game bag up then to leave debris, hair, & other contaminants on the meat. Submerged in a river I would pass on but I always clean. My 

[billythekidrock]

+1 on the last two posts.

Water will not spoil meat when properly done. We have thrown critters in creeks and rivers for as long as two days with no problem. We always dry them then wipe them down with a little water and vinegar before drying them with a fan and cooling them with an air conditioner.