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Meat bags or pillowcases?

PastorKen

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 11, 2018
Messages
620
Location
Eagle River, AK
Camofire.com has ovis bags for 39.99. They look good to me. But, would pillowcases, zip ties, and paracord do just as well? I do like the reflective strips and the plastic ground sheet with ovis bags. But $40... I’m thrifty. Share some wisdom with me.
 
I have some of the BlackOvis bags and they are nice. The reflective strips are handy when hanging them after dark. Pillow cases would certainly work if you want to go cheap!
 
Or trash bags? I just watched Warren Womack’s video where he used trash bags and an Alice pack. Trash bags might be the ticket. I’ve read that the meat bag needs to breathe, but apparently not?
 
I’m leaning towards BlackOvis. I’ve never packed out meat before. But after dragging last year’s buck a mile, I decided to change it up. That was terrible! I’ve killed bucks that weighed over 200 lbs. field dressed. Not sure how much meat that would be, or if I could pack it all out at once from a difficult access area... So I may need to leave some hanging in a tree for the second trip. I do have a handheld gps, but the reflective strips might help. And it might be hours before I can put it on ice. I think breathability might be important for cooling. Trash bags are sounding less appealing. And I won’t be happy if I discover a problem with the pillowcases when I’m trying to get the meat out! I’m not ready to buy yet though... still thinking. Hoping to hear from others.
 
Lots of people use pillow cases. I went with Caribou Gear synthetic meat bags for an elk hunt last year and they worked great. They all washed up to like new condition, ready for the next hunt. I would never use trash bags, but to each their own. It all depends on how far you need to go and weather conditions too.
 
I’m leaning towards BlackOvis. I’ve never packed out meat before. But after dragging last year’s buck a mile, I decided to change it up. That was terrible! I’ve killed bucks that weighed over 200 lbs. field dressed. Not sure how much meat that would be, or if I could pack it all out at once from a difficult access area... So I may need to leave some hanging in a tree for the second trip. I do have a handheld gps, but the reflective strips might help. And it might be hours before I can put it on ice. I think breathability might be important for cooling. Trash bags are sounding less appealing. And I won’t be happy if I discover a problem with the pillowcases when I’m trying to get the meat out! I’m not ready to buy yet though... still thinking. Hoping to hear from others.

Skip the trash bags. They don't breath so you can't drain blood or let the meat cool. If you are packing a big buck out alone it could take two trips unless you like packing roughly 100lbs of meat/cape/antlers and your gear out in one trip :D 60-70lbs is doable for sure unless you have really trained for more. I've been packing 40-80lbs for the past year in prep for my mule deer hunt and personally I wouldn't want to go over 80-90lbs on my back if there is steep terrain involved. Just more risk for injury. Flat land is a different story but you still have to know what you are capable of.
 
Or trash bags? I just watched Warren Womack’s video where he used trash bags and an Alice pack. Trash bags might be the ticket. I’ve read that the meat bag needs to breathe, but apparently not?
Mr. Womack is a deep south whitetail hunter primarily, like myself. Trash bags work fine if you're going to get the critter on ice within a few hours, which you are going to do in most of the Eastern half of the country. "Far" means something totally different to a western hunter. Those guys need a breathable bag to let meat dry on the outside and prevent spoilage. We just need something to keep the blood out of our packs. I have just thrown meat in my little backpack and washed it when I got home.

I would think a pillow case would work just fine for keeping dirt and flies off and allowing meat to breathe and dry out the outer layer.
 
Camofire.com has ovis bags for 39.99. They look good to me. But, would pillowcases, zip ties, and paracord do just as well? I do like the reflective strips and the plastic ground sheet with ovis bags. But $40... I’m thrifty. Share some wisdom with me.
If I recover a deer in the dark and plan to go to my truck to get my sled to drag it out with I put a small flashing light on a branch above the deer https://www.llbean.com/llb/shop/542...bc=29-516713-918-506864&feat=506864-GN3&csp=f 249069_31604_42.jpgJust clip it to a branch above the deer or meat that you are going back for and you will see the flashing light once you get close but you can see from a long way off.

I've been looking at game bags vs pillow cases vs 2 gallon zip locks. I think the game bags are intended to keep insects off the meat and let it cool down when it is hanging. More like a back country thing than walking a mile back to my truck. They drain the blood out too. I've boned out deer and put the boned out meat into 2 gallon Ziploc bags that I packed out before. It kept the meat clean, didn't weigh much, and I was taking it from field to truck to fridge.

I get 35-40 lbs of boned out meat from an average doe and my biggest buck yielded over 80 lbs of boned out meat (it was around 190lbs field dressed) so between 40-80 lbs of meat is what I think you would be moving.
 
Pillow cases work fine.
Also if you can find them poly type seed/feed bags work great and very durable.


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I use the same synthetic game bags I use for elk (TAG bags).

They breathe, allowing the quarters to develop that nice dry exterior crust, which is what protects it from bacteria and fungal growth. Also aids in evaporative cooling.

When done you throw them in the washing machine and they are good to go for another use. My set has packed an elk and a dozen or so deer and they are still going strong except one that I tore being careless.

I guess you could slum it with trash bags for a short pack out, honestly I’ve never tried, but the consensus is that they are basically a greenhouse, retaining heat and moisture. You absolutely want to do the opposite of both those things.

Pillowcases I guess are better than trashbags, but just why even go there? Good synth game bags really aren’t that expensive these days in the scheme of things.

Yeah it’s not a half-ton beast, but it still takes me a few hours to get a deer out sometimes. I sometimes hunt deeper in here than I do for elk out west. My normal process in warmer weather, after I kill, I get down and I quarter and hang those quarters asap, pack my gear out and return with a heftier backpack to pack the meat out. That’s a good hour or three that bugs can get on my meat if not protected, and I want to get the fastest start on cooling that meat I possibly can. Cold weather, 30’s -mid 40’s, obviously you can be pretty leisurely about it then and the bugs are usually gone by that point as well.

I take my meat care very seriously. From the time I let an arrow fly until it is in the freezer, I am doing every little step within my power to take optimal care of that meat. I am pretty anal about it. I enjoy grade A gourmet venison, not eau de funk with a hint of glad trashbag essence. I don’t really understand skimping or cutting corners in that department.
 
If you are packing a big buck out alone it could take two trips unless you like packing roughly 100lbs of meat/cape/antlers and your gear out in one trip :D 60-70lbs is doable for sure unless you have really trained for more.

A lot of the deer I've killed over the years I've had to wipe the milk off their lips, so pack out weight was never an issue! LOL
 
A lot of the deer I've killed over the years I've had to wipe the milk off their lips, so pack out weight was never an issue! LOL
I have a picture of me holding a doe up like a rabbit! Slung her over the tailgate like a sack of taters.

Hunted a pipeline and she came out right at dark, so in my defense I had no sense of distance/scale. Just saw 4 legs and a long neck and let the 06 bark. I had to check that one pretty good for spots before I carried her out.
 
I have a picture of me holding a doe up like a rabbit! Slung her over the tailgate like a sack of taters.

Hunted a pipeline and she came out right at dark, so in my defense I had no sense of distance/scale. Just saw 4 legs and a long neck and let the 06 bark. I had to check that one pretty good for spots before I carried her out.

I don’t have a defense. I just really like the way they taste!


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