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Proper Meat Care on Out of State/Hot Hunts

Bach55

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 24, 2019
Messages
231
Location
Indiana
Hey all,

I’m planning on doing a September Kentucky hunt this season. It will be my first out of state hunt. My biggest question/concern with this is how to properly care for the meat if I were to get one. This is especially true in September in KY where it could easily be in the 80s or higher.

Does anyone have experience with this? I’m assuming people just immediately break the deer down and get it in coolers as soon as possible. Looking for any advice/recommendations on the topic.

Thanks!
 
Hey all,

I’m planning on doing a September Kentucky hunt this season. It will be my first out of state hunt. My biggest question/concern with this is how to properly care for the meat if I were to get one. This is especially true in September in KY where it could easily be in the 80s or higher.

Does anyone have experience with this? I’m assuming people just immediately break the deer down and get it in coolers as soon as possible. Looking for any advice/recommendations on the topic.

Thanks!
Just be careful how soon you put that hot meat in the cooler. If you put it on ice when it's too hot it can sour the meat. The BIGGEST thing is to get the guts out as soon as possible. Then let the meat "cool" for an hour or two once cut up. Then put on ice. I would also reccomend investing in a vacuum sealer. This will keep your meat from swimming in the cooler and also really helps against freezer burn once your home. Good luck!

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Gut, skin, Debone, put meat in game bags, allow meat to cool in open air for a short while, at least have it in the shade. put ice in trash bags in cooler and tie them tight, so your melting ice cant soak your deer and put the game bags under the ice bags in your pre chilled cooler.

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Just be careful how soon you put that hot meat in the cooler. If you put it on ice when it's too hot it can sour the meat. The BIGGEST thing is to get the guts out as soon as possible. Then let the meat "cool" for an hour or two once cut up. Then put on ice. I would also reccomend investing in a vacuum sealer. This will keep your meat from swimming in the cooler and also really helps against freezer burn once your home. Good luck!

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how does the meat sour by putting it on ice?

what happens to animals in places below the temperature of ice? Does the meat there sour when someone opens up an animal and exposes it to that temperature?
 
how does the meat sour by putting it on ice?

what happens to animals in places below the temperature of ice? Does the meat there sour when someone opens up an animal and exposes it to that temperature?
I never heard of that either, killed a whole bunch of deer in 20 degree weather where they were frozen before we could skin them.

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As a fairly proficient killer of deer and pigs in hot and mucky climates (gulf coast), I'd say you don't have to worry as much as you think you do. People got by fine for thousands of years before ice and refrigeration. I've never lost a critter to spoilage.

Kill it, find it, quarter it, pack it out, put it on ice. Trust your nose. If the meat smells like dead critter, cool. If it smells like funk, probably not worth the risk.

@WHW shoves his in trash bags and packs them out. Not exactly textbook "proper" handling with letting stuff cool and breathe, but it doesn't appear to have hurt him none. I used to do the same, and now mostly just chuck raw meat straight in the pack and wash it when i get home. I have been known to pack one out with an hour walk out of the woods, and stop by the waffle house before the ice machine.

Ultimately, the game we kill gets handled better, processed sooner, and eaten quicker than most commercial meat. The woods are pretty clean compared to slaughter houses, and only one set of booger hooks is involved from start to finish in my case.
 
how does the meat sour by putting it on ice?

what happens to animals in places below the temperature of ice? Does the meat there sour when someone opens up an animal and exposes it to that temperature?
Not sure how, as I'm not a biologist however its happened to folks I know. I get it oh the old people he knows saying right. Well my uncle and my dad were on a caribou hunt and killed them and had them cleaned and on ice in roughly an hour and the meat soured. Not sure if the rapid cooling and condensation causes bacteria growth or what. As with all things this is just my experience and opinion. Just trying to help.

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Having chopped up dozens in 75+ temps, and never having any that have spoiled, I’d say you have a wider berth than you might imagine.

Having said that - probably best to be conservative. you’ve got several hours from death with skin on before meat will turn. If you keep it within 3 hours, you’re way safe. You’ve got an hour or two depending on how hot and humid it is once it’s exposed to air. Keep it within an hour and you’re way safe. Best way I’ve found to accomplish this is keep deer whole until I’m next to a cooler, or I quarter skin on to pack out, then remove when going into cooler.

I’ll confess I have several entire deer legs skin on in my deep freeze with no covering. They’ve been in there for 8-10 months. Some were harvested in 70+ weather. None have turned, freezer burnt, or any other negative effects.
 
Not sure how, as I'm not a biologist however its happened to folks I know. I get it oh the old people he knows saying right. Well my uncle and my dad were on a caribou hunt and killed them and had them cleaned and on ice in roughly an hour and the meat soured. Not sure if the rapid cooling and condensation causes bacteria growth or what. As with all things this is just my experience and opinion. Just trying to help.

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Hey, stuff can happen. Serious toxoplasmosis infections are rare, but my wife almost lost her eye of all things.

I know that hog @denots let me shoot was probably on ice before rigor fully set. Hope he don't get sick! ;)
 
You have a lot longer window of time than you think. Sometimes it'll take a half day or longer for us to get a deer or elk out of public ground. We quarter 'em, hang them in our game bags in a tree and let the work commence. They develop a dried skin over the outside after awhile. Get them in the cooler once we get back to camp on ice or old milk jugs we've filled with water and froze.
 
I've seen people freezer 2 liters and after gutting insert up into the cavity and down by the hams to.start cooling on the way to the check in station.....seemed like a good idea...I started taking them but yet to harvest 1 to actually use them....
 
Hey, stuff can happen. Serious toxoplasmosis infections are rare, but my wife almost lost her eye of all things.

I know that hog @denots let me shoot was probably on ice before rigor fully set. Hope he don't get sick! ;)
Not sure what toxoplasmosis is but it sure doesn't sound like a spa treatment lol

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Not sure what toxoplasmosis is but it sure doesn't sound like a spa treatment lol

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It's an exceedingly common bacteria that is usually no big deal. Folks usually get into contect with it through cats, dirt, or undercooked meat. Well, we have a cat, garden, and eat rare meat. Wife's number came up.
 
#1 Priority - Keep it as clean as possible. It's not contaminated on the hoof, only how we mistreat it after. Hunting happens, get the meat as clean as you can when you run into fecal or urine contamination.

#2 Get it cool. Gutted/skinned ASAP. Get the quarters in a cooler. Have the ice ready to go so you don't have to spend valuable time driving into town.

#3 Keep it dry. Moisture not only causes the unappetizing cardboard gray look, but promotes bacterial growth. But far less so than heat and dirt. So do what you gotta do to get it clean and cooled, then find a way to keep it from festering in nasty cooler water.

#4 Keep it aerated. Most "sour" meat is from anerobic bacteria that actually start fermenting the sugars in the muscle. Long term storage in plastic bags is the big no-no here.
 
I agree with @elk_yinzer above on all fronts. Something I like to do on on our Tennessee August hunt is freeze milk jugs solid ahead of time. That way when the heat warms up the cooler it doesn’t become soup and I find I can keep everything cold a lot longer that way


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It takes a lot longer than most guys think for a deer to spoil, even in warm/hot hunting conditions. I've field-quartered and packed out 350+ deer. Some were killed in early October (80 to 90 degrees), in the deep south. A few were not found until as late as mid morning the next day. And, I've never lost one to heat spoilage. I quarter them on the spot, place all the meat in a plastic garbage bag inside my pack. If I'm on a day hunt the meat goes from the pack to an ice chest. If I'm on a multi day hunt I'll spread the quarters & back straps out to cool down to keep from the heat from melting all my ice. Once the heat has dispersed I add ice. Back at the house I take a water hose and flood the ice chest with the drain open. While doing this I make sure that I wash each and every part. Then continue washing until the water runs clear of blood. Once that is done I'll daily drain the water and add ice for up to 5 days before cutting & wrapping for freezer.
 
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