I have a question for you about keeping the meat good during the hunt. I will be hunting with another person who will also be hunting. My question is then if one of take our elk, how would I keep that meat from going bad while my friend or I would still be hunting? We are not very close to any town, would be about a 2 hour drive to get somewhere with the meat that might be able to freeze it for us. Any ideas would help us out a lot.
How to Keep Elk meat good
- Thread starter smccrory
- Start date
shootbrownelk
Well-known member
Good coolers and lots of Ice. Or take along a small chest freezer and a generator if you have room for it.
This is a super thread answering your question....
http://onyourownadventures.com/hunttalk/showthread.php?t=261698&highlight=meat
http://onyourownadventures.com/hunttalk/showthread.php?t=261698&highlight=meat
Drive 2 hours and don't worry about it. I don't see the issue if a 4 hour round trip guarantees piece of mind.
oldillini
Active member
If only 2 hours I would not get concerned. Last fall took my bull @ 10 minutes before sunset in CO. Meat cooled overnight as temps reached freezing. Next morning packed it on horses, rode 2 hours out, transferred to truck (no cooler) and drove 1-1/2 hours to processor. I was more worried about the 20 hour drive back home after processing, but a cooler and dry ice solved that issue.
As others have stated, simply get the meat out to vehicle and drive to a processor. Many processors post 24 hour numbers. Call them at 2 AM and they show up within 30 minutes and get the meat into the cooler.
Our hunting group has done this many items. We camp about 2 miles from the road. When someone kills one, its all hands on deck to cut up and pack out. Then the lucky hunter travels to Town with it and may spend the night in a hotel after dropping off the meat, depending on the time of day. The rest of the crew heads back into the camp area to hunt.
Our hunting group has done this many items. We camp about 2 miles from the road. When someone kills one, its all hands on deck to cut up and pack out. Then the lucky hunter travels to Town with it and may spend the night in a hotel after dropping off the meat, depending on the time of day. The rest of the crew heads back into the camp area to hunt.
BlakeA
Well-known member
whiskeydog
Active member
If it's archery season, get it to town or on ice immediately. If you are hunting rifle season and temps are getting down in the 30's at night, bone it out and just make sure it's out of the sun and off the ground. make a platform under a tree out of sticks/logs to keep it off the ground or lay it on sticks across a stream. We often leave elk for 4-5 days before packing it out if we know it's protected and will stay cool.
Yellowstoner
Member
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2015
- Messages
- 167
Whiskeydog - have you ever had issues with coyotes, bears or ravens?
buckykm1
Member
I always take a 11cu. ft. Chest Freezer and a 3000 watt Honda Generator to run it, on all my hunting trips. most of our food comes out in the freezer, and the Elk go home in it.
Kevin
Kevin
whiskeydog
Active member
We haven't had an issue yet. We go in the day before opener and come out on the 8th day. We move elk back to the trailhead when we have a chance, but they usually stay on the ground for 2-3 days average, although we've left them as long as 5. Once we get the meat elevated a bit off the ground we cut down a pile of branches and cover all the meat completely (mainly to keep the birds off). We also move the meat ~100 or so yards from the carcass. Once, we had a weasel chew a hold in one of the game bags and take a snack, but that's it. Two years ago when taking the horses in to pick up one of the stashes we crossed a wolf track and followed it to the kill site. The wolf had eaten a bit off the carcass, but left the game bags untouched. There are a few griz in the area, but we've never seen one. I'm not an expert, but my bet is that most of the animals will go for the carcass/guts before the quarters. My thoughts are that the meat is safer in the game bags covered by pine boughs than they would be if hung in a tree where the birds would pick the bags apart...
5Speedjim
Member
We had a pine marten in camp stealing scraps before the guy could clean up everything from cutting his elk up. The same fool left his ivory's on a table and a squirrel took one
elkjim
New member
If night temps are below freezing, and day temps below 45, you will be fine for a few days as long as you get it cooled quickly. Otherwise, you'll need to put it on ice or haul it to a cooler. 2 hours really isn't a long drive in most of elk country.
Ditto!
Here in NM if you get it in the shade and in a breeze in will sometimes stay just about frozen even with daytime temps in 60's.
I use heavy canvas bags in camp and have never had a critter problem here 5' off the ground.
Bears in the Sierras with deer in camp is a different story.
After the gut pile dissappears that 1st night,they will take it in any bag the next on a solo hunt without the dirty laundry hanging nearby ...lol
