NMGuy
Well-known member
Hey folks, just getting into hunting away from roads and need some help/advice on handling meat. I've been hunting deer since I was 13, but we've always just thrown the deer in the back of the truck and high tailed it back home. This year I plan to get away from the roads/crowds and see what I can find off the beaten path. I've got an October elk hunt in New Mexico as well as an October mule deer hunt in New Mexico. My main questions are:
1. Is it possible to cool meat too quickly? For the elk hunt I would quarter/hang meat in the shade and get it to a cooler as soon as possible. For the deer hunt, I was thinking I'd quarter and get the meat on ice as soon as possible (while keeping it dry).
2. What do you do with meat when you have no shade, especially when it's hot? I'm hunting deer in Southeast NM and some mesquite bushes are about all I will have. I've seen some guys who build a stand of wood and cover it with a tarp, but I won't have access to much wood (if any) and if it is as warm as it has been in recent years I'm going to be racing the clock. Some years I bow hunt and the September portion of deer season can hit 100 degrees.
Thanks in advance,
-Guy
1. Is it possible to cool meat too quickly? For the elk hunt I would quarter/hang meat in the shade and get it to a cooler as soon as possible. For the deer hunt, I was thinking I'd quarter and get the meat on ice as soon as possible (while keeping it dry).
2. What do you do with meat when you have no shade, especially when it's hot? I'm hunting deer in Southeast NM and some mesquite bushes are about all I will have. I've seen some guys who build a stand of wood and cover it with a tarp, but I won't have access to much wood (if any) and if it is as warm as it has been in recent years I'm going to be racing the clock. Some years I bow hunt and the September portion of deer season can hit 100 degrees.
Thanks in advance,
-Guy