Cooling elk meat

[melbatoast]

I am coming up with ideas for cooling elk meat on our upcoming 9 day archery hunt. I have done a bunch of research, most people say the best way to do it is to place some logs over a creek, place the meat on the logs, then cover the meat with fresh pine boughs. The fear being that if the meat gets wet it will become contaminated with bacteria. I would think the best way is to place the meat in game bags, then place the game bags into industrial rated plastic bags, suck the air out and tie them shut, then submerge the meat into the creek. Tying them to the bank and weighting them down with rocks maybe.
The creek should be around 45 degrees F and 3ft deep. What is wrong with this idea?

 

[cnelk]

Last year my buddy shot his elk in the last 10 minutes of his hunt.
He was scheduled to leave the next morning so we \'dunked\' the meat.

Trash compactor bags worked good, you done have to suck the air out as the water pressure will force the air up and out of
the bag as you lower it into the water.

Word of caution tho, the trash compactor bags may not withstand a sharp stick or stone in the creek.

If you dont have the trash bags, just hanging the game bags near the running water will cool the meat just fine.

 

[JohnFitzgerald]

I am coming up with ideas for cooling elk meat on our upcoming 9 day archery hunt. I have done a bunch of research, most people say the best way to do it is to place some logs over a creek, place the meat on the logs, then cover the meat with fresh pine boughs. The fear being that if the meat gets wet it will become contaminated with bacteria. I would think the best way is to place the meat in game bags, then place the game bags into industrial rated plastic bags, suck the air out and tie them shut, then submerge the meat into the creek. Tying them to the bank and weighting them down with rocks maybe.
The creek should be around 45 degrees F and 3ft deep. What is wrong with this idea?

Dunking the meat in waterproof bags is what I like to do.

jf

 

[Tenderfoot]

How long can you keep them like this... if we kill an elk on the first day of our 9 day hunt WI it keep for that long?

 

[cnelk]

Nope.
Dont risk it that long.
Where you guys are at you can also take it into Laramie

 

[JohnFitzgerald]

Nope.
Dont risk it that long.
Where you guys are at you can also take it into Laramie

+1

 

[Lark Bunting]

How long do you have after quartering/deboning at the kill site before you get them on ice at camp? Let\'s use the worst case temps, 85* and all you have is shade from some trees, no creek nearby.

 

[cnelk]

If we kill one in the morning, we hang it in the shade until the next day.
Its good to let the meat get a crust on it, sort of seals it.
Then after the blood has dried the next day, we put the meat in the coolers.

Everything should be as dry as it can before it is placed in the cooler with ice.

 

[F M]

If we kill one in the morning, we hang it in the shade until the next day.

Where we hunt it is usually in or around the 90s during the day and have never lost any meat yet by hanging it in the shade yet. One year we had to leave some for a day and a half. We were worried about it but it was all fine when we cut it up.

 

[Wake26]

At one of are elk camps we have a steam that runs close by. If someone got an elk we would debone it double wrap it in garbage bags and put it in a deeper part of the stream. We have left meat in the \"fridge\" as we called it for 4 days with no meat going bad. But we tried to get it down the mountain in a day or two.

 

[Jaquomo]

If you can find a steep north-facing slope near a creek bottom, the cool air coming down through the timber from the descending thermals will cool the meat down significantly during the night, even it it\'s relatively warm up above the creek bottom. If you\'re not near a cooler or stuck in there (mud, etc..), you can wrap the quarters in a tarp during the day to hold the cold air in. I\'ve aged elk just fine like this for 5-6 days at relatively low elevation (8,300\') in September with no problems.

But you can have other problems with field aging, like blowflies working into the game bags, martins tearing open the game bags and stealing meat, bears, etc.., so better to get it out as quickly as possible.