keeping meat cool

[leadpillproductions]

any ideas to keeping meat cool on a back pack trip i will be by a river

[leadpillproductions]

there must be some body out there that has some ideas

[brotherbear]

We hung ours in cheese cloth in the shade along the creek. And the down draft was good for a couple of days. Beware of bears though!

[ElkMasterC]

a) Head home right away

b) Leave the hide on, and 'creek' it.

c) Skin and quarter it, wrap the quarters in plastic and 'creek' it.

d) Hang it high, and shroud it in burlap, and keep the burlap wet, but not touching the meat. Evaporation will cool what's inside by a few degrees or more, and the shroud keeps the flies off as well.

If in doubt, see a), above

Cheers,
Chris

[Caveman]

Open waterproof bags, submerse the quarters keeping the water out of the bags. Will cool quickly and safely. If no bags you could submerse the meat hide on and cylcle it, allowing time to dry. Water is not your friend though, so better to keep as dry as you can. Evenings air dry in the shade close to waters edge for the cool breeze off the river.

[325 wsm]

I've put meat in garbage bags before, after it has had a chance to cool. Debone the meat, double bag it, tie nots in the bags and sink it just under the water level and then cover with moss and rocks. Works great in a small stream but remember to tie the bags to ropes on a rivers edge or lake shore. Kept meat for up to a week that way before while waiting for an airplane. A bit of water usually seeps in and may change the color of the outer layer of meat but it does'nt spoil it.

[bridger]

we hunt sheep elk and moose in august in the mts and we have had good luck bagging meat to keep the flies away--that is often the biggest problem. after bagging it we hang it in a shady spot up high where the breeze can get at it. we have kept sheep meat for over a week and elk and moose the same way. never lost a quarter. If you are back packing i assume you are in the mtns and it is usually cooler there especially at night than out in the flat moose areas. we also sometimes take the bags off a night to allow more cooling

[leadpillproductions]

thanks alot sounds great does any one have any thing else

[NaStY]

Take a freezer with a generator and lots of fuel.....

[leadpillproductions]

no freezer on top of mnts

[Robert]

I hunt sheep and elk at the Tetsa River for 4+ weeks starting in Mid August or so. After boning out the sheep I plan on takining it to Fort Nelson to a cooler then go back to chase the elk. After boning the elk hang the meat near the river in the shade cathing the cool breeze of the water. Put tin pillow cases, cheese cloth, or bed sheets to cool it off. Once the meat is cooled off put in RubberMaid Plastic containers tie the lid on with rope, put the container in the river ( about 1 ft deep) and then place some rocks on top. The ice water will cool the meat almost the same temp as the mountain fed river, and the Tetsa is ice cold all year round. Once cooled off by the temperature of the water it fine to transport all the way back home. You can also put some bagged ice in the containers and wrap with sleeping bag if you are worried about it but you shouldnt have to.

Robert

[kennyj]

We always de-bone our animals right away and place the meat on a rack of poles off the ground so air can circulate around it.If it gets warm during the day pile the meat on a tarp in a mound and wrap the tarp around it tight to keep the flys off.Cover with sleeping bags and the meat will keep its self cool all day.Put out again at night.I've also put it in a bag in a river.
kenny

[hunter1947]

I have boned out meat at times and put it in a zip lock bag that is 24x24 and the put it in the bottom of the stream.
Put some rocks on it but be carefully you don't puncher the bag when doing this.

I have taken the temp in the creek I put my meat in and the temp was +4C.

I have had the meat in the bag under the water for 5 days and never had a problem this day.

When you do this the bears don't smell the meat as easy as for if you had it hanging some where.

[Ron.C]

Never had to do it myself, but a guy a shot 3d with a couple time last year has done very similar to H1947 for years and says he's never had meat spoil. While he and his partner are packing elk quarters elk over a couple days, the leap frog the quarters from stream to stream, submerging the quarters that have been wrapped in heavy plastic bags. There was a similar thread to this before I beleive where some say that doing this with plactic will spoil your meat? I think the key idea when not having a cooler near by that you can get you game to immediately is quarter, skin and bone out your quarters right away to let it dissipate it's own body heat as soon as possible after the kill. Once this is done and the meat has cooled, then I think you would be safe to wrap in heavy plastic bags and submerge to keep cool during the heat of the day if needed.

[hunter1947]

Never had to do it myself, but a guy a shot 3d with a couple time last year has done very similar to H1947 for years and says he's never had meat spoil. While he and his partner are packing elk quarters elk over a couple days, the leap frog the quarters from stream to stream, submerging the quarters that have been wrapped in heavy plastic bags. There was a similar thread to this before I beleive where some say that doing this with plactic will spoil your meat? I think the key idea when not having a cooler near by that you can get you game to immediately is quarter, skin and bone out your quarters right away to let it dissipate it's own body heat as soon as possible after the kill. Once this is done and the meat has cooled, then I think you would be safe to wrap in heavy plastic bags and submerge to keep cool during the heat of the day if needed.

When I do put the meat in plastic bags and into a stream I don't leap frog from stream to stream ,it stayes put till I take it into the butcher or make a one way exit to home.

If it is warm when transporting the meat home I grab a pill of cardboard and put it around my meat with blocks of ice sometimes there are 12 blocks around the meat.

First of all lay a tarp down then the cardboard with the ice and meat ,then cover as needed.

Maybe thats why these hunters had trouble with there meat going sour in and out of the creeks ,the meat is introduced to warm conditions when carrying the meat out ,then put back into the cold water.

When doing this the meat will go bad on you real quick ,meat does not like to be warmed up and then cooled down.