Camp Month: Backcountry Meat Care by Aron Snyder

In the spirit of Camp Month, Aron Snyder gives Rokslide the lowdown on Backcountry Meat Care
http://www.rokslide.com/2012-01-09-05-12-00/backpacking

Great article, Aron!

How many of the eVent dry sacks do you typically take along, and what size do you prefer? Are the sacks used for gear storage until you're ready to start hauling meat, or do you use them solely for the meat?

Good article, thanks!

Thanks for the great article Aron! I wanted to add that if I'm not mistaken, keeping the meat temperature below 50 degrees is kind of the magic threshold temp to prevent bacteria growth. Does that sound right? Just thought I'd throw that out there for discussion so that guys can kind of gauge their cooling methods based on getting the meat temp at least below that threshold.

I know it's been discussed in numerous threads before, but some guys carry some citric acid to spray the meat down. I don't have enough experience with that to say one way or another, but for the first time last year I carried a small 3 oz spray bottle and some powdered citric acid that I mixed with water and sprayed my elk meat down as I laid it out on the bags while deboning. Whether I needed to do that is debatable, but it gave me a little added piece of mind. Probably added a couple ounces to my kill kit.

Meat care is always a good discussion topic that probably doesn't get enough attention sometimes. Thanks!

Nice write up Aron! I like the idea of deboning the rear quarters while still attached. Makes sense and why spend time trying to cut the bone out of the socket when you can just debone it that much quicker and get the meat cooled off.

What size dry bags and how many would be required for cooling in snow or river? Thanks.

What would be the general distribution of meat into three equal bags for someone hunting alone?