After the pack out

[rspecht55]

I am a new elk hunter here. What do you do with the meat after the pack out. I’ve heard some take to a processor right away. What if that isn’t an option. What do I need to do to make sure the meat is taken care of after packing out? This is assuming we want to get back to hunting right away because of other elk tags to fill. I just want to make sure I am not missing anything. Thanks!


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[zrodwyo]

The meat will be fine in a cooler for at least a week. Just keep it iced down.

 

[sndmn11]

In a cooler without being in contact with water, preferably with a barrier in between the ice and meat to avoid direct moisture, drain plugs open and drain any residual water at least once a day. I "age" our meat this way for a week and it is yummy.

 

[jmez]

Dry ice and coolers

 

[Charlie Brown]

1st thing I do with the meat after a pack out is to clean up a tenderloin, season, and place on the grill

 

[CORam]

I am also interested to hear what people say about this. Does anyone store the meat without a cooler and go continue hunting to fill other tags? Say during rifle season in October when the temps range from 15 deg F to 40 deg F? Maybe it gets slightly warmer than that at peak sun during the day.

 

[isItFallYet]

I am also interested to hear what people say about this. Does anyone store the meat without a cooler and go continue hunting to fill other tags? Say during rifle season in October when the temps range from 15 deg F to 40 deg F? Maybe it gets slightly warmer than that at peak sun during the day.

Hang it if it’s below 40.

 

[robby denning]

I am also interested to hear what people say about this. Does anyone store the meat without a cooler and go continue hunting to fill other tags? Say during rifle season in October when the temps range from 15 deg F to 40 deg F? Maybe it gets slightly warmer than that at peak sun during the day.

yes I've done that with deer and elk as if the avg temp in the 40s or below (and it would easily be that with lows 15 and highs 40) if it was in the shade, you'd be good for a long time.

 

[Ucsdryder]

I am also interested to hear what people say about this. Does anyone store the meat without a cooler and go continue hunting to fill other tags? Say during rifle season in October when the temps range from 15 deg F to 40 deg F? Maybe it gets slightly warmer than that at peak sun during the day.

I think that temperature range is optimistic in October. If you’re in shade, close to a creek, that’ll help, but there’s a good chance your daytime temps will be much higher. If that’s the case you might need to have a plan to deal with the meat. Killing an elk usually takes a couple days out of a hunt, so there’s a good chance you’ll have time to get it to town or come up with a plan.

 

[Bighorner]

If it is going to end up at the processor anyway you might as well take it. It takes one guy away from hunting for a day. If you are planning to hang it at a camp I would want to make sure of the temps, direct sun and road dust before I committed to that. If you get one you should be pretty proud of yourself, dont ruin it by losing meat.

 

[Firestone]

If it's cooler like in October or later hang it in some shade and it will be good for a long time. If your talking September when it could be in the 80s I recommend getting a cooler/freezer of some sort lined up. I picked up a used gas station beverage cooler a long time ago, I put all my archery bulls in it for at least a week, sometimes more. Works awesome.

 

[Mykolaivka887]

Leave it on the bone, including the ribs, and hang it in the shade on the north side of a canopied tree or in a deep canyon. That's what I do with everything, even when temperatures approach the low 90's during the day. It'll keep a heck of a long time like that, over a week even.

 

[RonEgg]

Never having hunted Elk, I didn’t realize there was so many things I never had thought of before.

 

[EdP]

I process my own meat and do what sndmn11 described with deer and antelope and will do the same if I take another elk. Once you get the meat cold it doesn't take much ice to keep it cold.

Dry ice was used for an elk I took a few years ago and the meat was completely frozen when I got it home. It worked out OK but took some time as we thawed and processed a quarter at a time and the dry ice was expensive.

 

[5MilesBack]

Yep, dry ice will freeze it right up. I keep coolers full of frozen milk jugs, then just pack them around the meat after hauling it out. I generally don't stick around long after packing out my elk, but I'll leave the meat in the coolers at home for a couple days at least. It's cold enough that it hurts my hands to work with it after awhile.

 

[wytx]

Leave it on the bone, including the ribs, and hang it in the shade on the north side of a canopied tree or in a deep canyon. That's what I do with everything, even when temperatures approach the low 90's during the day. It'll keep a heck of a long time like that, over a week even.

Yep, bag it and hang in the shade. The breeze and shade will cool it just fine.

 

[LongWayAround]

If you have never been elk hunting and kill one, count your blessings and take it to the processor. You will need a fair amount of cooler space for an entire (bone in?) elk and enough ice to keep it cool.

You might lose a day or half a day taking it to the processor and driving back to your access point.

 

[Scooter90254]

It would be awful hard to keep it in a cooler long term. Obviously, all of this is weather dependent. If it's hot you almost have to take it in.

We tried leaving meat in a cooler on an 80 degree day. Both Yeti's had as much ice in them as we could fit. By the next afternoon all of the ice was gone, and the coolers were warm. I think the meat was still carrying a ton of heat. Unless it's getting good and cold like under 40 at night you should plan on taking it in somewhere. You could tempo fate by hanging down along a cool creek or something but even that can be a risk.

 

[5MilesBack]

We tried leaving meat in a cooler on an 80 degree day. Both Yeti's had as much ice in them as we could fit. By the next afternoon all of the ice was gone, and the coolers were warm.

After a week of archery hunting and then anywhere from 2-4 days with the meat in my cooler with the frozen milk jugs, those jugs will still be at least 50% ice when I start to process the meat. I have a 200qt IRP Marine cooler, plus a 120qt Coleman Xtreme 6 as well if needed.

I'll generally go up for about 7 days at a time, and then come home and resupply and refreeze my milk jugs, and take in some football, and then head back up again....doing this throughout the season.

 

[Marble]

I freeze plastic gallon jugs and a flat of water. I blend it into two ice chests and store it in the truck. You can easily get a week of use out of that.

If i don't have that I'll get a block and out it in an ice chest.

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