Cape & Meat Care Kotz Drop Hunt

[Josh86]

Probably should post this in the meat and trophy care section but wanted some specific input. I'm headed to Kotzebue for caribou Sept. 14th-22nd, I've read several forums on this topic but looking for more direction. I'm trying decide whether it's necessary to salt and turn the lips and ears on our capes or will it be cool enough that I can just freeze them when we get back to Kotz? Also, is citric acid needed to keep the meat in good condition? I'm sure a lot of it is weather dependent, whats the max daytime temp that cape will stay good for multiple days without salting and turning lips and ears? (I would rather leave this to the pros)

We have a silnylon tarp to cover the meat and high end game bags for our meat and capes. Plan on taking plastic totes loaded with food and extra gear on the way there and bringing our meat and capes home as checked baggage using our sleeping bags and clothes to insulate the frozen meat. We have two 17 gal totes that should hold 100lbs of meat each which is the limit for Alaska Airline. Probably closer to 90# of meat and 10lbs of clothes, sleeping bag, and tote.

Is anyone else headed to Kotz around the same time? if so what are your plans? Thanks!

 

[TSAMP]

I hunted last year into the first week of sept and lost a cape. I got my bull on day 2 of a 11 day hunt and kept putting off maintenance on it so I could help my buddy fill his tag which wasnt until day 9. Needless to say I did what I could after he filled but upon landing and delivering it to tax he couldn't salvage it. I say bring salt and take the time upfront. We had two nights that got below freezing and a couple days nearing 70 for reference.

 

[soggybtmboys]

8 day hunt, i'd turn the ears and lips as well as salt the hide. Keep your meat dry, in the shade of a tarp and up off the ground to allow air yo circulate around it. We did a 10 day hunt and had kills on days 3, 4, and 5. Everything worked out well, and we were two weeks ahead of you guys and further north.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N920A using Tapatalk

 

[Northwestalaska]

Your hunt is later and the Temps should be ok for meat care..Your flight service will charge you for an extra flight I am guessing because hauling salt into the field will put you over your weight limit...Rule of thumb is temps cool after Sept. 8th and the later in the month night time temps will be below 40. Keep meat clean and keep it in the shade and dry! You have to think about pulling that trigger early in your hunt unless you are going to come out early.. Take Citric Acid with you and a spray bottle

Good luck

 

[mooster]

Probably should post this in the meat and trophy care section but wanted some specific input. I'm headed to Kotzebue for caribou Sept. 14th-22nd, I've read several forums on this topic but looking for more direction. I'm trying decide whether it's necessary to salt and turn the lips and ears on our capes or will it be cool enough that I can just freeze them when we get back to Kotz? Also, is citric acid needed to keep the meat in good condition? I'm sure a lot of it is weather dependent, whats the max daytime temp that cape will stay good for multiple days without salting and turning lips and ears? (I would rather leave this to the pros)

We have a silnylon tarp to cover the meat and high end game bags for our meat and capes. Plan on taking plastic totes loaded with food and extra gear on the way there and bringing our meat and capes home as checked baggage using our sleeping bags and clothes to insulate the frozen meat. We have two 17 gal totes that should hold 100lbs of meat each which is the limit for Alaska Airline. Probably closer to 90# of meat and 10lbs of clothes, sleeping bag, and tote.

Is anyone else headed to Kotz around the same time? if so what are your plans? Thanks!

We hunted out of kotz last year same dates. We had lows from 18-30F each night. We didn’t shoot any bou until the next b4 we flew out, so it wasn’t an issue, but we would have been fine taking one the first day. We even had snow squalls one day.

 

[greenheadkilla]

Lets say daytime highs are low to mid 40's and night time lows mid to upper 30's. Meat is clean, dry, elevated off the ground with good circulation, in good game bags and protected from the sun and rain w/ a tarp. You are spiked in and on foot.
1. How long would you feel comfortable before you got concerned with meat spoilage?
2. Citric acid, or not?
3. This one may be a dumb one, but can you use the citric acid on the cape also? Being on foot i don;t think a guy would want to carry salt. The cape would be the least of my concern anyways, but if i already had citric acid packed..

 

[OXN939]

Probably should post this in the meat and trophy care section but wanted some specific input. I'm headed to Kotzebue for caribou Sept. 14th-22nd, I've read several forums on this topic but looking for more direction. I'm trying decide whether it's necessary to salt and turn the lips and ears on our capes or will it be cool enough that I can just freeze them when we get back to Kotz? Also, is citric acid needed to keep the meat in good condition? I'm sure a lot of it is weather dependent, whats the max daytime temp that cape will stay good for multiple days without salting and turning lips and ears? (I would rather leave this to the pros)

We have a silnylon tarp to cover the meat and high end game bags for our meat and capes. Plan on taking plastic totes loaded with food and extra gear on the way there and bringing our meat and capes home as checked baggage using our sleeping bags and clothes to insulate the frozen meat. We have two 17 gal totes that should hold 100lbs of meat each which is the limit for Alaska Airline. Probably closer to 90# of meat and 10lbs of clothes, sleeping bag, and tote.

Is anyone else headed to Kotz around the same time? if so what are your plans? Thanks!

You can get a travel spray bottle and package an ounce of citric acid powder in a ziploc bag for less than the weight penalty of a Clif bar. Considering that it extends the time your meat stays good in the field significantly, I have a hard time seeing any argument for not bringing it on every backcountry hunting trip.