Elk hunt Idaho, meat care questions

Rsully661

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Jun 25, 2017
Messages
204
Location
Bakersfield, Ca
Hunting Idaho sept 14-24, I have plans on being successful🤞🏻. There will be a truck full of me that have the same plan. So the problems remains if we are blessed and able to put meat on the ground can I get some opinions and tips on game care?
What game bags are you using? Was looking at TAG bags but it seems black Ovis no longer stocks them only trying to sell thier own. Are they as quality? Or is the carnivore wapiti bags from go hunt better?
Might be acouple days to get out of the back country. I heard mention about a spray that I can’t recall but I think it was citric based that aides curing and keeps the flys at bay? Any truth to this?
Would like to keep the meat on the bone and freeze at a butcher until I can haul it back to my town and let it hang and cure properly. Always had good luck letting meat hang for a couple weeks in a butcher freezer. Is it needed with elk? Can the same be done with boned out meet? Trying to keep it untouched and not ruin any cuts until a professional butcher can get to it.
I’m driving home and will have a box trailer or a enclosed featherlight. What is the best method to get the highest quality out of your meat?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Are you hunting solo or with a partner/group? Makes a big difference as to the strategy.

I have yet to kill an elk, but hope to this year. Our plan with 4 guys and flying out west is to buy 4 cheap 50 qt coolers when we get out there, fill 2 of them with ice, and leave them in the truck bed.

If an elk is killed on the trip, it will be packed out to the truck in one shot and left on ice for up to a week while the others continue hunting. If more than one is killed, we will likely take it to a processor and ship the meat we can’t carry on the plane back.
 
Are you hunting solo or with a partner/group? Makes a big difference as to the strategy.

I have yet to kill an elk, but hope to this year. Our plan with 4 guys and flying out west is to buy 4 cheap 50 qt coolers when we get out there, fill 2 of them with ice, and leave them in the truck bed.

If an elk is killed on the trip, it will be packed out to the truck in one shot and left on ice for up to a week while the others continue hunting. If more than one is killed, we will likely take it to a processor and ship the meat we can’t carry on the plane back.

Me and three others, I’m afraid of keeping on ice and keeping the meat wet/ moist. Trying to dry, hang and cure. If deep in, and finding elk may let it hang for afew days till getting to a butcher.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
It really depends on how cool you can keep the meat. Hanging it in the back country, or at camp will be fine for a couple to several days depending on weather. Has to be in the shade, and it should be in bags. Bone in or boneless is not important to you or the butcher. Bones have weight you don't want to pack, but they also support the meat and aid in tying it into your pack. You'll have to decide that on the spot. I've used Caribou and Alaska game bags. Both worked fine. Light cotton pillow cases work fine too. Don't overthink game bags.

Shoot elk. Quarter it, pack it out and get it hanging. Don't let it lay whole overnight without at least gutting, skinning it, and getting it so that it will cool down. Do NOT bundle meat in a bag unless it is for packing purposes. Once at camp, hang the quarters, separate the backstraps and other loose meat in a bag and lay it out on a rack of tree limbs all in the shade. You want air flow on both sides, and no meat insulating other meat. I've seen guys shove meat into a bag, hang it as is and end up with a green blob because they didn't separate it and get it cool. You can stuff it together for the pack out, but you have to separate it when you get to camp and let it cool.

Get it into coolers with ice as soon as you can or to a butcher in town. Ice on bottom, put in meat, ice on top. At that point, you are good. I've kept elk and antelope on ice for as long as 10 days while on a hunt. Drain water daily, add more ice about every two-three days. Really depends on the weather. Once home, decide to hang and dry age, or leave in coolers with ice to wet age. Both work, and get a more tender cut o' meat. Game meat does not age the same as beef, so keep that in mind. The utility of aging is more limited with game due to the lower fat content.

The quality of the meat is all in the first 12 hours after you shoot it. Get it cool fast, and enjoy the best nature offers. Neglect it, and there is no remedy.

Jeremy
 
If you're worried about soggy meat, use frozen half gallon jugs instead of ice. I like half gallon because they stack better in the cooler. The jugs will stay frozen a lot longer than loose ice.
 
We have had meat hanging in camp for up to a week and never lost a ounce. We have had good luck hanging it in the shade right by the creek.
 
Depending on where you are hunting you might want to consider having your'e meat processed before you go home. I am a former Bakersfield transplant to Idaho (47 years), and might be able to recommend a processer depending on what part of the state you are hunting in. My buddy comes up to hunt from Modesto,and he has his meat processed and frozen,and it works out great!
 
I use black Ovis bags and they work fine. If you can get the meat off the bone before rigor sets in, it will be the most tender. Last year I was able to get about half my elk done solo before rigor. Probably could've done more but had to remove his head to even flip the thing. The other half I kept bone on and let hang overnight. Boned out in morning and that side still ended up being noticeably tougher. If you can hang for 24 hr or longer before boning out it will release. I did boneless and hung at butcher for a week, didn't seem to make that much of a difference. I can still tell which side is which even though I didn't label. Still great eating though.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Last edited:
we've had good luck bringing a mid size chest freezer with a gen. fill it up and our 1K honda runs over 8 hours on a tank, after its frozen you dont need to run it all the way home
 
dont over think the game bags. I have pillow cases and caribou bags. buddy has tag bags and they all work. there is not much [ if any] difference in tag bags and caribou.

same with ice. just ice it. I know a lot of folks are paranoid about water on the meat but around here it is common to immerse meat for days in ice water. works fine. just ice it. dry ice will keep it dry.

add
I have also used plastic feed sacks [ like burlap bags]
and real burlap bags several times.

it can be handy to have a sheet around to cover meat also. I always keep a sheet at the truck for emergency.
 
Last edited:
Last year with all the snow the temps were perfect for getting the meat cold. The year before I had pillowcases and contractor bags. The contractor bags are a last resort in case I get one down way in the Backcountry and it's hot out, in which case I plan on sinking the meat in the stream with some rocks and the bag sealed.
 
Back
Top