Guys who fly - meat care in the field (archery)

[tdoublev]

I’m sure this has been asked and answered before, but I couldn’t find my exact questions anywhere. For archery hunters that are flying out to their hunts, do you not have coolers with you until you get back to town with the meat in the car? From what I’m gathering, no one is getting their meat into a cooler or frozen until they are out of the field. If you drive to the hunt, you already have coolers and ice prepped, no? Are any flyers buying coolers upon arrival and risking not needing them if they’re unsuccessful or is no one getting coolers until after their harvest?

I’m going to be solo this year and flying (elk archery) and trying to figure out what will be the best route to make sure that if I am successful there will not be any spoilage. I’ve found plenty of posts on how to fly or ship the meat back, but not in between field and then.

 

[Troutsman]

My experience has been from a moose hunt in Alaska. Our transporter flew in early (still 3 days of hunting) and picked up the meat and one hunter. A couple of trips back and forth and taking the meat to our freezer we brought up in a trailer.

Without the option of our trailer/ freezer we had a backup option for our transporter to take the meat into town to a commercial freezer. While in the field the meat care options were to cool it submerged in the lake protected with heavy duty garbage bags to protect from water getting directly on the meat.

 

[tdoublev]

I’m still pondering this one. To maybe rephrase my question more simply - if you’re flying for an archery hunt and plan to have the animal processed locally - do you think a cooler and ice is necessary for the time between field dressing and getting to the professor? The plan would be to field dress and get it to the processor as quickly as possible

 

[Pgohil]

It really depends on the situation. Was it an early morning kill? Or late evening? How much time to the processor? Or nighttime temperatures well under 40 or are they still 60 and above? I have no problem leaving meat in a game bag overnight in a cool place and take it to the process of the next morning. But if I had a three or four hour drive to the processor I would really like to have some ice on it. I'm flying but the first time this fall. I do not plan to have any coolers with me. We will go from the animal to game bags to hung up. Unless it's first thing in the morning it'll go to the processor the next day or I'll buy a cooler in town and take it home that way. Really depends on the situation
.

 

[tdoublev]

It really depends on the situation. Was it an early morning kill? Or late evening? How much time to the processor? Or nighttime temperatures well under 40 or are they still 60 and above? I have no problem leaving meat in a game bag overnight in a cool place and take it to the process of the next morning. But if I had a three or four hour drive to the processor I would really like to have some ice on it. I'm flying but the first time this fall. I do not plan to have any coolers with me. We will go from the animal to game bags to hung up. Unless it's first thing in the morning it'll go to the processor the next day or I'll buy a cooler in town and take it home that way. Really depends on the situation
.

Appreciate the thoughts. The weather will be unknown at this point. So you'll have a couple of cooler retailer locations picked out ahead of time in case it is a morning kill or hot temps? I guess I'll need to think through that as well to understand if that is even an option. I'm still vetting out which processors I may go with. Having recently learned about 'known shippers' with airlines, I'm thinking I will want to find a processor that is closer to the airport meaning it probably will be 3-4 hours to get to them. Would you still need a cooler for that drive to the processor if you were able to cool the meat over night?

 

[Pgohil]

Naa, you'd be fine especially if the meat was good and chilled overnight. Keep it out of the sun, and under a tarp.