Hot weather black bear hide and meat care

[Dillwock]

I live in AZ and am considering black bear hunting this August, as I have seen a couple while out scouting for deer. Does anyone have a rough estimate of how much time it would take before meat spoilage and hair slippage on the hide on an 80-90 degree day? I'm guessing it would take me at least 6 hours from shot to getting it on ice and we thinking it might be best to wait for cooler weather. Any advice or opinions are appreciated.

 

[Larry Bartlett]

<48 hours above 80F to spoilage or hair slippage, but if the meat and hide are kept dry (and hide fleshed) and shaded you'll prob be okay for a 36-48 hours in those temps. Night temps will help a lot with convection heat loss. Remember spoilage bacteria are unstable and in "lag" phase for the first 24 hours post mortem, since cellular water chemistry and heat evaporation is radically unstable through this process bacteria cannot begin their growth cycles. After 24 hours in that warmth is when shit gets real with exponential doubling of cell colonies >65F.