Meat in the field, how long?

[dmdude]

I’m planning a diy prince of wales hunt this fall. I’d like to stay as long as time off allows, 2 weeks. I’m concerned about access to freezing meat without ferrying back to Ketchikan, losing a whole day each trip.

Anyone hear of freezing meat on pow? (I’ll call DJ’s on Wednesday when I’m off.)

How long would you keep meat hanging or on ice?

Tia -N

 

[Mykolaivka887]

Autumn is a pretty broad term down on Prince of Wales Island. Basically you're referring to a two-month time frame (Sept and October). It gets wetter with each passing week down there during fall months.

Moisture will be your biggest enemy when trying to comply with the legalities of meat salvage in the field.

Depending on which month you're talking about, I'd say you're probably good for at least 7-10 days, if you keep meat on the bone, bag it correctly, ventilate it properly, keep it shaded (covered) and keep it dry, dry, dry.

Once it developes a casing (leathery rind) on the outside of the meat, you're golden if you can continue to keep it dry, ventilated and shaded.

 

[Rich M]

Any way to bring a cooler and ice with you? I age venison and beef for 10-day+ down here (FL) on ice.

 

[dmdude]

First 2 weeks of September.

I will have a cooler or two or three and a 2 hour round trip to get ice if I gotta refill.

 

[Mykolaivka887]

First 2 weeks of September.

I will have a cooler or two or three and a 2 hour round trip to get ice if I gotta refill.

If you're doing the roundtrip for ice, I'd just haul the meat to a storage locker. Kinda ridiculous to make a 2 hour roundtrip for ice.

 

[hereinaz]

Autumn is a pretty broad term down on Prince of Wales Island. Basically you're referring to a two-month time frame (Sept and October). It gets wetter with each passing week down there during fall months.

Moisture will be your biggest enemy when trying to comply with the legalities of meat salvage in the field.

Depending on which month you're talking about, I'd say you're probably good for at least 7-10 days, if you keep meat on the bone, bag it correctly, ventilate it properly, keep it shaded (covered) and keep it dry, dry, dry.

Once it developes a casing (leathery rind) on the outside of the meat, you're golden if you can continue to keep it dry, ventilated and shaded.

Agree, moisture is really the enemy, if it stays wet or gets wet, the meat will spoil. Rain and humidity on Kodiak made it really hard to keep. I've heard using citric acid is helpful to slow down bacterial growth, which is what happens with wet meat. Once the outer crust is formed, the meat is fairly well protected from spoiling if it is cooled enough in the first place. Having good game bags to keep off flies is also required. I like the newer synthetic lightweight bags, they seem to dry it out well. If nights are cool and the meat is dry, shaded and ventilated, it can keep.

 

[Snowwolfe]

I had moose hang for up to 2 weeks from the day it was shot till it was processed. Keep it covered and out of the sun and rain. When we hunted the Koyukuk evening temperatures would drop down to mid 30's and days could reach 60.

 

[AK Troutbum]

Agree, moisture is really the enemy, if it stays wet or gets wet, the meat will spoil. Rain and humidity on Kodiak made it really hard to keep. I've heard using citric acid is helpful to slow down bacterial growth, which is what happens with wet meat. Once the outer crust is formed, the meat is fairly well protected from spoiling if it is cooled enough in the first place. Having good game bags to keep off flies is also required. I like the newer synthetic lightweight bags, they seem to dry it out well. If nights are cool and the meat is dry, shaded and ventilated, it can keep.

I’ve always thought the same thing until I had a goat hunt on Kodiak that went south, weather wise. Long story short, it was a 12 day hunt and I killed a goat on day 2, weather started getting bad on day 4, then it really turned to shit on day six with wind gusts of 100 mph and monsoon rains. I don’t know how much rain I experienced where I was located, but the city of Kodiak got its most rainfall in a 24 hour period (over 6”), ever recorded. I had no way of protecting the goat meat, and that became the least of my concern over the last five days of my hunt. I thought for sure the meat was ruined given that it had been continuously wet for the last 5 or 6 days. When I finally got back home, processed it, and tried it, it turned out to be some of the best, if not the best, goat meat we’ve ever had. I was fortunate in that the temperatures hung out in the low 30s at night and only reached the mid to high 40s during the day, so I’m sure that had something to do with it, but it was still continuously wet for a long period of time.


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[hereinaz]

I’ve always thought the same thing until I had a goat hunt on Kodiak that went south, weather wise. Long story short, it was a 12 day hunt and I killed a goat on day 2, weather started getting bad on day 4, then it really turned to shit on day six with wind gusts of 100 mph and monsoon rains. I don’t know how much rain I experienced where I was located, but the city of Kodiak got its most rainfall in a 24 hour period (over 6”), ever recorded. I had no way of protecting the goat meat, and that became the least of my concern over the last five days of my hunt. I thought for sure the meat was ruined given that it had been continuously wet for the last 5 or 6 days. When I finally got back home, processed it, and tried it, it turned out to be some of the best, if not the best, goat meat we’ve ever had. I was fortunate in that the temperatures hung out in the low 30s at night and only reached the mid to high 40s during the day, so I’m sure that had something to do with it, but it was still continuously wet for a long period of time.


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You are right. At those temperatures, you got some good aging on the meat because it was cold enough to inhibit bacteria growth. Meat being aged isn't frozen, just cold. And, with weather like that, even bacteria doesn't go out... We had a rough day or two of weather, but dang that really is survival mode that cold with rain. At least with snow you have a better chance staying dry.

Wet and warm gives bacteria the chance to grow.

 

[dmdude]

AK troutbum, Man that sounds brutal! What an epic story to tell though!

It seems like I just gotta get a solid covered/dry setup to hang meat away from critters. Of course if I even get a chance to shoot anything!

 

[AK Troutbum]

Wet and warm gives bacteria the chance to grow.

Absolutely.

 

[Larry Bartlett]

we use the 28"X60" TAG Bags to cover deer carcasses while they hang to keep marten and birds off the carcass.

tarp the top of the pole to keep meat dry, hang 'em in the wind current and you should be fine.

 

[Kwa_bena]

I found this video while clearing out some playlists on my YouTube channel. I hope this is helpful.

 

[cod007]

I found this video while clearing out some playlists on my YouTube channel. I hope this is helpful.

Excellent. Thank you, and thank you once again to LB!

 

[dmdude]

I found this video while clearing out some playlists on my YouTube channel. I hope this is helpful.

This is what I’ve been looking for! This is perfect! Thank you thank you thank you!

 

[OXN939]

I’ve always thought the same thing until I had a goat hunt on Kodiak that went south, weather wise. Long story short, it was a 12 day hunt and I killed a goat on day 2, weather started getting bad on day 4, then it really turned to shit on day six with wind gusts of 100 mph and monsoon rains. I don’t know how much rain I experienced where I was located, but the city of Kodiak got its most rainfall in a 24 hour period (over 6”), ever recorded. I had no way of protecting the goat meat, and that became the least of my concern over the last five days of my hunt. I thought for sure the meat was ruined given that it had been continuously wet for the last 5 or 6 days. When I finally got back home, processed it, and tried it, it turned out to be some of the best, if not the best, goat meat we’ve ever had. I was fortunate in that the temperatures hung out in the low 30s at night and only reached the mid to high 40s during the day, so I’m sure that had something to do with it, but it was still continuously wet for a long period of time.


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We had something very similar to this happen on Kodiak this year. My hunting buddy killed his buck on the first afternoon and then it sat in our meat cache for six days; citric acid right off the bat, good game bags, and nighttime temps in the low 40s to high 30s. I was super worried about how it would be by the time we got out, but really it just dry aged and was fantastic.