Meat quarters in a cooler

[Kramer588]

Im heading on a hunt in two weeks and had a few questions about putting meat in a cooler. If you leave quarters as whole bone in pieces, do they bleed much in the cooler? should a guy leave the game bags on the meat in the cooler? And if i boned out the meat, does that make a difference in how much blood they let out?

 

[juan trueno]

Are you worried about blood in the cooler, or about food quality? I’m just trying to figure out what exactly your getting at. Guys do it both ways- meat in bags with some dry ice- or meat in The cooler submerged in ice. Bone in and bone out. I’ve eaten a lot of both and barring other issues enjoyed both fine, however I’m a cold and dry guy, I like it in the bags and hopefully hung at least 48 hours before i have to put it in the cooler in its bags with some dry ice on top. I like to leave the meat on the bone until rigor Mortis is done and the meat relaxes. I get that your asking about how to handle it to insure high quality product but I’m not sure what specifically your worried about- it’s going to bleed. You just killed, dismemebered, and removed the skin from it.

 

[Kramer588]

Im basically trying not to have it wet and covered in blood in the cooler, i like to keep it as dry as i can. It looks like it will be pretty cold and im going to have frozen milk jugs for ice so its not all melted and wet in there. We will be staying in a hotel and hunting out of the pickup so hanging it for a few days isnt really an option. So for that situation would it be better to bone out or leave the quarters whole?

 

[shader112]

My preference is to leave quarters bone in. If they are too big to fit in the cooler, you can cut it at the knee joint and remove some bone. I prefer to do it this way becuse it minimises surface area when compared to boning out meat. The surface area seems to collect dirt, hair, and debris so the less surface area the more meat i will be able to put in the freezer. Triming the outer layer off a whole quarter vs 10 hunks of meat is much more efficient, less time consuming, and results in more meat in the freezer.

There will be some blood but as long as there isnt standing water the meat will be fine. I prefer whole quarters in game bags ontop of ice. I will leave the drain open while I'm at camp and close it once I'm headed for home.

Everybody has their own way of doing it, so my advise is to do what makes sense to you and your style

 

[DangerRanger]

I would leave them whole if possible


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[MuleyFever]

Lay frozen 2L on the bottom. It will keep the meat off the bottom and the blood. The gal jugs are kind of big. I have found I can arrange the 2L bottles better in and round the meat.

 

[juan trueno]

All the above. This last go round I had a spike elk with all 4 bone in quarters and my boned out meat in a cooler in 5 bags- initially with a 15lb block of ice for about 10 hours and then with 10lbs of dry ice. I was happy from the moment I pulled the trigger with temperature, it wasn’t the best but at around 40 degrees it was fine. The meat all cooled well-
But the humidity was high and it didn’t dry as well as I like before it hit the cooler. 5 days and another 2 10lb shots of dry ice later it was great- beautiful shape smelled really good- but still not with a crust on it.

Don’t sweat it- all the stuff listed is fine

 

[rayporter]

just last week I put meat in bags on milk jugs in the cooler. when I deboned it the next day it was really damp and wet.

blood? not an issue.

now I will fill a cooler with ice in a flash and not worry about meat cause I have done it many times but I don't think leaving the bags on gained a thing. it hurt and held moisture. I have done elk with dry ice and bags on with no problems.

just my recent experience.

 

[dirtclod Az.]

Ice on bottom meat on top,whole quarters,bone in.Leave plug open on cooler when possible.I always try to keep meat as dry as possible.Waiting till rigor is passed is a good idea juan.

 

[Scoony]

I have only done this with deer quarters. I will put the ice on the bottom, place a trash bag over the ice and put the quarters in a game bag and on top of the plastic. The game bags seems to keep the outside of the meat from drying out too much. The game bags I use are cheap basic pillow covers, the kind that you would use under a pillow case.

Putting them in the coolers allows me to process them over a few days instead of trying to rush them.

 

[Ursus1975]

unless your hunting in the state you live in, all transportation of any game meat has to be deboned. if possible hang as long as you can then debone. buy everything is relative to the situation. but if you have a pack out then your deboning anyway.

 

[wapitibob]

Your bone in quarters will be just fine in oregon, wyoming, or Utah. Check your states regs.

 

[Kramer588]

I can bring bone in quarters back to Minnesota, only the head and spine are illegal to transport now, and that only changed two years ago

 

[Fatcamp]

Whole quarters in game bags resting on frozen jugs with a bag of ice on top if it's hot is how we do it. Flip them after 12 hours or so.