Meat Transport....Garbage bags?

[Aron Snyder]

Wanted to re-visit this subject a bit and make sure everyone is clear on this.

For me and the guys I hunt with, we all use garbage bags for transport, but the meat never touches the garbage bag.

We de-bone the meat, let it cool/hang over night in a breathable game bag (rotate a few times so the meat in the middle rotates to outside).

After the meat has cooled/crusted over, we place the breathable game bag inside the garbage bag for transport.

We also do this when we use a creek for a keeping the meat cold. We never place the meat or game bags straight inside the garbage bag before the meat has cooled.

This is not to say that this is the only way, but I wanted to make sure everyone knew that we DO NOT place the meat in the garbage bag without it being in a game bag.

So lets hear what you have to say about this, as this questions pops up a lot.

Thanks Everyone!

 

[Colo4x4XJ]

The only first hand experience I have with trash bags and meat was when I was working at Sir Loin in Aurora. Some dude shot a bear and just tossed it into a heavy duty garbage bag without cooling or field dressing it and brought it to us for butchering a week later. Most. Horrific. Smell. Ever. Made me cringe just reading your post. The way you are using them sounds like a good idea though. And if you are at snowline you can ride them like a sled. Ever heard of the term trash bagging?

 

[Lukem]

What's the specific issue in using garbage bags? The spoilage in Colo4's post probably isn't due to the garbage bag, but just poorly handled meat.

I'm curious because I've used nothing but garbage bags for short term meat storage/packing both in the field and once I get home. I know I haven't done it a great # of times, and that there's got to be a reason people shy away from it. I picked it up from my dad who switched from the cheesecloth meat type bags to heavy duty garbage bags years ago. You do have to work to get the meat to cool and you can't just wad it up, but you really can't just bag it and leave it any other way either.

I've only had one instance of spoilage in a garbage bag and it was completely my fault. It was an antelope that got boned out, cooled down and forgot about in my fridge for like 9 days. There again, probably not the bag's fault.

 

[ScottR_EHJ]

What's the specific issue in using garbage bags? The spoilage in Colo4's post probably isn't due to the garbage bag, but just poorly handled meat.

Most concerns are if you use scented bags, pretty obvious that meat would take in the "ocean breeze" scent of the bags. Leaving meat in the sun can also cause issues with a black contractor bag. User issue there though, dont want leave meat in sun ever.

All that said, i did the same thing Aron described with my Elk this year.

 

[justinspicher]

Interesting concept. I guess once I get something down that requires me to use a trash bag I will have to take this into consideration. I do like meat bag in the trash bag idea. I never really thought about using a trash bag because I always figured the meat would stick to it, regardless of the temperature and make it more of a pain to deal with than was really needed. Again, I usually am able to gut the animal and drag it to a vehicle. That is about to change as I start doing more back country excursions.

 

[todd kelly]

Been using garbage bags as a pack liner for my meat for the last 15 plus years of hunting. The meat goes into a game bag and then into a garbage bag when putting it into my pack. It not only keeps you pack ect. clean, but it also keeps the meat dry in wet conditions.

 

[a3dhunter]

Didn't use a trash bag on my elk pack out last year, because I didn't think about it.

Packed back in the next day and realized my pack smelled like dead elk. Not much of a problem until I heard the coyotes getting closer and closer while I was trying to go to sleep. Was wondering if I would have a rude awakening during the middle of the night.

I make sure to pack a trash bag along now thanks to Aron and our conversations.

 

[jmez]

I have been using garbage bags for years to transport meat. I do the gutless method on all my whitetails and put the meat in garbage bags. I make a lot of sausage so all of that meat goes into garbage bags and into my freezer. Hauled out an elk this year in a garbage bag. I have had no issues with garbage bags. I make sure I never buy any kind of scented bag.

I think the issue with garbage bags is they don't breathe and don't let air circulate. They are not a good method of storing or trying to cool meat unless in water. For packing out and storing in the freezer I don't think they are a problem and I've never had any issues.

 

[tipsntails7]

I've got a question.. I hunt in northern Cali and eastern oregon, and most days it's in The mid 80's almost everyday. I would worry about having meat in a garbage bag for more then a couple hours at these temps. Am I correct in this assumption or what? Also I always carry meat outside the pack so I guess I don't have to worry about my stuff getting bloody.

 

[crumy]

Last year 2012. I packed out quarters to truck from site ontow different occasions. Each hike was around 2 miles decided not doing that way again. Read on here about deboning , meat bag, trash bag and decided that would work great with my new pack. Packed two. Deboned elk out this year using the trash bag method. Worked. Still smelled like dead elk because didn't have one big enough for cape and I need to learn to cape out skull. Butch said meat was great and clean but my deboning skills could use some improvement.

 

[MattB]

I've got a question.. I hunt in northern Cali and eastern oregon, and most days it's in The mid 80's almost everyday. I would worry about having meat in a garbage bag for more then a couple hours at these temps. Am I correct in this assumption or what? Also I always carry meat outside the pack so I guess I don't have to worry about my stuff getting bloody.

If you were to bone out an animal, put the meat directly into a garbage bag while it is still warm and leave it in there for many hours, you might have a problem due to the trapped heat. Once the meat is cooled down, I don't think it makes a huge difference whether it is in just a breathable game bag or game bag in plastic. Where I bear hunt in Northern CA, it is often warm during the day but it cools off at night. We will generally bone out the meat, throw it in game bags, put it in plastic, and pack it back to camp. There we remove the meat bags from plastic and hang it in the shade to cool. It may be 1-2 days before we pack it back to the truck, but by then it is plenty cool enough to where 3-4 hours in plastic won't hurt it in the least. We usually try to pack out first thing in the AM when the meat is at its coolest, and the plastic bag and pack/contents will insulate the meat from the warmer ambient temperatures, and it is often still cold to the touch when we get back to the truck.

 

[Rizzy]

I've got a question.. I hunt in northern Cali and eastern oregon, and most days it's in The mid 80's almost everyday. I would worry about having meat in a garbage bag for more then a couple hours at these temps. Am I correct in this assumption or what? Also I always carry meat outside the pack so I guess I don't have to worry about my stuff getting bloody.

How cold is it getting at night? The whole trick with using non breathable sacks to transport/store meat in, is Cooling the meat down First, before putting it in the trash bag. Usually this is most conveniently done by hanging the meat in the shade in a breathable vessel (BOMB Bag), assuming it's not raining. After the meat is cooled, treat it the same as you would saran wrapped store bought meat. Keep it in the shade, cool, out of the sun, away from external heat sources, etc.

I have used trash bags to haul meat after letting it hang overnight during late Sept Ca hunts. I had no problems and it was probably getting into the mid 40s at night. I always packed the meat out to an ice chest the next day though in that kind of warm weather.

 

[Jared Lampton]

I've used the method Aron and others have described for packing meat (elk and deer)for many years now. It has been a great system for me. I've put warm, boned elk quarters in the game bag/trash bag combination for some 3-5 hour pack-outs and have never had a problem. I always remove the trash bag immediately when I get to the truck. I use the trash compactor bags because they are a little smaller than the contractor sacks. They are slightly thinner though so I'd be hesitant to use them to submerge meat in a creek for cooling but I've never had one leak in my pack. Excellent discussion. IMO proper meat care is essential to the hunting experience and how hunters are perceived by non-hunters.

 

[wapitibob]

For me, quarters go in game bags, occasionally those game bags go in trash bags to keep things clean.
After I separate and cut the muscles, those pieces go directly in white trash bags and go in the fridge till I package or send to grinder. Done it that way for decades.

 

[afteamroper]

Transported 2 elk in quarters from MT to SD in the back of my truck under my tonneau cover in mid 50s temps. One elk cooled overnight the other had 3 nights to cool. Both where in game bags in trash bags to keep blood off language in bed of truck. It was about a 10 hour trip and all meat was fine when arrived to SD.

 

[todd kelly]

Another good use for garbage bags is to keep blood off your clothes.

 

[boom]

so i am reading that there are two actual topics about this.

1. (mostly this topic) garbage bags and spoilage
2. garbage bags, are they food safe?

 

[MattB]

If you put skinned over meat into a game bag and then into a garbage bag, there should be no food safety issue. It would only potentially be an issue if meat is put directly into the garbage bag or if the meat is leaking and blood pools at the bottom of the garbage bag. I would avoid the scented bags for meat, but beyond that I have little worry.

 

[Larry Bartlett]

Roger that. Trash bags are meant to be pack liners, used during transport and occasionally for immersion therapy (river cooling).

What Aron described is right on IMO. He ensures the meat is cooled and well drained in camp or when not transporting, and then reusing the trash bag liner during transport or to immersion cool meat bags.

The threat: trash bags prevent air circulation and trap heat, which is fine for a few hours at a time. But, the greatest threat is the initial cooling period following dismemberment. At first, meat core temps start at 100+ degrees F, and begin to cool once removed from the core carcass heat. Most of us place meat inside game bags and then use the trash bag as a pack liner (a few hours at most). If meat is left inside a trash bag for longer periods, deep tissue sour can occur. But, if the meat is removed from the liner and cooled properly between transport periods, cooling can occur and the threat is reduced.

Absorption odors: I agree with using non-scented bags for liners, but also prefer to game bag the meat prior to using the trash bags.

 

[Stid2677]

Been using compactor bags as a pack liner to pack meat back meat to camp for 10 years and have never had any issues with spoilage. Meat is boned or not, placed in game bags and slipped into the compactor bags to keep blood from draining into pack. Meat is removed back at camp and hung in the game bags to dry. Can also be used to keep meat dry if cooling is required in a clean water source.

However, this year I picked up a trick from Luke Moffat, that is using lightweight dry bags instead. They are lighter than trash or compactor bags and both reusable and tougher. We use the Outdoor Research 55 liter bags. The bags have several uses when not being used for meat transport.

http://www.amazon.com/Outdoor-Research-55-Liter-Ultralight-Twilight/dp/B002UY61W0