Taking Care of Meat on Multi-Day Hunt

[Mippado]

I drew 2023 a mule deer tag that I am really excited for. It is my first out of state hunt and I will be hunting from a raft on a multi day river trip. I have floated the river fishing many times and even made a scouting trip last winter to try and get a feel of the country I will be hunting.

I am currently figuring out the logistics for my trip and was looking for recommendations on how I should care for my meat if I were to shoot one on the first day or two of the trip? The hunt is in early October in a desert type unit. It could be very hot. Is putting the meat in game bags and iced down in a cooler a viable option? The float will take a few days so getting the meat to the truck on the day of the kill (If I am able to make it happen) would most likely not be possible. We will be bringing a few boats, so ice shouldn’t be an issue to bring.

Excited to hear your guys thoughts about how to preserve meat for a trip like this. I attached some pictures from my scouting trip. I am not holding out for a giant deer, just looking forward to an amazing experience.

Thanks!

 

[Marble]

A good ice chest with frozen gallon jugs can last for days. I've done this with my truck at a base camp. Worked well. Could be the same application for a rafting trip.

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[Mippado]

A good ice chest with frozen gallon jugs can last for days. I've done this with my truck at a base camp. Worked well. Could be the same application for a rafting trip.

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Thanks for the reply. Seems like that will be my best bet. No worries about moisture getting into the meat? Sorry if it is a stupid question, just never had to plan for this before. Thanks!

 

[BigAntlerGetter]

Yes ice jugs vs cubed ice, meat in standing water is bad (sure you got the people that say that it’s no big deal but I hate when my meat loses color from the water) and the ice jugs seem to last longer. If you do use cubed ice keep the drain of your cooler open to keep your meat out of water. I also always suggest meat on top of ice vs covered in ice. Keep the coolers closed as much as possible. Quality game bags help to vs those cheese cloth ones from Walmart cheese bag ones seem to hold water.


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[sbaker0029]

Welcome!
Sounds like an awesome trip man, best of luck to you!
Looks like some beautiful country you'll be hunting in.
Definitely use frozen jugs and two liters.
I wish I could offer more insight.
You might already know this but do not leave any dead space in the cooler, pack it full and fill the air gaps with whatever you can to fill it to the top. The dead air space above the meat causes more ice melt and warmth to meat.

Best of luck to you!

 

[Mippado]

Welcome!
Sounds like an awesome trip man, best of luck to you!
Looks like some beautiful country you'll be hunting in.
Definitely use frozen jugs and two liters.
I wish I could offer more insight.
You might already know this but do not leave any dead space in the cooler, pack it full and fill the air gaps with whatever you can to fill it to the top. The dead air space above the meat causes more ice melt and warmth to meat.

Best of luck to you!

That’s a big help! I appreciate everyone’s comments on here. Much better system to use jugs than to use loose ice. This can be a good excuse for me to invest in nicer game bags this year too!

 

[sbaker0029]

That’s a big help! I appreciate everyone’s comments on here. Much better system to use jugs than to use loose ice. This can be a good excuse for me to invest in nicer game bags this year too!

It can get heavy and not sure how much weight you plan on taking in the raft, but it wouldn't hurt to have just an ice cooler. Use jugs and bag ice to fill in the gaps. Keep that cooler closes until you kill. Then drain out the melt water. Keep the chest cold for as long as possible.

 

[Mippado]

It can get heavy and not sure how much weight you plan on taking in the raft, but it wouldn't hurt to have just an ice cooler. Use jugs and bag ice to fill in the gaps. Keep that cooler closes until you kill. Then drain out the melt water. Keep the chest cold for as long as possible.

We will bring a few boats so weight shouldn’t be a big issues. Still in the planning stages but family members are going to meet me at the river and come along to hunt birds and fish. I couldn’t be more excited!

 

[venado mula]

This is an old backcountry mountain trick I use if it's hot or little shade and water is available. Bring some black heavy duty contractor trash bags. After deboning the meat and placing it into your game bag (you can hang it if you want) place the meat in the contractor bag and tie it off well so water doesn't enter (burp the air out) and submerge it in the river (tie a rope or para chord to something on the land if there is a steady current) and hold the bag down with rocks or logs, etc. I've never had any critter's mess with the bag and it has sat in there for two days. The cold water will cool the meat down until you get back to wherever. Hope this helps.

 

[canyonhunter47]

Curious how the trip went

Fwiw, an experienced rafter told me on longer trips that he duct tapes up the yeti coolers full of perishable food that are for later in the trip and the group only cuts the tape open when it’s time to get into it. I’m skeptical how much duct tape adds to the insulation but definitely keeps it from getting opened accidentally.

 

[Wapiti1]

I've kept meat in good shape for a week just keeping it in the shade and off the ground. Tarps and making a simple rack out of limbs will do what you need.

Quarters should be in bags and allowed to dry with full air circulation around them. Citric acid spray to spritz them once a day. Take a meat thermometer, and monitor temp. Split the hind quarters if they are slow to cool.

I've had elk hanging for several days on archery hunts with daytime temps in the 70's, but night temps in the 40's. Once the quarters are cool, keep them that way, and you're good. Do not pack loose meat into a bag and make a blob that won't cool. Spread it out.

Look at the moose forum on here and do a couple of searches there on meat preservation. The experienced guys there have it down to an art form for a very large amount of meat.

Jeremy

 

[Mippado]

Curious how the trip went

Fwiw, an experienced rafter told me on longer trips that he duct tapes up the yeti coolers full of perishable food that are for later in the trip and the group only cuts the tape open when it’s time to get into it. I’m skeptical how much duct tape adds to the insulation but definitely keeps it from getting opened accidentally.

Trip was awesome -
Didn't harvest a buck but learned a ton on my first out of state hunt. Some takeaways:
- Give myself more time when heading into a new area to hunt. I had been in the unit to scout for one weekend, but not into the stuff I was planning to hunt as I could only reach it by boat. I really could have used a week to not feel rushed and actually have the hunt I hoped for.
- Still along the lines of time, I wish I picked a shorter float that would allow me to spend more time at each camp / hunting location and less time covering water. Never doing this style hunt before I didn't know what to expect.
- Pick better dates. I went the opening weekend + Monday & Tuesday for this tag (Early October) and was battling 90 degree weather and probably the most hunting pressure the unit was going to see the whole time. I wished I had hunted the final week of the season instead to catch some cooler weather and potentially less pressure.
- I didn't need near all of the stuff I brought. This covers everything from food, camping equipment, hunting gear and fishing supplies. My group as a whole overpacked and it made set up / take down of camp much more time consuming as well as loaded down the boats while floating.

Overall it was an amazing experience and I will certainly go back to the unit. It is an easy to draw tag with difficult access which is what I love. Deer numbers are low, but I found some sheds that make me very interested in returning there in the future, hopefully with more time and cooler weather.

 

[Rich M]

Glad you had a good trip. Thanks for the update.