Thread: Advice on handling meat after the kill

Hi folks, just took the meat off my first goat yesterday. (Back steaks and back wheels). Second goat I've got but first I've taken meat from (I'm a beginner bowhunter).

As I had cooled the meat down on a tree and bagged it up, I was walking back wondering how long the meat would last until it was inedible. I tried googling but there are crazy different answers on the net. Some people say you need to ice it straight away, some people hang it for days on a tree. What are your guys rules for handling the meat after a kill? When should I feel unsafe about eating it? Looking for a specific indication of hours instead of general answers please.

as long as its cool to the touch and you are keeping flies and stuff off it should last a few days.
Ive personally left deer guts in overnight (winter mostly) in hard to get to spots and meat was still fine next day, but i wont recommend that.

For me, if it looks fine, smells fine then it probably is fine.

You won’t get a specific answer, it depends hugely on temperature and humidity.
Wrapped in plastic on a hot day or in your pack against your back it could be off in a couple of hours.
In the fridge it will be fine for several days, depending what condition the meat was in when you put it in.

specific times are hard, because it depends on the temp and what sort of meat.
pig goes in the freezer asap.
red meat like goat and venison can stay amost indefinitely outside provided the temperature stays in single digits, it will get a hard skin on it and be fine, once the skin gets thick enough even the flies can't blow it. thats how my grandparents stored it and it makes for very tender meat.
once you get over 10 derees i'd limit it to no more than 36hrs myself. but the best thing you can do is give it a good old sniff, meat going bad is very... distinct. a clean meat smell means its all good.

shot a deer earlier in the year, butchered it up and it spent nearly 48 hrs at about 12 degrees followed by two weeks in an 8 degree fridge before it went into the freezer and it hasn't trapped me in the loo yet.

Yeah so keep as cold as possible given your circumstances is what I'm hearing. Above single digits provided you have cleaned and cooled everything - no longer than 36 hours until fridge or freezer. Smell is a good tip, anything else to look for to tell if the meat is bad?

Originally Posted by Cigar

You won’t get a specific answer, it depends hugely on temperature and humidity.
Wrapped in plastic on a hot day or in your pack against your back it could be off in a couple of hours.
In the fridge it will be fine for several days, depending what condition the meat was in when you put it in.

Cigar is dead right you will not get a specific awnser - your nose is the best tester you have - if it smell's off it likely is - keeping time wildly differs between summer and winter - and moisture in air - and if any contaminant like gut content got onto carcass - or if the carcass got wet - the main rule is cool and dry - the opposite warm and moist in spring /summer will send a carcass of in mere hours - smell the bone joints they will go off first - I have had a pig go off hung up in a tree on warm summer morning in two hours - then again I ate venison that had been hung under cover but in a breeze in winter that was hung up for 9 days - meat bags are the way to go in summer - let the meat cool down in a breeze - or hang carcass up and open it up let breeze cool it -get it out quick to a chiller - no chiller what I do when home I vacuum pack using vacuum cleaner into heavy rubbish bags and leave in fridge usually for around 4-5 days and then cut up and rebag into freezer -goat meat is somewhat forgiving being generally leaner -but wild pigs go of real quick - dont stick a bloody hose down the carcass no no no - wet meat goes of real quick - use knife to remove any dirty meat

Dry ! keep it dry and cool. High humidity will make it turn quick.
Gut cleanly, drain any blood out of the gut / chest cavity, throw it on your back and head out. If camped overnight, hang it where there is a cool breeze down a gully or on an exposed ridge in the trees

Originally Posted by Moa Hunter

Dry ! keep it dry and cool. High humidity will make it turn quick.
Gut cleanly, drain any blood out of the gut / chest cavity, throw it on your back and head out. If camped overnight, hang it where there is a cool breeze down a gully or on an exposed ridge in the trees

Once put couple of young fellas in to paint a hut - radioed that night could I come and collect a pig they had got -got to road end around midday and they had bought out about a 130 pound boar packed in pieces in plastic rubbish bags - opened one and yup fucken near bowled me over - stunk had sweated badly in packs and plastic bags - two dejected looking young hunters -

Im about to cut up 4 back deer legs which have been hanging up in the back of my truck since last Friday morning 6am=72hrs to now.Not covered,not touching anything.Truck keeped in the shade,cold weather helps(snow,rain,cold wind).Flys have no access.Meat smells fine.

yup all about the handling Trout should have some nice meat - got to Waiapoa hut Lake Waikaremoana one day and group of hunters from Auckland there had shot a stag - had it hanging in old meat safe there - but it looked whiteish to me and yes it had got wet before they hung it up - faint smell not fresh just at point of turning of - offered to take it back boned out and put in fridge for them but no turned that down - was back there week later and stink down the track a little way - yup whole bloody carcass down the bank - what bloody muppetts

Nice information to get me a better overall picture of what to expect. So we got the goat and took steaks and legs within about 20mins from bow release to cuts. Bagged in pillow case and hucked the meat out of the forest within maybe an hour and a half to car. Car ride home was about hour and a half too in the boot with air conditioner on cold haha. Got back and cut it into bite sized chunks, washed them under the tap to get hair off (whoops) and then chucked it all in a big bowl to marinate over night in the fridge. Gonna cook a big goat curry tonight for the fam. Did I do anything wrong? What did I do right and what can I improve?

All that sounds fine mate. Keeping it out of plastic will help stop it sweating and will give you more time to get it in the chiller/fridge. As mentioned your nose is the best test for if the meat is ok and if you cook it over 65C you kill the bacteria on it anyway. Curry was invented to hide the rotten meat smell that's not for me though

I prefer to get meat home either whole or broken down then hang it in my beer fridge for at least a week. Last stag backstraps were brilliant. FWIW, remove all fridge shelves and cut a length of rebar, with ends taped for protection before sliding into the top wall groove where said shelves fit. Meat hooks hang off. Beer goes in iceytek with rotated chiller bottles.

As others have said, dry and well aired is the way to go. I've applied this to a few aspects of my outdoor activities. Never wash meat or fish, never pack in non-breathable bags/containers until the last minute and only when well cooled. At the same time, you have to keep the flies off. On a similar note, my chilly bins are stored open unless 100% dry. Same principle when I get wounds on my body! Bacteria like water and the more unpleasant ones like anaerobic conditions (no oxygen).

Originally Posted by cally woo

Nice information to get me a better overall picture of what to expect. So we got the goat and took steaks and legs within about 20mins from bow release to cuts. Bagged in pillow case and hucked the meat out of the forest within maybe an hour and a half to car. Car ride home was about hour and a half too in the boot with air conditioner on cold haha. Got back and cut it into bite sized chunks, washed them under the tap to get hair off (whoops) and then chucked it all in a big bowl to marinate over night in the fridge. Gonna cook a big goat curry tonight for the fam. Did I do anything wrong? What did I do right and what can I improve?

Sounds good to me. Enjoy!