Thread: How do you keep you meat cool?

I am planning a bit of a hunting mission late in Jan in the Kaimanawas. and i was just wanted to know how people keep there meat fresh & cool? and how long will it go before it needs to be put in a fridge??

I let it cool then put it into a dry bag and submerge in a creek. Make sure water can't get in. Use a cord and tie it to something on the bank. Will last a week if the creek is cool enough.

Warm humid rain is your enemy, otherwise a animal(venison) should keep 4-5 days no worry s hanging in the shade protected from flys.
Be sure to open up all major leg joints if hanging a whole animal(including the hip socket) And split brisket to drain any blood and promote cooling as sinovial (spelling?) fluid in the joint is the first place to go off and the rot travels from there.
Also open up any bruised or shot damaged meat,blood and bone go off real quick,if shot threw shoulders open up from brisket right up to nearly back bone so they are just hanging by a bit of meat then you can scrape out blood and trim around the hole for shot meat and bone fragments.

Originally Posted by veitnamcam

Warm humid rain is your enemy, otherwise a animal(venison) should keep 4-5 days no worry s hanging in the shade protected from flys.
Be sure to open up all major leg joints if hanging a whole animal(including the hip socket) And split brisket to drain any blood and promote cooling as sinovial (spelling?) fluid in the joint is the first place to go off and the rot travels from there.
Also open up any bruised or shot damaged meat,blood and bone go off real quick,if shot threw shoulders open up from brisket right up to nearly back bone so they are just hanging by a bit of meat then you can scrape out blood and trim around the hole for shot meat and bone fragments.

an hang as high as you can

Originally Posted by tui_man2

an hang as high as you can

You don't really believe that ol' 10 foot off the ground fairytale do you...the flies have already got to 3000 feet in the Kaimanawas and another 10 wont deter them.

Bone it out,put it in a pillow case and hang it in the shade.
The dry bag in a creek works good too

I use the huntech canvas inner from an old pikau hung in the shade, never had a problem. Flys can't get through the light canvas.

Originally Posted by Spook

You don't really believe that ol' 10 foot off the ground fairytale do you...the flies have already got to 3000 feet in the Kaimanawas and another 10 wont deter them.

they maybe up that high in alivation but they dont get far off the ground

I would have thought that "elevation" & "off the ground" were the same thing

Originally Posted by Spook

I would have thought that "elevation" & "off the ground" were the same thing

Perhaps altitude is a better word than elevation. tui_man is absolutely correct though, flies are far more likely at ground level or close to it. There is plenty of research on the subject online.

Originally Posted by wildharvest

Perhaps altitude is a better word than elevation. tui_man is absolutely correct though, flies are far more likely at ground level or close to it. There is plenty of research on the subject online.

So people who put flyscreens on windows of second floor houses are really wasteing their money? From my experiance in the bush the only places safe from flies is in a plastic bucket or in the creek.

Originally Posted by Spook

So people who put flyscreens on windows of second floor houses are really wasteing their money? From my experiance in the bush the only places safe from flies is in a plastic bucket or in the creek.

No, i don't think thay are wasting their money, its just not as well spent as the ones on the bottem floor. Studies on fly numbers at ground vs canopy suggest that if you had too choose between the top and bottem floor (I'm not sure if building would impact on things however) the choice would be a very simple one.

I'm not suggesting hanging meat up high is the best option for keeping meat cool; just that its better than hanging it 1 foot of the ground in relation to flies. I don't have the time or the inclination to dredge up the research however i pressume plenty of factors play a role (still air and more chance of finding food or suitable egg laying resource on the ground). My point is, it's obviously not a 'fairytale'.

Get it off the bone and get a skin on it fast, hung nice and straight and it's surprising how few flies will get at it if you can get that skin happening.

Originally Posted by Shootm

I use the huntech canvas inner from an old pikau hung in the shade, never had a problem. Flys can't get through the light canvas. [/IMG]

Out of interest, do you "cool" still, before placing in the canvas bag. Also, from your photo it looks like the meat is still on the bone, so do you remove the skin before bagging?

Cheers, C.

I have done the store in a dry bag in the creek for 7 days in the full heat of summer and it was great eating, let it hang in a pillow slip for a bit first though to let it "skin off" before sinking it in the creek under rocks.... Right beside the beer chiller Dam (one of the few chopper trips I have taken, dont carry in beer)