Keeping meat cold in the field

Hey guys,

Was a bit reluctant to ask this question and there will be some variation on ideas with how to best keep your meat cold in the summer while in the field, and I have seen it on the forum before but can't find it. I'm planning a 3 day trip soon in the midst of summer where day time temperatures get to 23 degrees and drops to 5-10 degrees at night. There are numerous cold rivers and bush where I will be hunting.

If successful early on should I:

A: Chill meat overnight hanging up and then come morning drop into dry bag suspended in river for remaining of day then bring out again at night to chill from a tree and repeat steps until carry out?
B: Leave in dry bag in river for whole time(meat won't sweat and this isn't a good way of storing meat I assume)?
C: Leave hanging up under tree?
D: Consume meat over trip and shoot one on last day? That would be the bees knees, but we all know that these things never come to fruition.

Your thoughts?

Dont leave under a tree. Done that in spring and came back to maggots. Under the creek is good or jusy suck it up and leave it to e last day

Shoot 4 deer and try a, b, c, d :thumbsup: . Personally I'd do a and or c .

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Originally Posted by Toby

Dont leave under a tree. Done that in spring and came back to maggots. Under the creek is good or jusy suck it up and leave it to e last day

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Was that the whole animal or boned out? It will be boned out meat in a heavy duty pillow case.

This was a whole animal hung. A pillow case would help but not too sure about it being good in the heat

Humidity rather than heat is your enemy with venison.
If hanging a whole animal open up joints hip and knee etc peel shoulders off so just hanging by a bit of skin and hang in a fly proof something or other that will let air threw, air movement is good!

Can't say i have tried the creek thing but the theory is sound. I would like the meat to cool and set before i sealed it in anything tho.

Also trim out any blood shot meat and bone fragments. That shit goes off REAL fast, if threw shoulders opening up as above is imperative and trim out all the blood and jelly that you get between shoulder and rib cage.

Hi Rusky

I personally have no problem hanging a deer in a tree. Hard to hang them in the field otherwise
Leave the skin on, open cavity by placing a stick between rear knees. I hang deer by rear legs. I make sure arse cavity is open helps air flow.

Bit of fly blow will easily scrape off and mostly on bits you would trim anyway.

My 2c

I would however like to hear anyones experience that has used a dry bag in a creek.

Cheers

Dino

I'd hang it to chill it overnight, then break it down and bone it out in to big lumps, the bone will taint it if it is left in and the temp is warm+. Then put it in you bags in the creek and take it out at night to air.

Where i hunt in Marlborough it is not uncommon to have 20 to 30 deg days in the hills and a ton of wasps around. So i mainly bone out the animal into primal cuts and then put it in XL zip lock bags and/or put into 30 ltr Sealine baja bags and put it in the creek for the day and at night pull the meat out and air it out. It lasts for 4 or 5 days like this before the trip out.

Choice one fullas. All comments are good and reassuring. I guess I just have to go with the best option that will suite my needs and the environment im in. Think ill bone out any animal I get, let it cool down for an hour or so, then put it in dry bag in river for day time, and remove and hang in tree to air at night.

Cheers Tikka, and welcome to the forum.

We got two deer this weekend, I shot a hind on saturday morning and we hung it in a tree under thick canopy with my mates sleeping bag liner over it......didnt pick it back up till later on Sunday and it had set mint. Was hot on saturday and sunday but I think if its dressed well and kept well outta sunlight and direct heat its all good for a couple days. Had some loin steak for dinner tonight, good as !

I have always been a fan of putting the meat in the creek...use heavy duty vacuum packing bags, suck the air out and bury in bottom of the creek. I never take it out at night, leave it there for the duration of the trip. Vet at the meat works told me that anything below +7 degrees will stop harmful to man bacteria and we used to age vacuum packed meat at +2 degrees for 6 weeks. Temperature of creeks can be deceptive without a thermometer, as an example the creek that feeds my place is currently running at +10 degrees.

INteresting thread.
Last march we had a Spiker boned out in the Ureweras and when i got back the next morning it was hammered by fly's. In summer I would have expected that but not in March.
Where do you guys get these dry bags from? Worth trying for sure!

Ive allways been against getting meat anywhere near water. We just hang deer whole(skin on or off) in the shade in fly proof bag. You can either buy good fly proof bags or just make one up out of curtain mesh or similar. Make sure it is gutted cleanly and open up the chest and pelvis so the air can flow in.
We have left deer for 5 days like this in 30+ temps last summer in wallaby country. was fine. as long as the flys dont get it itl last for ages.

I dont think the heat will be an issue on a 3 day trip. Just keep in the shade and keep the flies off it. That said, I've eaten meat that young maggots had taken a few bites out of and I didn't get sick - just dont let the missus see haha. So long as the meat doesn't smell rancid.

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Originally Posted by phillipgr

I dont think the heat will be an issue on a 3 day trip. Just keep in the shade and keep the flies off it. That said, I've eaten meat that young maggots had taken a few bites out of and I didn't get sick - just dont let the missus see haha. So long as the meat doesn't smell rancid.

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Nothing like a good steak that looks like salami...when in the bush always cook after dark...only so you cant see the maggots you cut in half.

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Originally Posted by phillipgr

I dont think the heat will be an issue on a 3 day trip. Just keep in the shade and keep the flies off it. That said, I've eaten meat that young maggots had taken a few bites out of and I didn't get sick - just dont let the missus see haha. So long as the meat doesn't smell rancid.

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Good source of protein those maggots Phillip. Who knew you were an insect eater?

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Originally Posted by Rushy

Good source of protein those maggots Phillip. Who knew you were an insect eater?

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I am when they get in between me and venison backsteaks

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OK I'll stick my neck out here.
As a teenager (over 55 now) I was taught flies don't fly more than 12 feet above ground. If we shot a deer then it was hung higher than that up a tree, never came back to a blown deer yet.
Next thing was if you can't get it over 12 feet up then cover it with muslim cloth, before you tie the ends up stuff as much fern as you can up to create a gap between the cloth and ther meat. Again have never come back to a blown carcass.
If all else fails then place it on the ground below a shady tree and leave the skin on, just gut and head the deer, don't open the cavity and when you come back there'll be some tidying up of fly lavae but you'll still get a heap of meat.
I've heard flies don't like fennell but haven't tried covering an animal with that yet.