Meat Care in Grizzly Country

ndbwhunter · Jul 24, 2015

For those of you that hunt (or have hunted) in grizzly country, how do you take care of your meat after the kill? Obviously, my best option would be to get it out right away, but that isn't always possible. I'll be hunting in September, so the meat will need to be cooled quickly. Am I ok storing meat in a creek with grizzlies around, or should I leave it hung 10+ feet until I can get it out?

I've seen a few different hanging systems that use carabiners to create a pulley system. Is this common practice, or do you just sling the rope/cord over a branch or meatpole and hoist it up? Carrying enough carabiners to hang 4+ meatbags seems like a lot of extra weight. If the meat does need to be 10+ feet, how much rope/cord do you typically bring to make sure you've got it high enough. It seems the 50' of dynemma wire I was going to bring wouldn't be enough.

I may be overthinking this, so please explain this process to me.

Jason Snyder · Jul 24, 2015

I've done it several ways. If you are planning on leaving the meat for any length of time, i.e. over 24-36 hours, I would go 10 feet high. Also, if it is hung by or near your camp I'd go 10 feet high. If you are hanging it in the field and are shuttling it out, I don't know that I would worry about being that high.

I guess it kind of depends on the bear concentration. If you are hunting in the Taylor Fork of Montana, I'd pack plenty of paracord and carabiners. There are grizzlies where we hunt, but not nearly as many.

It's easier, in my experience to either 1) build a meat pole (need a saw) or 2) use the two rope method in order to get up 10 feet and out 4.

I would plan on getting the meat moved away from the carcass on the day of the kill, even a couple hundred yards. Hang or cache it in an area where you can see coming in to it and you don't surprise a bear. Then, re-hang and move accordingly. If I was leaving quarters semi-close to the carcass I would try and get them as high as I could.

ndbwhunter · Jul 24, 2015

I don't think the grizzly concentrations are very high in the area, but I'll take every precaution I can. Do you have any insight on storing it in a creek in griz country? I suppose I could hang it near the creek and still submerge it to cool for a short time. Would the plastic bags eliminate any the scent if it was left in a creek?

Jason Snyder · Jul 24, 2015

The plastic bags would reduce the scent, but bears have such an acute sense of smell that I'm sure they could/would still find it.

I've never stored it in a creek in grizz country. I would hang it and allow the thermals to cool it.

AK Troutbum · Jul 24, 2015

Electric bear fence. I have a backpacker bear fence that I take on all my hunts and they do work. It's not super light (38 oz. in the bag with extra batteries), but covers a pretty large area, easily enough for a large 4 person shelter and all your meat within the enclosed area.

Mike7 · Jul 24, 2015

For a light and fast way for hanging meat you can use these ultralight carabiners ( http://www.arrowhead-equipment.com/store/p345/Micro_Carabiner.html ) and some 100% Dyneema line like the 2.2 mm stuff sold here (http://www.bearpawwd.com/fabrics_misc/fabrics_misc.php ).

This dyneema line is similar to what I have, and I think it is about 1 oz for 40 ft. I don't live in Grizzly country, but have found that about 35-40 ft chunks of dyneema line allow me to hang food or meat over pretty much any tree branch below 25 ft tall. A caribiner placed in a figure 8 knot near where the bear/meat bag is attached, allows you to run the other end (pull end) of the line through it in order to pull the bag away from the tree/limb that it is hanging on. Another simple little trick, is to use a 3-4 ft stick to push on the bottom of the meat bag while pulling the line...thereby making it pretty easy to get the meat up at least 10 ft high.

hodgeman · Jul 25, 2015

I hunt a lot in griz country. The big thing is to get the meat away from the carcass and gut pile. I'll only submerge meat in a creek to initially cool it- waterlogged meat is prone to spoilage, I wouldn't leave it in there.

Bear fence is a good idea and works. Urinating around the area is said to work by folks with more experience than me- never had bears on the meat pile so it just might. The areas I hunt lack trees big enough to hang meat and certainly not 10' up so I've never tried it.

luke moffat · Jul 25, 2015

AK Troutbum said:
Electric bear fence. I have a backpacker bear fence that I take on all my hunts and they do work. It's not super light (38 oz. in the bag with extra batteries), but covers a pretty large area, easily enough for a large 4 person shelter and all your meat within the enclosed area.

This!!! I am never much worried about the meat when I am around to scare them off, its when I leave camp (even without meat in it) that I worry the most.

Mike7 · Jul 30, 2015

Luke, with the use of an electric bear fence around your shelter, you have no worries about coaxing a bear in by putting your meat right beside your tent? (this is a real question as I have never used a bear fence)

Also, say a guy I know (maybe me) was planning to do a future fly-in and then packraft out hunt (in the mountains and tundra), would you recommend a bear fence for sure? What do you think the odds would be of caribou meat being taken by a griz while you have it 100 yds from your river camp on the float out, but otherwise unprotected by a fence?

Elk Hunter · Aug 21, 2015

I would go higher than ten feet. We run an elk ranch and hang the lowest part at 12 feet. we have watched a grizzly stand up and pull the hind quarters down. If it was me I would hang it a few hundred yards from where I was sleeping and put the electric fence around camp.

RamDreamer · Aug 22, 2015

I wouldn't put it in a creek in bags in griz country for an extended period of time (e.g., leave them there while unattended). Though the bags may reduce the scent of the meat, bears have some of the best sense of smell around. Even better than a sharks ability to sense blood in water. Either hang or use an electric fence if you can.

F16pointy · Aug 24, 2015

I wouldn't store meat in plastic bags for very long. To get it cold quick is one thing but you will build condensation and the meat wont build a nice crust. Eventually you will risk losing meat to rot. I would second the meat pole, I have never had an issue with bears coming into camp. We always build meat poles to hang our meat from. In my experience griz like the rotting stinky parts so keeping it nice and clean and dry will help a bit. But moose quarters are so big its hard to get them out of reach. If you are really worried get a fence like Luke says, probably the only real guarantee for the most part. I have heard that a bear can smell food in a sealed cooler from up to a mile away. They might be deaf and blind but them noses are honed instruments! As for doing a float in AK, if you are going up near the Brooks I would get a fence if you are worried about bears. The griz population has grown and I have heard of numerous bears tearing into camps. I have never owned a fence so I don't know how well they work. Been out in the middle of nowhere AK a lot and never felt like I HAD to have one. But if I ever go to Kodiak or the southeast I will get one. Good luck!

Snyd · Aug 25, 2015

The location of where you stash the meat can have a bearing on how/where the scent goes. Example... If you hang the meat 10 or 12 feet in an area where the prevailing wind hits hit, that scent is gonna travel for miles. Your gonna be Baiting bears! If you can hang it in a low creek drainage with less wind, more dense/heavy air you can keep the scent more localized and help minimize the Bear Baiting effect.

Very seldom are we able to hang meat in sheep country. But this year there were a few willows next to the little creek. On the stalk to the ram, we came across a sow and 2 cubs 1/4 mile from the ram in the same big valley. Needless to say we were pretty concerned. Well, our "campsite" was nestled in a low area sheltered from the prevailing winds which fortunately were blowing up the valley we were at the head of. This meat hung here for 5 days less than 2 miles from where we saw the bears. We were fortunate to have this spot, I think it helped keep the scent down. Not much we could have done if the bears would have just "happened" upon it. That's where the bear fence would come in handy!

Meat Care in Grizzly Country

ndbwhunter

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Jason Snyder

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ndbwhunter

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Jason Snyder

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AK Troutbum

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Mike7

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hodgeman

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Elk Hunter

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