Strategy for hot weather meat care

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I will be hunting in an area that is in the low 80's, and I will be a minimum of 3.5 miles from my car
What is the best strategy for keeping the meat as good as possible. I was thinking gut it, skin, quarter, pack out, and directly into the cooler. I will be hunting mule deer. Also, what size cooler do you recommend for this? Thank you.
 

muddydogs

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Why waste the time gutting? Get it skinned, quartered and hanging in the shade. Leave the meat on the bone for better cooling but if needed open up both sides of the quarter to the bone to speed up internal cooling, basically start deboning but leave enough meat attached to the bone so the quarter keeps it' shape.
 
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Why waste the time gutting? Get it skinned, quartered and hanging in the shade. Leave the meat on the bone for better cooling but if needed open up both sides of the quarter to the bone to speed up internal cooling, basically start deboning but leave enough meat attached to the bone so the quarter keeps it' shape.

I was going to gut it because all the people I've heard talk about antelope hunting say they gut it immediately. Also, this will be my first time, so it may take a while.
 
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Why waste the time gutting? Get it skinned, quartered and hanging in the shade. Leave the meat on the bone for better cooling but if needed open up both sides of the quarter to the bone to speed up internal cooling, basically start deboning but leave enough meat attached to the bone so the quarter keeps it' shape.

Because meat generally spoils from the inside out with the bone speeding that process.

I hunt an area in So Cal that is often in the 80's and has been as hot as 112. My camp is 5 miles in, from the truck. The first thing I do when I get a deer down is to tag, get the buck in a shady spot, one I think will last the entire field processing process. Then I gut, skin as I debone and
bag it as I go, keeping everything in the shade if the temps are up. I even debone the ribs. Once I have it all bagged up, I get in in my pack and head back to camp (it happens to be on the way back to the truck. I pull the meat bag out of my pack and set it in the shade on the cool ground to help pull heat out of it as I take a short break as I fuel up and hydrate. Then I put the meat back in the pack... and head straight for the truck and the awaiting ice chest that has cold drinks waiting. If it's hot, I make a second trip for the gear if I am done hunting. I have never lost any meat. If the nights are cool, as in refrigerator type temps, and I get the deer in the afternoon, I'll hang the meat overnight and make an early pack out. I've had a few hunts where it has been cold enough that I left the meat in my pack and hung my pack (in white trash compactor bags, sealed up to keep the meat scent down to a minimum), just to make things simpler in the morning. If your really worried you can always take some vinegar in a spritzer bottle to spray on the outside of the meat.
 

muddydogs

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I was going to gut it because all the people I've heard talk about antelope hunting say they gut it immediately. Also, this will be my first time, so it may take a while.

Your first time for gutting or skinning? Either way I think you will find that gutting it is wasting time, by the time you gut the animal you can have a side skinned and quartered. It's not like the meat is going to spoil instantly so if you can get it done in an hour or so your just fine. With a deer your going to have better meat cooling leaving the meat on the bone then you will having a wad of meat in a meat bag.

Don't use garbage bags, all they do is hold in the moisture and collect heat. Get some good game bags and your meat will be protected just fine.
 

Poser

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Skin and quarter an animal in the same amount of time it takes to gut one??
It Takes about all of 2-3 minutes to gut an antelope. You can skin and quarter one that fast?

This gutless trend is starting to get a little over the top. We can’t talk about “wasting time” without bringing up trophy pics. 🤭
 
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Don't use garbage bags, all they do is hold in the moisture and collect heat. Get some good game bags and your meat will be protected just fine.

Actually they have a higher heat dissipation rate than skinned over meat. But, there are a few factors one should consider if they are to use them. As for the gutless method, it's a fantastic method. But I don't recommend it to newbs because they are almost always slow at field processing, and if they hit an animal a bit to far back, they need to gut that animal ASAP to limit spoilage. What I mean is, how many kids started riding a bike without training wheels.
 

muddydogs

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Skin and quarter an animal in the same amount of time it takes to gut one??
It Takes about all of 2-3 minutes to gut an antelope. You can skin and quarter one that fast?

This gutless trend is starting to get a little over the top. We can’t talk about “wasting time” without bringing up trophy pics. 🤭

Well if you read what I posted in the last message you would see that I never said what your implying I said and while I'm fast with a knife I can't gut an animal in 3 minutes and I'm sure you can't either. I've never timed gutting but I would say it probably takes 15 to 20 minutes give or take. I can have a side of elk skinned, quartered and ready to roll over in 30 minutes taking my time.

Biggest issue that the gutting guys miss is if your going to skin and quarter then there is no need to gut. Its just extra work that isn't getting one closer to there end goal and the time is better spent getting the skin off and quarters removed.

i.php
 

muddydogs

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Actually they have a higher heat dissipation rate than skinned over meat. But, there are a few factors one should consider if they are to use them. As for the gutless method, it's a fantastic method. But I don't recommend it to newbs because they are almost always slow at field processing, and if they hit an animal a bit to far back, they need to gut that animal ASAP to limit spoilage. What I mean is, how many kids started riding a bike without training wheels.

Ya but you have to do it to learn how so why not just dive right in? As for a gut shot animal well that's the best time to skin and quarter so you don't have to get into the mess and worry about spreading it around on your good meat. Whatever is contaminated from your shot is going to be contaminated but the chances of getting nasty stuff on the hinds when gutting an animal is likely especially for the first timer.
 

Poser

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If the OP is unsure what he is doing, gutting the animal will release the most amount of meat from the carcass.

I’ve used both methods and will use them interchangeably depending upon the situation, however, I’m taking the heart and liver regardless, so I’ll usually default to gutting the animal first since it’s needs to be done anyway and makes the carcass easier to manipulate.
 

pods8 (Rugged Stitching)

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I was going to gut it because all the people I've heard talk about antelope hunting say they gut it immediately. Also, this will be my first time, so it may take a while.

Getting them skinned and broken down and cool asap is the goal for antelope, whether you actually gut it or go gutless is irrelevant. IE don't gut it yet leave the hide on carcass in the back of your truck in the heat and call it a success is what I'm trying to say.
 

pods8 (Rugged Stitching)

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If the OP is unsure what he is doing, gutting the animal will release the most amount of meat from the carcass.

I’ve used both methods and will use them interchangeably depending upon the situation, however, I’m taking the heart and liver regardless, so I’ll usually default to gutting the animal first since it’s needs to be done anyway and makes the carcass easier to manipulate.

I concur for a new guy its likely best to gut it so they see the anatomy and realize the couple places they need to be careful with a knife.

Actually you don't need to gut them still, I just reach in through the ribs to grab the heart (I'm not a liver fan but same deal). Similarly can fish out the tenderloins, even if you do open the gut sack at the very end to get them you don't need to cut free the anus, diaphragm and throat and drag the guts clear, just slide the guts to the side leaving all that connected still and grab the tenderloins.

Personally I pretty much always go gutless now. Like the poster above I can't gut an animal on the ground cleanly in 3min (esp. an elk where trying to manipulate the guts to get the diaphragm all cut free turns into a warm wrestling match, haha). I guess something small might take me 10min and have me reaching up into the chest cavity and getting my hands/forearms bloody (and slippery before turning into sticky as it dries) before moving onto skinning/quartering. Something like an antelope though I can skin/break down in 30min gutless and have basically clean gloves until the last step of grabbing out the tenderloins and heart.
 

Larry Bartlett

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All good points fellas. As for the newbie method bet, especially goat-antelope. If i had to bet, the average new hand at dismembering might be safer to practice the gutless method to avoid all our past mistakes of slicing the pooper or urine vessels. There's so many reasons the stomach cavity should be left intact that it makes the most sense to avoid cross contamination...especially goats and antelope because their urine is potent on already flavors-specific meat.

As for the heat discussion: Meat cools incredibly fast once you remove the hide, and this destabilizes the environment bacteria are searching for...which lends us time to render the cleanest meat we can in the safest means (about 3 hours). This is plenty enough time to take your time with your food, and leaving the guts intact for the first 90 minutes is no real threat at all, specifically because during rapid temperature phases bacteria are retarded. Think of it this way:

animal dies = 101 F deep core temp

time to expose facing side = < 45 minutes = <100 F and dropping 3 F every 20 minutes = destabilized thermodynamic resilience = no bacteria threat

time first half removed = 1 hour = still falling core temps = no threat

second half exposed = 100 F X 90 minutes from death = thermodynamic destabilized = threat retarded

time to completion = 50 % of food is nearly 90 F and dropping, the remaining meat is cooling toward same trend.

The next 36 hours the meat will fall from 90 F to its storage environment's temperature, and during this time its very difficult for bacteria to thrive if steps are taken to continually reduce core temps down to below 50 degrees within 48 hours.

Whether or not the guts are removed based on thermodynamic threats is a moot point. The is stronger evidence to support the best strategic procedure to avoid bile and feces contamination is to avoid disturbing the visceral cavity at all.
 
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The only animals I will ever gut in the field are the ones which are leaving the field as a whole intact carcass. Otherwise (unless circumstances dictate a different strategy) I will always be attempting to avoid cutting into the abdomen...gutting...and will skin/dissect/bag to get done without fecal or other contamination.

I do realize this gutless thing could be a bit daunting for the first attempt, and therefore I would do everything possible to understand the process. Look at videos, anatomical images and get mentally practiced on what to expect and do.
 

bmart2622

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I agree with Kevin Dill, if I cant driv to it its not getting gutted. Break it down, hang qtrs as you pull them off, start packing and let qtrs hang while packing and put it on ice once back to your cooler.
 

jspradley

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If it gives you any solace my buddies and I took almost 6 hours to get a 300lb nilgai from alive to the cooler in 90 degree weather last year.. I was so terrified we were going to lose meat but it was all good. The biggest thing is making sure no gut nasties come into contact with the meat, whatever way you choose to go about that.
 
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