Antelope on ice?

[mdfanatic1980]

I have a quick question - everyone says get the meat in the cooler as quick as possible. Some say don't get it wet, some say wash it with water and put on ice (which would slowly melt and get the meat wet), some say put in zip lock bags and keep in the cooler. So what is the best bet here?

Also, assuming my son gets one decent enough to mount, I'll cape in the field. I can cape up through the neck to the head. What should I do at this point? Take to taxi to finish caping and then keep the cape dry and cold? We have a couple tags, so once we take one goat, we have more hunting to do.

 

[Turkeygetpwnd38]

If you can help it you should never let meat get wet. Bacteria multiply quicker in wet environments, it changes the flavor and texture, generally just not a good thing. The one exception is if the meat is extremely dirty for some reason, then I will rinse off but pat dry before packaging.
There are ways to get it on ice and not wet. You could debone, put in ziplocks, then in cooler. I usually get block ice then set some barrier between the ice and meat in game bags (whatever fits in the color and does the job, i've used the baskets that come in them, plywood, etc) then leave a plug slightly open so the water drains.
With caping, get it to base of skull, pop head off, fold cape skin on skin, roll up into game bag and keep cool in cooler. The quicker you get it to taxidermist the better, but as long as you keep it cool and dry you should be fine for 3-5 days.

 

[Huntinaz]

I’m in a similar boat. We have two antelope tags and 6.5 days to hunt two weeks from now in Wyoming. There’s a town nearby with taxidermists, if we’re close enough we’ll just cut to base of skull and fold and see if the taxi will cape/freeze for a few days. Or I’ll cape it and may just have capes in a cooler with ice on the bottom for a few days. We also have two nights at a VRBO mid trip, a cape may end up in a freezer for awhile...

As far as meat, I have hunted southern AZ coues deer in October and what works for them is to put the meat in a cooler and cover it with ice. A lot will melt right away and you drain and refil with ice. Yeah the meat gets wet but stays cold and butchers just fine, we did this two years in a row. Meat gets a little discolored but the taste was not affected. Ideally yeah, don’t store it wet. But if the method has to be in an ice chest with ice, it’s pretty much going to get wet and to combat that it needs to be clean and cold

Putting it in plastic bags and it will be wet with its own moisture too so I don’t see much benefit there. Use clean ice chests and clean ice, and don’t skimp on drain/refil duty and it keeps fine

 

[HiMtnHntr]

Not sure where you are hunting, but if in Wyoming, nighttime temps will be low enough to get things nice and cold. Lay it out in the back of the truck overnight. Keep in a big cooler with ice in the shade by day. Drain and resupply with ice at the end of the day if necessary. I use a few 120 qt coolers to have plenty of room for a few antelope and ice with room to spare so you can keep things from getting wet.

 

[S.Clancy]

Frozen 2 liter water bottles and 1 gallon milk jugs. Literally solves all your problems.

 

[Jimss]

As mentioned in the 2nd post it's best to keep meat free of moisture. I always keep meat above ice in a cooler with a plastic garbage bag barrier between the ice and boned out meat. It doesn't take long to de-bone an antelope and it will be a lot easier getting in a cooler. Drain the cooler frequently to keep meat dry. As mentioned the temps in Wyo cool down considerably at night. You can leave it out to cool down at night if there isn't rain or snow. I usually use cheap game bags to prevent flies from laying eggs and to keep the meat a little cleaner and drier. I also place the skinned cape in a dry game bag. Make 100% sure to keep the cape super dry. I usually roll the cape up skin to skin once it's off the skull.

I often use paper towels to prevent blood from getting on antelope hair...even when skinning. Antelope hair is hollow and super prone to getting screwed up so don't drag your buck and be super careful while skinning. There are likely a bunch of youtube videos that show how to cape. The eyes, nose, and ears are the toughest areas to skin. If you mess up and don't get all the eye and nose you are pretty much screwed. If you don't trust yourself I'd take it to a local taxidermist ASAP and pay them to do it.

 

[puckhead]

Frozen 2L soda bottles of water on bottom, meat on top of them and a couple more frozen bottles on top. They'll condensate a bit but not enough to make any difference. Way better than ice

 

[voyageurpursuits]

Use block ice beneath the meat. Jugs are best, because they stay full with ice cold water for a long time. No need to drain, which is a waste of cold. I also use a barrier between the ice and the meat - last year I just used tin foil because it's what I had on hand.

One other point: if you have room and the coolers for it, bring as much ice as you can and at least one extra cooler. If it's hot out, you'll burn a lot of ice just chilling the meat down. An example setup would be one cooler with ice blocks to put hot (fresh) meat in, then once it's cooled off, put it in the "main" cooler, again on ice blocks, where it will stay until you get home. That main cooler will last almost forever if you put only chilled meat in it.

 

[cuerro viejo]

I kill 1 to 2 Pronghorns a year, I put qtr’s in ice chest on top of two 2x4, fill with ice, and pull plug and keep adding ice for 4-7 days, even if already home.

No issues


Remember cold goes down, not up

 

[coyotecreek]

I always quarter antelope or deer and cover them with ice. I'll let it set in the ice for several days before starting to clean it up and debone. I cube up all of my meat that I will grind and freeze it. Once the season is over I grind everthing at once. Last year it was 4 animals. I soak the cubed meat in ice water for 3 days, chaning the water at least once a day to soak out a lot of the blood. I drain the water and grind into burger. I've done it this way for 25 years and my dad did this for 25 years before that without any issue. Of course it's January when I'm doing this and typically between 10 and 40 degrees outside. I keep the cooler on the north side of the house in the shade. I understand the thought that water encourages bacteria growth but I've never seen it.

 

[Rich M]

Throw the meat in a game bag - hang in the breeze if it is cool out. Put on ice - leave drain open on cooler. Antelope meat is very good.

I don't understand all these guys saying don't get the meat wet, it'll go bad. Living in FL we have to keep the meat on ice to age it. That or have a walk in cooler or a spare fridge. I age my deer, antelope, etc. on ice for 7-10 days most of the time - plug closed, drain it 2x daily and replace ice. Meat tastes fine. I generally steak and cube or grind the meat.

 

[jrm02]

Frozen 2L soda bottles of water on bottom, meat on top of them and a couple more frozen bottles on top. They'll condensate a bit but not enough to make any difference. Way better than ice

I use a similar method, though I tend to use the Costco milk containers since they're more of a rectangle and stack nicely in my coolers. I don't generally put them on top of the meat though, just throw the meat on top of the containers, no particular reason, I've just never found it necessary. (spread the meat out so it isn't stacked on top of each other, pretty easy to do with antelope),