Lost meat on a guided hunt due to spoilage

[tntrker]

The recent post about a NF Moose hunt with loss meat due to getting a flight out of the field is the 2nd story I've come across from there. The other I was talking with a gentleman and he said his friends entire moose went bad due to the "plastic bags they used" and the time it took to get them out. Is there not some way to prevent that? I mean, I get it, flying in for 1 person may or may not be feasible, but if they claim to "take care of your trophy and meat" and any of it goes bad, not to mention the whole animal, can't something be done? I'd just about be ready to come unglued if ANY of my meat goes bad because they waited to get enough people to take out.

 

[adamkolesar]

Hi,
I was one of those sources re: meat spoilage. While not my story to tell the incident I described was a confluence of unfortunate events. The guy I referred to in my story put his moose on top of a rock, not anticipating the unseasonable warm up. The rock acted as a warming plate with a bright 70 degree day. I'm sure the rock retained heat throughout a not that cold night. He was out roughly 36-40 hours after the kill, but the warming totally ruined the cape (slipped hair) and some of the meat. The guy told me he took matters into his own hands and had a "spirited" discussion with the outfitter. I got lucky with getting cotton game bags. This guy brought his own (not wanting to risk getting a poly weave bag). Next time I would also bring citric acid to prevent insect activity.

 

[Labdad]

Keep it clean
Keep it dry
Keep it cool

If your guide doesn't know these basic rules you should. Plastic bags rot meat.

I have hunted guided and diy all my life and never loss an animal.

 

[rwmorgan48]

citric acid?, never heard of that. I have always used pepper

 

[amp713]

I've never used the citric acid but it creates basically an instant rind on the meat to protect it from how I understand it...


I will say I feel the guides job includes the meat care.....not everyone knows the proper methods but the guy getting paid should. I'd bet money says a state with very strict wanton waste laws like Alaska would have a guides ass on the griddle if he let a whole moose go bad

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Citric acid, spray bottle and proper game bags. Also paracord to hang the meat.

 

[Brendan]

Citric Acid is primarily to lower PH to inhibit bacterial growth.

Field-to-Freezer Meat Care in Alaska, Alaska Department of Fish and Game

Information on hunting and trapping in Alaska.

www.adfg.alaska.gov

Food grade citric acid can be purchased at most pharmacies or feed stores. The citric acid will slow down bacteria growth that spoils meat, and it creates a dark "crust" on the outside of the meat that makes it harder for flies to lay their eggs on the meat. Don’t worry about the citric acid mixture getting the meat too wet. The mixture will dry quickly. Once meat is dry, reinsert it into meat bags.

 

[rwmorgan48]

Thanks, I am much better educated now even after 50 years of hunting deer and elk.

 

[Mike Islander]

Getting ready to fly home with meat if things go as planned at the end of the month. Once frozen, is it okay to use a contractor plastic bag to line the cooler (completely contain the meat) and prevent any possibly of blood getting into the cooler (which might make TSA mad or leak on other baggage)? I can't see any possible reason not, but this is my first time flying with meat and this talk of spoilage has me paranoid.

 

[rwmorgan48]

Getting ready to fly home with meat if things go as planned at the end of the month. Once frozen, is it okay to use a contractor plastic bag to line the cooler (completely contain the meat) and prevent any possibly of blood getting into the cooler (which might make TSA mad or leak on other baggage)? I can't see any possible reason not, but this is my first time flying with meat and this talk of spoilage has me paranoid.

as the meat is frozen AND IN a cooler, it makes no difference to meat storage if you add a plastic bag. Problem is when meat has free moisture you want it to escape so the surface dries so a pl;astic bag is a no no when meat is not frozen.

 

[Mike Islander]

I was sure

as the meat is frozen AND IN a cooler, it makes no difference to meat storage if you add a plastic bag. Problem is when meat has free moisture you want it to escape so the surface dries so a pl;astic bag is a no no when meat is not frozen.

I was sure it would be fine, but I have been sure and wrong before. Many thanks.

 

[Brendan]

Plastic bags are fine under the right circumstances (just make sure they're not scented or something like that).

In warm weather, I'll take a quarter or bunch of meat that is NOT dried out, no rind, fresh off the animal, double seal in a contractor bag, and submerge in ice in a cooler. Drops the temp right to 32 degrees pretty quickly and will keep a couple weeks that way. While I prefer to let it drain and dry, this works great. Sometimes after cooling, I'll pull it out, get as much blood out as possible, and put it back in.

But, the trick here is the temperature, no way I'd put meat in a plastic bag unless it was going directly on ice, submerging in a stream, or after it was cooled down and dried out some for a short-term pack out.

 

[PA Hunter]

This is nothing new, and it happens primarily on hunts involving float planes or helicopters. If the weather is bad the planes don’t fly and if it’s warm bad things can happen.

Where I hunt in Newfoundland it use to be fly in only but my outfitter cut a trail for a side by side no issues for anything spoiled meat goes out every day to processer.

 

[bairdi]

Getting ready to fly home with meat if things go as planned at the end of the month. Once frozen, is it okay to use a contractor plastic bag to line the cooler (completely contain the meat) and prevent any possibly of blood getting into the cooler (which might make TSA mad or leak on other baggage)? I can't see any possible reason not, but this is my first time flying with meat and this talk of spoilage has me paranoid.

Just make sure that the bag you use doesn’t have any added scents to it. I’m guessing those flavored “odor control” bags could impart some undesirable flavor to the meat.

 

[forestpaper223]

Your guide owes you some money and apology.