Pepper as a fly deterrent

Joined
Jan 17, 2014
Messages
661
Location
Truckee
This archery season I encountered some warm weather and immediate flies on one of the deer I killed . As I was hauling ass to get off the mountain with no larvae in my meat I recalled hearing an old timer in the past mentioning applying black pepper on meat in the field. I have read on here and seen products mentioning citric acid but not much real time experience with pepper. Any Roksliders out there use pepper in the field ?
 

amp713

WKR
Joined
Apr 5, 2012
Messages
1,435
Location
Utah
I have tried it but it had to be on there thick to make any change so I just went back to focusing on one quarter at a time. Get one quarter off, bag and hang. Start on the next. Leave the hide covering anything I'm not immediately working on. I felt like the time it was taking to get enough pepper on was not really helping me out overall. However I think it comes down to how many people, how hot, and how fast you can go. It probably can be great in the right situations
 

fishslap

WKR
Joined
Jan 8, 2017
Messages
892
Location
Longmont, CO
I shot a bull during Colorado muzzleloader season this year and tried pepper for the first time. It would help for about 3.6 seconds after you sprinkled a bunch then it was back to swarm mode. I do the same as amp713 and skin/remove/bag each quarter at a time. That’s pretty much how I always do it regardless of flies/yellow jackets. To me that’s about the only thing that helps protect the meat. Not much you can do about the annoyance.
 

Rich M

WKR
Joined
Jun 14, 2017
Messages
5,107
Location
Orlando
I shot a deer once and found it from the buzzing of a gazillion green flies.

Your game bags should protect the meat from flies and eggs. Takes the eggs a day or two to hatch - hopefully it'll be on ice by then.
 

dtrkyman

WKR
Joined
Oct 2, 2014
Messages
2,932
I was elk hunting in New Mexico a few years ago, the woods were literally buzzing with yellow jackets, I was like how in the heck would I take care of an elk?

Never shot one but it was in the back of my head the whole time.
 

Missahba

Lil-Rokslider
Joined
Oct 6, 2019
Messages
281
Location
Michigan
Not sure how practical it would be on a backpack hunt, but here’s a pepper option I learned from Milos Cihelka a master chef and avid hunter. Infuse oil with red pepper. Keep it in a squirt bottle, aka ketchup bottle. As mentioned above, if you can handle the extra weight, leave the hide on as much as possible. According to the chef.
 

DFP

FNG
Joined
Dec 26, 2018
Messages
14
Location
Artesia, NM
Growing up we used to use black pepper all the time to keep the flies away, sometimes we would hand deer for 3-4 days peppered in a tree. Never had issues. Definitely would reccomend game bags these days though

Sent from my Pixel 3 using Tapatalk
 

desertcj

WKR
Joined
Jul 21, 2013
Messages
647
Location
Central CA
I've used chili powder in the past. It helped. Meat bees and flys were swarming but they didnt like landing on the meat. I still carry a large container of chili powder in my pack if that tells you anything...
 
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