How do you preserve/transport your quarry ?

Ninja_En_Short

Ninja_En_Short

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Hi everyone,

Questions from a noob (admittedly). I intend to hunt in the Rockies this year (in AB, zone 408 or around there), got myself a new Tikka in 6.5 PRC, and I'm wondering a few things, especially larger animals like bear, elk or moose :

- Once you've killed your quarry and gutted it : do you typically transport it straight to butcher or, if you wait a bit, how do you preserve/keep it 'til then ?

- Since the Rockies are mountains with a LOT of rough terrain, do you typically use an ATV (either owned or rented) or another kind of secondary vehicle ? I can carry/pull a whitetail without problem but I really don't see myself doing the same with the "bigger stuff".
 
Ninja_En_Short said:
Hi everyone,

Questions from a noob (admittedly). I intend to hunt in the Rockies this year (in AB, zone 408 or around there), got myself a new Tikka in 6.5 PRC, and I'm wondering a few things, especially larger animals like bear, elk or moose :
- Once you've killed your quarry and gutted it : do you typically transport it straight to butcher or, if you wait a bit, how do you preserve/keep it 'til then ?
- Since the Rockies are mountains with a LOT of rough terrain, do you typically use an ATV (either owned or rented) or another kind of secondary vehicle ? I can carry/pull a whitetail without problem but I really don't see myself doing the same with the "bigger stuff".
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Watch videos of the “gutless method” of field dressing to lessen the amount of weight needed to carry out. Successful early fall hunts are often a race against heat. Have a butcher lined up with a cooler beforehand. Try to avoid solo hunting bigger animals. Have fun…
 
I transport my animals skinned, then placed in large game bags which were sewn for me by my wife. Transported whole to my vehicle on a toboggan sled behind either my side by side or my quad. It may not be realistic in some areas where you’re intending to hunt. Remember if you use the gutless method that evidence of ### and species should remain on the tagged quarter if you do dismantle it for transport. If you check the Alberta Reg’s you will find it stipulates this. Regardless of your method, game bags are great for keeping your game clean and for hanging and cooling your meat. Good choice on calibre, my son has used a Tikka in 6.5 PRC for the last three years on elk, moose and deer with very good success.
 
Our process for moose is:
-gut it where you shoot it (keep the tasty organs)
-cut it halves or quarters (keep the loins intact)
-haul it out with side by side or atv
-skin, trim, rinse and hang it for a few days
-call the butcher to let him know a moose is coming and arrange a time for drop off
-some lucky hunter drives it in while the rest keep hunting
 
We dismantle our moose using the gutless method. The meat goes into cotton game bags and is loaded on an atv or into a canoe depending on where the animal was killed. From there it’s a weather decision. Warm weather means a trip back to town to the butchers and a walk in cooler. If the weather allows we will hang the meat in the shade to cool and keep hunting.
 
Hurketthunter84 said:
We dismantle our moose using the gutless method. The meat goes into cotton game bags and is loaded on an atv or into a canoe depending on where the animal was killed. From there it’s a weather decision. Warm weather means a trip back to town to the butchers and a walk in cooler. If the weather allows we will hang the meat in the shade to cool and keep hunting.
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So does that mean we can dismantle the animal on the spot as long as we keep ### proof attached ? I learned the gutless method but was then told it wasn't legal at least when I was in Montreal ?
 
Quarter, debone, pack out and put on ice.

I've left deboned meat on ice for days before cutting and wrapping, with no issues. Keep the meat dry, don't let the ice water get on the meat. I'll usually either put the meat in plastic bag once it's cooled or the ice the the bags.
 
Ninja_En_Short said:
So does that mean we can dismantle the animal on the spot as long as we keep ### proof attached ? I learned the gutless method but was then told it wasn't legal at least when I was in Montreal ?
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### proof rules are different in various provinces so check with yours before going.

As others have said, have a butcher lined up before going out, especially in early season. Meat can spoil very quickly in the heat, unless you have a plan to keep it cool.
 
Know your butchers and have thier numbers in your wallet.
Deer I gut and skin and get the lower legs off as soon as possible. I leave the heads intact and then I game bag the animal with the largest game bags. One will usually cover a medium sized deer up to the neck. Larger deer I will just cut in half just above the tenderloins and game bag the two halves. This keeps dirt and flies off my meat while I transport it.
For elk and moose the exact same except we remove the heads and cut the animal into 1/4's .
I don't use butcher services anymore but when I did, a call was placed immediately after the animal was down if cell service was availlable or as soon as we reached cell service leaving the bush. I have been in that situation where all the trusted meat cutters had full coolers and I was left with animals to deal with. Luckily I had meat cutter friends over the years and they taught me what I needed to know to at least have the basic skills and knowledge to break down my own animals.

These days I built an insulated offroad trailer I can take with me on my hunts. With a generator, a window type air 8,000 BTU conditioner and two inkbird temp controllers, it is a portable meat cooler on the road and a hanging cooler when it's parked at home.
 
well I haul it out with the hide on

hang it in the shed and skin it

then butcher it myself

I de-joint the front shoulders first then cut out the loins, then separate the ribcage from the hinds, then finally get to the hinds de-joint from the pelvis and de-bone

moose is another level, that gets cut in half and each quarter cut up one at a time.
 
Deer & bear I gut in the field and get it back to the truck with the hide on, once I get it home which isn’t usually far I get the hide off and clean the internal cavity of any blood etc. For deer the exterior gets wiped down to remove stray hairs and then bloodshot meat is trimmed off, quarters come off and go in game bags, backstrap/tenderloins, rib and neck meat comes off and goes into the trim/grind pile with anything else for grinding later. Quarters go into a cooler, ice bags or frozen 2L bottles on the bottom. Ice is covered with a plastic garbage bag to keep the meat out of the water and the quarters rest at min overnight in the cooler.

I’ve left things in coolers for up to 4-5 days depending on my schedule, I drain melted ice water daily. Once I have a free moment I debone, cut and wrap everything, I’ve never used a game cutter or butcher for anything. I grind all my own trim and make my own sausages.

Bears I keep the ribs whole and backstraps in big chunks, the rest gets ground and made into burgers, sausages or 1lb packs of ground
 
If at all possible hang your skinned quarters in a cooler to make the meat better. Years ago we got a big old bull moose. The weather was just around freezing so we were not worried about spoiling. We did not skin it as we usually did and broke camp 2 days after the kill. It was a full day drive from camp to home so we skinned and butchered the next day.
That meat was tough/tough. Had we hung it in a cooler for a few days it might have been better. A lot of roasts and steak was later thawed as needed and ground into burger.

Bill
 
billbmcleod said:
If at all possible hang your skinned quarters in a cooler to make the meat better.
Bill
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I don’t think there’s any truth to that train of thought and wild game, hanging beef will for sure be a benefit. Venison doesn’t have the fat that beef does and it plays a big role in the hanging/aging process from everything I’ve been told and have experienced. The only thing you’ll do when hanging venison is dry it out, I really don’t think hanging wild game meat has any added benefits.
 
Butcherbill said:
I don’t think there’s any truth to that train of thought and wild game, hanging beef will for sure be a benefit. Venison doesn’t have the fat that beef does and it plays a big role in the hanging/aging process from everything I’ve been told and have experienced. The only thing you’ll do when hanging venison is dry it out, I really don’t think hanging wild game meat has any added benefits.
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I have always been of this belief too but was told by a butcher who recently retired for a few decades of game meat processing and sausage making that White Tail deer and Elk have the enzyme that is the same or similar to cattle. I noticed when comparing white tail and mule deer cuts, the white tail did indeed have fat marbling in the meat like beef does but the mule deer did not.
I don't know what to believe anymore and my game only hangs for as long as it takes me to clean up from hunting and have a good sleep LOL
Then it's processing time. I do agree with Butcherbill that hanging deer just serves to dry them out and meat it lost to having to skin the dry membrane off the meat. Unless one hangs in a cooler with a humidifier/dehumidifier that controls relative humidity in the cooler. That will be the next thing that gets added to my hunting trailer but will only use it when the trailer is at home plugged into 110V
 
I’ve shot many elk in Sept in temperatures as high as 25 degrees. Working quickly is key and I’ve never had any problems with the meat. Where I hunt it’s pretty much a pack out scenario for the majority of the time. Typically I will immediately start quartering the animal up and hanging them in a tree. From there they are skinned and deboned then placed in game bags. All the other meat is stripped off the carcass and bagged. Then the fun begins lol. Invest in a good meat hauling pack system and off you go. Depending on fitness and terrain you can carry a fair amount out at a time. When the time comes that I’m no longer able to do this I will have to change up my location to somewhere more accessible by atv.

Once everything is loaded on the quad and trailer I head back to the cabin or home depending on time of day. Evenings and nights are almost always cool enough as long as the meat is spread out it won’t spoil if you have to wait. We always cut up the meat ourselves so I don’t have to worry about lining up a butcher. I think it’s a good skill to have and with some practice even a large animal can be cut and wrapped pretty quickly, even quicker if you have a friend or family member helping.
 
Knew a couple guys that took their whole show out to the mountaintops.

Like, when they came back, it was cut, wrapped, and frozen already. Generators, tables to use as butcher areas, freezers.

Knew others that carried a insulated box, air conditioner, and generators, to ensure a decent end result. Cold place to hang a carcass.

These were people I respected!

Worst case, for me, was having to find a place cool enough, that a skinned deer could be hung, and not result in a rotten carcass, to be presented to the cutter. (who should, legitimately, not allow that in his coolers).

Or, you ran for home, so it could be dealt with.
 
trevj said:
Knew a couple guys that took their whole show out to the mountaintops.

Like, when they came back, it was cut, wrapped, and frozen already. Generators, tables to use as butcher areas, freezers.

Knew others that carried a insulated box, air conditioner, and generators, to ensure a decent end result. Cold place to hang a carcass.

These were people I respected!

Worst case, for me, was having to find a place cool enough, that a skinned deer could be hung, and not result in a rotten carcass, to be presented to the cutter. (who should, legitimately, not allow that in his coolers).

Or, you ran for home, so it could be dealt with.
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I met some guys up country one year at a gas station in Houston with 3 bulls between the 5 of them. Thier rigs were done to the titts and enclosed trailers behind the trucks. They must have had the same LEH draw as us because I saw them on the lake a couple times. We were in a big race to get home with our moose and as I was chatting with one of these guys he asked which way we were headed. Told him 100 mile and he grinned and said they would be stopping for fuel there. He then led me over to the back of one of thier trailers and opened it up. All thier quarters were game bagged and hanging in this trailer and each one had a tether to the floor so they wouldn't swing while the trailer was moving. So he helped me load our quarters into thier trailer and we joined thier convoy on the highway home. The cooler was 5 degrees inside and ran on a generator that powered an airconditioner controlled by a Cool Bot. Since then the cooler trailer became a high priority for me as many of my hunts are in warmer weather when the big blowflies are still out. For the cost of a decent rifle and scope, a guy can build one of these units themselves. (assuming you have a 4 x8 utility trailer already)
I saved money building mine and run it with 2 Inkbird temp controllers that do the same job as a much more expensive Cool Bot controller.
 
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