Hunting in warm weather

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Hollow Point

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New Brunswick
I have a moose tag in NB for this fall. The season runs the last Tues - Sat in September. For the past few years we have seen temperatures in the mid 20's for the season. I'm looking for ideas on how to keep meat from spoiling in the heat. pack it in ice, build a cooler, look into renting a trailer with a cooler, etc. what has worked for you in the past?
 
A side benefit: you don't have to worry about running out of ice for your food! :) When I've hunted in sept without a trailer I let the meat cool off overnight and then pack it under blankets and tarps in the bed of my truck with frozen milk jugs packed around it. I kept the ice cold in a big cooler. But that was at high elevation where it went to almost freezing at night.
 
Short term, we load it in a canoe, cover with a tarp and keep it on the shady shore, move it whenever the sunlight encroaches... it will keep a couple days like this @ 20C... but get it straight to a cooler after.
 
greatwhite said:
Trailer with a freezer and a generator.
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Don't forget a decent table and supplies to cut and pack away the meat with, whether you simply break it down into chunks, or do the full cut and wrap (if they don't have a stupid Law about that too).

I have seen guys make a decent little cold room with an air conditioner and plywood panels. Really flash is to have styrofoam insulation.
 
custom built 5 x 10 single axle (3600lb) trailer. 32" Kumo offroad tires, shocks and airbags.... Bottom 1/2 is 16g stainless , formed and welded all around. Top 1/2 is commercial zero-lock freezer panels courtesy of Sofina foods/maple leaf.... as we did the shut down and got to do some salvaging ;)
Has a furnace and a fold down cot on each side.... but also has heavy duty D rings built into walls, ceiling, floor so meat quarters can be hung and secured for safe trip home. The cooling is supplied by a large room window mount air conditioner that runs off a small gas generator on the trailer tongue. An onboard volkswagon bus fuel tank provides plenty of spare fuel.
Holds 4 to 6 degrees C on the hottest summer day around these parts..... (30C+)
 
When we hunted by canoe years ago, we used to put the moose in the bottom of the aluminum boat in the lake at the main camp and tent it. Then get it out the next morning. Where we hunt now, we have an old freezer we run on the generator if we get stuck by the butcher being closed, but mostly we just hang it under the trees overnight, and get it out the next day.
 
As stated above freeze some milk jugs/2 liter pop bottles and put them inside the moose for transport. Best thing to do is get it out of the woods right away to a butcher, we are in NB so it's not like we are days away from civilization. :)
 
I go bear hunting every August. It was around 30degrees last year. I pulled the trigger at about 9am. Quartered it fits into two decent sized coolers. Obviously you'll need more than two medium coolers for a moose. Add ice. My preference is a combo of Gatorade and 2l pop bottles filled with water and frozen, this way there is very little water in the cooler once they melt. My thinking is the 2l bottles stay frozen longer, while the greater surface area of multiple small bottles helps cool things down faster, hence the combination of the two. We were planning to stay another day but my buddy was feeling sick so we packed up and headed home. I would have had no problem leaving the bear in Coolers for a day or two if necessary.
 
NB444 said:
As stated above freeze some milk jugs/2 liter pop bottles and put them inside the moose for transport. Best thing to do is get it out of the woods right away to a butcher, we are in NB so it's not like we are days away from civilization. :)
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I find milk jugs get brittle and break pretty easy once frozen. Not a big issue if you're planning on only using them once but if you want something reusable I much prefer pop or Gatorade bottles.
 
Suther said:
I find milk jugs get brittle and break pretty easy once frozen. Not a big issue if you're planning on only using them once but if you want something reusable I much prefer pop or Gatorade bottles.
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I agree,
usually start out with a couple large coolers with solidly frozen 2l pop bottles.

Trouble is more getting the meat to the truck. Try to know where there is cold water and have lots of large ziplock bags.
 
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