I am planning to hunt elk in late August/early September. I am an fortunate and arrow an elk how quickly must meat be taken to butcher for cooling. I obviously will do it as quickly as possible. I have never hunted elk that early. My elk hunts have been in late October/early November in the past and in much cooler weather. If I quarter the elk and hang the legs in a shady spot in game bags do I have 2 days to get meat to butcher or less than that even? Thanks, Rufous.

Best case:

You stick an elk late in the day and find it before it gets too dark. You are able to get it gutted and propped open, or even quartered and hung in a tree. Overnight temperature drops into the 30's, giving you the option of continuing on and getting the meat out at night OR saving that part for early the next day. By the time the sun starts getting up good the next morning, you have the meat refrigerated or bagged and on ice and are getting set to toss back a few frosty ones...

Dark timber is your friend. It will be noticably cooler there and will buy you some time if daytime temperatures are a problem. My favorite time to hunt in September is late in the day, though. I have kept boned elk meat sealed in garbage bags and buried in ice for as long as 6 days with no problems whatsoever, but I didn't waste any time getting it out of the woods, either.

Be sure and take along some LARGE heavy duty plastic food grade bags. You can get these from the local butcher. If the temps are too hot, find a spring, creek or river. Depone the meat, put it in the bags, get all the air out and submerge and secure it in the cool water until you can get it out. If the stream or river is big enough, I will gut the animal and put the whole carcass in the river in the shade (secured of course). Put a big rock in the rib cage to keep it sumberged. Keep the hide on it. Fortunately, Colorado has a lot of springs and creeks. I have used this method in several states when the weather was hot. It works perfectly every time. Flinch

That's a tip to remember, Flinch -- thanks.

Always remember to get the meat off the ground, and always get the neck, and front shoulders skinned out as fast as you can, they will be the first to go, and they will do it in a hurry.

Toby Joe