I'm soliciting thoughts on the best way to care for game meat that has been quartered and won't be final cut for some time. Case in point: I'm doing a 2 week elk hunt; 1 week in WY 1 week in CO. I shot an elk in WY Sunday AM. I have it quartered, boned, meat clean (ie. No dirt), and on ice. I drain any blood/water daily. My concern is the meat sitting in a cooler for 12-14 days. I've left them for 5-6 days but never longer.

I have options. I can have it frozen or processed when I get to CO. I'd greatly prefer to cut my own meat and would like to retain that option if possible.

What have you guys done in this situation?

Id drop it at a processor and have them store it for you dry.

+1 money well spent. Another option is haul a chest freezer and a generator.

[quote=Snake River Marksman]Id drop it at a processor and have them store it for you dry.[/quote

x2

no way would I leave meat in a cooler with high humidity for two weeks

or haul a chest freezer and gennie

I wouldn't take any chances. I'd have it processed.

Definitely have it froze or processed

Dry Ice possibly?

Find a processor have them freeze it for you pick it up on the way home !

Process it, freeze it, and keep it on dry ice in an old freezer if you aren't going back past the processor. Most processors won't have it ready for pick-up for 5-7 days anyway.

You made it very difficult by boning the meat. The increased surface area will make it impossible to hang and age...

That said, about 30 years ago I shot a Dall ram and had to go to work for two weeks. I packed the boned meat in the refrigerator as tight as I could.

Two weeks later the green mold completely covered the meat. It may have been a little "slippery" even.

A quick rinse and wipe down with vinegar took care of the mold. I have never eaten better meat than that ram!!!!!!!

Thanks guys. I'm in Steamboat and know they have several processers. I'll likely have them freeze it. I'll talk to them about dry storage as well. My plan is to shoot a bull this weekend and head home. Then I won't have a problem. <G>

Art - agree on boning/aging thing but I don't carry elk bones. They are heavy and I separate the hind qts by the 3 big muscles when I cut it up. Makes for smaller steaks.

Thanks again.

may not apply in your situation, but what I did with a deboned caribou that I shot on a fly in hunt was keep the hind legs intact, and everything else was deboned and allowed to cool. I sprinkled everything but the backstraps with a salt/cure mix in the same proportions that I would need to make it into sausage later. Trimmed meat with cure /salt was stored in the shade in plastic bags. The salt and cure preserved the deboned meat and allowed me to keep that portion without worries, I hung the legs and backstraps in the shade in cotton bags and they made the trip OK. Don't think I'd go more than two weeks with this method though, and not in very warm weather either.

There's an old rule of thumb on how long you can safely hang meat. For every 10 degrees F, cut the time in half.

35F, 2 weeks
45, 1 week
55, 3-4 days
65, 1-2 days
75, eat it now

I have hung deer in my garage for a week or so.

It's fairly damn damp, mid to high 30's at night, mid 40's or even 50's at day is typical.

Same deal as Sitka Deer. Grows a little mold. I just give it a vinegar wipe and trim anything that looks too suspicious. Usually isn't much at all, if anything, as long as you really watch it. Seems to turn quick with the moisture.

I'd like to build a little cold room. Be able to Keep humidity down while aging it.

Good luck!

Has anyone tried the products that have asorbic acid or vitamin C in them? Seems like it could reduce mold but may just be a gimmick. Here flies are an issue even with good game bags I liberally coat the meat with pepper. It helps some and is not hard to rinse off or just leave it if I am making jerky or sausage.

Last month I shot an antelope. We got it skinned quickly, then bagged in tightly woven bags & cooled. It got down to near freezing that night and the next day I had it home and cut. Somehow, I still found a couple bunches of fly eggs on it. They're harmless if you cut them off but it's amazing how flies can get to meat that way.

Take it to locker plant. I couldn't eat it if it was in cooler more than a couple days.

You can get one of these wireless thermometers at Wally's for about $10. Drop the sensing unit in the cooler with the meat and you'll be able to keep track of how it's staying cool. Much piece of mind.

Thags a good idea. Thanks!

I ended up just getting the first elk processed in CO wben I got there. They cut it and stored it for a week cheaper than just storing it........

I have used Game Saver citric acid spray. You mix the powder with water in a spray bottle and it works great. I ordered it over the Internet from Indian Valley Meat Co., in Indian Valley, AK. http://www.indianvalleymeats.com/about.htm

KC

Look into a device called a Cold Bot. That an a $300 room air conditioned will turn a small insulated room into great walk in cooler

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Just learned this this year. Sprinkle chile powder on the meat before you bag it. Works a lot better than black pepper. It will wash off when you clean up the meat and won't effect the taste.

Tried it this year in ML season when flies and bees were terrible. Worked great

Winters-- since you've had experience with keeping game on ice for one week-- let me assure you you can keep meat on ice much longer. I live in Ala and my normal routine is to keep my boned out venison on ice for at least two weeks. Been doing it for years with many, many deer- have also done it with moose from British Columbia, elk from Colorado and Julie's and white tails from. Kansas. Never had a problem. Most folks say my venison is best they've eaten. When you take it out of the color to process, you'll notice it is grey-- as soon as it warms up to room temp it will be that nice dark burgundy you're used to- Bill

the Cool Bot will cost a bit over $300 plus the a/c unit. They say that the Cool Bot can't use the rated BTU's of the a/c so you need a larger one than what you might figure.
Plus, you need a very well insulated room, including the floor.
An a/c will shut off at about 60F. The Cool Bot will keep it running to a much lower temp.
COOL BOT
We've been thinking about building a cooler with one of these to store garden stuff plus meat.

Meat from the pronghorn, whitetail and mulies I kill are aged in a cooler on ice for 10-14 days. The dirty water is drained daily and ice is added as needed. You might be able to do that. If not, I'd have it frozen. It won't hurt the meat.