I'm planning my first backpack grouse-hunting trip for Labor Day weekend. 1 night, 5-6 miles in and 5-6 out along a creek in the New Mexico wilderness.

It could potentially be pretty warm during the day; how do you keep small game cool while backpacking? Or is 2 days in a gamebag not a big deal?

Lastly, however you do it, do you gut the birds or leave them intact until you get home?

Thanks for any suggestions - I don't know anyone who hunts so I'm always trying to figure this stuff out on my own - all suggestions are appreciated.

One or two of those crush- to -activate cryo packs from a first aid kit will work perfectly keeping the meat cool enough to prevent spoiling on an overnight grouse hunt. Clean them quickly and get them cool.

How cold will it get at night? Big game cools down well when the temps get down to 35 or 40, and stays cool if you hang it in the shade. Small game will warm up during the day in your pack. After they're cool, wrap them in a good insulator to keep them cool as long as possible.

Definitely gut them and either breast them or pluck ASAP and get them as cool as possible. Take some gallon-sized zip-locs and sink the birds in the creek if you have to.

yup.

Or, par-boil and pull off the bones, then bag and creek.

Good idea about those crush cold packs. Bag & creek also sounds solid - that should be easy to do where I'm planning to hunt.

It will get down to at least 45 F at night, probably a hair lower, depending.

Regarding a good insulator to wrap them in, are we talking about something as simple as emergency blankets?

Or a sweater/jacket.

Good thinking - thanks for the advice everyone

I gut them when I shoot them or shortly thereafter, particularly if hit hard, and then breast them during a break or at end of day. Putting them in a Ziploc bag and submerging them in the creek is the best way to cool meat fast; the water carries heat away much faster than air can (works for fast defrosting of meat, too). Wrap them in clothes for the hunt out, and you will be fine. If you're delayed, take them out of the bag, though. Warm meat rots faster in plastic than it does if the surface can breath and dry a bit.

Grouse has almost no fat and little blood, and that's where the trouble starts. Most hunters have eaten lots of birds that hung for days.