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Old July 9, 2013, 04:13 PM   #1
dylanf55
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transporting meat??

so i am going over to eastern oregon to hunt this year ( i live in western oregon) and i am wondering what are the best ways of transporting the animal? normally i am able to shoot the animal and bring it right on home since i normally hunt only a few miles from my house. what would be the best way to transport the deer while keeping it cool and without spoiling any of the meat??
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Old July 9, 2013, 05:24 PM   #2
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How many days in transit? If you have a pickup truck, small chest freezer, and generator you could always process it there, freeze, and use the generator to keep it frozen.
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Old July 9, 2013, 06:01 PM   #3
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(Dry Ice.!! )

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Old July 9, 2013, 06:12 PM   #4
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Re: transporting meat??

Cut out the meat that you can get and then put it into a yeti cooler.
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Old July 9, 2013, 06:56 PM   #5
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Quarter it and place it in a cooler(s). Top off the cooler with dry ice.

If it is a long drive, duct tape the around the lid of the cooler. If the cooler is inside your vehicle place your hunting jacket over it for extra insulation.

We hunt in Wyoming every couple of years and that method gets meat back to Kentucky. That's a 22 hour drive with one over night thrown in.

Your trip is much shorter so you can likely skip the duct tape.
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Old July 9, 2013, 09:27 PM   #6
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My boss went on a guided Elk hunt and one of the guides lined the bed of his truck with a thick layer of styrofoam and then lined the styrofoam with marine grade plywood and put dry ice in it. The lid was also a combination of styrofoam and plywood.
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Old July 9, 2013, 11:12 PM   #7
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A large cooler with ice is best. If it is an early hunt you will be in very warm afternoons. Skin it as soon as possible, without risking getting the meat dirty. Bone it out and get it in the cooler as soon as you can get ice. Do not put it in the cooler without ice, it will hold the heat and cause spoiling. If you get it on ice within 2 hours of killing it you will have the best venison you ever ate. I would keep ice in the cooler while you hunt ( a couple cold cokes taste good after along pack ). And you can bone it out immediately.

For a small deer (100 lbs dressed out and skinned) it takes 2 48 quart coolers to fit all the meet and a bag of ice for each cooler. A 120 quart cooler will hold most of a boned out mule deer and plenty of ice.
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Old July 10, 2013, 12:00 AM   #8
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in a cooler with frozen jugs of water. make sure you let the meat cool thoroughly before transport to keep temperatures as low and consistent as possible.
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Old July 10, 2013, 03:32 AM   #9
dylanf55
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thank guys for all your help i think i will be bringing plenty of coolers and finding a place nearby with ice ahead of time!!
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Old July 10, 2013, 08:09 AM   #10
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It helps a lot if you can get the meat cooled down before you put it in the cooler. Make sure to drain the coolers when the ice starts melting and keep an eye out for water damaging your meat.

I really like frozen 1 gallon water jugs because they will help contain the water when they melt. I haven't tried dry ice but that might work well.
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Old July 10, 2013, 10:04 AM   #11
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dylanf55,

First off, I was just through eastern Oregon last week. That country looks like excellent muley habitat! I bet there are some monster bucks around.

Secondly, I transported a bushel of oysters and a dozen Dungeness crab all the way back to WY in a cooler and ice. Last week the temps across Oregon and Idaho were in the 90s, yet all the seafood made it home to WYO just fine!

You will be good to go with just putting your meat in a cooler with ice for the trip home. People do it all the time. If the weather is cold when you hunt, I wouldn't be afraid to transport the whole carcass in my truck bed, if it was cooled properly before I left.

Weather plays a major role. Cold out, don't worry; warmer, de-bone and use ice!

Let us know how the hunt goes!
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Old July 10, 2013, 10:55 AM   #12
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Skin & quarter ASAP. A large cooler and plenty of ice will get you home. Just keep the melt water drained.
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Old July 10, 2013, 03:58 PM   #13
AllenJ
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Quote:
What would be the best way to transport the deer while keeping it cool and without spoiling any of the meat??
You'll need to skin the animal as stated above but a lot depends on the weather you are hunting in. If it is warm you'll need coolers and ice most likely. If it's cold and the meat can freeze at night, insulate it with sleeping bags and/or canvas tarps and transport it in the back of your truck.
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Old July 10, 2013, 04:11 PM   #14
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Also check with state, and federal game laws. A frind, and his group were busted for having all the meat from a Wyoming antilope hunt packed in coolers without either being processed by a commercial processor, and properly marked, or having each individual tag with each animal.
They thought It was a great idea to work most of the night cutting up their own animals, and save the $30 per animal cost of a processor. Their collective fines were a bit over what they saved. But the Federal Fish and Game agent that busted them in the roadblock said he would do them a favor, and let them keep the meat.
Just something to think about, and check into.
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Old July 10, 2013, 10:46 PM   #15
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Many of the towns in eastern Oregon are true hunting towns and some stores will let you hang your kill in their freezers for a few days, especially while the rest of your party continues hunting. The drive home to Portland is not really that long, I've brought home a few still in the game bag. Its alwasy essential to skin the animal though...

Ideally: bone the meat and put in coolers on ice. I absolutely had to to this once in SE Oregon near Rome on a pronghorn hunt the temps were in the hundreds.
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Old July 10, 2013, 10:55 PM   #16
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I have generally brought the animals home (250 miles) with the hide on, provided the weather is cool ..... travelling at night, sometimes they freeze.... making skinning tough....

A couple years ago, I took an old chest freezer out with me, and processed most of the deer out west, after checking them in...... brought home 4 deer cut and wrapped, and 1 whole, hide on, and butchered him the next day..... meat was fine.
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Old July 11, 2013, 05:36 AM   #17
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For many years I and Son would camp 3/4 of a mile off road to hunt. Meat brought in with us was pre-frozen and stored in a Rubbermaid chest cooler. Before leaving the house. We took bag ice and broke it down into zip lock bags so as it melted nothing got wet. {ice cream buckets sweat as their ice melts} Than I had on hand a couple of those slip straps with the spring clamp ends that people use on their trailers and tops of their car to hold things in place like a personal kayaks. I'd wrap one of those 1" slip straps around my cooler and pull its lid down tight. In 40 degree weather our meat & butter stayed frozen for as long as 4 days before its starting to un-thaw. The main thing is not to open the cooler until your ready to store its continence in proper refrigeration. (freezer or refrigerator)

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Old July 11, 2013, 08:29 PM   #18
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What time of year? Pronghorn in August or Mulies in December? When it is hotter, the advice about a good cooler, dry ice (separated from the meat by something to prevent freezer burn) and a good insulating blanket is excellent.

I found using an old moving company quilted blanket worked great for wrapping coolers, using over the sleeping bag when really cold, etc.

If hunting when it is freezing, obviously the dry ice might not be as necessary, but if so, local stores where you will be at should have it as they are used to that for hunters visiting.

If the quarry is pheasants, a good cooler and regular ice should suffice for the drive home
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Old July 11, 2013, 09:50 PM   #19
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cooler full of ice should be fine. just quarter it out and keep it from getting too warm. deer season temps can vary 80 F to 30F in E Oregon, so plan on having the ice chest
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Old July 12, 2013, 03:40 AM   #20
dylanf55
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thanks for all the help guys i really appreciate it and i will post on how the hunt goes as well!!
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Old July 12, 2013, 03:43 AM   #21
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What everyone said about keeping it COOL....and do consider the legalities of how it must be tagged to transport.

Beyond that know that beef is often "aged" for 25-30 days before it is eaten. Lots of articles on the web about aging beef and mind you I am not suggesting you let what you shoot get a month old before eating it or freezing it.

What I am suggesting though is that there is not nearly the level of panic to get meat frozen or used as we think there is so long as it was handled properly from the start......meaning cooling it fast and keeping it that way.
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Old July 12, 2013, 03:57 PM   #22
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I haven't hunted deer in years, 8 to be exact. Can't draw a damned tag. When I did though, I uslly gutted it ans skinned it out, then hung it in a game bag at night, rapped a sleeping bag around it diring the dat util it was time to go home. Most of the time I helped my wife get her animal first, then tried for my deer. We just about always brought two deer home and they were fine.
My guided antelope hunt in New Mexico was a bit different. The guide service quartered the animal and packed it with dry ice. They iuse some cardboard to insulate the meat from contact with the dry ice to prevent freezer burn. I got to my daughter's home in Albuquerque where I found a shop that would do the cutting and wrapping plus freezing the meat.
On the two New Mexico elk hunts, one in 2010 and the other this last January, there is an outfit that sets up for the entire hunting season to cut,wrap and freeze hunter's elk. They do a very nice job and I consider it money well spent. When they get your animl, the rip the hide off and get it into a cooler thata's just a hair warmer than freezing. The hang it for about 24 hours before they butcher it. Once butchered that quick freeze it and hold it for another 24 hours at which time you pat for the jod, load it into the coolers and go on home. I like that system just fine. Works our very nicely for this old geezer.
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Old July 12, 2013, 04:26 PM   #23
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Quote:
Also check with state, and federal game laws. A frind, and his group were busted for having all the meat from a Wyoming antilope hunt packed in coolers without either being processed by a commercial processor, and properly marked, or having each individual tag with each animal.
They thought It was a great idea to work most of the night cutting up their own animals, and save the $30 per animal cost of a processor. Their collective fines were a bit over what they saved. But the Federal Fish and Game agent that busted them in the roadblock said he would do them a favor, and let them keep the meat.
Cheapshooter,

There must be something else to the story. It is 100% legal for a license holder to transport properly tagged game meat across state lines.

I suspect that the carcass tag was not accompanying the meat, or that the hunter was not with the tag.

Or there was too much meat for the number of tags involved.

If transporting any game across state lines, it is a good idea to get an interstate game tag from the State where the game was killed, just for added protection. An IGT will also permit someone who did not kill the animal, and who doesn't have a valid carcass coupon, to transport game parts.

http://wgfd.wyo.gov/web2011/hunting-1000179.aspx

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Under the Lacey Act, it is unlawful to import, export, sell, acquire, or purchase fish, wildlife or plants that are taken, possessed, transported, or sold: 1) in violation of U.S. or Indian law, or 2) in interstate or foreign commerce involving any fish, wildlife, or plants taken possessed or sold in violation of State or foreign law.
http://www.fws.gov/international/law...lacey-act.html
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Old July 12, 2013, 07:06 PM   #24
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Quote:

Beyond that know that beef is often "aged" for 25-30 days before it is eaten. Lots of articles on the web about aging beef and mind you I am not suggesting you let what you shoot get a month old before eating it or freezing it.

What I am suggesting though is that there is not nearly the level of panic to get meat frozen or used as we think there is so long as it was handled properly from the start......meaning cooling it fast and keeping it that way.
Having hunted pronghorn in northern NV (real close to Eastern OR) in August where temps hit upper 80s during the day, getting that meat cooled AND QUICK was paramount to prevent it from being ruined; however, I have also hunted mulies in December with snow on the ground and temps in the 30s......

so, it really depends on what he is hunting and WHEN
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Old July 13, 2013, 12:24 AM   #25
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Originally Posted by Wyoredman
If transporting any game across state lines, it is a good idea to get an interstate game tag from the State where the game was killed, just for added protection. An IGT will also permit someone who did not kill the animal, and who doesn't have a valid carcass coupon, to transport game parts.
I was going to point that out as well.

Wyoming state law also doesn't allow game to leave their borders without a permit. Failure to obtain one can result in fines, confiscation, or worse.

The only reasons to get busted for failing to comply are:
1. Failing to read the regulations.
2. Intentionally disregarding the regulations.
Neither is acceptable.




Quote:
Beyond that know that beef is often "aged" for 25-30 days before it is eaten. Lots of articles on the web about aging beef and mind you I am not suggesting you let what you shoot get a month old before eating it or freezing it.

What I am suggesting though is that there is not nearly the level of panic to get meat frozen or used as we think there is so long as it was handled properly from the start......meaning cooling it fast and keeping it that way.
Yep.
Aging is done at 34 to 38 degrees Fahrenheit (optimally), with certain special cases done at up to 44 degrees F. But, if you don't get it cooled down, to begin with... the meat isn't aging, it's rotting. However, most venison lacks the appropriate enzymes for 'aging' to be effective, anyway. So, it's really a moot point.
Somewhere in this forum (last year), I provided a few comparisons of venison's time-to-rot for different 'aging' temperatures, but my search-foo isn't turning up any results right now.
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