Early Season Hot Days

[mijinkal]

It's early September and the temp. is in the mid 20's and you shoot a deer in the morning. What next?
Obviously gut it right away, but then what do you do to avoid meat spoil from the warm temperatures?
Some hang it in the shade, preferably near a cool creek or in a ventilated shed if available and let it sit until it's time to head home. You can also stuff the cavity with ice and hang it too.
Some skin and quarter it right away and ice it in a cooler (if ice is available).
The key is to get the temp down asap, but that may be harder during the hot days. What are your methods?

[eastkoot]

Clean it, skin it, quarter it, sack it, then hang it in a cool shady spot.. Then to the locker ASAP. If you know you can't get into cold storage within 24 hours where you are, don't shoot it..

[Gateholio]

There was a thread on this topic last month. You might want to try a search for it, as it had some good tips IIRC

[BearStump]

I shot one on sept a couple yrs ago in 28 deg temp. we gutted it but did not skin it and tied it up in a flowing glacier fed creek. It worked very well with no meat damage as the skin still protects the meat. We hunted the rest of the day and picked up at dark, tokk it home to skin it out.

[tinhorse]

In the past I have shot, skinned and butchered the animal all in the same day. Early season the meat tastes great, and really i didn't notice any difference for toughness. If I was out camping and had no place to cool it or if temps at night were above 6 or 7 degrees I would not shoot the animal.

[tinhorse]

I shot one on sept a couple yrs ago in 28 deg temp. we gutted it but did not skin it and tied it up in a flowing glacier fed creek. It worked very well with no meat damage as the skin still protects the meat. We hunted the rest of the day and picked up at dark, tokk it home to skin it out.

My friends have done this in the kootneys with white tails as well when the temps were too hot. they also said it worked very well with no ill effects to the meat.

[solo]

We had to leave our deer overnight because we couldn't find any more blood trail at midnight. Found him first thing in the morning. Gutted, skinned, washed clean, and halved. Then into game bags and the back of the truck. Got three bags of ice and wrapped him in a tarp with the ice. 30 hours later we dropped him off at the butcher, and some of the ice was still there. Temps hit 25 during the day and down to 6 at night.

[rocksteady]

#1 get the hide off it.... Just like wearing a downed parka..If you do not get that off, there is no way the meat can cool....

Then I try to get it to a cooler asap....

On a large animal (like a moose or an elk) split the neck down the spine to let the heat out.... Lots of animals were lost last year in the EK cause people did not split the neck and it got bone sour and moved into the front shoulders...

[capper911]

Get the guts out before the animal bloates!! Get the hide off!!i If backpacking, get it off the bone! get it into sacks and lay the meat as flat as a pancake and keep in the shade! Cover with grass and branches to keep the meat shaded and cool, (near a creek is a great option) especially if you have to pack a few trips! Stay away from puting the meat in any plastic! Remember, airflow is just as important as keeping it cool!! Happy Huntin'

[The Dude]

That's why we built a cooler into our cargo trailer :D

[krazy]

Salmon cooler lined with frozen water bottles.