Transporting Deer Meat

[Chuck7]

Deer Hunters,
Say you traveled out of state and bagged yourself a deer at a WMA. You are 500miles away. Can you please give me step by step directions on preserving that meat . I hunt in Florida

So I have 2 questions.
1.How do you transport meat 500 miles away?

2 How long do you drain the deer in Florida where our temperatures are hot?
I want to do the butchering myself so a meat cutter is no option.
Thanks for your replys,
Chuck

[cardeer]

Field dress it immediatley.Then since your in Florida skin it as soon as possible. Butcher and pack it in dry ice.I often drove 1200 miles and 2 days with it in dry ice without any problems

[rick_reno]

Get it cool as fast as possible, pack it in ice and you'll be ok.

[Chuck7]

What is dry ice and where do you but it?

Thanks Chuck

[jerseyhunter]

Dry ice is frozen co2, you can't touch it with your bare hands hence ,instant frost bite. You can get it at ice cream outlets or lookin the yellow pages under ice. You cannot let the meat come in contact with it, also when it (melts) it turns back into a gas so it doesn't soak your meat. Though you cannot lock or close your cooler to prevent these gases from exscaping or kablewy. Things will pop like an over inflated baloon.

If it were me. I would Pack my cooler with frozen gallon jugs of ice. a day or 2 before. then when I leave, change to fresh jugs. Then after getting the deer, skin and quarter , stick in the cooler and head home. When you get home make sure you have a fridge or something ready to put the meat in . Or just exchange frozen jugs for the ones at home.

Also on a side note which no one thought of. They sell cooler bags especially made for tuna fishing so as to keep the fish cool. Tuna will spoil alot quicker than a deer and is also a heck of alot bigger. I'm talking giant tuna here. I'll try to find them as they are not cheap but well worth any price paid.


http://www.alltackle.com/canyon_fish_bags.htm
http://www.fishermansoutfitter.com/p...-tuna-bag.aspx

[Moose75]

Chuck, as you know i hunt Al. but live in Fl. I take my big fishing coolers and put my meat in them in those big black yard bags. I keep ice on it untill I get home. I have done this for 12 years and never had a problem. I sometimes go 2 weeks at a time.

[Chuck7]

Thanks Fellows,
I will folow the directions.
Chuck

[Tree climber]

Chuck; as moose said. clean it A.S.A.P. then Ice it down.drain the water off every day and add more Ice.I do this for several days when I'm at home also. it makes for better eating.
when I camped , I would keep my meat for two weeks at a time.it will keep and eat better.

[skeeter 7MM]

As mentioned it should be cooled and if required deboned ASAP. I would not transport it quartered with the bone in if the temperature is above 60 and the trip home to cooling would be longer than a few hours. I would also use regular ice or milk jugs in large coolers. Another thought is the cooling units that plug into a cig lighter or PPT, they will cool pop, milk so I am sure with some ice they would do the trick if your driving yourself.

Word of caution with putting meat in garbage bags, make sure they are food safe as many use a chemical to help prevent smell and these shouldn't ever be used for your fresh meat. Supermarkets sell food safe bags, as do most butcher shopor butcher supply stores. I use the large clear butcher bags for transporting and freezing grind cuts for my game needs, they do cost a bit more but are thicker than what the supermarkets sell here.

[roscoe dog]

After you pack your cooler with ice and meat put it in an old sleeping bag. The ice will last alot longer. Ice will last all weekend with it packed in a sleeping bag. Also you can use an old heavy blanket.