Freezer Space

[wyoming dave]

My son and I are planning a float hunt around Kotz for next year.

At this point we are having problems finding freezer space or meat processing in Kotz.

If we can't find a proper way to take care of the meat we are going to move our hunt to another location, spoiled or dumped meat is not acceptable hunting ethics.

Any suggestions or resources would be appreciated?

Thanks,
David

[Brian M]

I'm guessing your best advice will be from those who have actually hunted Kotz, but my guess is that people have their meat shipped air cargo to either Anchorage or Fairbanks and then have it processed and frozen. I will take a touch longer that way, but as long as the meat is kept cool in the field I wouldn't imagine that it'd be a problem.

Glad to hear that meat care is such a paramount concern of yours. Good luck with your planning and on your eventual hunt!

-Brian

[chef viktor]

freezer space

Be careful, We had a guest come into the hotel last week with a large cooler and 4 wet lock boxes full of meat. He wished to store it in my freezer until he left. Usually not a problem but the bell man got me to check it out and what i found was the most nasty rotten smelly meat i have ever seen. He had the meat in a game bag then in a plastic bag then in a cooler. The meat was boned out and all in a pile. The stuff was literally bubbling. He told me he was returning from Kotzebue and was going to have his meat shipped via cargo and it did not arrive. It was obvious that the meat had been sitting somewhere in the wrong temperature. It was truly a shame. I declined to store his product and suggested that he contact another source. So if you have your meat shipped ask about the freezer. Place less in the boxes so that the meat will freeze faster. One 50 pound game bag could take several days for the center of it to freeze. It gets a crust around it and that actually insulates the center portion of the bag and slows freezing down dramatically. I do not know what is avaliable out there to freeze and ship meat from Kotzebue but i would be very careful and pay extra to have it shipped quickly and properly. We owe it to the animal. Chef

[winkhink]

did a drop this year out of Kotz and learned a lot, check the link below for information and story but some questions for you

What are dates you are looking at? Weather was cool for us and there is a nice breeze on the riverbed. It is going to take some work to take care of it at each stop but meat should be ok if middle of Sept

Talked to a guy there who talked to Lyndn Air who was going to ship his meat back to Michigan at $2 per pound. We used Lyndn Air and they were able to put it in a freezer in Fairbanks and make it completly frozen.

Call each of the meat shippers before you go to ask about flight schedule departure times so you can plan your exit from the field (if possible). Some of those places are not open on Sunday and do not have flights. They do not have freezers up there so the longer it sits on pallets the worse off it will be.

Side Note: Talked to fish and game representitives who heard the complaint about no freezer space up there. They said it was a common complaint from many hunters so I don't know if they would do anything about it.

[martentrapper]

I would still recommend a hunt out of Bettles. The number of hunters going thru Kotz increases the chances of your meat getting delayed when it's time to ship it. There are Daily flights, maybe even 2 or more times a day, from Bettles to Fbks.
I'm pretty sure that Alaska Airlines, Lynden, Bering Air, Hageland Aviation, all have freezer space in Kotz. Getting any of them to allow meat in their freezers may be difficult. Arctic Transportation Services probably has a freezer there as well.
I would recommend not boning out your meat in the field, assuming you have meat. Keep it on the bone until you get it to Fbks or Anch. Suffer the increased cost of shipping it that way with the hope it will keep a little longer.