Wilderness Meat Care video

[anchorrivercrowds]

Always enjoy your videos Larry. And I am thankful for all you do to educate new hunters on proper meat care and salvage. Kudos to you bro!

It's such a great topic. So many out of state hunters need to read these threads. It's not easy getting the meat back in good/edible shape.

Big issues I see:: .... hunters that bone the meat at the kill site. They have a ways to carry, and the air service wants it boned anyway.

Three days later you are having problems. I think this leads to more waste than anything else... needs to stay on the bone till it cools, and comes out of rigor.

Next are hunters that have no intention to eat the meat, and intend to donate it.

then of course... two hunters... hunt of a lifetime, hunter one kills a moose/caribou day one, hunter two doesn't kill till the end of the season(can be 14 days later)... 20,000 invested, so they want to stay, but moose one won't be exactly delicious.

Some folks are simply responsible, and conscientious, and care for it as if they were actually going to eat it...

Others, not so much. A huge percentage of out of state hunter meat is donated(great

I saw a moose just come in at an air service... looked like he'd kicked it 20 miles along a dirt path... inedible.


But great discussion... the more you know and all...

I'm definitely going to start carrying the citric acid.... great idea... lower the bacteria count on the exposed flesh.

[anchorrivercrowds]

great vid... and I agree about getting the core temp down in those first 24-48 hours. It determines how long the meat can be hung, how the meat turns out in quality. And most the time, it's kind of out of our control. First night is over cast and warm, you are going to struggle. I think the vid addressed leaving the meat on the bone for a while(three days is my minimum). Once you bone it out as some air carriers insist you do, meat goes pretty quickly with all the exposed surface.

[akaviator]

That's a great video you put together Larry. Thanks for putting it out.

[Bushwhack Jack]

Always enjoy your videos Larry. And I am thankful for all you do to educate new hunters on proper meat care and salvage. Kudos to you bro!

[Larry Bartlett]

Flies are active at 50 F. If meat is exposed when air temps are that high, bag 'em or citric acid application.

It has been 13 years since i had to submerge meat. Once i learned more about water activity in meat and temperature variances based on time, Ive tried to demonstrate ways to avoid the immersion method because of how much drainage and other fluid brines the meat during immersion. If air temps are higher than 55 F, i'd consider "dipping inside bags" for 3-4 hours, but ONLY after 48 hours (equilibrium stage). During that first 24 hours, chemistry and fluid balance is disturbed and bacteria won't be a problem. After 48 hours and temps persist higher than 55 F, then it's a reasonable but last resort option, IMO.

Swapping game bags or cleaning the ones you have will simply make for a cleaner tasting meat after 5-6 days. If they sour due to warmth and poor ventilation, portions of the meat will have that taste embedded. Best to always have clean bags every 3rd day if possible.

[a2thak]

Nice video. Really informative. I had always thought once I had the meat in the bag to keep it closed and sealed off until back home to ensure flies cant get in and on meat, but that does not appear to be your recommendation?

During warmer weather, what are your thoughts on soaking meat in river to expedite cooling? What temps would you consider that? Would you wrap in trashbag or just allow meat to get wet?

How critical do you feel swapping to new game bags is? I had never heard or thought of that.

Thanks for sharing!

[Larry Bartlett]

I was asked by UAF Arctic Biology to present "Mitigating Spoilage in the Backcountry"

Was suppose to deliver this in March but COVID smeared that plan....now scheduled for October 2, 2020 in Fairbanks via ZOOM.

However, It's solid Meat Care info that you might be able to use this season! Here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFf6gs6_iso&t=36s