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Thread: Do I need to bring ice?

  1. #1
    Boolit Master brewer12345's Avatar
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    Do I need to bring ice?

    My season starts Saturday and the weather will be up to 60 degrees. If I do bag a doe, I will be around an hour from home once I get it back to the truck. Is that quick enough that I won't have to bring ice with me?
    When you care enough to send the very best, send an ounce of lead.

  2. #2
    Boolit Master

    LUCKYDAWG13's Avatar
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    It wouldn't be a bad thing but if you're that close to home it would not make me stress out about it
    kids that hunt and fish dont mug old ladies

  3. #3
    Boolit Master


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    We always have a couple of frozen milk jugs of Ice in a cooler in the back of the truck when we hunt or fish. Great insurance.

  4. #4
    Boolit Master


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    Ice is cheap, but for an hour at 60deg I wouldn't be too concerned. Didn't it just snow in Denver?
    "Freedom is the sure possession of those alone who have the courage to defend it."
    ~Pericles~

  5. #5
    Boolit Master

    Rcmaveric's Avatar
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    Here in Florida I take ice. We have the ice vending machines and it only takes 5 dollars to fill my monsterous cooler half way.

    Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk
    "Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far."
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  6. #6
    Boolit Master
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    If you skin her in the field it will not be a problem, otherwise ice in the body cavity. The quicker the hide comes off, the quicker the meat can cool, quicker cooling, better meat.

  7. #7
    Boolit Grand Master
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    An hour isn't alot of time especially if your gut her out after killed
    I would probably not worry about it IF you get to butchering it as soon as you
    arrive home should be fine
    Hit em'hard
    hit em'often

  8. #8
    Boolit Master brewer12345's Avatar
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    It was in the teens this morning, but will be 60s in a couple days. That is the way it is here.

    If I drop a doe, I plan to gut in the field, drag her to the truck, make a beeline for the house, and immediately skin her. After that, she will go into a fridge to finish cooling down. If I cannot easily fit the whole carcass in, I will quarter it first.
    When you care enough to send the very best, send an ounce of lead.

  9. #9
    Boolit Bub
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    If 60-ish is the high that day, I wouldn't worry about ice for the first hour, but I wouldn't go two.

  10. #10
    Boolit Master
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    Brewer,

    While ice won't hurt, with your temps you will do OK as long as your get the critter dressed out ASAP and then make sure the body cavity and wound site is well cleaned. Trim away any mangled meat and open the wound channel to drain then wash out the inside of the body cavity.

    For the last number of years I have hunted an EARLY cow elk season starting the first of Aug. when the day time temps get into the 80s and 90s.

    I hunt early, and am done by 8am or before, the 4 cows taken all about 7 - 7:30am. I have a friend close by that helps with the critter, and even then it is at least a couple of hours + from the time the critter hits the ground until it is dressed, skinned, washed and quartered at which time we put it in his big walk in cooler.

    At 60 degree daytime temps, look at it this way, the live body temp of the critter is something close to 100 degrees, so getting the deer opened up and skinned as soon as possible makes it possible for the meat to begin that 40 degree cool down. Then with it really continuing the cool down during the cooler night time temps, the critter can hang for several days without damage.

    However, the longer it hangs, the more the meat dries out and the more you need to trim so getting to the cutting and wrapping within a couple days or less is a good thing.

    When compared to beef, there is little to NOTHING to be gained by extended "aging". The Meat is different then the beef, so cutting as soon as the meat is firmed up is just fine.

    Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

  11. #11
    Boolit Master
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    why chance it,carry ice

  12. #12
    Boolit Grand Master

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    A couple 3 bags of ice in the body cavity is cheap insurance. While 60* isn't as big a problem a Sunny day with the carcass in the bed of a pick up may warm the carcass more than the air temp. A few bags of ice with the carcass wrapped in a sheet would go a long ways.

  13. #13
    Boolit Master
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    ICE my friend will be your cheapest insurance to ensure a quality piece of meat in the end. Remember weather is a lot like politicians undependable and unreliable and certain to mess you up if you depend on them.

  14. #14
    Boolit Master
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    I would just stop at the first gas station on the drive home. Spend 5 bucks for two bags of ice to avoid the worry and get started on the cooling. Throw them in the cavity and keep it out of the sun.
    “You don’t practice until you get it right. You practice until you can’t get it wrong.” Jason Elam, All-Pro kicker, Denver Broncos

  15. #15
    Boolit Master
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    In hot weather I stop immediately for ice. I also carry old sleeping bag and wrap the deer up. Additionally, I also carry milk jugs with frozen water in them.

  16. #16
    Boolit Master
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    Hey there guys, I'm all for saving and preserving good game meat, but in the conditions first posted by the original poster, your way over thinking this situation.

    Back maybe 15 years, I took my "once in a life time" Idaho bull moose and while this is the smallest of the three sub species My bull with feet off at the knees and gutted still weighed 800lbs according to the local grain elevator scales.

    The critter was loaded into the back of my short box pickup with a backhoe and dumped on my concrete garage floor.

    If you haven't had the opportunity to deal with a critter of this size, let me just say it is a big job for one person.

    Well, there I am trying to get this thing skinned so I can break it down and get it hung for cooling. Critter was taken on Sept. 29th, 1995.

    I recall when I finally skinned down to the big shoulder hump that the tissue was still warmer then my body temp. Critter down at about 6:30 am and this was some hours later.

    While I'm not saying this is good or optimum conditions, that meat was prime in taste. Both my bull and that of my wife's taken in November the next year were, while chewy, about as good as it gets for taste.

    So, while it is always best to get game meat cooled as soon as possible - not frozen, cooled -, under the conditions spoken of in the original post, Brewer has NO Problem.

    Our current day time temps where I live are in the mid 60s. Night time temps now getting into the high 30s. My likelihood of taking a critter within 15min 4 wheeler run from home is quite good, and I'll simply gut where it drops, head home to skin, clean and wash and trim as listed earlier and then hang for a day or two before cutting and wrapping. Then get ready for some good eating.

    Please understand me here, I'm not saying that a person should not take care of their critter as soon as possible, but I am saying that under the conditions first listed, there is nothing to worry about as far as preserving meat quality.

    Take care of your critter in a timely manner, but no need to obsess in the conditions listed.

    Crusty Deary Ol'Coot

  17. #17
    Boolit Buddy
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    If you do not have ice your beverages will get warm.
    Good judgment comes from experience.
    Experience comes from poor judgment.

  18. #18
    Boolit Mold
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    "Do I Need Ice?"

    Yes. A few milk jugs of ice are cheap insurance. As for getting home quickly, things never go as planned. Years of journeying have taught me that, like the sailors, I never know for certain when I will arrive. (Or for that matter, where I will arrive!) The best laid plans o' mice and men, gang aft agley. (go oft astray!) Uncertainties surround us. I hate it when a guest asks "When will we be home? I have a very important meeting at 5:45 and can't be late." And as for a scheduled flat-rate for the time involved in skinning and humping any meat back to your truck, there is no such thing. There is always the engine that overheats, the bearing that goes out, the other hunter who needs someone to yank his truck back onto the road, medical events, plans somebody forgot about. That's why we carry a spare tire, a heavy come-along, rope, tow and tire chains, cell phone, sat-phone, Handyman farm jack, a spare game bag, first-aid (and the skills to use it) a couple gallons spare gasoline, enough tools to build a small civilization, a file for the axe, spare food, water, tarp, light, maps, compass, yadda-yadda-woof-woof. I leave with every intention of getting where I'm going, but I make every provision to get back home. Allow for that unexpected wash-out or the tree in the road that can postpone my return. There's always one more S.O.B. than you counted on. Take extra ice. Lots of it. Empty (clean) milk jugs are cheap, but ruined meat will be a bad taste in your mouth for a long, long time.

  19. #19
    Boolit Master OnHoPr's Avatar
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    I have basically the similar opinion with the guy from Ideeeeeho. If you are going to be having 60 degree peak days with mid 30s nights you do not need the ice really. If you get a good double lunger through the ribs, just field dress then get it to the vehicle and drive home. Then hang in the garage. It will cool overnight and if the doors are kept closed the garage won't heat up to 60 degrees the next day, or especially for very long, what 3 to 7 maybe if you have black shingles. Leaving the hide on will insulate the meat after the first colder night. I'd say you would have 2 to 4 days in those temps before skinning and butchering. Stick a stick in the ribs, so it can cool and air dry a bit.
    May you hands be warmed on a frosty day.

  20. #20
    Boolit Master brewer12345's Avatar
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    Yeah, I hear you on the difficulty of knowing how long it will take to get home. The drive is pretty certain. Otoh, if the dead doe ends up on the wrong side of the ridge, it will be less than speedy getting to the truck.
    When you care enough to send the very best, send an ounce of lead.

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