Game down, Now what??

[clinton5]

Hey guys just wondering what you folks do in this situation. So hunting out in the middle of nowhere or out of a hotel room when home is a acouple states away and you have harvested your trophy. Now you have meat, cape and antlers to happily deal with. What do you do when you're gonna be there for a week with your buddies and you kill early in the hunt. Do you take your meat to a town to get it processed and shipped to you or what? cape and antlers do you go local to a taxidermist or try to get it home. Let me know what you do, please. I'll be hunting near lander wy, early october. thanks guys!!

 

[JRABQ]

One option; Big ice chest(s) (150 quarts) with block ice, or frozen milk jugs, will usually keep meat for a week no problem. If it's really cold at night hang the meat, then put it back in cooler during day. Just drain off the water & blood so meat isn't sitting in it. If you cape out the head the hide should also keep fine in the cooler

 

[chip]

Three of us hunted in casper last year and two of us killed deer on the second day . We quartered and packed them out to a cooler of ice and took them to the processor the next day . He processed and had them frozen in boxes . We put back in the cooler with dry ice and they made it all the way back to TN without begining to thaw. The capes we did to the base of the neck and took to a taxidermist to finish and saw the racks . He had them rolled up in bags frozen we put in a seperate cooler with dry ice and they did fine too .

 

[GOutes]

Where are you hunting??? We are hunting near Lander next week. May be able to suugest some ideas after our hunt!

 

[Camper_A1]

Alot of the meat processors will let you hang your game for so much for each day left hanging. We have done this several times and also left the head and cape in their cooler. Some of them have the ability to cape it for you. Not always cheap but when staying in a motel its a good option. If your going to leave it for a week it may be cheaper to have them process it and freeze it for you. Then put it in your coolers and haul it home.

 

[Gator]

Find the nearest locker plant and they will hang or cut it for you $.

"I have found if you go the extra mile it's Never crowded".
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[trophyhunter]

If the weather is hot best to try and find a meat locker to hang your game. Research where the closest lockers are before your hunt if possible. If your hunting with a large group and way back in country. That means a ton of ice chests pre-packed with block ice. That takes a ton of space and that is fine if you have the room. If you know the nights will be cool or fairly cold you can hang your game overnight in deer bags to get a chill on the meat. If you know the day will warm, After first light take your game down and roll wrap it in an oil fabric old fasioned tarp. Place the game wrapped in the tarp inside your tent/trailer or the best shade you can find. That will keep the game cool until the next evening. Then repeat nightly. My Dad and his group did this for many years.// Years ago before there were ice chests and they could keep game fine for 10 days or more. Take advantage of the night temps. If the nights are cold or cool and the days are hot make those night time temps work for you.

))))------->

 

[pookiebar]

Get out the forks and pass the horseradish sauce!

 

[clinton5]

speed goats unit 67.

 

[littlebighorn]

I would caution you about antelope capes. They start slipping hair if you don't get them off the head within a few days. So don't let them go too long if you are looking to mount them.

 

[dreaminbouthuntin]

When we hunt out of state, we take several coolers and quarter or even de bone the meat, take either logs or 2x4's and cut them to prop the meat up out of the ice. The meat will keep on ice for up to a week. Exchange the ice daily if you can. If its cold at night, open up the coolers and let the air cool them down as well. Its the best way i have found to keep meat for long trips.

 

[nfh]

i would head to hudson and eat at svilars bar and restraunt.. some pretty amazing food...

 

[sagebrush]

I always take an extra cooler we call "the freezer". I put 8 frozen gallon jugs of water and 60 lbs of cubes in two of the sections and leave the middle open or put in frozen food for use after the first five days. That cooler stays shut until meat needs to go in. We bone out our animals at the kill site and finish taking the cape off the head back at camp. The meat goes in the bottom of the cooler and the cape goes over the meat. We use waterproof bags designed for rafting to keep everything dry. You can keep an antelope or mule deer like this for a long time. We have had animals in the cooler for nine days with no problems. I prefer to leave "the freezer" closed and in the shade to keep it as cold as possible. On the trip home, I stop at the first opportunity, drain the water and fill with more cubes. Works great with temperatures in the 90's in NV and AZ. Caping an animal is really pretty easy. I bought a scalpel from Van Dykes and bring 6 blades per animal to be caped. I let the taxidermist turn the ears but I get the skin off the bone. I always go deep around the eyes, better to have too much than too little. I cut the gums where the flesh meets the jawbone to make sure I leave enough in the mouth. I've used two taxidermists on animals I've caped and they were both happy with the job I did and happy they didn't need to work on a stinky head. Make sure all the meat and fat is off the hide, fold it so skin is on skin and roll it up. If temperatures are cool, you can salt the cape and forgo putting it in the cooler. Don't salt and cool, it's one or the other.

 

[2f350s]

Your post didn;t specify but...

If you have other guy's who have not tagged out yet take your meat/hide&head to town and hang it in a meat locker (local taxidermist should know/have one). Unless you've done it before leave the cape on the head and let a professional teach you at the taxidermist shop. In the mean time clean the hide as best you can, salt it, roll it up to the back of the head and keep it cool as well.
If no one else is hunting, get yourself the biggest ice chests you can buy fill'em up with meat (ice on top) and head back home. We buthcer our own becasue meat processing fee's can get expensive.

 

[DoeNob]

I prefer to bone out or quarter the meat, leave it in a large ice chest with ice blocks on the bottom and keep the meat out of the water (drain frequently). My processor down here does some amazingly delicious things with game that people in other parts of the country don't.

Antelope capes can be VERY sensitive to heat and wetness. Make sure and keep that cape dry or you'll start slipping hair inside 48 hours.

I prefer to Euro mount most of my game, which simplifies this problem. I think the BEST option for you would be to find a taxidermist close to the unit you are hunting that you are comfortable with, and get the head and cape to him ASAP if doing a shoulder mount. Double and triple check references though, I went with a reccommended taxi for a velvet muley going on 2 years now and still no end in sight....