Hot weather hunting

[Applegate]

The antelope thread made me think I should share this.

The first time I got a tag (early 80's) I was talking to the vendor who took care of the fire extinguishers where I work about having a tag. He told me he would return the next day with some equipment I would need.

He rigged a hose from a C02 tank to the bell horn found on fire extinguishers. Told me to skin em after the photo shoot, break it down to fit in the cooler, stick the fog horn in the cooler and turn on the gas. :blush:

I did this after the kill as directed, and cut into a ham to the bone, it was cold!
I also used this method with my California bighorn, and my second goat. Easy to aquire parts that work very well.

Antelope meat serviced in this manner is the best eating on the planet.
The prince of Baharain, or Donald Trump do not eat this well!

[ehunter]

I agree that antelope is great eating if you get them cooled down.

We just used the ice trick in a cooler wrapped in sleeping the ice was put into plastic bags to keep the melting water off the meat. A straight drive home. Your method is something I will have to consider. The large ice chest they make now days makes it very easy to cut up and cool down a animal....

[oregoncritters12]

Funny you say that...I've had some decent arguements with people regarding the taste of antelope meat...If you take care of it, it's awfully hard to beat...

[James in Idaho]

Cooling a animal too fast can result in tough meat (it's called "cold shorting"). The meat should go through rigor before being chilled. I grew up in NM, and the most important thing we ever did was get the hide off asap. Even in our desert deer hunts, where it could push 80 in November during the day, as long as we kept the meat shaded we didn't have any problems. It cools enough at night to draw the heat out of a skinned deer or antelope. I've only had one bad tasting deer. All of the antelope that I've had has been great, I prefer it to deer. Now that I live in Idaho, if I shoot an animal late in the day and it's getting really cold at night, I have put off skinning until the next day. Usually because I have a ways to pack it, and it is easier to keep clean with the hide on. On something as big as an elk, I'll prop the cavity open with a stick. If it is a morning kill, I'll skin it as soon as I can.

Oh, and frozen milk jugs are great for transporting game in a cooler, keeps the meat from getting water soaked.

[Rank Amateur]

I think a lot of people miss the fact that a moist fresh skinned animal will cool just fine, even on a hot day, if they are shaded. It's a lot like the old water cooler bags. Hmm... maybe hang it on the side of the camper and drive down the road at 60 mph!

[earlybird007]

Two years ago I killed a bull on the warmest day of our archery hunt....about 103 degrees on an open hill side with no trees in site.
We boned it and left it covered with brush in the shade and came back at night to pack it out.
Stuck it in the cooler the next morning and it was some of the best I have eaten and it was a 6x5 bull....not a spike.
It will cool well on hot days in the shade with the hide off....

>------->

[ehunter]

It will cool provided there is a breeze. We once shot a 5 point bull at about 11 am on a 80 degree day and boned it in the shade (deep timber) and finished hauling it out the next morning we still had to clean the eggs off it. There was not much of a breeze in the timber. Another bull in the clear cut mid morning cloudy about 70 degrees with strong breeze all day felt cool and no fly problems to speak of. On the west side in the fall it might only get down to 60 degree's at night. It doesn't cool down very fast at all especialy on the bone... Rank we can get up to about 20 miles a hour down hill on the bikes I don't think it helped our meat much

[scottishsetter]

Applegate that''s a great tip!

How long did the extinguisher last? I like the means to cool down my game meat.. especially a goat in the heat.