Zip lock bags vs. cloth game bags

[nico]

This year, I'm planning on following the procedure described by keith in this thread for field dressing/butchering deer. In short, he describes butchering the deer in the field and carrying out the meat.

I was wondering if there's any reason to buy cloth game bags, or if large zip lock bags would suffice.

thanks

 

[22-rimfire]

Common sense suggests that the cloth game bags or something along that line will protect the filled and sealed zip lock bags from damage until you get them home.

 

[Smoke Rizen]

If you're only talking a short time in plastic I guess you could. I like to allow air flow over the meat to cool it. If it was in plastic just long enough to pack it out you should be OK.

 

[EatBugs]

I guess it also depends on what is legal in the state you hunt in. You can't butcher the deer in the field in Indiana. It can only be field dressed and then you have to take the intact deer to a check station within 48 hours before any proccessing can be done.

Do you just leave the bones and other stuff in the field? I can't imagine butchering deer in the field on public hunting land, it's bad enough to walk by everybody and their brother's gut piles let alone deboned carcases.

Extra bad if you live in a CWD state, deer can contact CWD from the bones of infected deer. That's also why you can't bring deer into Indiana unless it's been deboned. I'm sure there are similar laws for other CWD or high population density states.

 

[Sunray]

Plastic will NOT allow the meat to cool. Cloth will keep the flies off and allow the meat to cool. Get your meat into a 40F cooler ASAP.

 

[Bwana John]

Do NOT use plastic bags, air needs to circulate or the meat will rot.

 

[carnaby]

Plastic will NOT allow the meat to cool. Cloth will keep the flies off and allow the meat to cool. Get your meat into a 40F cooler ASAP.

If only I had one. My plan is to dress the dear, drag it back to camp (private land with a cabin) and then butcher it there. I'll have a couple coolers and plenty of ice. Should that do the trick?

 

[Smoke Rizen]

There are probably more knowlegable opinion on this. But I believe the meat has to hang at around 40 d. for some time to set,and cure. And I think the worst thing you can do is freeze it before it goes through the chemical processes like Rigermortis. If the meat doesn't hang long enough it can taste very different. Of course if you're in camp for a week and it's -20 it's probably going to freeze,just hang it when it thaws out. I've also been in camp at 50-55 days and 20 at night. I've kept it hangin,quartered in the shade for several days as long as the meat skins over it's OK. If it stays soft and wet, pack up and get to the cooler.

 

[skers69]

This is the way my hunting buddy and I have done it for 15 years.
Once deer is down and field dressed hang as soon as you can to bleed out. Where we hunt it always gets cold over night. Next day skin and dress the deer down. We take extra care with the back straps and tenders. We get all we can off the rump. Bag it up in gallon frezzer locks plastic bags wrapped in butcher paper. Put in cooler and take home. I like to use a sharpie to date and name meat. Then clean the meat well and make final preps for freeze or eat.

 

[MNgoldenbear]

I like to use a sharpie to date and name meat.

Dunno... I always have a harder time eating something I've named...

Sorry.

Anyway, the key thing is COOLING. Once the meat is cooled, plastic is probably better than anything else. Using a "breathable" material to allow for evaporative cooling is great. But it's not the air circulating that keeps it from spoiling (that actually introduces other bacteria and fungi). If the temp is not particularly low, however, the circulating air allows the surface moisture to evaporate, cooling the meat. (Just like when you perspire.)

We don't usually worry about that here in MN, since it's rarely higher than freezing during the season. Most of the advice on "hanging" can be taken with a grain of salt. It needs to be done in a regulated environment (right temp and humidity) or it won't have the desired effect, and the significance of the effect seems to be hotly debated as well. When hunting small game, I'd routinely dress and skin it, let it cool while I cleaned up a bit, then tossed it in a ziploc to carry until ready to drop it off in the cooler.