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Elk Meat Care

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Elk Meat Care

Postby Swede » 07 29, 2019 •  [Post 1]

Indian Summer reminded me of an important point on another thread about killing elk in the Summer. Meat spoilage is often a huge threat. If you shoot one in the morning, you need to get on it right away or it will spoil. If you shoot in the evening, you need to find and butcher it as it will spoil if left overnight. Elk are big and spoilage begins near the bones. The threat of spoilage makes it even more imperative that we make a quick kill on any large animal we shoot, especially elk. The delay you can away with on a dead deer will result in a total loss of your elk. Be smart and be careful.
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Re: Elk Meat Care

Postby wawhitey » 07 29, 2019 •  [Post 2]

Some guys spray their meat down with something, i cant remember what, something acidic? That helps keep the meat from spoiling in hot weather. Anybody clue me in? Im about to be hunting bear starting august 1st, temps getting into the 90s. Im going to have to scramble to disassemble the suckers and pack em out when i knock em down! Anything i can do to help buy myself sone time on the meat would help. Ill have coolers full of ice waiting at camp. Dont want the meat or the fat to spoil!
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Re: Elk Meat Care

Postby Indian Summer » 07 30, 2019 •  [Post 3]

Citric acid is not a preservative. It not only repels insects but more importantly changes the ph level so that they don’t lay eggs and if they do the eggs won’t survive.

What Swede says is spot on. Meat spoils from the inside out. It’s called bone sour. If you smell spoiled meat you’ll know it and you’ll also see a green tint. Make no mistake you cannot trim the bad stuff off of the outside to save “the good stuff”. Once bone sour is noticeable on the surface the inside is worse.

I’m SUPER PARANOID about meat spoilage. Until you’ve had it happen you can’t imagine how fast it takes place in warm weather. I killed a bull once at last light. A perfect 20 yard double lung shot. But as elk so commonly do he barreled straight downhill. I knew I hit him good so I didn’t even wait to go look. It was dark in 5 minutes. He didn’t make it more than 100 yards but he took a turn and piled up in the middle of a thick patch of timber surrounded by blowdowns. The next morning we realized that we had been within 30 feet of him but didn’t see him. We got moving the next day hours before light. The plan was to be at the kill site the second there was enough light to see. We were successful and found the bull immediately. Got everything quartered out as fast as possible. The three of us got everything on our backs and headed out. I could smell that smell about halfway out on a 1.5 hour hike. As soon as we got to the truck we drove straight to the processor. When we got there I could see some green tint to the meat. My processor came out and we looked it over and cut into the center of the quaters. A total loss. Not one piece of meat was salvageable. Very depressing. It changed the way I do things. Once there are only two hours of light left in the day I won’t shoot an elk with a bow. I’m still out there but only looking for a plan for the next say. You might think that’s extreme but until you throw an entire elk into a dumpster you’ll never know the feeling. :cry:
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Re: Elk Meat Care

Postby >>>---WW----> » 07 30, 2019 •  [Post 4]

Good topic! I once shot a cow with a rifle late in the afternoon. She went down in a steep draw and it would be dark thirty before we could load her up and pack her out. It was nice and cold. The temperature was in the high 20s and would drop much lower than that during the nite. Plus, there was about 8 inches of snow on the ground. So we decided to wait until the next morning to pack her out.

By 8:00 AM when we got back to her the meat was already getting that bone sour green tint to it on the side that was on the ground? Who would have thought with those temperatures plus the snow that she would have started to spoil over night.

Don't let snow fool you. It is a good insulator. And it this case it helped to hold her body heat in. A hard lesson learned! :o
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Re: Elk Meat Care

Postby Swede » 07 30, 2019 •  [Post 5]

Tracking or just finding an animal at night is different than trying to locate one in the daylight. It can be difficult in open country and a nightmare in heavy cover. Color under artificial light is washed out and you are limited in the area you are seeing. I suspect I.S. did not have any good blood trail to follow and if his bull was with a herd, tracking ranges from difficult to impossible. It becomes a random search which with the best flashlights is a gamble.
If your elk was with other elk, he will try to follow them after you shoot. If the elk can run he will stay with the herd. Your elk will leave and turn away from the herd's travel path when he gets sick or can no longer keep up. When did he turn and where did he go? You will need to find where he turned and where he went. If he is not bleeding on the outside that is very difficult, and you can walk right by them. I too had that happen, but got very lucky and the elk was ok in the first light of the morning. I suspect he did not die as soon as Indian Summer's elk did, but was dead at about 2:00AM when I walked by.
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Re: Elk Meat Care

Postby Indian Summer » 07 30, 2019 •  [Post 6]

That bull was all alone. But when they are doing 55 mph downhill any blood spots are 30-50 yards apart. That bull only touched the ground every 25 feet. Add total darkness and there’s not much to go on.
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Re: Elk Meat Care

Postby >>>---WW----> » 07 30, 2019 •  [Post 7]

Actually Swede, I have found tracking at night isn't all that hard at all. If the trail is realitively fresh, the blood will shine in the light of a coleman lantern. On the other hand if it is dried up, it will foam up if you give it a squirt of hydrogen peroxide. Knowing this, I will always track at night rather than let an animal lay out over night and take the chance of it spoiling.
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Re: Elk Meat Care

Postby Elkhunttoo » 07 30, 2019 •  [Post 8]

This topic goes over a lot of things.... I second that spoilage happens faster then most think.

When we do find and butcher the elk at night it can be a huge chore trying to hang the meat that you can't pack out, especially by yourself. How do you guys take care of that meat you are leaving until the next day to pack out? I always try to place my de-boned meat as high as I can get it it trees so air can get around it to keep coyotes and that out of it but a bear would have no problem getting it.

I shot a bull in the evening last year in the end of October (still need to post my story from last year). Temps were in the teens that night. My brother in law and I quartered him out and went back to get the horse for the pack out the next day...in our hurry in the dark I forgot about one of the tender loins :oops: . With no hide and no backstraps, with temps in the teens, only away from that elk for about 10 hours... that tender lion soured. The guts were still in the cavity and it was the loin on the down side. As soon as we got to that bull in the morning I went to get it out and the cavity was still warm and it was bad... leaving a bull that dies fast all night in September can be the start to a night mare waiting to happen... yet if you don't make a good shot, it can happen
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Re: Elk Meat Care

Postby Swede » 07 30, 2019 •  [Post 9]

Blood trailing requires some blood. I shoot down on the elk most of the time. Rarely is one level or above level. Shooting down, my arrow goes in high and is angled downward. If I do not get a complete pass through, there is sometimes no blood for several hundred yards. Hydrogen peroxide does not foam up on a red leaf or bare ground.
I do not know how Indian Summer and friend could not find a bull that went only 100 yards. That seems incredible, but it has happened to me. I was lucky and finally stumbled on the animal, or I would have suffered the same fate. To be honest, the one I killed when hunting with RJ was hard to locate in the heavy brush. There was just enough evidence and some luck for me to home in on him.
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Re: Elk Meat Care

Postby Lefty » 07 30, 2019 •  [Post 10]

We lost nearly 40 lbs on my youngest daughters moose ( it was made into dog treats)
A neighbor that finished butchering for us stated people loose moose meat almost always
Simply a moose is so big and holds so much heat the hide needs to be removed and the meat split

Now I’ve lost my one time sharp tracking abilities but my brother and I recovered a number of deer after others had messed up the track
Overall I would rather follow fresh track at night than old track
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Re: Elk Meat Care

Postby saddlesore » 07 30, 2019 •  [Post 11]

I came across a blood trail years ago that some one else had shot the elk and it looked gut shot.Two of us trailed it for about an hour and half, but lost it when it got down below the snow line.

We got on it the next morning early and trialed another 1/2 mile maybe.Found the elk and of course it was dead. We rolled it over and it w as indeed spoiled. It smelled so bad,we both puked. I have never forgot that smell and can detect it pretty quick in soured elk. I won't mess with it.

Las year, hunting solo I killed a bull about 7:15 AM ,mid October and it took me until 1:30 to get it processed and the hinds loaded on my mule. I made some shade with sticks and my pauncho and covered the fronts and loins that were in bags on big rocks.I covered the meat under the pauncho with some brush to keep the birds away.It was fine the next morning.

I brought it home and aged it two weeks in my buddies walk in cooler. Except for the ground meat, it is a crock pot bull to get it tender enough to chew
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Re: Elk Meat Care

Postby >>>---WW----> » 07 31, 2019 •  [Post 12]

All hunters should be aware of the benefits of hydrogen peroxide for blood trailing purposes. Apparently many are not. Peroxide will not foam up on red leaves or bare ground. However, if the red spot on that leaf or a brown dried up spot on the bare ground look to be suspect, a small spray or drop of peroxide will readily tell you if it is indeed blood or not. I have used this method on dried up blood trails that were 36 hours old and it always foamed up on suspected dried blood spots. A small eye drop bottle full of peroxide is always a neat little tool in any trackers bag of tricks. It takes up little room and would be a good addition to your kill kit.

As for the elk I lost in cold weather in the snow: That was a dumb mistake on my part. I should have got it up off the ground so air could have circulated under it. But in this particular case, it was in an oak brush choked draw and there were no logs or rocks big enough to prop it up on. And no trees to hang it up from.
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Re: Elk Meat Care

Postby Swede » 07 31, 2019 •  [Post 13]

If I knew 50 years ago what I know today, I would still make mistakes. They would just be different mistakes, and maybe not quite as many.
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Re: Elk Meat Care

Postby elkstalker » 07 31, 2019 •  [Post 14]

Good topic, I tend to be over cautious when it comes to meat care, I will never leave the skin on a deer, when many people do, and I prefer to quarter elk as quickly as possible and at least get them hanging in the shade with game bags on them so air can circulate and cool the meat. I almost lost meat one time on a very cold night with a foot of snow on the ground when I took one side of quarters off and left the other with packed snow in the body cavity, even with single digits over night the meat was lukewarm and not frozen the morning. Deer and elk hide do a great job at insulating.

On the flip side, if you can get quarters off quickly, bagged, and hang in a shady spot, my experience is that meat cools quickly. Has anyone here ever had meat spoil that was quickly placed in game bags and hung?
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Re: Elk Meat Care

Postby Indian Summer » 07 31, 2019 •  [Post 15]

No Elkstalker. The key is to separate it from the elk and get it off of the ground. I don’t always hang mine either. I’ll carry it away from the carcass making sure it’s out of the sunlight and might just lean it up against a tree with the knee down and meat side up top. If it’s cold out I won’t even skin my quarters. I hate dirt and hair! So I leave nature’s game bag on and pack it out like that and skin it at camp where I can take my time and be meticulous. I’ve never had any issues at all doing that. I do use Tag Bags in bow season or warmer weather. Either way as long as I get those quarters and everything else parted out quickly and make sure nothing is on the ground I know I’m safe. Laying a quarter on the ground even in snow is a good way to learn a lesson. The down side will still be warm the next say. Not good at all.
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Re: Elk Meat Care

Postby snowbank » 08 06, 2019 •  [Post 16]

The key to saving your meet is rapid cooling. Most spoilage on a bull starts in the neck and shoulders because of the mass. It tends to start along the bones and work into the meat. The smell is obvious as is the green color. In some cases you can trim and save some. Thats a lot of cutting and sniffing. I have seen it follow along arteries so the muscle groups have to be separated. Since I can't bow hunt any more and moved away from the hot areas I haven't had the problem but in years past we got them knocked down, skinned, quartered, and bagged in meat bags or sheets. If we couldn't pack that day we hung the quarters on the north side at least 8 ft of the ground in a place we could see from above so grizzly wrestling wasn't an option.

When it was really hot we laid a buch of poles across the creek and laid the meat on them. The creek will pull the heat from the meat. As a last resort I have thrown the quarters into the creek but you had better get back to that meat quickly as this isn't a long term solution. you can get meat to sour in a warm rain.

when I was just starting someone told me to get them off the ground. I cut poles and laid the elk on top. when I returned the next morning the meat had soured where it touched the poles.

I carry a saw and cut fir boughs to cover the meat.I have had 20-30 ravens eat a quarter in the 4 hours it took me to get horses back to pack out.

The dumbest thing I every saw was a gent that put his quarters in garbage sacks to keep the flies off. The meat soured in less that 3 hours. Flies and yellowjackets are easily convinced with a can of black pepper. You can trim the meat later.

if anyone has had other success please share. I couldn't have tried all of the techniques. I have had a big bull get awful strong laying on 18 inches of snow overnight at 20 degrees.

I hunt the nasty cold country now and have found it saves me time and frustration by skinning out the lower legs before I go if I have to leave them overnite. At -20F they are pretty hard and stiff by the next day. It takes a while to thaw to thaw them out out on the kitch table and the family complains about the hair.

Just some hard learned tips from an old elk hunter.
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Re: Elk Meat Care

Postby Swede » 08 06, 2019 •  [Post 17]

Good stuff Snowbank. Thanks
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Re: Elk Meat Care

Postby >>>---WW----> » 08 07, 2019 •  [Post 18]

I did the same thing that Snowbank said once. Cut some poles and laid them over a creek with the bagged quarters on top. I took out the backstraps and tinderloins and left the quarters on the logs overnight. I placed my sweaty T-shirt on top of the quarters to keep the coyotes and bears away. The next morning, everything was just as how I had left it with no spoilage. And no critters had bothered it. Maybe I was just lucky or maybe no critters had found it. But it did work!

I always try to get the meat home as quickly as possible. I place the quarters in an old garage fridg. That way I can process a quarter at a time while the rest of it remains cool.

Another time, I had a friend from back east come out to hunt with me. We quartered out his elk and placed it in my deep freeze for a couple of days. He didn't have a cooler so when he got ready to head home, we stuffed it in his sleeping bag and placed it in the back of his little Subaru. When he got home he said it was still too frozen to cut up. :lol:
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Re: Elk Meat Care

Postby WapitiTalk1 » 08 07, 2019 •  [Post 19]

>>>---WW----> wrote:All hunters should be aware of the benefits of hydrogen peroxide for blood trailing purposes. Apparently many are not. Peroxide will not foam up on red leaves or bare ground. However, if the red spot on that leaf or a brown dried up spot on the bare ground look to be suspect, a small spray or drop of peroxide will readily tell you if it is indeed blood or not. I have used this method on dried up blood trails that were 36 hours old and it always foamed up on suspected dried blood spots. A small eye drop bottle full of peroxide is always a neat little tool in any trackers bag of tricks. It takes up little room and would be a good addition to your kill kit.


I started carrying a small squirt bottle of HP 4-5 years ago (based on >>>---WW---->'s recommendation). This little tool will ALWAYS be in my hunting pack... ALWAYS! Another skill a hunter must master to aid in recovery of big game critters (keeping the topic on meat care), is tracking when there isn't much or any blood. Time to start a 2019 "Tracking" thread ;)
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