Meat bags for hunting trip

Xedain · Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2020 1:32 pm Post subject: Meat bags for hunting trip

What is the best game bags to store meat in while hunting out west? Thanks for advices.

Vince · Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2020 3:48 pm Post subject: Re: Meat bags for hunting trip

Hmmmmm...watching

Elvis · Posted: Mon Jul 20, 2020 11:06 pm Post subject: Re: Meat bags for hunting trip

pillow cases....dont let the good lady catch you taking her good ones though....
their job is to keep out flies n dirt,while letting blood out. doesnt need to be flash and cheap pillow cases are easy to get and light to carry.
if you must go with plastic....make sure to let meat cool BEFORE you put it in plastic bags...and get it out as soon as you can...at very least open tops of bag so it can breath when you get back to hut/wagon....rubbish bin liners are fine.

Bushmaster · Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2020 8:25 am Post subject: Re: Meat bags for hunting trip

Steal my wife's pillow cases to use as meat bags? I might as well commit suicide.

Pumpkinslinger · Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2020 10:11 am Post subject: Re: Meat bags for hunting trip

Google...

thegearhunt.com/best-g...-reviewed/

PaulS · Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2020 5:16 pm Post subject: Re: Meat bags for hunting trip

I have always used the cheese cloth bags. I can't give you a brandname but the bag has three jobs:
1. keep the bugs out
2. drain fluids
3. let the meat cool and this is most important.

I always rinse the body and cavity to start the cooling process and rinse again when cutting into quarters. I have to get the skin off and cool it down so the meat is good.

Vince · Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2020 5:27 pm Post subject: Re: Meat bags for hunting trip

I’ve made game bags out of unbleached calico in the past...they do a good job, and they’re strong. Best part is you can make them any size you like and calico is cheap and easy to wash later.

PaulS · Posted: Tue Jul 21, 2020 5:35 pm Post subject: Re: Meat bags for hunting trip

Calico sounds good. I never wasted my time trying to wash the cheese cloth. It was cheep enough to throw away.

Aloysius · Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2020 12:40 am Post subject: Re: Meat bags for hunting trip

PaulS, don't know it's such a good idea to rinse with water. Here we are learned to avoid that. It will give a false idea of cleanness as you could have contamitated everything by spreading the bacteria...

Elvis · Posted: Wed Jul 22, 2020 2:51 am Post subject: Re: Meat bags for hunting trip

agree Aloys...... we avoid getting meat wet full stop,wet meat will go off quicker than anything else I know.I have washed out animal that was gut shot but looking back it possibly wasnt best idea....these days I would cut good meat from outside cavity and leave the rest rather than risk it.

DallanC · Site Admin Joined: Jan 18, 2005 Posts: 3572 Location: Utah

I have and use Alaska Game Bags. The quality is good... no issues.

www.amazon.com/Alaska-...B0771Y4ZNF

-DallanC

PaulS · Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2020 1:30 pm Post subject: Re: Meat bags for hunting trip

Our hunting areas are in wilderness areas and the only pollution is smog that makes it to the mountains. Glacial fed rivers and creeks are good places to find drinking water when you are above living areas or production areas. Since I've moved to the drier side of Washington I may have to carry water and vinegar to clean the meat. I haven't found any decent hunting areas or partners. My daughter in law has her own contacts but I try to give the kids their room.

Aloysius · Posted: Fri Jul 24, 2020 12:39 am Post subject: Re: Meat bags for hunting trip

PaulS, it's not the water that's contaminating the animal, the water only spreads the bacteria living inside the guts all over the meat.

PaulS · Posted: Fri Jul 24, 2020 6:50 pm Post subject: Re: Meat bags for hunting trip

I understand what you are saying but the vinegar lowers the PH value which helps with bacteria. Rinsing the meat - even with pure water floods surface bacteria off the meat decreasing what is on the meat. It takes time or a path for the transfer of bacteria into the meat. For instance Ecoli may be present on the steak you buy but by grilling to sear the outside you destroy the surface bacteria even when eating a "blood rare" steak. The same piece of meat if ground into burger has spread any Ecoli through the entire mass of the meat and should be cooked to at least medium well to prevent illness. Rinsing the outside of the meat does nothing to contaminate it but wrapping it in something that will raise the temperature and hold the bacteria to the meat will give it time to spread into the tissues. If you have ever had venison that was particularly "gamy" tasting it was probably not cooled and rinsed in the field. Rinsing the meat may not remove a significant amount of bacteria but cooling it down helps to retard its growth. That is the important part of rinsing, it cools the meat faster than the air. The evaporation of the water through the covering keeps it cooler for transport until you can get ice on and around it.
The gut is removed before the rinse. (most often intact) The major organs are also removed with the liver and heart rinsed and packaged separately. We aren't surgeons but we take special care to protect the meat from damage in the field.