Hunters need to take extra care with meat during warm weather

With many big-game hunts underway and warmer-than-usual weather in October, hunters should bring ice or take other precautions to ensure game meat doesn't spoil. The keys to preserving a big-game carcass is to get it cooled as quickly as possible, and ideally, keep the meat between 34 and 40 degrees. Getting it cooled below 40 degrees while in the field is especially challenging when nightly low temperatures are in the mid-40s and daytime highs are in the 70s and 80s, which has been the case throughout much of Idaho this month. Fish and Game has gotten an unusual number of calls about spoiled game meat, according to Mark Drew, Fish and Game's wildlife veterinarian. "I know that many hunters are very experienced in handling game carcasses and get the hide off quickly, break the carcass down and then get the carcass parts into a cooler or refrigerator area as soon as possible," Drew said. "But even experienced hunters need to understand that with temperatures in the 60s and 70s during the day and 40 to 45 at night, carcasses take longer to cool, especially if the hide is left on and the carcass hangs in a non-refrigerated location." Hunters should take these precautions during warm weather:

• Have lots of ice available. Bring an extra cooler and put blocks or bags of ice in it. Ice stored in a cooler that's left closed will last for days and be available when you need it in the field. Blocks last longer than bags, and water should be drained from the cooler to maintain the ice.
• Skinning a carcass cools it fastest, but if you're making a relatively short trip from the field to home or field to camp, you can fill the body cavity of an unskinned deer or elk with ice bags to help cool it. But beware, body heat can remain in the thickest parts of the animal, such as the hindquarters, and stuffing with ice is only a temporary measure. You shouldn't rely on ice in the body cavity to cool larger animals like elk and moose.
• If it's too warm to hang a deer or elk outside, skin and quarter it and put the meat on ice. A large cooler will hold most or all of a deer that's been quartered, or an elk that has been cut into smaller pieces. Remember to leave evidence of sex, as per rules found on page 100 of the big game rules booklet, or online at http://fishandgame.idaho.gov.
• Know where the nearest meat processing facilities are located and know their hours of operation. Do a little homework before your hunt so you will know where and when you can take an animal. Remember space may be limited in those facilities, so it never hurts to make a phone call before you go hunting.
• Know the symptoms of meat spoilage. Initially, the skin around the belly and thighs turns green and hair starts to slip off the hide easily when the hide is manipulated. There is usually some green discoloration around the large bones of the upper legs (femur and humerus/scapula) that extends along muscle planes in the heavy muscles of the legs, shoulders and possibly the neck and backstrap muscles. Once this spoilage starts, several bacteria, fungi and yeasts present in normal tissue can proliferate, creating slime, further discoloration and the rancid smell of decomposition. In these cases, the meat should not be consumed.
• Remember you're responsible for properly caring for game meat. Allowing a game animal to spoil will not only result in losing all the meat, but you can be cited for waste of game, so it's always best to take steps to ensure it doesn't happen.
• More information about caring for game meat from the field to the kitchen can be found at https://fishandgame.idaho.gov/content/game-processing-video.