Photo kteague, CC BY 2.0
Hanging and cooling meat
Getting the heat out of an animal fast and keeping the meat cool, clean and dry until it is cut up.
What you need
- Breathable game bags, one for each quarter
- Rope and a pulley or a block and tackle
- A shaded spot with air moving through it, or a cold shed
- A thermometer you can leave with the meat
- Black pepper or citric acid spray to keep flies off the crust
How
- Field dress the animal right away. See Field dressing.
- Skin it as soon as you can. The hide holds heat in like a blanket.
- Quarter a big animal so each piece cools through to the bone.
- Bag each quarter and hang it in the shade, off the ground, with air all around it.
- Keep the meat cold but not frozen, and check the thermometer morning and evening.
- Let a dry crust form on the outside. It keeps the meat under it clean.
- Cut and wrap it, or get it to a cooler, before the weather turns warm.
Do and don't
Do
- Get the meat cool within hours, not days, on a warm fall day.
- Keep the meat dry. Wet meat spoils and grows mould fast.
- Trim off any bloodshot or dirty meat before it goes in a bag.
Don't
- Do not wrap warm meat in plastic. It sweats and sours.
- Do not hang meat in the sun or against a warm wall.
- Do not leave meat where bears, foxes or dogs can reach it.
Watch for
Danger
- A sour smell deep at the bone means the meat did not cool in time. Throw that part out.
- Warm, still days in September and October can spoil a moose in a day. Move fast.
- A meat pole near camp draws animals in the night. Hang it well away from the tents. See Keeping animals out of camp.
Notes
Hunters have their own ideas on how long to hang meat. Cold and clean matter more than the number of days.
If the weather is warm and there is no cold shed, cut the meat and get it into a freezer the same day.
Updated 2026-09-28
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