Game Transport

[SBOldMan]

Once you get your pig, what do you use to transport it back home? An ice chest? Ice? Dry Ice? I've been reading here and there and some say the moisture from the ice chest will wreck the meat. But when your driving 4 hours in 100+ degree heat, what other choice do you have? Any tips/suggestion appreciated...

 

[Dubya D]

I haven't hunted pig yet but, for deer, I have used an ice chest w/block ice...seems to melt slower.
Looking forward to see whet everyone else does.

 

[Rancho Loco]

The first step in transporting your pig is to get Speckmisser to drag it out.

Then gut and skin, and put in ice chest with frozen 1 gal water bottles inside and on top. Keep ice chest in shade, cover with a silver tarp in the back of an open truck. Try to take up as much dead space in the cooler as possible. Wadded up plastic or newspapers works good.

 

[MJB]

Put the game in a game bag then put it on top of the ice and add more ice on top. Open the plug on the cooler so the water can drain. I've had pigs last 3 days with no meat loss.

You can use frozen 2 L bottles. block of ice or cubes they all do the job.

Air and heat are your biggest problems.

 

[SBOldMan]

Thank you for the replies!

Another question-

What size ice chest would you need for packing out a pig, say if I was lucky enough to get a decent sized one? Would a ~165 quart cooler work.. Bigger? Smaller?

Thanks!

 

[MJB]

I either debone or quarter the pig(gutless), you get on average about 40-60 lbs of meat, that includes, shoulders with bone, hams with bone, neck, backstraps, and loins. The only things I leave are the ribs and sometimes the brisket if I have no room or time.

A small cooler is better, less open air space. We have put 4 pigs in a 164qt. cooler so if you have a big group go big otherwise 60-40qt. will work fine.

If you don't quarter and just skin/gut you will need a big cooler.

 

[ltdann]

I've driven 14 hours in 90+ plus heat by using dry ice on top of 140 lbs of meat. 10 lbs on top did the trick. Just have to make sure you have a few sheets of cardboard between the ice and the meat to prevent freezer burn. Seal the cooler with duct tape.

The meat was frozen solid when I got home.

 

[JNDEER]

i have not taken a pig yet in that kind of heat..but for archer buck season we usually skin and put in a mesh bag then a homemade giant pillow case. and drive it home (3 hour drive), get it home and quarter it then put in fridge....we have never had one go bad on us as of yet.....usually and many times we have killed it on saturday...gut and skinned then bagged and hung (85-90 degree heat during the day) in a tree. then sunday morning go home with it in the back...no problems.

 

[sidepass]

I've quartered and iced pigs in 100 + qt coolers for as long as 3 days with no problems. I ice them on top and fill up dead space with plastic bags . Water (melted ice ) has not effected flavor of meat that I can tell. Bagging each quarter wouldn't hurt and should protect from water for those concerned. Frozen milk jugs work great,larger denser pieces thaw slower and the jugs contain the water.

sidepass

 

[myfriendis410]

A pig ain't a deer! It will spoil more quickly than venison. I like the idea of using frozen milk jugs to keep the water off of the meat. The best pork is aged in a walk-in type cooler with air blowing across it at about 35 F. Aging for five days is perfect. Get it to the butcher and tell him how fresh the pork is. They will accommodate you if they have the space by aging it a bit in their cooler. If you don't age your pork you run the risk of it being tough. If you are grinding all of it up for sausage, then no problem.

 

[Cold1nhand]

I like the set up that a buddy of mine had. He put a cold box on a trailer and a generator in the back of the truck. Was a sweet set up. They use it for hauling game back from Colorado. I got to use it a couple weeks ago when I had to haul all those pigs home from RNJ.

 

[Speckmisser]

Don't let the hype get to ya, SBOldman... it ain't rocket science and you don't need the fanciest arrangement to keep your pork fresh and tasty.

I've packed many a hog all the way back to the Bay Area from Tejon (6 hours plus) with nothing more than a few bags of ice laid right there in the cooler with the quarters or boned meat. Keep it cold, and everything else is extra.

Sure, it's good if you can keep the water from accumulating around the meat... that can be a veritable salmonella soup. A lot of folks go downright anal about making sure the water never touches the meat... but that's not very realistic, nor is it necessary. Pack it in ice, open the drain plug and don't worry about it. You'll leave a trail of melted ice all the way home, but your meat will be fine. Sure, there are prettier ways to do it... you could be like Rancho and be all persnickety and stuff. He drinks hippie beer too... you don't wanna go there.

For really long hauls, I've used dry ice (on elk...never on a hog, yet). A little goes a long ways, but if you pack it nice and tight that dry ice will freeze your meat solid. You'll be good for days, if you keep refreshing the dry ice as you go. Not necessary for getting home across the state.

 

[Rancho Loco]

On that note - where does one get dry ice? I'll be needing some..

 

[upper]

I can get it from the local Save-Mart,or from your humor of course Rancho................Upper

 

[Speckmisser]

Rancho, some of the Lucky stores are carrying it now (the one by me has it)... or you can contact your local ice company. Over by the beach there ought to be some tackle and fishing shops that have it too.

 

[jdp080563]

Most Albertson's have dry ice.

 

[One Track]

A 125 qt. cooler is what you want. If you are taking your hog to a butcher, they like to receive it in one piece. However, if you kill a 180#+ hog, you will have to take the hindquaters off to get it in the cooler. I like block ice, but it's not always readily available. I'll buy three or four bags of ice and then put them in another plastic bag so they won't leak. Carry a box of those kitchen-sized bags. Never a problem.

Have fun!

 

[SBOldMan]

I'm psyched!!! Wont be long now. Hopefully if I get lucky I'll post pics. Thanks for the tips/ideas.

 

[SCREWLOOSE]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Speckmisser @ Jul 8 2008, 07:50 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div>

Don't let the hype get to ya, SBOldman... it ain't rocket science and you don't need the fanciest arrangement to keep your pork fresh and tasty.[/b]

Didn't you tell me "for me not to eat something it has to smell really, really bad and I've not smelled anything that bad yet". I guess the severity of the stench is in the nose of the sniffer. But, I did eat your quesadilla's and everything came out fine so I guess your way works...And I did have to elbow Pennywise out of the way to get a second quesadilla...

 

[upper]

Sboldy,which cooling method did you use and how did it work?...Upper