|
[ Return to Contents
| Post a Reply
| Post a new message
]
Flies on meat-
Posted by Michael Strahan on Nov 09 2003
DJ-
The single best deterrent for keeping flies off your game meat is to put it in a game bag as soon as it comes off the animal. If the weather is dry, you won't usually need the citric acid powder at all unless you're in the field for an extended time in warm weather. In that case, use it to kill surface bacteria on the meat before it glazes over.
Make sure there are NO HOLES in your game bags. This includes tightly tying the top closed. If there are any holes at all, files will find a way in.
Fly eggs that may be laid on the bags themselves cannot hatch into maggots unless there is moisture- therefore it is unlikely you will have any maggot problems if the meat is bagged properly, Still, if you're concerned about that, spray your bags with citric acid solution before the hunt and let them dry. Flies may land on the bags, but the acid will burn them and they'll fly away.
In following the above practices, I have NEVER had fly eggs or maggots on ANY of my game meat. This system works. What gets folks into trouble is when they deviate from it and allow flies the opportunity to get to the meat. To keep flies off the meat, you have to be almost fanatical in preventing ANY opportunities for them to land on it. For example, don't wait to bag your meat until all of the quarters are removed from the animal! Bag each one as it comes off the carcass. For backstraps and loins, you will put them all in the same bag- which you won't tie off until you bone them all off the carcass. Toss each one in a bag as soon as it comes off the animal, but between cuts wrap the top of the bag tightly and fold it over so flies cannot get in. If you stay on top of this you will not have fly / maggot problems. I guarantee it.
If you are going to cool the meat in water, I suggest the following: If you are near the water, take the meat directly from the animal, put it in a plastic contractor bag (the best ones I've found are at Home Depot) and bleed all the air out of the bag before tying the top securely so water cannot enter it. You don't want to contaminate your meat with water-borne giardia cysts. If you are not near the water, and you're determined to cool the meat in water later, put it in a game bag to keep the flies off until you get to the river or lake. Then remove it from the game bags (to prevent soaking the bags with condensation) and put it in plastic as before. Just as I suggested with bagging the meat at the kill site, deal with each quarter one at a time- don't pull all of the game bags off at the same time- or flies will get on the meat. When you pull the meat out of the water, remove the plastic bags from the meat, hand-strip (or paper towel) the moisture off of it and apply citric acid solution to kill surface bacteria. Then immediately put it in a game bag. Because the meat is damp, the bag may tend to adhere to it. Periodically pull the bag off the meat to prevent this from happening, and to facilitate the drying process on the surface of the meat.
I think most of the meat care problems people have are rooted in a lack of diligence. The principles are simple, but require a lot of effort on some hunts (especially in warm weather)- 1. Keep it dry. 2. Keep it cool. 3. Keep it protected. Do these things and you will eliminate the problems that get other folks into trouble with wanton waste issues.
Best Regards-
-Mike
Previous: Correct about the bad experience DJ Nov 08 2003
Next: Preachin' to the choir DJ Nov 09 2003
 Message Thread:
|
