You likely spent months preparing for your hunt, whether scouting and planting food plots near home or applying for tags and scouring the Internet for hunting information out of state. So don’t be hasty in your search for a processor to take care of your hard-earned meat.
Develop a plan for taking care of your meat before you embark on your hunt. Perhaps the best source of information is your hunting partners. Where do they take their meat? What do they like and dislike about the processor? Word travels fast. If someone is doing a subpar job, you’ll surely hear about it.
Take your meat to the most reputable place you can find. Lots of experienced processors set up makeshift facilities in their garage to make some side cash during hunting season. One guy I know is actually an inspector at a major meat manufacturing company by day. Nights and weekends, he works out of his garage. He’s quick, efficient and impeccably clean.
But not everyone is. At the very least, ask if the business is licensed by the state health inspector. If not, you may want to move on. Visit the facility, if possible. If it seems clean and orderly, you might give it a shot, especially if a friend can recommend it. If it’s dirty, smelly or carcasses are left out of coolers, it’s probably best to keep looking. Paying a little more for a licensed professional is well worth it when you consider all the time and money you’ve spent on equipment, tags and travel to bag your quarry.
Out-of-state hunts present their own challenges. You may have to travel with meat for hundreds or thousands of miles to get it home. It’s unlikely that you’ll be able to get it processed near the kill site in time for your return trip, unless perhaps you tagged out on opening day. In most instances, you’ll need to transport the meat home to have it processed.
These days, there are legal considerations for transporting meat. Make sure proof of sex remains attached to the carcass if necessary and that the animal is properly tagged and registered. With the current prevalence of chronic wasting disease and other wildlife ailments, some states restrict the parts of an animal that may be imported. Deboned meat is OK, but —in many instances—skulls or skull caps must be free of tissue. And, often, whole heads are restricted for transportation because prions that cause CWD are housed in brain tissue. Check your own state for transportation regulations as well as those of any states you’ll be traveling through.
Once you’ve established how you may legally transport your game, have a candid conversation with the processor you choose. Let them know prior to your hunt that you’ll be bringing meat from out of state. They may not want it in their facility, for fear of disease transmission. If they’ll accept it, ask them how it should be packaged. Cloth game bags are often preferred because they keep insects out while allowing the meat to breathe and remain cool. Plastic bags are a no-go because they don’t breathe and will heat up, causing meat spoilage. Also ask whether you can bring in whole quarters with the bone in or if the meat should be de-boned.
Whether you’re hunting on the back 40 or across the country, quality meat begins with proper field care. The faster you can recover your game, remove the hide and cool the meat, the better the finished product will be. I’ve personally transported moose and caribou from Alaska to the Lower 48 with a freezer in the back of my truck run via a power inverter. But that’s usually not an option. Instead, you may want to bring several coolers filled with frozen milk jugs or 2-liter pop bottles. Keep the coolers closed until you need the ice, then store the meat in cloth game bags in the pre-chilled coolers, packing the iced bottles around it. If the weather is cool—say 40 degrees or less—you may not need to ice down the meat. But weather can be as unpredictable as a wily whitetail, so prepare for any and all circumstances.
For the best quality meat, choose a reputable processor who is clean and efficient, and confirm the date when you will be delivering the meat well ahead of time so you aren’t driving around scrambling to find a place to take your deer on a hot day. As always, a little preparation goes a long way to a satisfying outcome.
