into the wild

[coldlightning]

just saw the movie "into the wild", and have a question. at one point the guy is in alaska next to a river. he kills a moose in summer, and basically loses it to flies/maggots, becuz he didn't proscess it fast enough. my question is could he have submerged it in the river to keep the flies off? would it stay good in there, while he worked? would the water ruin it?

[Justin Case]

Hmm,, thats a great question !

[crashdive123]

There's stuff in the water that will eat it as well I would think.

[tsitenha]

Didn't see field dress the mooze, just slabbed of a piece. So intestinal gasses would start the bloating and rupture and release gastric, bladder and colon liquids and such. It would sour the meat in a short while.
What a waste

[welderguy]

Interesting question, i wouldnt have any idea.

[Sarge47]

I was wondering why he didn't "jerk" the meat, or at least "smoke" it. I do believe the book went into more detail on that but can't remember right off what it said, if anything.

[Sourdough]

The short answer is yes, you can leave it "Bone'in" and quartered, in a game bag, in the water. But it is goooder to just hang the quarters. And a lot smarter to wait till cold weather, and put in in a cache.

[hunter63]

I don't know it it's relevant, but my SIL and others down south, actually soak their game meat, for us it was venison, in cold water or cold milk.

I guessing that being a whole lot warmer there than here during hunting season has a lot to do with it, but it seemed to me that the water sorta soaked the blood out, leaving just a sorta gray mass, after a while.

When we did mine last fall, it was in cold water for only a couple of days, but looked fine when cut up.

So I gonna guess that it would be OK for short term, but I would also guess that even in water, it would be a draw for predators, both in the water and out.

[Rick]

I don't recall how swift the water was in the river. The current would be a consideration as well.

[your_comforting_company]

the cold water, if the animal was properly processed, would draw out the blood and possibly preserve it for a day's time while de-boning and cutting into strips. THE BEST method would be to jerk the meat over smoke. Raw meat (jerked) will store for a LONG time, while cooked meat will only store for about a week before going rancid. The water would be a good deterrent from flies in the short term. I bleed my meat in a cooler full of ice water. Of course, I'm not dealing with bacteria and microbes from streams where all sorts of animals poop either.
I think the general concensus here would agree that he should have jerked the meat for long-term storage.

[trax]

well if you sink a bunch of raw meat into a river, I'm sure the neighborhood fish will be grateful, someone posted to the fact that in the movie, he didn't gut and clean the moose. doing the job right and smoking the meat immediately would be your best bet.

I once had some moose meat given to me that two guys in a commercial fishing supply boat had drowned the moose. Seriously, they lassoed the big guy's antlers and forced him into the water. The meat was horrible, tough and tasteless.

[Rick]

I'm planning to go off and do something very similar if I can find out what the best survival knife is.

[hunter63]

I'm planning to go off and do something very similar if I can find out what the best survival knife is.

Ooooooh, Nooooooo............and we are off!

[BENESSE]

I'm planning to go off and do something very similar if I can find out what the best survival knife is.

Slow day at the office?

[Rick]

Naw. I just want to go off into the woods with a good knife and the shirt on my back. Oh, my boots, too. And pants. Some water, some food, a decent pack would be nice. And a tent. Maybe some matches. or even a ...........

[hunter63]

Naw. I just want to go off into the woods with a good knife and the shirt on my back. Oh, my boots, too. And pants. Some water, some food, a decent pack would be nice. And a tent. Maybe some matches. or even a ...........

I know this guy that does that barefoot, what some kinda wimp.?.......since you was up (get it, sensuous)...grab me another brewski from the fridge in the motor home....Oh, and check the micro-wave, see if the buffalo wings are hot enough.

[rwc1969]

I wouldn't know how to preserve it, but if you stuck it uncovered in water around here it would be covered in leeches in just a few hours.

I just saw the movie too, and thought it was pretty good, albeit not true to fact from what I hear and read.

The part I don't get is it showed him prepping with a that farmer dude telling him how to precerve the meat and then he didn't preserve it when it came time. I don't get that. Did the farmer give him bad info or was he just lazy or unprepared to process it asap?

I process most of my deer before the rigormortis sets in. I hate dealing with them once they're all stiff and the skin is much harder to get off. That might be harder to do with a big ole moose though. I don't even like washing them off if I can help it because the water helps ruin the meat.

[Batch]

I don't know it it's relevant, but my SIL and others down south, actually soak their game meat, for us it was venison, in cold water or cold milk.

I guessing that being a whole lot warmer there than here during hunting season has a lot to do with it, but it seemed to me that the water sorta soaked the blood out, leaving just a sorta gray mass, after a while.

When we did mine last fall, it was in cold water for only a couple of days, but looked fine when cut up.

So I gonna guess that it would be OK for short term, but I would also guess that even in water, it would be a draw for predators, both in the water and out.

We got to drag the deer out quick. Archery started down here Saturday and it is hotter than a two dollar pistol down here right now. You get them on ice quick. Then we leave them on ice for as long as it takes till the water coming out of the cooler is clear.

So, you ice up the game and ever night when you get home you open the drain and look at the water coming out. If its got blood in it, you ice it down again.

[Erratus Animus]

One thing to remember in an animal that large is the internal heat it has and retains right after death. We generally think of things cooling when something dies , however at the moment of death the body is unable to continue to cool itself and heat builds. Submerging in cool water cools the outside of the meat but unless it is gutted the water does not help.