What are your thoughts on game bags...Alot of you guys have a ton of knowledge as to the do's.,,donts and general what works best when using bags for your game. I've never used one and would appreciate any advice...
Alaskan game bags are hard to beat for the price! But I found some tag bags in Alaska and they have proven to be the best I have ever used. Clean up like new and are super light weight and tough. Hunt
I don't follow what you mean about knowledge of do's and don'ts, but anything to keep it clean is a plus. The meat processor never ruins the meat, it's how it's handled in the field.
I place cooled, boned meat in a plastic bag and then inside a thin game bag similar to a pillow case for transport.
These are a one shot deal...but they are cheap. And lighter and more compact than anything else on the market. Been doing this for nearly 20 years now:
Tags and Caribou bags are real good. At the time I got mine the Caribou had more along the sizes I wanted for deboned meat. But my understanding is the Tags have some new bags sized with deboned meat in mind. IF theses Caribous ever wear out.... if.... I'd look at the Tags as well.
Cotton bags can actually work pretty well, and have a few advantages. IMO they can keep the meat a touch cooler for the same reason in clothing they say "cotton kills". They don't "leak" as much as synthetic as they absorb and wick off more "juice". But they are heavier, bulkier and I only tend to get a season or three out of mine before they start to "dry rot". Most times they won't show any sign and then when you need them most.... rrrrip.... plop....
The synthetic bags are bombproof. Flys can't lay eggs through it. Like Hunt said, they clean up real well and don't stain. Strong enough to hang a great deal of deboned meat all on their own without needing a bone to tie off to for support..... for me they were a very cost effective investment.
I really like the tag b.o.m.b. bags. For boned out meat they are really hard to beat. Pretty much any synthetic bag works really well though. You can get black ovis bags on camo fire for $40 for the elk size. I also picked up some Kuiu bags to use this year and it looks like they'll be awesome too.
I've used TAG, Alaska, Ovis, elkmountaingear's panty hose idea, and pillow cases.
Ultimately, if you're really going back country and the meat is going to spend some serious time in the bags, then TAG and Ovis bags are by far the best, but by far the most expensive.
My take on each is that TAG and Ovis bags are great and about equal. Alaska bags are cheaper, but suck for keeping fly eggs off the meat. The panty hose method above is what I mainly do now - I've done it for several animals and I love it for a lot of reasons. The bags crunch down into nothing, weigh nothing, and keep the dirt/grass/flies off the meat pretty well. They still let fly eggs into them when stretched, as in an elk, but if you put the panty hose meat into an old stretched out AK bag, the fly eggs don't get on the meat.
Pillow cases, IMO, have problems with blood/fluids drying out and sealing a hard layer around the meat and are just not big enough for elk and don't cover quarters on the ends at all like any of the above mentioned bags.
If you're going on a wilderness hunt where the meat will spend a couple days in the bags, I recommend TAG bags - they're the best there is. But for your average hunt, panty hose is the way to go. Make sure to get the size for truly jumbo women - you can find a 5 pack at Walmart for cheap. They often times come in sizes A, B, C, D, and E or S, M, L, XL, 2x, and 3x. You want D/E and 2x/3x. They have a sizing chart - you want the ones that will fit a 5'2" woman that's over 200 lbs. They fit one elk quarter but 2 quarters from a 2 year old deer will fit in one.
I only have one set of TAG bags and one set of Ovis bags, but a ton of old stretched out Alaska bags. I much prefer to use Panty hose and then throw a bunch of meat that's already in panty hose into a large-size AK bag.
An alternative: Jim Dean at Jimmy Tarps makes really good...as in truly outstanding...meat bags. They are made in Utah by the Dean family. After reading much good stuff about his talents I finally discussed meat bags with him. He made me 10 custom-sized meat bags designed specifically for my pack and for de-boned meat. I used them when packing meat this past September. No failures. 100% excellent. After getting them home I washed them in an oxidizing detergent and they came out looking new. I paid less for those 10 custom bags than I imagined. Best of all was their light physical weight and compactness. All of them fit in a rather smallish mesh drawcorded bag.
Jim also customized a blood-proof tapered meat transport bag for me. It's made of 500 cordura and shaped like a tapered cylinder. I carried 10 loads of meat in it and it made a phenomenal difference in how the load felt in my pack and on my back.
Thanks for everyone's input..Much appreciated..I'd much rather ask what's a seemingly simple question to most of you rather than ruin a bunch of hard earned meat......
I used the Kuiu bags last fall having gotten them early as part of their giru test. They were excellent! Lightweight, easy to use, kept my meat clean, and cleaned up nicely for reuse.
Kevin, I have a Kifaru hanging meat bag, it's tapered like that, very similar. It's a great asset packing deboned meat, keeps everything exactly where it's supposed to be with no shifting or sliding down into meat bowling ball at the bottom of the pack. Meat goes in the Caribou bag then into the hanging bag. Always in my kill kit. If I lost it I'd buy another tomorrow. Seam sealed and it keeps everything clean too.
Completely depends on the type of hunt I am doing. Fly in where in the field meat care is a necessity? Tag bags.
Weekend type hunt where as soon as the animal drops it is butcher and back to the truck time? I like the Alaska bags for this. I like the easy cheap disposable route for hunts like this.
My wife weighs 300 lbs ...I'll be digging in her dresser!!! Thx Midwest...Lol I love Bowsite...I can get good beta and laugh my ass off!! You guys are great
For my packs, carrying out whitetails here at home, I used to use Alaskan brand bags left over from trips out west. They finally rotted. I now just use dollar store pillow cases stuffed into my own sewn cordua meat sacks. It forces the meat into a cylindrical long shape about 7-8 inches circle and, roughy 19 inches tall. It fits the pack's I use and, distributes the weight from my waist up to shoulder level. Makes for a better pack out and ensure i have enough room in my packs to get my other gear in there too for a single trip out with the animal. I put a handle on them like Kifaru does so it hangs off of branches and things well.
The sack helps to keep the meat from drying out so quickly too. Cordua is the ticket. Rough, tough, and breathable. Get on line and get a schematic for sewing stuff sacks. then order you $5 worth of cordua and sew your own. And, be sure to double stitch the seams!!!!!! Trust me on that one. With a polyester thread and, by double stitching the seams, it'll last a LONG time. Don't let the size fool you either, when loaded they are quite heavy. So make sure the branch will hold them.
Thx WV...I love making my own stuff ,,I fabricate alot of things..Thank you...?I have alot of family in Grafton WV. ..Go there often. I live 5 min from harpers ferry WV.I'm proud be say my stepson is going to wvu in the fall!! Thx again.. Pat
I also use the Allen back country bags, the nice synthetic ones. I have used the crap out of them and the only hole I ever got in one was when the bag fell 8' out of a tree and a stick made a 1/2" hole.
I've used TAG, Caribou, and Kuiu Bags on deer elk and antelope and recommend any of the three. I was really impressed with the Kuiu bags this fall. This fall a friend and I shot our elk on the same day. He used the Allen/Alaska style bags and I used the Kuiu ones. Temps were almost 60deg and flies everywhere. Both elk were quartered baged and hung in the shade. After packing them out and hanging in camp we noticed a gap in one of his quarters and saw some fly eggs. This prompted us to "unbag" and check our quarters. His were covered in Fly eggs literally everywhere - Mine had none.
On a side note - Even if the game bag has drawstrings, never use them to hang and hold the weight of the quarter. Use paracord and cinch the drawstrings around the paracord. It will save the bag seams and they will last a long time.
