Back from WY with an antelope buck and doe

[nw07heavy]

Just curious about what you guys do with the meat to get it back to AZ. Do you have it processed there, freeze it, and bring it back? Or just throw it in a cooler and bring it back?

No problem at all with the meat. I just use dry ice (-109F frozen carbon dioxide) to solidify the meat in a cooler. This will essentially stay good indefinitely. The very cold temperatures, in addition to the toxic to microbe life carbon dioxide atmosphere in the cooler will preserve the meat. You just need to keep replacing the two blocks of dry ice every day during the trip. Of utmost importance is to remember to activate positive pressure HVAC (Never use max A/C or any cabin air recycle when carrying dry ice) in your vehicle to purge any CO2 that escapes from the coolers with dry ice. Positive pressure is the same technique that prevents explosive gas build up in petrochemical processing facilities. I actually prefer to process/cut my own animals, since I have control over the process. Antelope are small enough that they are easy to process and vacuum seal.

[nw07heavy]

 

How about a little more gun porn and info?

 

Great job on the speed goats. I swear, some day I will make it back to WY for some pronghorn hunting.

 

Thanks. I use a Sako TRG-42 in .338 Lapua Magnum and an IOR 3.5-18X 50mm FFP tactical scope. I elected this cartridge as one of my hunting rounds after seeing the extreme meat damage from cartridges that exhibit very high levels of hydrostatic shock. The .338 Lapua damaged hardly any meat whatsoever on antelope or elk. My .338 Lapua load is a 300 grain Berger Hunter with tough jacket. My load velocity is a mild 2,740 or so FPS yielding 5,000 foot pounds at the muzzle. The .814 G1 BC, or .417 G7 BC, allows the projectile to stay supersonic past 2,000 yards at a 23.50 station pressure (my elk country norms). This moderate velocity bullet that does not slow down much, only 80 FPS per 100 yards at max velocity. Velocity at 1,200 yards is 1,782 FPS and energy is 2,115 ft lbs (2,000 considered needed for elk sized game). Using a standard tactical 'zero' of 100 yards, station pressure and local temperature, and Applied Ballistics on my iPhone it is very easy to crank a firing solution into the TRG. I carry an Accuracy 1st Whiz Wheel as back up in case of lost power in my iPhone. Of course the set up is far more accurate than a shaky old shooter like me so every bit helps. All shots this year have been one shot 'band/flops' and the longest only 400 yards. The biggest worry was tracking the trotting elk and sending a round shooting offhand in the heavy woods at 100 yards with the 15 pound TRG. Attached is a photo you requested. I, too, want to go back to Wyoming to hunt antelope. It is the most fabulous hunting state I have visited. I have been to Alaska, but only to fly and deliver an airplane, and did not hunt. I can only imagine how great a state it would be to hunt.