Pepper or Chile powder?

[Grousewit]

Veteran elk slayers :Which one works better for keeping flies and bees off meat and does not affect taste of meat.

[saddlesore]

I used pepper for a long time. Last year I used chile powder and I'll never use pepper again

[WapitiTalk1]

Chili powder. I did the Pepsi challenge over the bank at my place with chunks of meat and compared chili powder to pepper (8-9years ago) and the chili powder works much better to keep all insects off.. No doesn't affect the taste of the meat. I use in on exposed meat when I'm field dressing, on the boned out meat going into the game bags, on the game bags themselves. Mind you, nothing keeps em off completely but as they say.... a pound of prevention.....

[Swede]

Good question and I am glad to hear that chili does not effect the meat. How much are you guys putting on?

[WapitiTalk1]

Good question and I am glad to hear that chili does not effect the meat. How much are you guys putting on?

Can't remember the container size?, I'll look in my pack in a bit. I use well over half of it during the field dressing/boning out process, particularly on a morning kill. I've never understood why flying bugs don't like chili powder; every likes chili, right? It does work tho, and, works better than pepper.

[ElkNut1]

Chili powder! Ole Bill a couple years back shared this & it flat out works in some of the worst conditions!

ElkNut/Paul

[Grousewit]

How much does it take for an avg. bull and how thick do u need to put it on?

[ElkNut1]

We take one plastic bottle of it, it doesn't take up much room & weighs next to nothing! The bottle is aprox 4" tall & 2" in diameter. It comes in different sizes. We just sprinkle it on the exposed skinned areas as needed, you'll see the flies & bees vacate pretty quick. Once quarters or boned meat is removed we put it straight into their game bags where the insects can't get to it. There's always some loose fatty meats that you won't need, take that & toss it 10' away with no chili powder on it & it will direct a lot of the flies & bees to it & many won't bother you as you break down your animal.

By the way the guy who recommended it years ago was Bill Custer, some may remember him!

ElkNut/Paul

[Swede]

I remember Bill and liked what he had to say. What ever happened to him?

[Indian Summer]

http://www.indianvalleymeats.com/field_care.htm

Read that.

http://www.indianvalleymeats.com/gamesaver.htm

[BobcatJerry]

I've never had to breakdown anything where the bugs were bad. How bad do they get? Yellow Jackets and flies? Going to Colorado this year first time. Would it be a problem in September?

[WapitiTalk1]

I've never had to breakdown anything where the bugs were bad. How bad do they get? Yellow Jackets and flies? Going to Colorado this year first time. Would it be a problem in September?

Jerry, I'm not sure about the Centennial State but I know in WA, ID, and MT... the yellow jackets and blowflies can be beyond brutal. Its best to be prepared to get to work immediately on a downed elk (after the quick photo op) with all you need to facilitate the field dressing..... good game bags (the kind that do not allow meat penetration from flying pests), chili powder, para cord to hang boned out/quartered meat, etc.... September temps in the states I hunt in can range from 65 to close to 90 in the day.

[Swede]

You can add Oregon into the area you wrote about RJ. It is the same situation here. Some years are worse than others. The Blow Flies I saw in Idaho Could have been mistaken for crows with huge menacing eyes. Our Blow Flies in Oregon have not been put on steroids yet. The Yellow Jackets and hornets here can ruin your day and the black flies can be thick.

[Grousewit]

The 1st rifle season in CO starts Oct 14th and I was told by guys I am going with to have pepper or chile powder in my pack for the flying critters, so I imagine its warmer in Sept.

[saddlesore]

Flying critters are just as bad in September and early October hunts as anywhere.I can put up with flies to some extent,but the yellow jackets get right down into where you are working and it is not unusual to get stung several times if you are not wearing heavier latex gloves.

I have switched to using those yellow kitchen gloves that have longer cuffs and are thicker.

[>>>---WW---->]

Work fast and get it into ( GOOD ) game bags quick and you won't have to worry about any magic formulas.

[saddlesore]

But I'm too old to work fast

[>>>---WW---->]

Recon I can relate to that! But you're not any older than me.

[BobcatJerry]

Guess I'll start packing chili pepper. Thanks, for the advice. I'll save my Mountain house Chili Mac for the last day, and spice it up if not used up.

[WapitiTalk1]

Guess I'll start packing chili pepper. Thanks, for the advice. I'll save my Mountain house Chili Mac for the last day, and spice it up if not used up.

Oooh, last day Chili Mac may not serve you well on the way home the next day ...