How long do you guys leave meat in a cooler? What's the longest you can ice it before it goes bad?

Change the watery ice out daily and it will last for a few days and it helps the flavor of the meat.

I try to not go past a week, majority of the time 3-4 days and as said above drain daily and top off ice.
Started a Deer last night and will complete it tonight and its been on Ice since Sat Night.

man that looks good, when is dinner?

Very well fed animal in those second pics. That will be some tasty venison.

I'm still trying to figure out a way to minimize freezer burn from the ice when I'm at camp for a few days. A heavy trash bag works after the meat is cooled or a couple of cookie sheets with the meat on top. I typically try to get my deer into a refrigerator at home asap if I can.

I know a little freezer burn doesn't really hurt anything, I just don't like how it looks when I cut steaks and roasts.

I always mix ice and water and never have any burn. It also helps bleed the excess blood from the meat.

I watched a video on quartering hogs quickly and getting them on ice in the summer heat. The guy puts some ice in a cooler along with water and a bunch of salt to make a slurry to get the temperature near freezing.

Have left them as long as 10 or so days. Put a brick etc under the opposite end of the drain and add ice as needed. Water stays drained that way.

I usually only ice it long enough to firm up the meat. Shot two deer this weekend my wifes buck was on ice for about 2 hours before we fully processed him and I shot my doe late so we iced her over night and finished processing in morning. You wont gain anything I have noticed by leaving it on ice extended periods of time. We ate steaks out of the buck Monday and Tuesday night and they were excellent.

you can easily go 10 or more days as long as you keep it drained and iced well. I usually go for 6-7 days.

I agree Buck...and actually think it's Better Sir.

I usually shoot for 3-5 days. Last year let one go from Saturday until the following Sunday, smelled a little ripe. Tasted fine though.

Just make SURE the cooler can drain as the ice melts. Keep plenty of ice on it and rotate the meat 2-3 times and I wouldn't let it go past 5 days, on ice.

I put in bags, keep water drained and ice packed full. I never start before 5 days. I have gone up to 12 days before but only because I absolutely had to but all was fine. I just keep ice packed and water drained but have seen many different opinions and methods.

I routinely keep deer on ice a week. Just drain water and replace ice daily.

You can dry age venison the same a beef. 2 weeks max. I have used a baking proof cabinet stored in the meat vault. However there is no need if all your going to do is make grind out of it. Elk can be aged a few days longer. If you aging muscle groups it breaks down a few days sooner.

I think what you are seeing on your meat is blood being drawn from the muscle fibers. There is no damage to the meat.
If the meat is submerged in ice water it CANNOT be colder than 32 unless salt is also used.

True but even if you add salt it's highly unlikely that you could freeze the meat. You'll have to get the meat to a temp of 28° or below to freeze it. Water will freeze at 32° but the meat won't.

Now if you're using dry ice that's a whole different story.

I know there is nothing wrong with it and I use it in my grind and sausage. I just don't like the way it looks on my steaks and roasts if that makes any sense. I know.

I've found I don't get it when I age in a fridge. No difference in taste at all though. I typically shoot between 3-7 deer a season and have aged for various lengths of time with no noticeable difference to me.

I'll keep a deer on ice up to two weeks as long as I can keep the meat dry. We have an icemaker at camp which is a lifesaver. I fill the bottom of a cooler with 2-3" of ice then place a wire rack with legs over it. Out the meat on the rack and cover with more ice. Keep the drain plug open and add ice as needed.

Dry aging is awesome, and we see great benefit even in our ground venison.
We generally age them in the walk-in for 2 weeks, but we have gone 3 weeks as well.

We 2 week aged a 7 year old buck. We cut up the straps into 1 1/4" steaks, wrapped them in bacon and threw them on the grill. We asked our guest what kind on venison they thought it was, we had a few guesses of axis doe. The same deer we used in a stew and we had to tell everyone it was venison, they thought it was beef.
The difference is truly amazing