Writing about preserving deer meat

I’m getting so frustrated trying to research this but the book I’m writing is taking place in the late 1800’s. Like cowboys and stuff. I’m writing a hunting sort of scene where my two characters hunt a deer but they don’t have time to make jerky before they have to keep going on the trail. Someone told me about a “fast trail method” where the deer meat is on a low fire or being smoked all day and overnight so they could have jerky for the rest of the trip to another location, but I don’t know how safe that would be to eat. Does anyone know much about making jerky out in the wilderness? I am also planning on having the characters make a stew with the tougher meat all day and eat well that evening so the next day they can go the last leg of the trip to the next stop so they’re not wasting the animal but I also thought there would be a way to do the jerky that would be fast and be safe to eat on the trail. I think I’m fine with the stew but I thought I’d check if someone knew more about making jerky in the wilderness over a fire.