That 3-4 days is "hot curing" smoking which is far more recent method than what was in use at the time of the game. I dearly wouldn't count on preservation of few months with that, unless it dried up to "beef jerky" fashion.
What we refer to, is explained by Ilmar Talve in "Finnish Folk Culture" simply as:
"The meat was smoked in the sauna, to begin with at a low temperature for 1-2 weeks ('cold-curing'), after which it was kept at a high temperature for 2-3 days to make sure it war properly done."