RE: Stupid question.......How long to wait?
You can eat it as soon as you'd like. I shot one yesterday and ate the tenderloins for lunch today. What I do is chop the deer up pretty quick or at least quarter it nad set it in the fridge for few days before finishing processing and freezing. Aging meat will make it tender, marinatin will give you some flavor depending on what you like.
Some things are true whether you believe them or not.