Here, in Iowa, during the gun seasons,k we can control the temperature of our attached garage pretty well. If it is a bit warm out, we open doors at night to get the interior cold and keep the garage closed to hold in the cold during the day. If it is bitter cold we do the opposite, open the garage up in the day to let warmer air in and then close it up at night to keep freezing air out.

We can usually keep the temperature between the upper twenties and lower forties, the body mass of the deer staying in the thirties. Once in a while it is warmer or colder. If it is warmer we do like you southern boys always have to do and butcher right away. If it is colder, we hope for a winter thaw or it may be a while before we even CAN butcher frozen carcasses.

As I said, the vast majority of the time we have no problems and let the deer hang at least a few days (sometimes a bit more than a week). We hang with the skin on, skinning all deer first thing on butcher day, trimming away all air exposed meat, and singeing stray hair. Our picnic table is put in the garage, bleached, covered with plastic, and bleached again. The large cutting boards, coolers, knives, grinders, plastic gloves, stuffer, beef and pork trimmings, wrapping paper, tape, jerky slicer, spices, and casing, and all the rest are also made ready to go. Butchering usually lasts two days, hamburger ground and in coolers, sausage mixed and in coolers, jerky curing, steaks and roasts in the freezer the first day. The hamburger is packaged and frozen, the sausage packaged (or stuffed and packaged) and frozen, and the jerky batches are started in the oven on the second day with maybe sausage in the smoker.

Back to the original poll, we hang because we can here in Iowa due to our normal winter temperature range. If I lived in a warmer place, I may have to build a big electric cooler. It is nice not having to butcher right away while you are still perhaps tired from the physical activity of the hunt.

Every year we add things that we make and every year we are more pleased with the results.

Bob