I shot my first doe this morning with my blackpowder rifle. It was a thrill!! My question is I have it all skinned and cut in half, washed off and hanging out in my garden shed. It is supposed to be around 25 degrees during the day for the next 3 days and around 10 at night for the next 3 nights. Can I just leave it hanging out there for the next 3 days, then butcher it Friday when I have more time? Any advice would be welcomed. Thanks, Rookie

Under the circumstances you describe, it would be better to have left the skin on it. This would keep the meat under the skin protected and moist. It may make the skin more difficult to take off, but not terribly so.

I think your temperatures may be too cold. It sounds like the deer will probably cool down and be frozen by tomorrow morning. You aren't supposed to freeze and unfreeze the deer. Now don't get me wrong, I don't think thks is going to ruin your deer and that you will need to throw it away . . . just that this is less then preferred, optimal treatment. Let's hear what others have to say. Maybe more well informed people will say I'm full of 3hit.

With the hide off you may want to cover it to keep it from drying if its going to be there for some time. A couple days should be fine. Many times during season if I have deer quartered I will freeze the quarters untill after season when I get time to process them and never have had any problems.

Your meat is probably going to be frozen, at least partially. This is not a huge problem. I would gather it up thurs night, put it in a cooler if possible, and bring it indoors overnight. Otherwise, you'll have to bring it indoors to process, and you may have to let thaw a couple hours.

Personaly I would have left the skin on which helps regulate the temp of meat from going from warm during the day to cold at night(speaking fall temps) . To protect it from freezing you could store it in a cooler as said. Just don't let it sit in Blood/water. When I butcher my deer I take the deboned cuts and partily freeze them to make cutting into individual cuts easier and more profesional looking. I think you'll be fine, next time don't skin it till you butcher it.Good Luck.
Ps Also some sausage companies buy meat in bulk when they can get a good price, freeze it, then when they need it they partialy defrost and use. Sell the product to you, then you take it home and freeze it till you need it. I do the same, freeze big chunks and cut up and use through the year as needed. Ie Burgers, then I refreeze the burger patties. I usually make between 12-20 burgers at a time. This way the meat stays fresher in chunks even though their vacuum packed.

I agree with most everyone else. The hide is best left on until you are ready to butcher. As far as the freezing part goes, from what you stated, it probably will at least semi-freeze. Not a problem in my mind. A deer is much easier to cut up when partially frozen anyhow. If it is solid, you will want to thaw it until you can "work" the meat, but not totally thawed. It is much easier to grind partially frozen meat. Meat gets frozen/thawed regularly. Don't worry about it. It'll be OK. I'd worry a whole lot more if it was left in temps of 50 deg or more for a period of time...........

Alsatian, we regularly let them freeze solid with the skin on then dont even worry about them untill they start to thaw, never had any problems with the meat, it actually seems better then the ones we kill early in the year and must process the same day without freezing.Weve done it since I was a kid and never had any problems.