Newbie with a newbie question
 

Hello everyone. I am new to this forum, and new to hunting as well. I just moved out to Maryland from California, and decided to try it out when deer season starts here in September. I do have a question though. After the shot is taken and the deer is down, about how much time do you have to field dress the deer, and get it on ice before the meat spoils? I have been told only about an hour, but I wanted to get some other opinions. For those of you that go on weekend hunting trips, do you just take a big ice chest with you and cut the meat up yourself? What are the different ways of ensuring the meat stays fresh, and the deer does not become a waste? Thanks for any input.

I field dress ASAP. Then as far as putting on ice i will if the weather is warm but if its cold enough I like to hang the deer a couple days before de-boning. But if the weather is too warm I will debone as soon as i can and cool the meat as fast as possible. I have made a home-made cooler with dry ice and a couple blankets with a tarp. it works really well and the only real expense is the dry ice. about 8lb per day. so I would buy a 25lb piece. Its done like this. hang your deer from a rafter in your garage, cut 2 2x6 boards 10 " long. Now you attach each 2x6 on either side of the rope holding your deer. This is the shelf for the dry ice. Attach a blanket on either side of the rafter and around the 2x6's so you channel the cold air over your animal. then wrap the whold thing with a tarp. the dry ice will actually freeze the head of the deer but it will keep all the meat very very cold. I also place a small blanket on top after its all together just to keep the cold from escaping out of the top. It work very well, I had a friend who hung 6 deer with this method he has a small shed and insulated it top to bottom. a couple 15lb blocks of dry ice its almost as cold as a freezer.

Many people take pictures with the big game animal immediately after the kill. This is the posed shot with the rifle in one hand, the antlers or horns of the animal or head of the animal held with the other hand.

Immediately after any such pictures are taken, you should field dress the animal. This is opening the body cavity and removing all the guts: intestine, bladder, liver, kidneys, stomachs, diaphragm, lungs. This material retains a lot of heat, and you want it out of the chest cavity to let cooling air inside.

Depending on the outside air temperature, other things can take place. With deer, I would drag the deer to my truck, pack in the back of the truck, and take it home where I would hang it until the next day -- lets say about 18 hours or 24 hours to let rigor mortis come and go. But if it is warm, I would not wait.

After this initial hanging, I would skin it, quarter it, and get the quarters on ice.

If the animal is a pronghorn, you will want to skin it promptly, as their fur prevents heat dissipation. I've heard of some saying to stuff a couple of bags of ice into the body cavity to help start the cool down of the pronghorn (put a tarp on the floor of your truck or SUV -- antelope are smelly and the ice will melt).

Great info, thanks for the replies guys.

Agreed, but, as an alternative if the temps are high drag it to the nearest stream (after field dressing i.e. removing the innards) and lay it in the stream with the chest cavity split down the sternum to allow water to run through and begin the cooling. You can skin it while it's in the stream or do it prior as well. The water will make the hide heavier but the key is to get it cool to prevent bacteria growth.

A lot depends on the air tempture and where the shot hit.
I do a few pictures and then field dress then you can pose the deer to get more pictures after that. You should have no problem getting a few pictures and dressing a deer in an hour.
Where I hunt you don't normally have a problem hanging a dressed deer in the shade for a couple days.

Washing a deer's cavity out in a stream I feel is just asking for trouble. I can't think of any place in the lower 48 with a streams water clean enough you can use it as potable water.

:D Al

If bow hunting wait the appropriate amount of time depending where hit. Gut tag and back at the truck toss a couple frozen gallon ice bottles into the chest cavity. Gunn season it's colder and could wait. Do you butcher your own or taking it to someone?
Hanging Time

65-70 degrees 24-36 hours
50 degrees 3-4 days
35-40 degrees 7-10 days

I took these from a hunting and butchering book. I’ve been following these guidelines for over 15 years as I do all my own butchering.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I will be field dressing it on my own but I'll take it to someone to have it butchered.

I thought I would chim on this one. As previous postings have mentnioed, get it clean and cool as quickly as possible. If the animal is gut shot, you split the stomach or bladder, then I try and rinse the carcass, but I am no more then a mile or so from pottable water. Here in South Central Michigan, the deer mostly live on corn, beans, grains & hay. Same thing the cows are eating, so I have not noticed a large improvement in taste by letting the animal hang. Might be also due to targeting 1.5+ year old does.

I butcher my own and it is a family affair complete with cold draft beer, double grind the bruger, vaccuum packaging, football on tv, some of the meat going directly to the frying pan, etc... I really enjoy cutting it up and knowing how it is taken care of.

Regardless, if it is warm or freezing, I field dress, then hang, skin it and boneless quarter the animal. I learned this technique through McClendon Meats videos on YouTube and originally a link with the near same technique on this forum. I then throw the pieces in Cabela's game bags, put them in a large cooler and fill the top with ice. I open the cooler drain and make sure it is on an angle. The temp in the cooler is between 34-40 degrees and as the ice melts, the water cleans the meat as well. Really helps when we are way up North. All you have to do is keep replacing with fresh ice.

Never liked the thought of having a deer travel in the back of a truck or hanging at camp for a couple days, then bring it to the processor after running it through highways of exhaust, dirt, salt on the roads, freeze & thaw cycles, only to have the processor hang it for another couple days. I really notcied a difference in quality & taste by doing it myself.

The bottom line is, get the deer field dressed as soon as you can. I do mine as soon as the tag is attached. The get the lide off as soon as possible because the sooner the deer is cooled down, the better the meat will be whether you butcher yourself of get the deer to a butcher shop. My butcher skins the deer as soon as I bring it to him which is probably two hours, then he hangs it in a cooler for a week before it is cut to order. I have had people who swore they didn;t like venison go for 2nds and 3rds on the venison I cooked. Gamey flavor is not from eating game, it is because meat was poorly handled after the animal was killed. I have not bought commercial pork in 4 years, I have been eating wild hogs which is far superior to domestic pork, if you care for it after the kill. The dad truth is, many hunters do not know hoe to properly care for wild game after the kill.