I am a novice deer hunter, (I have only been deer hunting twice and only saw a deer on one of those hunts. And we did not come home with a buck!) I have a question that I have heard debated a couple of times. After you shoot the deer do you need to gut him and skin him right away or can it wait until you are back in camp. I have heard others say if you wait that the meat will be ruined. So tell me what do you need to do and what can wait until later. Thanks!

ddog, welcome to the forum. You asked a question that can have several answers: you should not have to gut and skin your deer qiuckly after killing it UNLESS it is pretty warm outside .My version of that is 65 plus degrees outside. It really depends on how hot or warm it is .
Hope this helps some.
Beulahboy

I agree it really depends on how hot it is outside. If its hot you need to try and do it right away if its cool you can wait until you get back to camp.

I always gut on site....before moving it pretty much

but i dont skin until after i let it hang for awhile

I drop the guts ASAP to start the cooling process and obviously to remove any matter that may have been distrubed by the shot. Equally I like the hide off as soon as possible, usually not until I am at location it can be hung and free from dust, etc. If it is warm outside you have less time to perform each process. If the animal can not be hung where the temperature can be maintainedat no higher than the 40's, I will debone or quarter then place in a fridge or on ice to ensure it is adequately cooled and no loss. One of the toughest things is cooling the entire carcass down, so the use of stick to open the chest cavity or frozen milk jugs inside the cavity can help in this regard.

Handling and care of your game is the single biggest factor to meat quality. Unfortunately it has many facets such as: clean harvest, cooling of the carcass in a timely fashion, handling of the carcass, removal of any stomach or intestinethat may have been distrubed, cleanknive/saw/etcand care when butchering (removal of hair, silverskin and fat).

Being from Florida I gut immediately for 2 reasons.
1. Main reason ,it is esier to carry out with the weight of the intrals gone. Where I hunt you can not een use a cart. I have to put an orange vest over the deer and carry that puppy out. I did last year. I fell down 20 some times but I made it.
2. I was just brought up that way.
Once in the WMA check station, most guys skin immediately ,1/4 the deer and put him in the cooler.

Chuck

Field dress the deer (gut it) first thing. Why drag guts ? Yes, down south where some clubs run dogs, and the deer can be on the small side. They like to bring the deer out whole and the pictures do look better. Don't skin him, until you get back to camp and the weather gets warm.
Oh ya, what are you going to do with guts when you get back home ?

I gut immediatetly for the same reasons as already mentioned; it gets the cooling process going, and it lightens the load. We have a rack (looks like a big swingset) at camp that we hang them from. I'll hang it then wash the cavity with a hose which both cleans and continues the cooling. I'll typically leave the hide on for a couple days if the weather is cool enough.

All my life with my club we have sent guys out from camp to meet the guy at this stand site. We have a location on one of our farms that has become the "gut spot" after years of habitually going there. We usually have it done within an hour. I have never tasted any bit of difference in a deer we gutted immediately on the drive, or waited awhile after shooting it out of a treestand. Personally, I don't want to be guttingin an area anywhere near a standsite i intend to hunt.

Chuck, I have hunted Aucilla,Citrus and Green Swamp and they asked us to bring the
whole deer to the check station. Somtimes the state is conducting specialsurveys of
deer internal parts in differentWMA's. They use to have gut pile areas to dispose of
the parts they were not interested in.The Aucilla area had an Ice Housethat charged
$4.00a day. It is easier to butcher when chilled 3 or 4 days.