I just killed a deer and I just gutted it and was going to let it hang over night in my garage. It is going to get down to 45 degrees tonight and my wife said she is not going to eat it because she says that the meat will be ruined by tommorow. Do you think that 45 degrees is cool enough that the meat will still be good tommorow? Thanks Steve

nope put in a cooler

It will be fine.

All I can tell you that in a pro kitchen the range is 40-45 depending on which state your in. Personally I wouldn't leave it up in anything more than 40. Namely cause it takes a while for the deer to fully hit 40.

At least put some ice in the chest cavity.

I've hung them alot hotter than that & they have been fine. I would say anything below 50-55 would be fine overnight....

No problem at all with those temps. I've hung a bunch of them overnight in the early season when the temps were significantly warmer than that and they were fine the next day. Ice in the chest cavity wouldn't hurt anything though.

You must decide. I've always gone by 38 degrees as the guideline. If it's going to be warmer than that, I'd at least quarter it and put in on ice in a chest. Bacteria will grow and develop if it's too warm. Why take a chance?

You would need to decide for your self, but, I like hanging them at 45 degrees. I have hung them in 50 degree weather more than once so you would be alright with 45 degrees. Most coolers up here are set from 40-45 degrees so what is the difference if it is outside?