tonyf84

I'm fairly new to hunting. I'm going to go for a week long hunting/camping trip in December. How do I care for/ store the deer I take during that time, or should I drive into town each kill and take it to a processor? I'd like to just go once at the end of the week. I will be in south central texas.

Thanks for your patience with the new guy!

Gromky

If it's warmer than a fridge, you should get it back to a walk-in cooler or butcher quickly.

Meat goes bad very quickly. You could theoretically have enough ice chests or a large enough space to cool a deer with ice, but it's not ideal.

tonyf84

So if the ambient temperature is around 35 degrees or lower during the day, I'd be ok to leave it in the bed of the truck for a day or two?

Thanks for your answer

Chester Co. Deer Hunter

The bed of a truck is not suitable, especially in sun light. If the temp. doesn't get above 40 or 42 you can hang it in the shade with the hide on. You also don't want to hang your deer in extreme cold either. Some people cut their deer up and use ice chests. Just don't let your meat lay in melted ice water.

SJAdventures

Can't see you getting that many days in the 30's in south central TX. I wouldn't want it hanging very long in temps above 40.

Jeff Ovington

We get ours back asap.We hunt in cooler temps so we are not worried worried so much about meat going bad or bears getting at it.
It's those goddamn birds.Climbing over my meat and pecking through the cheese cloth.It's WhiskeyJacks and those ****ing Magpies crawling over my meat I can't stand.If they weren't protected I'd shoot em.

tonyf84

Thanks for everyones input. It's pretty clear I'll have to drive into town after a successful hunt. No big deal. And for the record, late december through january, we have plenty of 35 and below days, but it doesn't last very long and not always consecutive.

Thanks again for your help. I'm sure I'm going to have many more questions to post in the near future.

rlpsystems

Wow , that worked out great.
Kill, clean, quarter, refridgerate.

Night Crawler

I live in a warmer climate, rarely below 40 for long. I kill, butcher, and soak in salt water or salt Ice water solution for 2-3 days.

rlpsystems

I perfer dry aging after harvesting and cleaning the game. I prefer soaking ballyhoo in saltwater. Either way as long as it tastes good.......Deer-Beer-n-Oysters.