Southern Deer Hunter Question
 

Okay - Im curious...

In the south with the early heat most guys I know try and get there deer processed pretty quickly. I dont have a place to hang the meat so my stratagy has been to have it at processor within 30 min to 45 min from the deer hitting the ground. I can get a truck back into where im hunting.

What I am curious about is do any of you Southerners use game bags and hump out deer like guys have to out west where they may be 3 miles from their vehicles at times??????

IF so what pack do you use?

A regular backpack will do, just learn how to bone them out as you clean them...I usually have a couple of skinning trees where I've screwed in I-bolts about 7 feet off the ground to pull the deer up...I then just bring a cooler to the trees and ice them down on the way home...A 4-wheeler helps with pulling the deer up and carrying them to the skinning trees...

What time frame would you have at say 80 degrees for the meat to be out?? Just currious. I have 2 liter bottles of water frozen in case things don't work out as planned and a cooler. Boaning out is something I need to look into I think.

If You can get Your Deer to the Processor that fast...why worry about keeping it cool?I shot a Buck in 2006 in October one time...it was still pretty warm out and since it was Bow Season most places weren't open late that evening so I ended up Field Dressing it right at dark then I brought it home and laid it on some clean cardboard in my garage and I stuffed 3 big bags of ice inside its cavity.It did fine til morning since I cooled it down then I took it in to the local Proccessor to have it skinned and cut up!

I am not sure what the rules are in NC but I would think you need to check the deer in before dressing (cutting it up) it?

In nc you call in tags by phone.

I was a kid then,, LOL
 

IC,,, my first big buck I hauled around in the back of my truck for atleast a day in 60 degree weather, stopping every now and again and buying a few bags of ice, filling the chest cavity. Yeah I was proud...

Move it quickly
 

I gut my deer quickly, keep it in the shade. Get it out of the woods, quickly, and get the deer home in about an hour. Since it's warm in the early season, it's prepared for butchering by that night.
Most of the meat goes in the freezer, and some goes into the refrigerator for the next day.

So the harvest in the South, in my opinion, isn't just shooting or arrowing a deer. For me, it's doing everything myself. Harvest, have sharpened knives, gut, drag deer, skin, butcher, package meat. It's beyond newbie. And I sure have sympathy for newbies.

Past 8 seasons I have a great hunting set-up. Great camp with plenty of acreage ... complete with skinning shed and walk-in cooler. (I am ruined I am afraid !) But that was not always the case. For some 20+ years, I had a camp alright, but it was "primitive". I'd bring a large "marine" type ice chest, probably 60-80 quart size, that I would fill with blocks of ice that had been frozen in my freezer using 1 gallon ice cream buckets as the "form". And 4-6 two-liter bottles filled with water. If I killed a deer, I'd skin it and wash down good with the cold water, then ice it down good. With a good quality cooler, and plenty of ice, having enough for 2-3 day hunt was not a big deal. I would check it daily and drain off the excess water. On my way home drop it off at a local processer. There was not requirement for tagging back then. Now here in Alabama, the tagging is done upon recovery but there is no "check-in" requirement. As far as getting the deer out of the woods? It was no big deal to drag it to a woods road, then retrieve it with an ATV or truck. But I was a lot younger then. Dragging was a chore, but man more than a quarter mile kills me now !! Getting old and soft !

It can be 100 degrees or more, here in SC in August. The local processor says if you can get it to me in 3 hours or less, don't even dress it.
I usually process them myself so I dress them right away and cart them out of the woods. Then I get ice on them as quickly as possible.
I've never used a game bag.