What to do with deer?

[brokennock]

Hey folks, I need some advice. Granted it may be premature, but what the heck some say I'm immature. Deer season starts in 3 days here and it's hot and humid. What do ya'll do with a deer you just shot when it's above 40 degrees? That's after you've found it and field dressed it. There used to be a small meat market that had a small stock yard and would butcher whole cattle, near me. Used to be they would hang deer for a week in the cooler for a small fee. I recently discovered they're gone.
 I know that with me huntin crowded state land and having little time to hunt, I will most likely go deerless this year. But now and again a blind pig finds an acorn. I don't want to kill somethin just to have it go to waste.

[jamie]

dave you can hang it for a day and itll be fine. just get the hide off. its supposed to cool down to 70 days and 50 nights by friday. if your not sure how to butcher give me a buzz and we'll do it together. i can dissect deerquite well. peace

[GregB]

If you think it's too warm to hang for long, removing the hind-quarters, shoulders, cutting out the backstrip along the spine and the tenderloin inside the cavity just in front of the hindlegs is a quick way to remove the meat. Also meat around the neck that is good to grind into burger. All this can be temporarily placed in a regular cooler. I've got an extra refrigerator in my basement that I use. After removing meat as mentioned above, I have some rubber-made containers that I place the meat in and let soak in salt water for a few days in the refrigerator. Afterwards I cut into steaks, roasts, stew meat, or mix with beef and grind. Occasionally make brats also.

[cowboy]

Yep, what they said . I never take a deer to a processor (any more) too danged expensive and you can do it yourself in less than a day. Quarter the deer, cut off backstraps, tenderloins, etc - put all in coolers, cover with ice, leave the little drain plug out so it won't be sitting in water. The faster you can bleed it out and chill it, the better flavor it will have. If you keep ice on it, you can keep it in the coolers for days. I generally slice the bigger hunks of meat into steaks, grind everything else - like to add about 10 percent beef fat to the ground if it's an older deer - adds moisture to the meat and takes away some of the gamey taste. Don't forget the rawhide and sinew

[Hillbilly]

Same here. I like to have a deer quartered and on ice in a cooler within an hour or two of its last breath. I killed one last year on a 75 degree day and had an hour's drive back home. I field dressed it and stopped at the first store I came to and bought several bags of ice and stuck them into the body cavity. Kept it in good shape until I could get it hung, peeled and quartered.

[GregB]

I agree with Cowboy and Hillbilly. If it's late evening and I'm wore out, I might let it hang overnight if it's cold enough. Otherwise, I also like to get the hide off and the meat in cool temps as quickly as possible. 

[Auggie]

I usually freeze 2 or 3 milk jugs and a couple o 2 liters and throw em in the cooler when I go,and pile em in the deer after a kill to get it home,and if no luck, just refreeze! Auggie.

[mullet]

  It'll be in the high 80's,low 90's when our season opens.I quarter it and ice it down as soon as I can.Sometimes I'll keep it iced down for 3 or 4 days,draining the water and keeping it covered with ice every day.

[Justin Snyder]

I don't like water on the meat, it causes mildew if you don't get it super cold.  When its really hot I skin quarter and put it in a cooler with frozen jugs to get it home.  I also like to let the meat air out like Jamie does. Hang it at night when it is cooler and put it back in the cooler chest during the day.  If you have a cellar or cool dark room, you can hang it at night and wrap it in a clean sheet then a couple of heavy blankets in the cellar during the day.  The blankets in the cellar will keep it cool enough during the day. Justin

[DanaM]

Boy you hot weather guys have all kinds of trouble Up here come november you have to get it cut up before it freezes.
Right now its in the 40's unusual for this time of year but not unknown.

[Justin Snyder]

Boy you hot weather guys have all kinds of trouble Up here come november you have to get it cut up before it freezes.
Right now its in the 40's unusual for this time of year but not unknown.

We can start bowhunting in August when it is 105*.  Ill bet it sucks hiking around in all that snow gear wondering if your still going to get frost bite.  Or even worse sitting on your backside in a stand trying not to shiver so much you scare the game away.    Justin

[Little John]

I agree with Justin, I don't like the meat to be wet or in water. Don't forget dry Ice. A lot of out of staters who come to Colorado bring a chest freezer, you can freeze the meat with electricity or dry ice and it keeps perfectly till you can thaw it out and cut it up, same thing works with a big ice chest.   Kenneth

[Pat B]

I have an extra frig in my basement just for meat, Urac, feathers and such. When I clean a deer I take the hams off, the shoulders, the neck and remove the ribs from the backbone and cut the spine into 2 pieces. All of this goes in the frig for 10 days to 2 weeks. This aging gives the slow tenderization and flavor enhancing that aging allows. The meat skins over in the dry frig but this protects from drying it out totally. Just trim this dried meat off and good, tender venison is underneath.
   I brought a back strap back from this past weekends hunt and we had fried medallions for supper last night and it was excellent. You don't have to age game but it helps.
   When I first started hunting I remember being at the Bill John hunting club in the swamps of coastal SC for the opening of the season on August 15. Any deer that were shot were gutted and hung in a screened shed to keep the flies off but no refrigeration. At the end of the day the meat was divided up and none of it was spoiled.      Pat

[DanaM]

Justin, the cold makes ya hunt harder so you can get in where its warm.
Plus the all the biting and stinging insects are gone. Snow is also great for still hunting and tracking.
If we get enough snow early the deer start migrating to winter yards, find the migration trail and its possible to see
hundreds of deer in a day

[makete]

When I lived in Washington State our season started the first of Sept. It was plenty warm. We would skin the deer or elk then put in game bags and hang in cool place, after it was cooled, we then cover with an old sleeping bag to keep cool. When we got back home we would bone out and put in fridge til we processed. Cut into steaks and stewmeat and roasts. Figured if I want hamburger we could grind up the stew meat. Now living in Michigan dont have to worry much about it. Like Dana said it is now in the 40's during the day.