Question about early season deer.

Deer season has been open here since Sept 1st. I haven't been out yet because I don't know what I would do with a deer if I got it. The weather is still warm enough that I'm afraid the meat would be ruined while hanging before I could process it.

Is this fear legitimate or should I get my butt out in the trees?

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Get out in the trees. If you stuff the cavity full of ice on your way home the meat will be sufficiently cool. Process immediately and toss it in the freezer. If you have to leave a deer overnight it might be questionable, so I keep early season shots even shorter than later season ones.

 

It is a very legitimate concern. If you cant get to it yourself right away I would take it to butcher. I process my own deer so if I don't have time to take care of it same day (because of warm temps) I stay out of the stand.

Ice in the body cavity will not keep the back legs cool enough in my opinion just the back straps and maybe the front shoulders.

If I am in a hurry I will get the hide off, quarter the deer and get it in a cooler of ice. Should realistically take you an hour maybe two depending on your experience level.

Thank you for having the foresight to ask the question.

 

^^^^ this exactly

 

I had this concern as well and I did just as Blarney said last year...I would get it home get the hide off, get it quartered and then into a cooler of ice or fridge if you have and extra one...stop and get some ice on your way home and stuff the cavity for good measure.

 

I wasn't referring to the ice being enough overall, just enough to keep the deer cool until you get home to process it. Sorry if I wasn't clear about that.

 

Thanks for the advice. I do plan to process it myself with the help/instruction of a friend. I didn't know that quick processing without hanging was an option.

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I quarter the deer out and put it in cooler of ice with salt. I will usually keep it on ice between 4 to 7 day's before I process, draining the water off and adding ice and salt each day. Outside of late season, we can't let deer hang for very long down here so we've always aged them in coolers of ice.

 

We do our own processing also. I won't kill a doe if it's over 75 degrees out. I'll kill a buck, and take it to a processor if I won't have time to do it myself. If we have to hang it overnight, I don't want the temps to be anywhere above 70 for the high that should put the lows somewhere in the 50's.

Keep the deer out of the sun and get that hide off as quickly as you can. The sun makes a huge difference. You can really keep it pretty cool if it's in the shade, even on a fairly warm day.

 

People in the south would never hunt. Get out there and kill a deer.
then skin and quarter and put on a cooler (or coolers) full of ice. No worries.

 

Do you rapp the meat in plastic rapp or just put it in the cooler?

 

sorry wrap^^^^

 

I usually wrap the meat...

 

you can do a gutless butchering job on a deer in about 30 minutes. Start at the backbone and skin down to each elbow. Then take straps and quarter. DUN.

 

Why the salt. I have heard of this before but I never understood why?

 

Not sure if it's the same with deer but when I clean my waterfowl I always put the meat in a container with water and salt because it helps draw the blood out of the meat.

 

This.....you could skip salt but it helps draw the blood out. Been doing this for years. I don't wrap the meat.