I am new to the forms but i would venture to say that a good number of people here process their own deer. What temperature is too warm to hang a deer? With the abnormally warm temperatures we have had I have been hesitant to take a shot.
I forget where I got the number (I read a lot), but I always shoot for 42F. I don't sleep well unless it's consistently below. Obviously in some circumstances, you won't get that target temp, so u do what you can with what you have to get it cool as soon as possible. Def keep it out of the sun. Find a fridge or buy some ice. Cold water like a stream is an option, but keep in mind that water actually makes things worse as far as bacteria growth. Obviously the first thing is to gut the animal and prop open for cooling. Add bags of ice or frozen gallon jugs of water to the body cavity if hanging upside down
I have hung deer upside down filled with ice and wrapped in tarp to insulate in 60 degree weather. The meat was cold when I quartered it out. Obviously that was pushing the limit and I should have deboned sooner but I got away with it. Just make sure if it's warm that you have the time to deal with it afterwards. Nothing sucks worse than being late to some event or holiday cause you had to skin your deer out. You will be an a-hole for sure. Lol trust me Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
My camp does not have electricity. We placed an old 23 cubic foot freezer on some blocks, we now place gutted deer, along with cutting off legs into freezer, place 3 or 4 bags of ice in and around deer, good for a couple days, we have also now placed a sheet of the hard foam insulation on top also under a piece of plywood, seems to keep cold in even better. For the price of a few bags of ice we get piece of mind
