So I usually hunt in November when its good and cold. I butcher my own whitetail and have for years. We sold the farm and I luckily found someone I work with who is allowing me to hunt. The issue I can hunt archery only. So from October to November I can hunt the land. My issue is the temperature is crazy and it looks like a hot fall. I looked for butchers to process my deer, but most are only open until 5pm. This is not the best time to deliver a deer as for now will most likely be closer to 6 before its even out of the woods. So I am trying to figure out how to cool one deer at a time down so I can process it myself. I have seen some great portable coolers but I do not have thousands of dollars. So I am asking on the forum to see what others are doing to cool down the deer prior to processing it. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
I immediately quarter my deer and put it in a cooler with ice on top. Open the drain plug and let the ice melt and water run out. Add ice as needed. Let the meat age for a few days and then debone.
Skin and quarter the deer and put it in a cooler with ice but leave the lid cracked open a little for the first hour to allow for heat from the meat to escape,if possible set the cooler in a basement or somewhere cool.Add ice when needed and try to keep most of the water drained.
I don't worry about cooling down the carcass. When I take early season deer in hot weather, I field dress them, hang them up in the shade of the shop and turn on the shop fan. After the fan starts, I skin the deer and debone it immediately and put the meat in unscented trash bags in small portions and then I put it in the extra fridge to cool down for day or two or however long it takes me to get the energy to finish processing it. The short version is I process the deer ASAP after it hits the ground, aging deer is for meat connoisseurs, I'm just a redneck venison lover.
If your only deboning then this is possible however warm meat does not go through a meat grinder very well
Great, thanks all. I am so used to letting it hang over night and then cut it up. So what size cooler do you all use for a average size doe? I only have one fridge, I am now looking for a used one for a second fridge. I am thinking the cooler way would be easier. I really appreciate all the responses. I felt stupid to ask but all these years I hung them when it was cold out. It will be 94 opening day.
Yeah I don't like having to process deer in hot weather which is partially why I don't generally hunt much until the weather cools off. We've been talking about buying a refrigerated reefer trailer for the ranch so the owner and family has a place to hang their deer but as of yet it hasn't been done. Would be nice though. Need to do something like that because we have a crap load of deer that need thinned out and I ain't processing the sob's by myself in a day, lol.
I have 5 heavily insulated walls (one for the top) and a put an AC unit in there and fill the deer with ice. I either set it up in the basement or the shop. That way if i dont have time to quarter it right away it can sit for a while and stay good and cold.
I use a Rubbermaid chest type cooler. I'm not sure but my guess is that it woul hold about 5 gallons of water
Well actually there is a reason to cool it, rigor mortis. It's going to be really tough if you butcher before rigor mortis. Tough eating that is.
Gutless skinning. Debone. Layer of ice. Layer of meat. Layer of ice. Don't let the meat touch any plastic or other meat. It will hold the heat in. It usually takes me about an hr to completely debone. After 3+ days I'll break all the way and bag. I put freezer bags underwater to work all the air out. I find this is better and cheaper than vacuum seal or butcher paper. I also the packed bags flat on a cookie sheet and freeze then stack in the deep freeze. Takes up less room and freezes faster.
What are you doing for processing? Grinding? Steaks? Locker? We usually shoot something early when it can get hot during the day. We will hang, skin, and gut. Let it hang briefly to allow heat to escape. Getting the hide off helps release a lot of heat and keep it out of sun. We just bone the meat off the deer and put in the fridge so it has a constant temperature. We will trim up or clean up the meat usually a week later. Most times we will do this when it is cold out too. We will just let it hang and cool down longer. Cooler and ice should be able to cool it down too.
Ok lots of good ideas here. I have 45 minute drive from where I hunt to where I can process the animal. So get a few 2 liter soda bottles and fill with water then freeze. If I kill something I gut it as soon as I find it and once its back to the the truck I fill the chest and stomach cavity with the bottles. if possible lay the deer on its back so the hams are separated as well. As soon as I get home I finish skinning and processing. You can wipe the bottles clean and refreeze.
