Here is the weather report. Saturday Partly sunny. Highs in the upper 40s. Saturday Night Partly cloudy. Lows in the mid 30S. Sunday Partly sunny with a 20 percent chance of light rain. Highs in the upper 40s. Sunday Night Mostly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of light rain. Lows in the mid 30s. Monday Mostly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of light rain. Highs in the mid 40s. We will be at a hunting camp with several guys and hope to be able to just hang the deer from the meat pole and not have to butcher right away. It is going to be warmer than normal so I am a little concerned because it is not going to freeze at night. I think we will be okay but just wanted others opinions. Our camp goes Friday through Wednesday so I hope to be able to let’em hang till then. Your thoughts? The upper 40s the first two days scares me a little when it is not freezing at night.
if you don't want to butcher them or get them processed right away and your worried you can always pack them with ice. put ice in the cavity, against the back and on the hind quarters and cover then with a tarp or something. keep them in the shade or out of the sun and it'll be fine. my hunting party has done this many times with no problems
i hang mine in my garage... if its early seaon i have to worry about my freeze baby neighbors who jack the heat up at the first sign of below 50 degree weather... i'll crack the garage door and put a cheese cloth type of covering over it for a few days. in the late season i'll let em hang for a good three days. i always worry when the temps are warm like you posted...
In weather like this I would like to get the hide off if it will hang...my most recent experiences show me that the quicker a kill is skinned, the better the meat. Most deer that are only field dressed still have hide around the entire hind quarters...not good...their skin is amazing for holding in heat. Quarter and Ice, or at least skin and cover with cloth would be my vote.
Get it cool and keep it in the shade, chest propped open with lots of air flowing... it'll be fine. If you skin it put it in a cheesecloth type sack to keep bugs off it. It's really no big deal to go ahead and bone it out, put it in an ice chest but keep it out of water and off the ice. Put a barrier between the ice and the meat and drain off water.
Brad we had deer hanging all week in a tree at the campsite with no problems! Its cold in the Kettles at night!
Good to hear from you Joe. You guys still camping? Any luck? Can't wait to get out there! Thanks for the tips... First we need to shoot something!!!
51 is the high. If it cools down at night and you keep it out of the sun and elevated it'll be just fine for a couple days.
