So you are heading out of state for a public land hunt with a buddy. You are staying in a hotel not far from the land you will be hunting. Your time consists of 5-7 days. On the first day you close the deal on a nice buck. Now what? Where do you keep the meat? do you take it to a butcher, put it in a cooler?
I would find a local processor to either butcher the animal, or hang it until you're ready to go home.
If you do your own butchering, I would just debone the whole deer and put it in a cooler on ice. Drain the water ever day and check ice level. I would have no problem keeping a deer on ice for a week. I do it every year in the early season because it's to hot to hang a deer. If you normally get your deer butchered, then I would take it to a butcher and have him freeze it when he is done. Then just pick it up when leaving town, and pack it in a cooler.
I always butcher my deer at home simply cuz of the cost. But with staying in a hotel, you would have to find a place to hang the deer to do the work.
Either of the above options will work. However, if the day time highs are above 50* I wouldn't put it on ice unless you have an expensive cooler like a yeti or something comparable. If you go the cooler route, try to keep it inside the air-conditioned hotel room and not in the back of a truck. Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
Yeah, I don't have a Yeti nor a cooler that could fit a whole deer. Definitely something I would have to invest in if I were to go that route.
A good cooler is not a necessity if you are keeping it in an air-conditioned hotel room. However, you will probably have change ice everyday without one. That takes away time from helping your buddy and filling any extra tags you may have. Sent from my iPhone using Bowhunting.com Forums
The cooler route would be the best, and most cost effective option. Leaving a quartered deer in a cooler for a week is nothing. I generally will leave them in a cooler (drain water change/check ice daily) for up to 2 weeks. Breaks the meat down nicely. Truth be told, if i had a walk in cooler where i could hang them longer i would.
Warning on deer transportation. Make sure to check the laws of the states you are driving through on your way home. That may determine how you store your deer. Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk
I second this. I leave my deer quartered in an ice chest for easily a week but do change the ice out and drain it daily. I don't have a yeti... I have the igloo sportsman 152 qt cooler that works just fine. It's $79 at academy. I keep the cooler in the shade to make the ice last longer.
You don't need a expensive cooler, a cheap Styrofoam one would work and just throw out after trip. It only takes 5 minutes to put ice in and drain each day. They probably have a free ice machine at the hotel, that would make it real easy. Also I agree that just keep in room, don't leave out in the sun.
Could prob even pay a local butcher to debone if you don't want to mess with that. I wouldn't hesitate to put the meat in a cooler, iced down, for a week. As everyone has said, change ice regularly & drain water.
I have an RTIC that my wife got me, but before that i made plenty of long trips with a similar igloo cooler, worked just fine. Definitely no need to break the bank on a cooler.
If it were me I'd bring to a local butcher to debone it. This usually costs me around $70, which I think is well worth it. Hopefully, the butcher would be able to keep your meat in a freezer until end of the trip too.
I would bone it out right where I recovered it, pack the meat out and store it in coolers. In fact I probably done just that a couple dozen times.
I'd turn the A/C down real low in your room and hang it in the shower until it was time to head home...... Or, I'd take it to a local butcher and get it de-boned and frozen.
If you want to go the redneck method. Throw it in the tub and fill the tub with ice and pack your beer around it.
This would be awesome! I'd skin it first.. really freak out the housekeeping staff!! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
