I've only shot deer in November and living in Wisconsin its usually cold enough where we can get away with hanging the deer for a few days until we have time to cut it and package it. My question is though what do you guys do if you kill a deer in September or October when it could be 50 or 60 degrees outside and cant hang it ?
If we shoot one and it's to warm to let them hang, we quarter them up and put them in the freezer. I know a lot of people say you shouldn't freeze them right away, but we have done it this way for years and I have no complaints with our meat. A lot of people will quarter them up and put them in coolers for a few days.
I pack the chest with ice and wrap the deer in a tarp. Load it into my truck close the cover on the bed and head home. I hang it in the garage for a few hours then quarter it and freeze it until I'm ready to process it. Sent from my SGH-T959 using Xparent Green Tapatalk 2
We honestly take our's to a processor anymore and the warmer it is the quicker this occurs...sometimes before getting home even.
Ill usually dress mine then when i get home start to quarter it. Ill cut off the back straps and tenderloins and wrap them up and put them in my fridge to be eaten that night. Then ill ill quarter the deer and ziplock it and put it in hte deep freezer till im ready to proccess it.
I If I get one in Early October, I will let it hang for a few hours and then quarter it and freeze it. After that it's normally cool enough to let it hang for a few days.
When I cut my own I kept a fridge in the garage. I would skin, then quarter and store them in that fridge. My back limits what I can do now so I take them straight to the processor when it's warm out.
knock the hide off and hang it as it will glaze over or debone it and it will fit in a cooler no problem.
I only usually hunt evenings in the early season. I get them skinned and processed the same evening. If its super hot, I don't hunt.
Heck I could only wish it was 60 degrees in Sept. Its cooled off into the mid 80's for a high today. What I do was bone it out,fill a cooler with 50/50 water and ice. Throw in about 2 cups of salt and let that deer think about what it did wrong for the next few days. I'll go add ice as necessary and dump out the bloody water. The back strap usually doesn't make it long.sometimes doesn't make it the day(back strap and eggs for breakfast is GOOOOD). After I let it soak for a few days I'll either grind it or run it through a tenderizer.
I have seen too many processors have piles of deer on each other, laying on their garage or barn floor...no thanks... Butcher your own.... When warm, coolers with ice will do or pick up a fridge, skin the deer and quarter it and butcher it at your convenience...
Our shed has a lot of shade and we installed a window A/C unit so we hang it and turn the A/C on . Works pretty good as long as temps don't go above 80 for a high .
We cut our up right away but don't package it. What I do is put the cut up meat onto something so the blood can drain out into a bowl and stick it into our extra fridge for a few hours. After that than I package it up.
We know our local butcher really good and his operation is clean. We take our deer there and he does it for like $60. I only shoot 2 deer at the most per year so it isn't worth the time (that I don't have) to do it ourselves.
I have an extra fridge and can can easily fit a quartered deer in one. From the time it get home until in the fridge is less than 1 hour. I hang mine by the back legs. I skin it, cut off the front shoulders and cut out the back straps. They go to the fridge. I put them on freezer paper and lightly covered. I then cut all the meat off the ribcage and neck and put them on uncovered ice cream pails. Once picked clean I cut the carcass (ribs/spine) off just in front of the hind quarters. I then split the hind quarters and to the fridge. Sometimes I need to cut off the leg bone some (usually at the knee) to get it to fit on a shelf. I usually start on the front shoulders and cuttings the next day for burger/sausage. I wait 5-10 days to cut up the hinds and loins. Just make sure you change the freezer paper daily if it gets bloody.
I hear ya...the only two we use have the thing's skinned, hair flamed removed and into a hanging cooler before you've even given all your information to the info collector :D The day our good friend stops processing we will surely start processing our own again.
I am from WI too and we honestly cut them up that night and then I can grind them up any time I want after. I usually only get to hunt Thur-Sun though so I usually have help.
