Taking care of the Meat

[Tyke]

Hi this will be my first year hunting and I was planning on just hunting grouse in September but the more I think about and watch shows of people hunting deer makes me want to so much more. My initial plan to just hunt grouse is because they are small and I live in a basement apartment with no garage and a small fridge. So my concern is that if I'm successful in getting a deer I have nowhere to hang the meat and keep it cool until I get it made into steaks and roasts etc... I have searched what other people have done and Ive seen a guy use a big cooler with ice and a guy had a cheap fridge that he took all the shelves out and put a bar on the inside to hang the meat. I'm just wondering if anyone else is in the same boat and how you deal with your meat. Thanks so much for any insight!

[Fella]

If you're not doing the work yourself, take it straight to the butcher to be dealt with. Are you doing day hunts? Week long camp outs? If you're in the bush for an extended period just hang the animal up on a meat pole until you're ready to go home. Of course this depends on temps, if it's warm out get that sucker cooled off as fast as possible and get it to a processor asap.

[BCKID]

What I do is skin out the deer, let it cool overnight,bone it out and put it in game bags. (Depending on temp) Then put the meat in a cooler with as much ice as you can. A layer of ice on the bottom, then meat then more ice. You can get a 100 lb deer in one large cooler if its boned out. If it's cool enough I let it hang till I'm heading home. Bone it out last. No mess at home!! There's lots of videos on YouTube about skinning and boning out game.

[Mikey Rafiki]

If you want to do it yourself you could just debone it and keep it in a fridge as you process it. I don't see what you would gain by hanging in a fridge vs laying the meat on some racks.

I've done this with deer before and with the ribs/loins/neck from Elk when I just bring the 4 quarters in to the butcher.

[DANOSON]

Being a new hunter if you do as in post #3 be sure to leave identification on the animal proof of sex and a patch of hair.

[Tyke]

Thanks so much everyone! Ya I'l mostly be doing weekend hunts and I am in the market for a new cooler so Il just pick one a bit bigger than normal.

[brian]

This is advice for if you plan n processing the entire deer yourself. First you'll need to find a place to skin it. You can do this in the field on the ground, but it is easier to do if it is hanging. I would bring a rope and pulley (or just a rope) so you can hang the deer off a thick branch in the field and skin it out. Then drop the deer into a large marine cooler.
Before the season starts I freeze a bunch of plastic 4 liter milk jugs full of water and use these in the cooler. The milk jugs keep the carcass from sitting in melted ice water and provide free ice. Let the deer sit in the cooler until you are ready to process it. Just a note, you don't need to hang deer and can process it immediately if you lack the facilities to keep it cool for the time needed. I would not count on processing the deer right after a hunt, you'll probably be dog tired!!! So I would say count on needing to cool it down and store it until you have time to butcher it. I would keep a whole day clear for butchering if it is your first time doing it. Lastly you'll need to figure out how you will dispose of the bits you don't want.

[nicktrehearne]

I would look into the "gutless" method online as well as how to de-bone quarters. This way, you'll leave everything you don't want to eat, out in the field. If you're strapped for space you don't need to hang it, so this will allow you to take the meat home and butcher right away with not having to find somewhere to get rid of the bones, hide, etc.

As DANOSON mentioned, just make sure you leave the required amount of identification.

[Glenny]

What ever you choose to do the most important thing, for me anyway, imho, is to get the hide off asap. It's my golden rule. Good luck.

[Singleshotneeded]

Unless it's the beginning of the season and still sunny and damned warm in the valleys...and you're not de-boning and putting it in a large cooler...then you want to leave the hide on and dump it lengthwise into a cold clean mountain stream. About 45 minutes immersion will have your deer almost ice cold, and you'll be able to get it home, skin it, and take it to the butcher the next day.