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Advice on leaving deer overnight (low 49) before processing please

thedutchtouch

thedutchtouch

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Apologies in advance for asking a question that has been asked a bunch of times before.

It's currently63 degrees, overnight low predicted to be 49 at 7 am. I shot this deer at 5:30 PM, had it gutted by 7 and there a couple of bags of ice (still in the bag) inside her on the drive home.

Am I ok to leave the deer in my truck (cap, so not super worried about flies) or should I suck it up and quarter tonight? I'm tired but thinking I need to suck it up because it's not quite cold enough, but wondering if the ice bags buys me 12 hrs? Would love to wake up at 7 and do it in the AM daylight, but don't want to affect the meat. #newbie deer 3! I processed the first two night of.
 
If it were me, I’d quarter it and get in in the fridge or cooler. As tired as you are, knowing your dinner is hanging motivates you.


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It’s the worst feeling. I’ve had a few hanging on “the thin line” that I ended up cutting far past my exhaustion because meat quality exceeds my tiredness.

Congrats on a hanging deer and self-butchering.


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If you added a lot more ice inside and out you should be fine. The rear quarters are the thickest and take longer to cool. maybe wraped in a tarp with the ice like a large cooler
 
Icedog said:
If you added a lot more ice inside and out you should be fine. The rear quarters are the thickest and take longer to cool. maybe wraped in a tarp with the ice like a large cooler
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I 2nd this. A few seasons ago a friend killed with similar temps. It was a late recovery. Put a tarp down on the cement garage floor,6 bags of ice and wrapped the tarp over and folded tightly under. Deer was very cold and ice did not even melt much by the next day. Worked great.
 
well, i should have come back to check again, but ive been busy skinning and cutting and showering. doe's quartered and in the cooler, and i'm wiped. i guess all the better, i'll sleep soundly tonight for more reasons than one. thank you all for the advice, in the future i will likely delay til AM. particularly as temps drop.
 
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I've left mine hanging in 40 to 50 degree weather, in the shade, for 3 days and it was perfectly fine. Especially in fall, dry weather with no bugs(northern MN). But you gotta Be comfortable with the concept!
 
If you have a jet sled you can ice the deer down in the sled and throw a bunch of tarps or blankets over it. If it’s really hot you can pull the sled into the house. If I had to rank all the deer hunting gear I own the jet sled would be right near the top.
 
Obviously you solved the issue by quartering it last night, but it would most likely have been fine. One concern I have is if I am really tired that might not be the best time to be wrestling a deer with a razor sharp knife. When I used to hang deer to skin them, I have nicked myself more than once while they were swinging around, and I was working the knife. I never got myself good but to that knife, meat is meat.
 
thedutchtouch said:
well, i should have come back to check again, but ive been busy skinning and cutting and showering. doe's quartered and in the cooler, and i'm wiped. i guess all the better, i'll sleep soundly tonight for more reasons than one. thank you all for the advice, in the future i will likely delay til AM. particularly as temps drop.
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I have done the quarter up, ice chest thing for years ,it does work . I not getting any younger so this year I made a walk in cooler . Cost a little money but very nice to hang a deer in there and not worry about it. Good luck
 
I always quarter and throw in the refrigerator or cooler. If I don’t use frozen bottles of ice I make sure the meat isn’t getting wet from bags of ice.

It’s easy to quarter deer.
 
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