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Early Season Prevent Field Dressed Deer from Spoiling - Need Info

S

Sbrammer

Well-Known Member
SH Member
Joined
Nov 30, 2019
Messages
383
Location
Roanoke, Va.
I'm looking for some methods you all use to keep a field dressed deer from spoiling in the early season - October to mid November.

Here in SW Virginia the morning temperatures are no where near cool enough in the first part of the season to leave a field dressed deer overnight.

In the past, I have stored the deer in a mountain stream until the next morning, but I've read where this can introduce more bacteria. I don't think a couple of 20lb bags of ice would make until the morning, but I could be wrong.

What are some things you all do, or does everyone just work them up immediately? Thanks for taking time.
 
I do the following all through season.

Shoot deer.

If gut shot, let sit overnight and track in AM.

Debone in field. Pack out.

Either process immediately at home or put on ice or in fridge until I have time.

I live 50 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico in Alabama. Meat doesn't spoil as fast as you think it does. If it's growing funk or has bugs, you'll know. Worst "spoilage" I've ever had was a gut shot deer or two that sat in the October heat (80°s) and had tenderloins I didn't want to fool with. Everything else is separated from guts and should be fine.

Now, if for some reason you're not able to get one on ice/canned/frozen in 24-48 hours, I have no idea. Can't imagine a circumstance where that should be a regular thing
 
When I am at camp I have a cooler filled with frozen milk jugs or two liter soda bottles. I place the deer quarters in the cooler with the frozen bottles. When I get home I have a fridge in my garage that is set up to hang quarters in until I can get to them to process. If I am hunting near home I skip the cooler step and the quarters just go directly in the fridge.
 
You're not near a refrigerator it seems?

I live in WV and so have similar temps in early season.

I gut the deer, immediately drive to skin and quarter it, and then put the quarters in a fridge for a few days and then finish processing.

Folks do similar but instead use a large cooler with the drain plug out and keep putting ice on it.

I'd think with today's high tech coolers that you wouldn't need a lot of ice to chill some quarters and get them home.

If way far back, you could quarter in the field, if that is legal in your state.
 
Newbie here so limited advice but after wondering the same thing I remember being worried about this, for the deer I shot last September I hung her up that evening and skinned/quartered, put in cooler on a rack to hold meat off of ice, butchered over next two days. Meat has been great. If you do this method people say putting ice directly on the meat can freezer burn the surface, and letting it sit in ice water is no good (bacteria and water logged meat I've heard)
 
Everyone else hit the high points so I’ll add a bit extra:
Heat obviously is your enemy so get it field dressed asap. If you don’t have access to ice cut all the way up to the neck and get that chest cavity open. Get the entire contents emptied. Get the carcass skinned which will also allow heat to escape. If you can get the carcass parted out even if into large pieces and place in mesh bags. That’ll further help with cooling and help keep flies off. If you can elevate the bags so breeze will further help cool the meat. If you’re going creek method I’d still quarter but place the meat in thick plastic bags before placing in the creek. You can also rig up a pole and elevate the meat over the creek and in the shade so the cool water running under it will lower the overall temps, combined with shade it’ll help a lot.
 
Keep in mind, the Indians didn't have walk-in refrigerators, Yeti coolers, or ice machines.

I've yet to ever hear of anyone getting sick from eating wild venison. Not saying it hasn't happened or can't happen, but in my nearly 30 years of hunting, I've known zero people that have complained of such a thing, and I know a lot of deer eaters that are a bit dubious with their meat handling.

Now, people getting sick from the big chicken and beef farms, that's a different story, apparently. I'll take the wild venison any day.
 
I also live in VA. Quarter or debone (up to you) immediately, layer of ice in a cooler, place in the quarters, and pack with ice, open the drain plug, you don't want the meat soaking in water. I have shot 2 deer on Thursday (Thanksgiving) out of town. Kept them on ice until Monday when my processor at home was back open. Not a problem at all. I added a third deer on Saturday to the cooler
 
Opening weekend, usually in the 80’s I will shoot a doe and bone it out or quarter it and put in a cooler asap. My wife and I will have it processed that night or into the next day. It should keep well enough on ice for a couple days.
 
Open from the tail to the head, two or three spreaders, get home as quickly as possible, skin, quarter, place in cooler with wire racks in the bottom to keep out of the melting ice, drain often. I sometimes keep them up to 5 days this way and have never had bad meat. If it is late enough to get cooler at night I hang in the garage and put insulation panels around on three sides with a window air conditioner on the forth side. This works if the garage stays around 60 F. in the daytime with the area inside the panels around 45 F.
 
long as you gut em quick, rest of the process really doesn’t have to be as rushed. My early season deer last year it was 90 degrees out when shot. Gutted within about 30 min of shot. Dragged out and drove home and was fully skinned and quartered in my back yard. By the time i got the meat in the aging fridge it had been close to 4 hours since the the shot. From there it went in the freezer. Just cooked the back strap and tenders last night. Still perfect.
 
I’ve left it in my jet sled and put bags of ice in there and put several old blankets over it. Works if you just want to go to bed and deal with it in the morning. I’ll also pull it inside since it’s way cooler in the house. But You married fools may not want to try that...
 
I'd be leery of a mountain stream, but would be comfortable with a deep lake. A buddy got giardia on a scout trip once and unfiltered stream water has me hinked up since then.

A game processer I used to know would bring a chest freezer on his out-of-state hunts, with a dozen or so frozen gallon jugs of water. When he shot a deer or a bear he'd put it in the freezer, cover with ice jugs, and plug it in at the motel, then thaw it out when he got home. Might be more steps than you want to take, but maybe you have space in the garage for a chest freezer.

I've also seen recommendations to hang the deer with bags of ice in contact with the hams, and in the chest cavity. Generally if it's too warm to hang it for a week I'll butcher and freeze it ASAP.
 
As a person who didn't take up hunting till in my 30s these are kinda my thoughts.... before I could get my licence I had to go take a hunters education course.....why this aspect of hunting isn't even mentioned or covered really doesn't make any sense to me at all....I didn't have anyone to ask or show me anything... Utube videos help but it's a far cry from hands on. With the amount of road kill deer/pigs u would think it wouldn't be to difficult to put on a demo. They only do a couple safety classes a month if I remember correct so 24 deer/pigs a year? If I remember right the 2 guy putting on the class were volunteers....fwc could find butchering volunteers if they tried I think... I have always worried about the heat but that video above is pretty telling. Laying out 12hrs, or whatever it was, in south Florida and still good...
 
Weldabeast said:
As a person who didn't take up hunting till in my 30s these are kinda my thoughts.... before I could get my licence I had to go take a hunters education course.....why this aspect of hunting isn't even mentioned or covered really doesn't make any sense to me at all....I didn't have anyone to ask or show me anything... Utube videos help but it's a far cry from hands on. With the amount of road kill deer/pigs u would think it wouldn't be to difficult to put on a demo. They only do a couple safety classes a month if I remember correct so 24 deer/pigs a year? If I remember right the 2 guy putting on the class were volunteers....fwc could find butchering volunteers if they tried I think... I have always worried about the heat but that video above is pretty telling. Laying out 12hrs, or whatever it was, in south Florida and still good...
Click to expand...
I was talking to a game warden on one of the nearby Ojibwe reservations and he mentioned putting on a class in school, for grade schoolers. Part of it was teaching ethical hunting, but he also covered the language and traditions. The whole class got their hands bloody dressing, skinning, and butchering a doe he had shot for the purpose. That might be an extreme example, but your suggestion is well taken. How tough would it be to get a goat or lamb donated for an in-person demonstration, or a hunter safety field trip to a farm?
 
Weldabeast said:
As a person who didn't take up hunting till in my 30s these are kinda my thoughts.... before I could get my licence I had to go take a hunters education course.....why this aspect of hunting isn't even mentioned or covered really doesn't make any sense to me at all....I didn't have anyone to ask or show me anything... Utube videos help but it's a far cry from hands on. With the amount of road kill deer/pigs u would think it wouldn't be to difficult to put on a demo. They only do a couple safety classes a month if I remember correct so 24 deer/pigs a year? If I remember right the 2 guy putting on the class were volunteers....fwc could find butchering volunteers if they tried I think... I have always worried about the heat but that video above is pretty telling. Laying out 12hrs, or whatever it was, in south Florida and still good...
Click to expand...
I killed a buck 2 years ago one morning. At noon I had a draw hunt beginning on a nearby property. That property had a skinning shed and walk in cooler and ice maker. I had hunted there before and have a decent relationship with the warden in charge of the hunt. I texted to ask if I could bring my buck by and get some free ice. I kinda expected him to say no.

He was actually thrilled. He had a lady from the other end of the state who was in charge of a state park that recently allowed hunting. She wasn't a hunter, but was there to learn how to age jawbones, measure antler mass, check for lactation, and assist with processing for kids, women, and disabled hunters (state puts more effort into teaching and helping those demographics). Me bringing a deer by meant she got to learn with only myself and him there, and she got to do it in time to be home for dinner instead of staying in a hotel for a night or 2 depending on hunter success.

It was cool to watch somebody learn. I won't say she was a natural, but she had a good attitude about it and said it was beat to watch it go from a carcass to primal cuts and entries in a spreadsheet.

I enjoy showing people how to do stuff like that. It's been really fun to teach my buddy who didn't grow up hunting how to break one down
 
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