What do you do after the kill?

[BelegStrongbow]

So total new guy question here. What do you do after you harvest a deer? This is my second year hunting and so far I have yet to harvest an animal. Learned quite a bit out in the woods last year and hoping to spend as many days as I can out this year.

I am pretty confident in my ability to properly gut the animal and get it back home, it's the part after this that I am unsure of. I've heard some guys say to take it in immediately to get it processed and yet I've heard others say to wash it out with water and let it hang in a nice cool garage for a few days prior to having in processed.

So what's the best way to go about this? Thanks.

[Schmidty3]

Here's what I always do.

I quarter the animal and put it on ice. Keep it on ice for the next few days until I get to it. Then butcher it myslef. Worked fine for the last 50 or so deer my family has done. We almost always have the deer in the ice chest within 4-5 hours of shooting it.

A lot of people will recommend hanging it or whatever. But most of the time its too hot for that. And out method has resulted in good eating and no gamey meat so we will continue doing it our way.

If you are getting it processed and don't want to quarter it, then just throw a bag of ice in the chest cavity of its semi cool outside and take it to the processor asap.

If you find that you are getting better and killing more deer then you might as well learn to butcher it yourself. A grinder and vacuum sealer will pay for themselves quickly with processing fees at $100 or more.

[Possum Head]

Originally posted by Schmidty3:
Here's what I always do.

I quarter the animal and put it on ice. Keep it on ice for the next few days until I get to it. Then butcher it myslef. Worked fine for the last 50 or so deer my family has done. We almost always have the deer in the ice chest within 4-5 hours of shooting it.

A lot of people will recommend hanging it or whatever. But most of the time its too hot for that. And out method has resulted in good eating and no gamey meat so we will continue doing it our way.

If you are getting it processed and don't want to quarter it, then just throw a bag of ice in the chest cavity of its semi cool outside and take it to the processor asap.

If you find that you are getting better and killing more deer then you might as well learn to butcher it yourself. A grinder and vacuum sealer will pay for themselves quickly with processing fees at $100 or more.

X2

[Car54]

Down here in the South, ice chest(cooler) & ice is your friend. X3...
Oh..and don't forget to drain the water every so often and add ice.

[redfish]

Well Ranger, what you described is one reason that I seldom kill a deer anymore.
First off. If you don't have time to do the job right just don't kill the deer.
Next. I suggest that you go back over your field dressing routine to make sure that you are not ruining the meat in the process. Botched field dressing is where most of the reputation comes from for poor taste of venison.
If you don't live way up north or have a walk in refrigerator, forget the hanging part. Do what Car54 said.
Actually, deer processing is a pretty large subject that would take a lot more space than we have here.
Get a book called "Making the Most of Your Deer", or something like that, and study it.
That is one reason that I tend to lean towards small game nowadays...more fun and action and less work.
RLTW

[Sam McMichael]

Down South, we need to get the animal on ice or in the deer cooler pretty quick, particularly in the heat of early season. Meat will go bad fairly quick in the heat, but a little ice early on will give you ample opportunity to get it to a more suitable storage facility.

[Red Beastmaster]

Field dress, drag it out, take it home for the family to see, then straight to the processor.

[Schmidty3]

A couple things I do for gutting that makes it quicker a and cleaner...

I use multiple knives. One big buck knife (119?) One smaller knife. A gerber gut knife thingy, its a concave shaped knife with a rubber ball on the end so you don't poke guts, and a butt-out tool (snicker...snicker...whatever. A lot of people think its a gimmick. But for me it works great). Rotating knives like that makes each last longer before I have to resharpen.

I feel along the rib cage until I find the end of the sternum. Poke a hole there. Slide in my big knife towards the heart lungs area. Then use the side of my hand to hammer the back of the knife, slicing through the ribs all the way to the front of the chest (may not work well on very large deer, it also can ruin a mount if done this way). This gives easy access to the esophogus. That saves a bunch of time versus getting elbow deep in guts.

The butt out tool saves me a ton of time around the anus.

And use the gut hook knife thingy for zipping the hide on the legs and obviously the gut cavity during gutting.

Doing all this I've started gutting a deer (1.5 year doe), gotten it quartered, packed up, and packed out on my back a mile away in less than an hour.

[Eric Krewson]

One thing I do before I take a deer to the processor is put on a pair of latex gloves and cut every bit of the tarsal glands off and the skin around them.

I took a stinking buck to a fly by night processor once and I believe he skinned the deer, cut through the tarsal glands and used the same knife to cut up the deer. The meat was tainted with the tarsal gland stink, every bit of it.

Always one to eat what I kill, I made it through most of this deer with heavy use of smoke and spices but eventually fed the last 10# or so to my dog.

[RC]

Do a search on Warren Wommack or Chris Spikes field quartering method. I been doing this forever. With practice you can have a deer in the meat sack or cooler in under 20 minutes.
   In all honesty there is no wrong way to do it. You get the skin off keeping the meat as clean as possible. I do not gut the deer. You can cut a slit and reach in and get the tender loins.Get the meat on ice as quick as you can. Wash your meat really good and cut off the white stuff. I process my own venison . I bought a 40 dollar meat grinder from BP and cube everything big enough and hamburger the rest. About every 4th deer or a mature buck goes to town to the sausage maker for smoked sausage.
  I once won a bet with a guy. I skinned and boned out a deer with his Barlow pocket knife in 18 minutes...on the ground. I never hang or drag a deer anymore. Do the same with wild pigs just be sure to use plastic gloves.
  I don`t see a reason to gut a deer unless you cannot legally bone the deer out due to tagging or such. If I have to get the carcass out I bone out and remove the hams then gut the deer then drag the rest. Much easier. RC

[RC]

We eat 5-8 deer a year at my house. I had a good season last year and killed 8. There are about 6 packs left over and I got the first of the year opening day. God is good.
  Hunting is not only fun but a healthy life style. Don`t let processing your meat worry you its not a big thing that has to be done perfect just clean. RC

It's too warm to age one hanging here in Tx. I quarter my deer, put them in an ice chest with the plug out, and leave them there for 5-7 days, adding ice when needed. Do not let them soak in water. Then either process yourself, or take to a processor. I take to a processor because I hate butchering them.

Bisch

[ChuckC]

I agree with RC.  I do mine a bit differently, mainly because we had to drag out the whole carcass here (that is changing) for registration.
 
I bone the meat off the carcass as soon as possible, place in gallon plastic bags ( cheap ones). and into a cooler with ice.  That buys me a couple days. If I can't bone it out till the next day ( I tend to hunt evenings) then I wrap the carcass in a tarp with several bags of ice inside the carcass.  It HAS to chill ASAP, all the way thru !

I then pull a bag and work the meat in the house, on the table.  I make a bowl for grinding ( we grind a lot), a bowl for stews and such, and a pile of roasts.  You don't have to be a butcher to do it this way.  The roasts are pretty intuitive from a boned out rear quarter.  Backstraps..... well those are held in higher esteem here as are the tenderloins.  Don't forget to retrieve the tenderloins.

Each roast is placed into one of those plastic bags ( a new one) and then wrapped in freezer wrap.  Measured amounts of stew or ground are handled likewise.   Mmmmm good stuff.

Keep it clean, keep it cold and it is great stuff.
ChuckC

[Schmidty3]

IF you do take the deer to be processed id pull the tenderloin out yourself. The "fillet" right under the back forward of the pelvis. I wouldn't risk the butcher taking that! lol. Its generally very delicate. So go easy, no need to tug and pull hard.

And ive started to keep the hearts. I grilled some heart and tenderloin off of that 1.5 year old doe and that heart beat the tenderloin hands down. 2 other people agreed with me.

[John146]

I do the ice chest thing like many posted here. Quartered and 3-5 days on ice draining often. Like RC I also never, ever gut a deer. If you wanted the ribs then you have to but I can get that tenderloin like RC does and then there is no tainting of meat.

[Hossmiller]

I'm with several others on using the gutless method. It's quicker, cleaner, and I can have my deer on ice quicker. I process my own as well. It's too easy not to, with YouTube you don't even have to buy a book or DVD. You can get everything you need to do it pretty cheap at wally world. You don't have to have an expensive commercial grinder, just doing a few deer a year a cheap one will last a long time.

[J-dog]

Two different perspectives - your from Missouri and me in NC. Basically how hot or how cold is it. Most time in NC it is too hot to leave them out hanging to "age" we have to get them skinned and quartered and on ice as quick as we can. If it is later in the year not so fast but really we cant let them hang and "age." I wish we had the weather to be able to let them hang. if I did I would leave them hanging for a couple days before processing.

Course in the heat if you have access to a walkin cooler your good to go, but I dont have access to one.

J

[Bowwild]

In the early days I processed my own. Depending upon how cool it was, either immediately or after a day or two of hanging in the shade.  

These days I take em to the processor, often before I've even hung them at all.  I have lots of special things made from the venison; jerky, sticks, summer sausage. Processed venison isn't cheap. I've spent a couple hundred dollars on whole deer jerky. Family members think it is free. It is to them but not to me but that's ok.

This is how I anticipated answering your post question:

1. Text or call my son.
2. Sit in the tree for 30 minutes to calm down and give the deer time (Unless I see it lying dead, which I usually do).
3. Son brings UTV and camera.
4. I field dress with as small a cut as possible if there is any dragging.
5. Take pictures.
6. If warm the deer goes straight to the processor.
7. If cool or evening, deer is hung in the sycamore (beside my house) and goes to the processor next morning.

[reddogge]

I do all of my own skinning and processing of the deer. There is a ton of information on how to butcher, handle deer meat, etc. on YouTube.

[Doug_K]

I gut in the field, get it home, hose it out good. If it's warm, I hang it, skin it, quarter it and get it in a fridge asap.

If it's cold, which it usually is since I don't want to fill my tag early on, I  gut it in the field, take it home, hose it out, and hang it. Leave it till the next day or two when I have time , weather permitting.

As for my butchering process, I use to hang by the neck or antlers if it was a smaller buck, quarter it, and cut it up in the kitchen.

The last 4 years or so I've hung them with a gambrel, and pull the cuts off the carcass, sort of like filleting. Get alot cleaner looking cuts, less tendons, less waste, and saves a lot of cleanup in the house. Picked this method up from a video on youtube.