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What to do with deer?

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brokennock:
Hey folks, I need some advice. Granted it may be premature, but what the heck some say I'm immature. Deer season starts in 3 days here and it's hot and humid. What do ya'll do with a deer you just shot when it's above 40 degrees? That's after you've found it and field dressed it. There used to be a small meat market that had a small stock yard and would butcher whole cattle, near me. Used to be they would hang deer for a week in the cooler for a small fee. I recently discovered they're gone.
 I know that with me huntin crowded state land and having little time to hunt, I will most likely go deerless this year. But now and again a blind pig finds an acorn. I don't want to kill somethin just to have it go to waste.

jamie:
dave you can hang it for a day and itll be fine. just get the hide off. its supposed to cool down to 70 days and 50 nights by friday. if your not sure how to butcher give me a buzz and we'll do it together. i can dissect deerquite well. peace

GregB:
If you think it's too warm to hang for long, removing the hind-quarters, shoulders, cutting out the backstrip along the spine and the tenderloin inside the cavity just in front of the hindlegs is a quick way to remove the meat. Also meat around the neck that is good to grind into burger. All this can be temporarily placed in a regular cooler. I've got an extra refrigerator in my basement that I use. After removing meat as mentioned above, I have some rubber-made containers that I place the meat in and let soak in salt water for a few days in the refrigerator. Afterwards I cut into steaks, roasts, stew meat, or mix with beef and grind. Occasionally make brats also. :)

cowboy:
Yep, what they said ;). I never take a deer to a processor (any more) too danged expensive and you can do it yourself in less than a day. Quarter the deer, cut off backstraps, tenderloins, etc - put all in coolers, cover with ice, leave the little drain plug out so it won't be sitting in water. The faster you can bleed it out and chill it, the better flavor it will have. If you keep ice on it, you can keep it in the coolers for days. I generally slice the bigger hunks of meat into steaks, grind everything else - like to add about 10 percent beef fat to the ground if it's an older deer - adds moisture to the meat and takes away some of the gamey taste. Don't forget the rawhide and sinew ;D

Hillbilly:
Same here. I like to have a deer quartered and on ice in a cooler within an hour or two of its last breath. I killed one last year on a 75 degree day and had an hour's drive back home. I field dressed it and stopped at the first store I came to and bought several bags of ice and stuck them into the body cavity. Kept it in good shape until I could get it hung, peeled and quartered.

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