When shooting your first animal it can be difficult to wrap your head around what happened. It all happens so fast, and that is not to worry. Here are six highly recommended steps to ensure your safety, and to have a smooth process.
Make Sure It Is Dead
This may sound harsh, but this step is absolutely critical if you want to avoid serious injury to yourself and to prevent the suffering of an animal. Before you do anything to your deer, make sure it is dead. You may think it is, but there are plenty of stories out there about hunters who thought their deer was dead, only to have it pop up and go berserk; in some cases causing injury, or even death. This can be done by waiting 30 seconds before approaching it or slightly poking it with a stick to see if it reacts.
Gutting The Animal
This is another important step in the process. Gutting should be done immediately after killing the deer. Make sure to carry a sturdy, sharp knife or two with you to make sure you can do the job quickly and cleanly.
The most important points to focus on in dressing a deer is to avoid puncturing any of its organs. If you do puncture an organ, it can result in damaging the meat and can negatively affect the taste. Remove the internal organs and as much of the windpipe as is possible. During this process, try to minimize any dirt or fur getting inside the deer to keep the meat clean and fresh.
Go to the Field Dressing page if you are unsure or do not know how.
Transportation
Best case scenario to transport a deer is to lift it directly onto a trailer and drive to your camp. Often this is not possible because of the terrain or location. In many cases, hunters drag their deer out of the woods or field. If you must drag your deer out of the woods it is best to lay it on a tarp to avoid contact with the ground, and it makes it easier to drag through rough terrain. Whatever you can do to keep the amount of dirt and debris that gets inside the deer minimal during transport will benefit you in the process.
Hanging
Once the deer has been transported to your camp, you should immediately hang it so it is not touching the ground. Most hunters prefer to hang it head up. Hanging lets remaining blood drain out of the deer.
Once the deer is hung, take a saw (hack saw) and cut through the deer’s ribs. Then take a piece of wood or other object and pry it into the cavity to open it, and air it out. You want to get the hide off the deer as quickly as possible, because fur is an insulator. With the hide removed, the meat will cool faster.
At this point, some hunters like to rinse the deer with water, this removes debris and cools the meat more quickly. However moisture can increase the chances of spoiling the meat. To be safe, you can start the rinsing process later. If you do rinse it right away, make sure to dap as much moisture as possible from the deer to slim the chances of spoiling
Aging
However long you hang your deer depends heavily on the air temperature. If the temperature is below 40 degrees Celsius you can age your deer longer. up to a week. Temperatures above 5 or 6 degrees celsius will accelerate the spoiling process. In warmer temps, keep the aging process to as little days as possible.
Cutting
Once your deer is aged (aging is optional) you can begin cutting and processing the meat, you can do this yourself or bring it to a butcher. If you are doing the job yourself, have a plan for how you are going to use the meat and do the job in a clean environment to avoid contamination. The meat should be put in the freezer immediately! unless it is going to be used right away.