I am on a small lease with 4 people. This weekend the temps will be from mid 50s to mid 70s. When we kill something we like to help but my question is this. How long would you wait to start? Would you think you would be good for an hour or two so that the others on the lease could continue to hunt?

60 is the magic temp. Below you have a lot more time. But, the fact that you're concerned means the meat'll be just fine.

No. Once the quarry is taken, the most important thing is to honor the animal end take care of that meat.

Or you talking about field dressing? You shouldnt be bothering anyone to do that. IMO, if you field dress asap then anything else youre gonna do can wait a little while.

I gut a deer where it lays immediately after the shot. I will tag it and then field dress ASAP. If I need to, I can carry the gut pile away from the road or feeder location. Vultures clean things up here fast in daylight and coyotes will get clean it up overnight if it is a late afternoon kill.

Field dress immediately no matter what. Any temp above 45 degrees, you better finish the job asap.

+1

The faster the body cavity can begin to cool the faster the carcass can cool. Meat spoilage is caused by bacteria. I'm not gonna go down the rabbit hole of meat spoilage vs meat breaking down for tenderness. Point is the faster the intrails are removed from the body cavity, the faster the carcass muscle structure can begin to release heat. This heat loss drastically slows the spoilage process. I have always lived by the 50-55 degree mark. Anything above that and intentional effort to cool the body carcass down need to be applied. With every degree about that mark determines the speed in which it happens. In the 60 degree range I would gut asap and make sure it is in the shade. Then begin the process of moving to camp to quarter and put on ice. Total time could a couple hours and you should be fine but I would definitely not allow a morning kill to end up sitting in the early afternoon sun. On the other end of the spectrum of the temps are in the 90s say early Oct. Irrelevant if morning or evening kill I would gut asap and get the skin off asap. Then not walk but run the meat to a cooler, water hose, Creek or any other way to cool down. I've shot hog in the summer and through back straps in the front seat floor board on high A/C. Never got sick and they tasted fine. Hope this helps and good luck tomorrow!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kElOUVkSSPI

[img]https://www.google.com/search?q=tai...=UTF-8#kpvalbx=_1lilX-buOsLYtAWkiJvQBA13[/img]

Remove Guts, remove hide, get shade, and you have a few hours. As long as it's protected from fly blow

Agree with others, important to get the innards out asap to let the carcass begin to release heat.

Gutting in the field is intimidating for lots of hunters, mainly because they only do it occasionally. The key is to get started quickly, but then take your time with the actually cutting - it is not a race. Oh, and have a sharp knife.

Gutting the deer in the field will not affect other's hunt, take care of the deer asap after then harvest.

Unless you have a cooler, why wait? Heck, if I know it is not cold enough to just let them hand and then take home whole, I'm quartering them up right then and there as soon as they hit the ground.
Skinning out a deer is much, much easier right away and takes very little time. We do not even gut them anymore.

We killed 5 bucks the past 2 days and had each one of them quartered and into an ice chest in lest than 30 minutes from the time we cranked them up.
If it is evening and cooling down, you can leave the ice chest open with just the meat a couple hours and let that meat cool down before Icing it down and save some ice.

Related question - If it's field dressed immediately, would a 2 hour drive to a processor with ice bags in the chest cavity be too long? Weather this weekend in my area looks to be mid-50s to low-70s. Would rather not quarter it myself if I didn't have to.

Thanks.

I’ve done 2 hr drive w/Ice before. No problem.

That should not be a problem at all.

I normally get dressed as soon as I get out of bed, regardless of the temperature. I’m not sure about the deer, but I know they love me it cool.

Sorry, I couldn’t be serious!😂🤣😂

Ironic the urgency given that now hunters will regularly leave a deer to die for 60-90 minutes. Many times, that deer has been dead for a while when seen. You have some time if you shoot it with a rifle — don’t fall into the trap of thinking it needs to be done in 30 minutes

A processor told me that two bags of ice in cavity and keeping the carcass in shade will greatly help to prevent meat spoilage.

Been hunting for over 30 years. I always field dress within an hour. Tag and put bags of ice inside cavity and on neck over 45 degree then drive home..if 45 degrees and over I have iced it down and left early in a.m under a bed cover. I always protect from flies as well. Works for me.

Over 5 hours here, no problem...but temp was not over 50 degrees, otherwise refresh ice bags.

Or the back out for 4 hours and wait folks. I stopped gutting deer years ago. Quarter and leave the guts in. Unless it is 90+ degrees you are fine as long as you start breaking a deer down within an hour or two of shooting. That being said the quicker the better but your deer won’t spoil in half an hour of being on the ground with the guts in.

A consideration is actually shot placement/damage, a behind the shoulder pass through with big exit or a bullet piled up underneath the shoulder, looks like a grenade went off. The further back or high angle quartering will have have way more chance of lower GI damage and will green up faster.
I like to air them out pretty fast as it’s so much easier when they’re fresh and warm but in almost most all cases a few hours should be ok Depending on the above. Good luck

Start counting the time from the time you pulled the trigger.
In all probability the deer will die shortly unless of a poorly placed shot, so if you wait several minutes before you go to look for the deer you need to include that time that the deer may have been laying there on the ground with the guts still in it.
That is why you should get the guts out and let the body cavity cool down.
After gutting I'll place a stick between the rib cage to let as much heat out and air to get in.
In cooler weather you can leave the deer airing out while you wait for the others to finish their hunt.
Everyone's situation is different on what to do after the animal is down, and why it's important to have a plan in place for after the kill, just like you planned before the kill.
Everyone has a empty gallon jug sooner or later, so save that empty jug with the tight fitting lid and take at least a couple of gallons of water with you to wash your hands.