Butchering Questions...

First year deer hunter, going to be hunting public land with a friend in a week or two where we hike about 2 miles in and out.
Amongst my preparation I’ve been going back and forth on what my best plan of action would be after the kill and field dressing the animal. It would probably be the only deer either of us shoot all year so want to make the most of it, not leave anything behind.
What would be the best method for two guys getting all of the animal back to the trucks... dragging, carrying, field butchering and packing out, etc???

I would like to get the animal out whole (or as few pieces as possible) and let it hang overnight, as it will be in the mid 30s.

Secondly, is it better to hang deer with or without the skin, overnight, exposed to all the elements? (I do have a couple stretchy-cloth game bags to cover if that would help)

Last but not least, what cuts do y’all recommend taking to a processor vs self-processing? It would be nice to get some professional butchering and maybe some sausage, jerky, etc. on my first deer ever.

Feedback on any or all questions would be greatly appreciated!!
Blessings, Danny_DeerVito

Method to get it out depends on how far? Are you dragging 100 yrds, half a mile or 5 miles? If you want to hang it then gutting it and dragging it out would be best depending on the distance. If it is too far to carry, quarter it and pack it out. Take the skin off once you hang it if you are leaving it overnight. If you want to get the deer processed keep the back straps/tenderloins and send the rest on.

2 miles is a ways to drag a deer but if you do field dress and drag with skin on. Skin it and cover with cheesecloth deer bag (Cabelas or Bass Pro) and hang it. Otherwise skin and quarter it and pack it out, put quarters in deer bags and hang. I prefer taking to a good processor and getting breakfast sausage, smoked sausage, steaks, ground meat, stew meat, etc.

You aint going to enjoy dragging a deer 2 miles. I had to drag a doe out this year alone about 500 meters or so and that was enough. So, gut it first like krmitchell wrote. Then you can cut a pole big enough to carry the weight and tie the legs and head, then carry the pole over your shoulders out of the woods. Kinda like a stretcher.

Mid 30's? Skin it and let it cool. At or more then 40? Quarter it as fast as possible and get it under ice. If you're not sure, treat it like its over 40 degrees...

Thank y’all for the input!!
Obviously the size of deer is going to play a big factor in how we handle it.
Decook, I really like that idea of making a “carrying pole” the length of the body. Sort of like this...

I don’t think it’s likely that y’all will kill a deer. If you do just gut it and drag it back to the truck then take the whole thing to a processor.

My FIL and I once carried one out of the woods for about a mile using this very technique. It would be several years before Honda would sell their first three-wheeler here in the US. Not easy to say the least but much better than dragging one. You definitely want to field dress it first.

Thanks for the oh so kind words, stranger.

Definitely will field dress before doing anything else, can evaluate my options from there on out.

The year I was in the hospital during the summer,
I shot a heavy buck that season and it was down
a hill. I finally had to use a Murray riding mower
to pull it back up the hill and back to camp.
It didn't " look cool" , but I got it back and cut up.
That's what it took to get the job done.


BTW- it was pouring rain, and it was
a big buck running around like it was
sunshine and bluebirds .
They're outside every day

I took my first mule deer long ago in Idaho, 2 miles from the truck up on the camas prairie by anderson ranch reservoir, I drug that deer the whole way after field dressing, and there was no hair on that side of it by the time I got it to the truck, if I would have quartered it up, the bears would have got to it by the time I got back. It was in the 20's, and the meat was good, but they eat sage brush, so the meat tasted like sage brush. As long as the temps are cold dont worry about it, makes for good hunting stories around the camp fire years from now. Let it hang for atleast 4 days in a freeze and your good to go, that is if your processing the whole animal your self, the meat you take to a game processor is not always the meat you get back.

Get you a 2 wheel game cart, where we hunt it is walk in only with some of the stands over a mile in. The bigger and wider the tires and wheels the better they work.

A wheel barrow works in a pinch...We keep one at camp with a foam filled tire, just in case.