Tracking and transporting deer in hot weather...

[Crazinamatese]

Tomorrow the WI 2012 bow season begins. The forecast calls for temps in the upper 70's to 80. I never killed a deer with these warm temps. ever . What do you do when you wound a deer? Do you get on the blood trail right away? My concern is rapid spoiling of the carcass and meat with the hot weather. Does anyone think bringing bags of ice to pack into the carcass would be a good idea to keep it cool when driving it to the meat locker?

[whitetail007]

i try to get it to the cooler ASAP. if you cant or have a long drive i would pack ice. ive shot afew when its been warm but i only hunt evenings so it cools off some for the drag out and to get it to a meat cooler.

[Dewey]

I think butchering your own deer is never more important than it is when the temps are warmer. I'm sure most deer processors are pretty good but would much rather see that is done right by doing it myself.

If it is warm I register as soon as possible and then skin and quarter to get the temp down quickly. I have a seperate fridge just for cooling meat or just use a large cooler with frozen gallon jugs of water.

If I do have to hang over 50 degrees I fill the cavity up with ice jugs and keep the deer hanging out of the sun.

I shot a deer in Nebraska one year when it was 95 degrees. Had it skinned, quartered and in a small chest freezer within a few hours and the meat was fine. Many times gamey taste people complain about in venison is meat that was not cooled down properly.

[ Post made via iPhone ]

[Crazinamatese]

Im probably going to cut up meat myself this year. Living inside city limits sucks, especially an apartment where I have no garage. I used to hang them up in the hay shed and do the job there. My good friend is moving in to a town home this weekend with a two car garage. Just got the go ahead to bring my deer there to cut them up. There is a rural gas station within 5 miles of my hunting area that has ice. and then its about a half hour trip to home. So, I will for sure stop there for ice. Thanks for the input guys.

[dirt nap giver]

As far as tracking goes, I try to double lung, then tracking is minimal. As far as the trip home goes, I shoot deer every year in the middle of summer and my processor has me keep the hide on it to slow the rate of heat escape down. I also do the frozen milk jug within 2 hours of gutting. I don't use bags of ice, because the water goes into the meat. I will use the bags of ice however to get it home. Once I am home, I hang it in the shade or better yet in a garage with all the doors shut. I also wrap the deer in goodwill blankets if I can't get it to the processor til late afternoon the following day. Majority of the time I put 2 frozen jugs in the rib cage and they are still quite frozen the following afternoon. Pain in the but it is!

[headgear]

I think you need to treat your tracking like you would just about any other time of the year, if the shot isn't the best and you push them its over. You still have to give them time to expire if things go wrong. I certainly woudln't let a deer sit all night so maybe a take up the trail a bit sooner than you might when its cool out.

As far as warm temps, I don't get too freaked out about it, you still have plenty of time to get the job done. I think the most important thing is to get the hide off and cool them down asap. Like dewey I have a backup fridge for this, I skin em and quarter them and into the fridge. If I was camping it would be a larger cooler. My record is 90 minutes from shot to fridge, however it has taken 4-5 hours before and the meat was fine. If we are talking 10-12 hours to recover I don't know what would happen at high temps but it still might be worth a shot.

[Stanley]

Recovery of the animal is priority. After recovery you need to get the meat cooled down ASAP. Bags of ice and wrapped in a plastic tarp. In 80 degree weather the meat can spoil in a matter of hours if not chilled down right way.

[Edcyclopedia]

Recover and dress ASAP.
7-bags of ice and tarp

3 Inside the chest cavity.
2 under each shoulder.
2 under each but cheek.

[Ack]

What do you do when you wound a deer? Do you get on the blood trail right away?

As long as the deer is still alive you have nothing to worry about. Track as you normally would.....last thing you want to do on a bad hit is push them.