Ive seen a professional butcher who does lots of whitetail claim its best to hang the meat with hide on because it stops the crust from forming on the exteeior of the meat and you dont need to trim as much in loss cutting that crust off. Also i remember hearing that getting water on the meat spoils it or ruins it. Butchers wash them down with as much water hose as necessary to get it clean but then its hung and falls off and isnt allow to stand.
On deer i get all the steaks i can and then can all the rest of the deer. Boy that makes good stew and tacos/burittos.
No i dont use an hatchet on them but the thin blade cheap knives i use with the bushcraftbsaw make short work of anything.
Hanging with the hide on has some advantages but a little whitetail is a lot different than an elk. Even if you can get an unskinned elk back to a cooler, there's the problem of getting it cold enough soon enough. An elk's hide is a fantastic insulator in addition to all that muscle mass.
