Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Mule Deer - Meat care when it's stupid cold and there are time constraints?

John,
Getting ready to head up from Tucson to my buddy's ranch in MT ('bout 20 miles north of Columbus) where I've been going for deer and antelope for better than 20 years now. Most years we have pretty nice weather, but this year is looking like a record. The forecast low for the opening (next Saturday) is 1 (ONE!) F, and for Sunday it's Zero. Barely makes it into double digits for the high, and the first time we might peek over freezing (possible high of 33) is on the following Wednesday or Thursday.

Living in AZ (where the high today was 93. Yes, I am seriously in fear for my life this coming weekend) we have anti-CWD rules that say we can only bring in boned out meat and boiled out skulls.
So given we need to:
- Show up on Friday
- Leave by the following Thursday
- Have all meat (General deer and a whitetail B-Tag) boned out and wrapped before we depart

What advice would you give? We hang the critters in the calving shed, which gets just about as cold as ambient. If we kill on the opening weekend should we leave the skin on for a day or two? I'm worried they might freeze hard making skinning much more difficult, but if we skin them, I'm worried the meat will freeze hard making boning out all the more troublesome. My gut says leave the skin on until ready to bone out, then skin and bone and wrap two days before we drive back home, so there's time to freeze the wrapped meet.
Too darn many moving parts!
Thanks for any advice,
Rex

My grandfather owned a butcher shop and I skinned hundreds of deer a year growing up. I can tell you with certainty that the deer will be frozen solid in 2 days of single digits even with the skin on. Skinning a frozen solid deer is a PITA, you cant even move a leg to get started. At a minimum, skin it while warm. I'd probably bone it out the same day as well. While it's good to let meat hang, I'd take an animal that was butchered fresh over one that has been frozen, thawed, and frozen again. And that isn't even factoring in the chore of skinning the frozen thing in the first place.

This is a problem I don't have very often, but even in Texas I have had deer freeze overnight. I would skin, bone and then age in an ice chest with no or little ice trying for a temperature of 33-40 degrees. Even in the ice chest the meat will freeze after a couple of days so if you have a warmer spot than the barn I would use it. Quickly frozen deer was some of the toughest I have had.

X2!

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I NEVER allow an animal to freeze anymore with it's skin on. I learned that lesson the hard way with deer, elk and once with a buffalo and once with a moose. SUX is not a harsh enough word to describe it.

If I know I must leave an animal in the cold I skin it before I leave it, even if I do so on the ground and even if I do so by flashlight or firelight. It's worth the time to build a fire and skin a buffalo, elk moose deer or anything else----- to avoid the horrid job of skinning it later when it's solid. Always carry a light and fresh batteries. ALWAYS!

Absolutely sucks skinning a frozen animal.

Rex,

That's too bad about the calving shed being so "ambient." Our garage/shop stays at just about the perfect temperature for aging carcasses during typical November weather, and sometimes even in October. Eileen killed a big cow elk a couple years ago in mid-October, and we let it hang with the hide on for 9 days before skinning and butchering. We also have an old Ashley wood stove in there, and if a certain night looks like it will get down around zero, can fire it up in the evening to warm the place up. Occasionally the temp gets cold enough to freeze the lower legs, but that's not like skinning an entire frozen animal.

But one other trick we've occasionally used during cold weather is to put a cheap sleeping bag or two around freshly killed deer, the kind you can buy for $20 at big-box stores. They'll generally keep the carcass from freezing even down close to zero, if you get 'em around the animal when it's still pretty warm. Of course, a lot depends on the forecast.

Hunting on the prairies in Western Canada meant that regular Whitetail season was normally the last 2 weeks of November. Temperatures were normally very cold with bitter winds.

We field dressed immediately and skinned deer at dark or earlier. Moose and Elk were skinned as soon as we field dressed.

All these animals would be frozen solid by the next morning.

One of the better eating muley bucks I ate was shot below freezing, mid November, just before dark, 4 point with an 11" drop tine, was with 8 does. 2 hrs. later hung and skinned in a barn. Cold front moved in, -30 by morning, froze solid, left it there for a few days. It only got colder so we moved it to a heated shed, barely above freezing. About a week later it was thawed enough that if you punched it you might not break your hand. Then let it hang about 10 days and butchered it. Thing that struck me was the whole time it slowly thawed was the carcass never dripped much more than it would if it hadn't frozen. The meat was tender and moist above average grade. I figured the deer was a 3.5 year old, 4.5 at most.

Thanks for all the responses. This is just a problem and kind of a perfect storm (no pun intended).
The forecast for the opening weekend is now down to 5 below with highs in the mid teens. But it is supposed to warm up to afternoon temps above freezing by mid week. But we need to have all our meat killed, boned out, and wrapped by end of day on Thursday. Sounds like the best bet is just to skin and debone on the same day as the kill (if time allows) and if we kill in the evening, to leave the skin on, then skin and bone out the following day.

Thanks to all,
Rex

Given that forecast, I would leave the hide on any animals killed early, and wrap the carcasses in cheap sleeping bag, as described.

Would NOT debone immediately, as that can increase the cold-shortening/rigor mortis toughness.

Waiting a day or two to debone can make a BIG difference in meat tenderness--if possible.

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Instead of an ice chest, use a large cooler or multiple coolers and store in a heated garage (Mine is 10C).
I almost always have to pack out my animals which means “gutless method“ quartering. Skin immediately, remove all quarters/meat and put into game bags. Debone on the spot or bring in quarters bone-in and debone and clean meat when you get back to the ranch. Have a large cooler(s), bottom filled with ice bags or layer of frozen plastic bottles and lay a thick towel over the ice. Take all the clean meat and wrap in clean game bags/towels and set in the cooler. Pull the drain plug and slide a 2x4 under the opposite side to allow water/blood to drain out (onto plastic). Rotate the meat every day and do final butchering at home after the trip. Air circulation and keeping the meat dry is important. You can add ice as needed and age it it as long as you need.