deer recovery/hanging temp

I found a little info searching online, but not a ton.

If overnight temps were maybe 50F, would you "risk" a deer shot the night before and recovered the next morning? Would the meat probably still be okay?

Or you do recover a deer that night, what about hanging it (dressed out)?

I've not yet run in to either, but I may try to get out just to throw a button buck in the freezer to feel less pressured with late gun coming up. Looking where I am, overnight lows are now only supposed to be 49F and should basically be 52 or so late this afternoon. I'd dress it and hanging it, hide on probably unless it would be better to skin it tonight also, in my shed overnight. I'd butcher it tomorrow late morning, maybe 10 or so. Figuring time doing that, it might be hanging or sitting around for 16-18hrs at temps ranging from around 52 or 53 down to 49.

That is a lot warmer than I am comfortable with, but is it risking much? I know my wife would not be happy if I just quarter it and throw it in game bags into the basement fridge like the last one I butchered myself. Plus, I'd prefer to do a more thorough job in getting all the meat off the bones.

My logical mind says less than a day, not in the sun, hanging somewhere most of that time with temps in the low 50s or upper 40s isn't really likely to spoil the meat. Even if I'd really prefer that the temps were in the upper 30s.

I may not get out to hunt today. Work is looking like a crap show today and the weather doesn't look that good either. But at least the barometer is trending up slowly. So maybe I'll get a shooting light deer appearance.

lazarus said:

I found a little info searching online, but not a ton.

If overnight temps were maybe 50F, would you "risk" a deer shot the night before and recovered the next morning? Would the meat probably still be okay?

Or you do recover a deer that night, what about hanging it (dressed out)?

I've not yet run in to either, but I may try to get out just to throw a button buck in the freezer to feel less pressured with late gun coming up. Looking where I am, overnight lows are now only supposed to be 49F and should basically be 52 or so late this afternoon. I'd dress it and hanging it, hide on probably unless it would be better to skin it tonight also, in my shed overnight. I'd butcher it tomorrow late morning, maybe 10 or so. Figuring time doing that, it might be hanging or sitting around for 16-18hrs at temps ranging from around 52 or 53 down to 49.

That is a lot warmer than I am comfortable with, but is it risking much? I know my wife would not be happy if I just quarter it and throw it in game bags into the basement fridge like the last one I butchered myself. Plus, I'd prefer to do a more thorough job in getting all the meat off the bones.

My logical mind says less than a day, not in the sun, hanging somewhere most of that time with temps in the low 50s or upper 40s isn't really likely to spoil the meat. Even if I'd really prefer that the temps were in the upper 30s.

I may not get out to hunt today. Work is looking like a crap show today and the weather doesn't look that good either. But at least the barometer is trending up slowly. So maybe I'll get a shooting light deer appearance.

Click to expand...

Hang it in the shed, pack 2 bags of ice in the body cavity, wrap with a tarp. The hide and body will act as an Igloo cooler, keeping that thing as cool as being in the freezer. Good luck.

That's too warm to hang overnight.

Skin it, quarter it, and put the quarters over ice in a cooler.

As long as it's shot clean, 50 degrees no problem.
I'd hang it at LEAST two days and butcher it the third day, maybe the fourth day. Ice in the cavity is a bad idea and not necessary, it only cools the ribs anyway. Water and moisture causes spoilage. The bacteria is not inside the meat, it's on the surface and works its way in. Water helps it get in.
When you skin the deer you are exposing the carcass to bacteria.
Slit the rib cage down to the throat to let any moisture drain out and spread the rib cage with a stick to help it cool and dry. Be absolutely certain the butt hole and everything is removed. Clean and dry is the most important. I hose the deer out when I get it home, hang it and let it dry...the same as they do in a slaughterhouse.

I've been butchering and processing our own deer for 45 plus years. I worked in processing houses and supermarket meat cutter for close to 50 years. I handled well over 400 deer. The worst-case scenario if you ask me is shooting a deer in the head and butchering it hot. I know many people will disagree.
In early season if it's warm, 70, I'll still let it go a day.

pre64hunter said:

As long as it's shot clean, 50 degrees no problem.
I'd hang it at LEAST two days and butcher it the third day, maybe the fourth day. Ice in the cavity is a bad idea and not necessary, it only cools the ribs anyway. Water and moisture causes spoilage. The bacteria is not inside the meat, it's on the surface and works its way in. Water helps it get in.
When you skin the deer you are exposing the carcass to bacteria.
Slit the rib cage down to the throat to let any moisture drain out and spread the rib cage with a stick to help it cool and dry. Be absolutely certain the butt hole and everything is removed. Clean and dry is the most important. I hose the deer out when I get it home, hang it and let it dry...the same as they do in a slaughterhouse.

I've been butchering and processing our own deer for 45 plus years. I worked in processing houses and supermarket meat cutter for close to 50 years. I handled well over 400 deer. The worst-case scenario if you ask me is shooting a deer in the head and butchering it hot. I know many people will disagree.
In early season if it's warm, 70, I'll still let it go a day.

Click to expand...

This is how I have always done it. Not because I know all the intricacies, but because this is how it was taught to me by the people I hunted with. Gut it, hang it, cut it from bottom to top as far as possible, wash it out, and spread the rib cage wide open to let it all dry out.

Would I let a deer sit overnight in 40 something degrees? Probably, and I would gut it and hang it first thing in the morning.

Now, if the deer is gut shot (i.e., not a clean shot), then things change. Only ever gut shot one deer and the second shot was true. Gutted and hung that deer immediately.

Thanks guys! Now just to see if I can get off work by 3 and out in my stand to see if I even have a chance to put that in to practice.

I shot her this morning. Dressed, hung, rinsed, and removed tenderloins. She’ll be fine overnight. If I don’t get time to quarter her tomorrow, I will throw a bag of ice between the thighs and another in the chest cavity. Not that I disagree with pre64, but it has always worked for me in warm weather. I like them to hang at least 5 days before butchering. Hopefully I can keep her cool til Monday then temps cool off. Worst case I’ll quarter her and hang quarters in my spare fridge.

I’m hunting now, so hopefully she’ll have company.

View attachment 330778

Totally agree with pre64.

Also, if you feel a need to was out the cavity with water, dry it out completely with paper towels. Water promotes bacterial growth. You would be better off just wiping the cavity out with clean, dry rags.

Your only other worry is keeping flies off the exposed meat. It doesn't take much over 50° to get them active.

Agree with Pre64. Cheese cloth will keep the flies off.

Only other thing I'll add, since you asked about recovery, is I would never let a deer lay in a field with its guts in it. That deer has an entry and an exit wound letting all kinds of nasties in to propagate with the nasties already in the entrails/stomach/colon.

If I shot a deer at last light and found blood, I'd skip dinner, call family to help search, and keep searching til I was exhausted. Leaving one in the field overnight, even in 30* weather let alone 55*, is something I would avoid by all means

Sent from my Pixel 5 using Tapatalk

Batt816 said:

I shot her this morning. Dressed, hung, rinsed, and removed tenderloins. She’ll be fine overnight. If I don’t get time to quarter her tomorrow, I will throw a bag of ice between the thighs and another in the chest cavity. Not that I disagree with pre64, but it has always worked for me in warm weather. I like them to hang at least 5 days before butchering. Hopefully I can keep her cool til Monday then temps cool off. Worst case I’ll quarter her and hang quarters in my spare fridge.

I’m hunting now, so hopefully she’ll have company.

View attachment 330778

Click to expand...

Yep, that's a nice job! I throw a big handful of coarse saw dust on the floor and put a box or trash can under it to catch the blood. If you get a few hairs on the carcass, a good trick is to singe them with a propane torch. Just hit them lightly with the flame and they vanish. Easier though to be a little careful while skinning.

pre64hunter said:

Yep, that's a nice job! I throw a big handful of coarse saw dust on the floor and put a box or trash can under it to catch the blood. If you get a few hairs on the carcass, a good trick is to singe them with a propane torch. Just hit them lightly with the flame and they vanish. Easier though to be a little careful while skinning.

Click to expand...

Thank you sir. I like learning from people like you. I have butchering my own since the early 90s, but never had pro experience, I tend to learn from my mistakes or f-ups.

Warm weather didn’t used to be much of an issue around here, once we made it to gun season, but it seems like it’s something we need to adapt to now.

Thanks guys. No chance to test it out. That little button came in, but I had two things go wrong. I aimed for a high lung shot and I should have aimed for the heart like I’ve been doing from a blind with my crossbow and it’s been working well. Just been thinking it could plunge too much, but it wasn’t that steep an angle thinking about it in hind sight. So I should have aimed lower.

Other is I put my mechanical broadhead (NAP Spitfire) in to my discharge/target bag finally. I’ve been using the practice head. And the practice and mechanical do NOT shoot to the same POI!!! The mechanicals are shooting about 3” left at 18yds. Further off than the shockwaves I had been using that I figured out were shooting a couple inches off POA at 20yds.

Which would easily explain the gut/liver shot early season. I aimed for a heart shot and at 33yds the arrow went fairly far back/left. I had been thinking it was me, but if the POI was 3-5” off from my POA, doesn’t take much error on my part to get it that far back. Bah.

I’ll be switching to swhackers on a solid recommendation and following up with reading reviews.

Anyway, button came in and fed for a few minutes and I took a shot on him aiming high lung. Arrow skipped right off the top of his shoulder/back. Shaved him, but barely cut him. He bolted and then stood next to my stand 10yds away for 30-60 seconds before slowly taking off. No way to reload my crossbow and take another shot with where he was standing. The wound wasn’t bleeding that I could see. Just looked like a bad rug burn. No blood on the arrow. Lots of hair on the ground. No blood where he was standing for a minute.

And then there is this. I got a tacticam for myself for BF. I sort of wish I’d gotten the nicer model it’s 5x rather than 3x, but more because it is 120fps capable rather than 30fps of the base model.

Anyway, here is a still. Ignore the time stamp. It was ~4pm. Right off the top of his back. If the arrow had at least been straight, even if it went a bit higher than planned it would have spined him or actually hit the top of his lungs.

Adjusted my scope before the mechanical finally broke after 6 or 7 hits on my bag. So it is in theory on for the mechanicals now. But I’ll re-zero and switch to the swhackers when they show next week.

I have to work (remotely) tomorrow morning briefly. I am hoping to be done before 7am. Deer are stopping by my feeder around dawn/7:30am. So I am hoping I can sneak out there. If it is close to 7:30 I’ll just plan to sit in some of the brush near my stand rather than risk making a bunch of noise and movement and scaring anything away.

Kind of frustrating and almost funny as I’ve only missed once on deer with a crossbow. And one not great hit. Puts me at something like 8 for 10 on deer harvested with a crossbow vs shots taken on deer with a crossbow depending on how you measure that. And both my misses seem to be from equipment issues. I am at fault to when it comes to aim small, miss small sort of error, but bad equipment caused enough extra error for sure to generate the miss both times.

Sigh. At this point I’ve harvest more deer with crossbows than I have with guns or muzzleloader (mostly because I can’t hunt with those on my property), but I’ve struggled way more with chucking pointy sticks than I have with guns and muzzleloaders (so far zero misses or bad hits with gun or ML hunting. I think 7 for 7).

I had all kind of POI issues with my crossbow when I first started using it. What worked for me was switching to good stiff arrows. Weaker spined arrows can cause planing with the broad head on and stiff ones plane less or not at all. The broad head catches air just like the feather do. I still had that Traditional archery mindset of heavy arrows are better. I bought Carbon express pile drivers for the extra weight they carry. What I did not realize and they do not list anywhere is the spine is three times weaker than my Killer Instinct arrows or Black Eagles. All my problems went away with stiff arrows.

I also used a sacrificial broad head as the target broad head to be extra sure. I filled 30 pack beer boxes with mulch and shot them so I could get the heads out easier. You need two boxes BTW, my crossbow will blow right though 1 box filled with mulch. Now with stiff arrows and using muzzy HBX broad heads the target points and broad heads hit the same. I would still test a swacker to the practice point or target points, just to be sure.

I concur. Took me a while to learn the carbon express piledrivers aren't good bolts. Like 12" poi shifts at 30 yards bad.

Black eagle executioners have worked for me at 400 fps.

Thanks guys. I’ll look at my arrows in the off season. I am using Barnett headhunter carbon 22” bolts (the same in 20” for my other crossbow). I wonder if that could be some of it? I’ll do some research (probably asking ya’ll for suggestions on bolts)

At least with field points my crossbow seems to be able to keep maybe 1.5-2” grounds at 30yds.

I like that idea of cardboard boxes filled with mulch. When switching I’ll probably sacrifice a pack of heads to test vs field points and practice heads. See how it does.

I did have a little redemption this morning. Work finished earlier than I thought it would. Got up in my stand 10 minutes before shooting light and at first light saw a doe run down the hill and stop in some brambles. A couple minutes later a big doe appeared out no where and started feeding at the feeder. The one I saw on the hillside rolled in a minute later. Looked like the button buck I shaved, or maybe a fawn doe.

Took a minute or two and get set and shot the smaller doe (just topping off my freezer and for my 2nd DIY butchering job I wanted to handle a smaller deer, not the 120lb doe standing next to the one I targeted!)

Hunched, kicked and ran flagging most of the way. Which worried me as they usually seem to tuck tail. Jumped down and up the creek and started bolting hell for leather. Slowed 4 bounds later, stopped, and feel over. Dead a couple seconds later. Perfect heart shot. Exactly where I aimed on this one. Almost too low, but tore through the left atrium almost cutting the heart in half. Broke her opposite leg, though I didn’t remember her not using it as she ran. So it might have broken through when she tipped over and had just nicked the bone. Too dark to get good video. But you can sort of see her and the other doe (a third one was headed in when I took the shot and only noticed her after the release, turn and run). The glow of the luminock the moment after it passed through.

Now time to go skin and butcher her. I’ll age the cuts I am not grinding a few days in the fridge before freezing them. What I am grinding, I’ll toss in the fridge this morning and grind it later today or in the morning.

Very satisfying turn around from yesterday as well as the bad shot (still got the job done I guess as I recovered her) early in the season.

You can check bolt spine by driving two huge 4" nails into a wall 18" or 19" apart. Then hang a consistent weight on it and you can measure a static spine of the bolt. You do not have a graph, but you can get an idea of which ones are stiff and which ones are weak.

I made a simple spine tester in my old Primitive archery days. I can measure the degrees of deflection when a 2# weight is hunt on a shaft. The chart for it is based on 28" and not 20" or 22" like we are dealing with here, but something similar can be done.


Here is angles of deflection I was able to measure on the various bolts I could had available to me. This could be similar to shooing 50 pound spined arrows in a 70 pound bow.

KillerTech Pro 20″ bolts with half moon nocks – 4°
Wickedridge bolts made by Easton – 6° These have Omni nocks and I could not test them on my bow, but they work great on Daughter’s WickedRidge
Carbon Express Pile driver bolts – 9°

Click to expand...

My buddy has a Bear Carnage Crossbow and it can shoot the pile drivers fine. My Killer Instinct is off 6" or more at 20 yards

If you would have told me I would need to buy ice for a deer I shot in late muzzleloader season,I would have told you how crazy you were.

I would have to eat crow today

The nice thing about modern arrows/nocks and drop-away rests for vertical bows is you can rotate the nock to fine tune every arrow as you shoot. I personally have never had to resort to this. I shoot to hunt and as long as I can get consistent 4-5" groups out to 50 yards, that's always been good enough for my purposes.

Next question. Would you eat a heart cut open with an arrow? Never done heart, I guess I can just trim off the portion the arrow went through. I’ll take another look, but it doesn’t appear bruised, despite being almost bisected. Some of the meat on the leg was bruised and I had to cut it off. But the heart looks good other than cut wide open.

Not really worried here about bone or lead/jacket in it since it was a crossbow bolt.

Thoughts? Just curious to try cooking it up as I’ve always chucked them in the past (then again, I seem to generally end up with heart shots on deer, so the heart often is spiced or completely perforated from an arrow). I guess I can just cook up a small portion to try it.