Need tips for transporting a deer

[MAX]

FEDEX

[mnoland30]

I read a book a few years ago about boning out animals. I tried it and am totally hooked. Once you learn how, it is easier than cleaning them, much less messy, the meat alone packs nicely in a frameless pack, and you put the entire thing neatly in an ice chest for the trip home with a milk jug or two of ice. The best part is that the bones are nearly 1/2 the weight. A bull elk only weighs about 200 lbs. boned out. A big deer would be considerably less than 100 lbs.

Quality meat care requires getting the skin off the animal quickly. Even before I boned out meat, I always used a large (150 qt.) ice chest to store deer in. If packed tightly, it will hold an entire deer. It took more than one for an elk. I can easily fit an entire elk in my 120 qt. ice chest. Well worth the investment.

Cabela's sells bed liners for the back of Suburbans, and either investment would be better than the wrath of my wife over deer smell/blood in her vehicle. Your wife might be sweeter than mine, but I wouldn't bet on it. Here's hoping you have to worry about this little problem. I wouldn't transport a deer inside a warm vehicle more than a couple of hours without cooling it one way or another. I have wrapped them in tarps with milk jugs of ice inside the cavity in a pinch.

[BountyHunter]

Hitch Haul, wrapped in plastic, but 2-3 bags of ice in the body cavity.

quarter and bone and put in a 120 qt cooler with ice. There is a trick to skinning down to the neck, taking off the tenderloins and backstraps, then quarters. do not even have to gut them.

Use a fillet knive to cut the back quarters off thru the ball joint and around the pelvis. Then quick removal of one bone. Front and rear quarters end up one connected piece of meat for each, two tenderloins and two back straps. If you want, 2 minutes cutting big chunks of meat on the neck and you can get 2-3 deer in a 120 qt cooler.

BH

[SBruce]

Whatever you do......if you Absolutely MUST have them inside the vehicle, DON'T just use a couple of tarps and call it good!!

The animals will rock back and forth while you're driving, rock side to side ect. The tarp will crease somewhere or slide around or fall down and blood WILL find it's way into the carpet.

Been there done that, won't do it again!! Was my grandma's suburban.

[cowboy]

Originally Posted by mnoland30

I read a book a few years ago about boning out animals. I tried it and am totally hooked. Once you learn how, it is easier than cleaning them, much less messy, the meat alone packs nicely in a frameless pack, and you put the entire thing neatly in an ice chest for the trip home with a milk jug or two of ice. The best part is that the bones are nearly 1/2 the weight. A bull elk only weighs about 200 lbs. boned out. A big deer would be considerably less than 100 lbs.

I hunt with my 2 sons and between us we haven't even gutted an animal in probably 4-5 years. Take all the pictures your camera can hold and bone 'em right where they fall without even gutting them. The only thing you need to be cautioned on is what your State requirements are for proof of sex. Here in Montana that is the first thing we are asked when we pull in to a Game Check Station and see nothing but coolers full of meat. Here we have to have proof of sex attached to "a portion" of meat. We leave about a hamburger patty size of meat on either a set of testicles or bag and put that into a gallon size zip lock back that we carry in our pack and throw the zip lock in with the meat - no hair on your meat.

If anybody is looking for really good quality game meat bags the best we have come up with are called T.A.G. out of Alaska. They are far superior to anything made out of cotton or canvas

[sp6x6]

We do the same, gut less quarter. Last season F&G stopped by camp ground and we had 3 skulls on the ground. They checked us,antelope 1/4 w/ proof of sex and tagged in cooler, They are so small next yr. try for doe tags, and eat one for camp meat no mess and on ice. I do the 12 gal frozen milk jug, that way I can refreeze in my p/u camper for multiple days fressh ice