My previous articles have revolved around the how to get a deer topic, but what must you do after the recovery?
While the technical aspect of a hunt is quite important, it may all go for nil if you don’t clean or track the game properly. There are several scenarios to be understood before you attempt to recover your animal. The shot you take dictates the whens and hows of your recovery and cleaning process. Shots may be broken down into five categories. Clean hit, semi-clean hit, gut shot, head or neck shot, and a haircut.
For a clean hit, one in which the bullet passes through the heart and lungs, you will find large amounts of blood at short intervals and typically find the animal within 100 yards or so. As long as the temperatures remain below fifty degrees, you will have several hours before the animal must be field dressed. Temperature also plays a major role in the recovery and cleaning process. If temperatures are above 50 degrees, you will need to recover and clean the animal ASAP. Bacteria will begin to reproduce rapidly, so if you have made a good shot recover, and clean the animal immediately. As for the clean hit scenario with temperatures in the 40s, the animal will spoil much more slowly. This offers the hunter time to stay on stand and fill another tag if possible.
I describe a semi-clean hit as a shot that hits the vitals, but enters or exits the entrails. This type of shot requires rather quick attention. The animal typically expires within one hundred and fifty yards, but you must recover the animal as fast as possible. Because of the compromised intestinal track, you have much less time to wait before field dressing. I recommend if water is present, clean and wash the body cavity out immediately. If no water is present, I recommend not field dressing without washing because contaminants will absorb into the meat as it dries. If left intact until washing, everything should rinse out, but if you let it dry it will stick and most likely ruin a lot of meat.
As for the dreaded gut shot, your reaction will be totally different. I consider a gut shot the worst thing that can happen to the game or hunter. It is almost guaranteed you will lose some meat, and possibly you’re animal if you don’t give it time. I typically wait up to six hours before attempting to track the animal. A gut-shot deer loses less blood, which makes it almost impossible to find if you jump it without snow. You should go get your transporting equipment four-wheele deer cart, and be ready to get the animal to water immediately upon recovery. You should proceed slowly, scanning the brush in the possibility the deer may stand up and offer a second shot. If you are going to drag your animal out the old fashioned way, you should go get a couple gallons of water for washing it out. Unfortunately, you may do all this work for nothing because nearly 60 percent of gut-shot deer will never be recovered. Head and neck shots typically result in the instant downing of game. Although quite effective, there will be much less blood loss. You will need to bleed the animal out immediately, and this is done to reduce the internal temperature in risk of bacterial contamination due to the speedy, souring of blood. You may then field dress your animal and head home.
The haircut may be the most humbling experience to the hunter. A haircut is a shot in which only hair and very little or no blood is found. You will most likely never know where you hit the animal or where it went. In most cases, deer will survive such injuries like the buck I got opening day.
Personally, I prefer to hang the deer and remove the hide immediately upon arriving at home. The hide will be much easier removed while there is still some body heat remaining. I’ve also seen people hang deer for weeks with temperatures below 40. As long as you don’t remove the hide the animal will last for weeks. Obviously, the hide will be much harder to remove, but unlike myself, you could immediately get back to hunting while I’m processing meat. I like to let the meat cool for a day or so to firm up I then remove the meat from the bone and process it.
For those who don’t choose to butcher their own deer, Farmers Place can offer a variety of different cuts and preparations. One of the most common and requested forms of preparation is jerky, with many others including bologna, pepperoni, sausage, wiener-deer dogs, smoked rounds, much like a ham, and new this year venison bacon, which is expected to be a new favorite considering this year’s sales. Farmers Place can be found on 236 County Highway 20, South Edmeston, NY phone 607-847-8234. Due to high temperatures last year and concerns of meat spoilage, The Farmers Place received a record 850 deer in three days. I personally dealt with this establishment, and was surprised at their speedy turnaround considering the amount of animals they process.
