If possible we let our deer hang for about 24-48 hours before we butcher them...and man does it make a difference.

I do just the opposite, I field dress right away. Then take it back to the cabin and skin it out so the meat can cool.Then start butchering it and into baggies and in the fridge. My game that I do that way never taste game or wild.

I do the same as Deerstalker. Field dress the deer right away, then as soon as the sun sets I skin and quarter it. Usually that night my wolf has it cut wraped and in the freezer. If she can't get to it till the next morning we have an old refrigerator that we can hang quarters in at 36 degrees.

A friend of my fathers that is a butcher told us a few years ago to try hanging our deer before cutting them...so we did and man its great. He has a cooler that we hang them in for a day or two. Some of our other friends hang them for as much as 4-5 days but I don't really feel very good about doing that. Its been my experience that it really gives our deer a better taste...after cutting ours we vacuum pack all the meat so it will last longer in the freezer.

For a couple of weeks, beginnin Spet 1st early AM,m I am going to be an archery hunter with an old compound (antelope, deer and elk), then once rifle season starts, handguns all the way!
Haven't taken a game animal in while with a bow-We will see what happens...

Even though I understand the need to reduce the number of "antlerless" deer, I've always been a buck hunter; and in recent years have become a trophy hunter. To tell the truth, the older I get, the less desire I have to kill anything. I still hunt deer, grouse, and sometimes rabbit but don't put a lot of emphasis on the "harvest". I use the pistol, muzzleloader, and traditional archery gear for most of my hunting now.

Mike

I'm a hunter who shoots 1 or 2 deer for the freezer and donates 2-3 deer to the Farmers and Hunters Feeding the Hungry (FHFH) http://www.fhfh.org/Home.asp. I used to give deer to friends and families who needed it and they would pay the processing fee. Seems the 2 states I hunt in decided that was considered turning a profit(not just me but everyone) so that's illegal now. The FHFH is a great organization and deserving of support.

I'm not actually a type of hunter as much as a "I want a new challenge for myself" hunter. I enjoy making different weapons shoot accurately and using them to hunt.

I have shot deer with 3 different recurve bows, 4 different compound bows, 12 ga. smooth bore shotgun, 12 ga. scoped rifled barrel, and a 20 ga. pump with rifled barrel and open sights. I've harvested deer with a sidelock TC Renegade, 3 different model cva mls, a Savage ml(which is my main long gun now) and I most recently shot a doe with a TC encore 50 cal. ml pistol.
I have used fiberglass arrows, aluminum arrows, tested just about every slug from winchester to Lightfield to Hornady and Federal Barnes. I've tested and shot most sabot combination's, Barnes, TC, Hornady XTP's, Harvester PT gold, Dead Center Duplex sabots to name some.

After getting that doe with the ML pistol last year I bought a TC 44 mag barrel, an MGM 44 mag with closeable brake, a Ruger SRH 44 mag, and a New Model Blackhawk 357. I now hand load my ammunition. I can't shoot a bow any longer due to elbow, shoulder, neck problems. So handgun hunting is my new challenge and I would like to get a deer with each of these weapons.

I will harvest anything big enough to donate or use myself but I will not harvest fawns, button bucks or mothers with spotted fawns.