Transporting Game

Keep the dressed game cool and free of insects.

• A sure way to ruin meat—as well as earn the disdain of non-hunters—is to tie the animal to the hood or roof of a car, where it’s exposed to heat, exhaust fumes, road salt, and airborne dust.
• If you’ve quartered the animal, pack the quarters in ice chests—don’t process the deer beyond quartering until you reach your final destination. Be sure to keep proper “evidence of sex” if required by your game laws.
• Most hunters take their game to a commercial meat cooler, where a typical white-tailed deer can be properly aged up to three or four days at 40° Fahrenheit.