Yeah, I like my deer to get cooled ASAP because I think it makes it taste better. I've heard of the term "gamey taste" and mine has never had that. I think gamey taste is attributed to not getting cooled asap, so that is why I asked. I read stories/rumors that processors combine carcasses and folks get somebody's meat and maybe not their actual meat. After reading the processor cost post, I wander if some drive/lay around a carcass with the guts way too long before dropping off at a processor.

Your the drunk sounding person

Yeah carry you deer to a processor and there's 10 deer ahead of yours.you get to thinking about how long if will take to get yours cooled down.
Seen it many times.i can usually have guts out and meat quartered up in an hour after killing .if tracking isn't required usually if not don't sweat it getting guts out and out meat in cooler don't worry about it.youll have it on ice and chilled faster than carrying a whole deer to processors

Don't bother gutting where you find it unless it's hot .bow season.still I don't do it that way.have to be really hot
Drag it out ,quarter it up in cooler go buy bags of ice and bleed it out 4-5 days.then carry it to processor or do it yourself
Drain water every day or leave drain open on cooler

Good luck but this is way majority of guys in clubs are doing it without walk in coolers.ive never had gamey meat myself

Bow tech Dan you are correct. Is there some kind of prize for commenting on every post some one makes? There are a few on here that specialize in knowing everything lol

Sometimes if they are close and it is cool I will scoop them up in the bucket of the tractor. Then hang them in the barn and skin without gutting. It’s easy that way also.

Our lease is just a couple of miles from the processor. Sometimes we just load it a drop it off and hit the road home.

I havnt gutted a deer in years. I hang and bone out.

Yeah I don’t gut deer either. I quarter them, and get everything but the ribs.
But I hunt where I live, takes me just a few min to have him hanging.

I used to hunt with a family that would do it that way. They processed their own at home and were very good with knives.

I used a local processor, so I always gutted the deer; but I was always convinced the way you described and the way they did it was the best.

Just to throw in my 2 cents on this seemingly intense issue...

I always gut mine as fast as possible. If it is above 50 it gets skinned fast too. If someone comes on my place and doesnt gut his deer quickly his method will either change or he wont be coming back. But on his own place he can do whatever he wants to speed up decomposition of his deer.

BTW, I bet many have never gutted a turkey either.

When it comes to gutting in the field and club situations - what is the prevailing thought on whether a guy pile “messes things up” in the woods? I have heard the notion of not wanting others to leave gut piles around club property (gutting where you recovered the deer), due to the thought it’s poor etiquette to “mess the area up”.

I don’t think it really affects things since for one things die in the woods all the time, and two it will be cleaned up by scavengers within a day or so.

Our processor preferred you not gut them and when I help them I do too. Gutting a deer, then dragging it through the woods leaves all sorts of debris, dirt and filth inside the body cavity that gets all over everything. I never gut a deer, but I usually get them quartered up fairly quickly too.

It don’t mess a thing up. Deer pay absolutely no attention to blood and guts. None.

Agree. Seen deer walk by a pile and pay no mind.

Keeps the yotes off my property.

Any of y'all ever been part of a old fashioned hog killing? The guts is the last thing to come out. As long as it ain't hot or gut shot, an hour or so ain't gonna make any difference. If I've gotta drag them through mud and water to get the to the truck, the guts are staying in. If I kill one in the mountains and gotta drag it, the guts are coming out. Ain't no way I'd drop one off at the processor with the guts still in it, they liable to still be in it come morning.

Depends on where they fall . If they're close to the road , I bring them out whole and gut at the meat pole and spring . Makes a huge difference when you can hang them up and hose them out. If they're way off in the woods , I lighten the load. I've never quartered a deer in the woods , I'll reserve that for Elk.