How cold does it need to be to hang a deer

as long as air can get to it, and keep the blowflys off of it, doesn't have to be real cold to make a couple days.

Below 44 above 20

We have a walk in cooler, what ever the FDA says......think it's 42 degrees

Mid 40s and I wouldn't sweat it.

I was at the camp for a week one time and it was below freezing for much of that. Killed a nice Buck the first couple days and let him hang the rest of the week after I gutted him.

By the time I tried to go and skin the damn thing, it was froze solid and I could hardly do anything with it.

Whenever it feels cold enough.

In case of worry about flies, I've made screen "envelopes" to temporarily protect game before.

Buy a roll of replacement screen door screen at lowes, create a two-sided "envelope" around animal, fold edges over and staple every few inches.

Takes maybe 5 minutes. I've used for fish, too (when I've hiked out to a fishing place and hiked back, so no ice chest).

I've have kept deer hanging when it has warmed up to daytime temperatures in the mid 50s to near 60. Keep the hide on. As long as you keep them in the shade the meat will remain cool from the overnight low temps. A trick to keep the flys off is sprinkle the carcass with pepper. Flys won't touch it. Never had a problem.

The point of hanging them for me is usually I am in camp hunting and I'm not taking time out of my hunt in order to process deer.

I hang every one until it cools down. I don't care if it is 20 or 70. I figure the deer is 100 degrees when I shoot it, it needs to cool down as far as I can get it. That takes a few hours minimum.


I hate to see dudes throw it straight in the ice box. You get two hams stuck together then throw ice on top. That internal temp of the hams takes forever to cool, so at the very least ice each big ol hunk of meat to insure the heat exchange happens.

Nothing like peeling two hams apart under a crust of ice two days later, no telling how long it was at rotting temp.

I always gut it then rinse insides out good with a waterhose. Our personal rule is a low of around 42 or 43 degrees.