I'm no pro marksman, hunter, butcher, tracker or the like. Everything I learned about hunting deer came from me hunting deer. These are just my thoughts on the subject.
Proper deer harvest and prep begins at the target range and doesn't end until the food is on the table. It starts with making a good clean shot.
But, a couple things to remember when you shoot a deer. First of all make sure you know what's beyond your target, you don't want to get all excited and shoot someone.
Secondly, watch the direction it runs and listen for where it runs when you can no longer see it. This will help you track it later. It also pays to know where the deer naturally travel as they will usually stick to the trails after being shot, usually.
Third, unless you are 100% sure you made a heart or double lung shot then wait at least 1/2 hour before tracking, I usually wait 1 hour regardless unless I see or hear the deer fall down and die. A severely injured deer can run for miles throughout the entire day or night if pushed, you don't want that. If you wait they will usually go 100-200 yards and lay down to die. If you think you gut shot the deer or made a liver shot then you'd best wait until the next day to start tracking. I could go into a long discussion on how to track a deer succesfully, because there's much more to it, but will leave it at that for now. I had taken some vid and pics of the field dressing and tracking parts, but they didn't turn out because it was dark.
Once you find it, get it gutted out as soon as possible and if it was a gut shot use a rag, snow, leaves, or grass to wipe out the gut contents from the meat as best you can immediately. If you have access, wash the deer out with water or snow and dry it off well. I only put water in the cavity and only if it's gut shot. Water will make the meat spoil. There's more to succesful gutting of deer too, but I'll stop there. The main thing to remember is it must be free of feces, urine, guts and moisture.
Once your deer is gutted you need to hang it and open it up to cool and dry, or process it immediately. This is a yearling doe I shot with my CVA Accura muzzleloader.
http://i101.photobucket.com/albums/m...angingDeer.jpg
As you can see I propped open the chest and legs with sticks and hung it in a shady area where it could stay dry and cool. As long as the temps stay below 50 F the deer can hang for at least a week with no ill effects. Leave the skin on if you're going to hang it. It will protect the meat from drying out and keep bugs off.
