Ryan Rothstein

Unless you’re fortunate enough to have access to a walk-in cooler, having a deer on the ground in the early season can be a stressful experience. Venison is a prized meat, and I’m obsessive about venison quality and maximizing my meat yield from every deer harvested.
Unfortunately, heat in particular works against us this time of year. Here’s how I’ve learned to manage my venison in the heat.

It never fails to watch summer streak by in a blur.
Blame it on our climate in Minnesota, but most of us try to cram as much outdoor activity into a quarter of the year as is humanly possible. Maybe I’m imagining it, but it seems like people are just busier with life than they used to be, with summer months the pinnacle of the bustle. But time slows down for no one, and regardless of the tool you hunt with, your deer season is less than 100 days out at most.

It’s October 18, and the forecast is calling for highs in the upper 60s – more than a dozen degrees above normal – while the wind is forecast to blow from the southeast at a steady 15 to 20 miles per hour. Hardly ideal deer-hunting conditions for this time of year. And besides, your will to hunt took a hit after your sit two days earlier.

When we talk about deer habitat, most people’s minds travel straight to woods and forests. And while deer are often considered a forest animal, there’s actually not much for a deer to eat in truly mature, old-growth forests. That doesn’t mean these forests have no habitat value; they just aren’t the best habitat for whitetails.
Where whitetails truly thrive is in that tension zone between prairies and forests. It’s not a coincidence that the highest deer densities in the state of Minnesota mirror these areas.