I've butchered all my own deer. Problem is cooling the carcass off as fast as possible. It just started getting cool again so that is good. There were times when it was in the 70s on opening season in CT (hunted in Haddam Neck area).
I read an article where it stated that the freezing process tenderized the meat so there was no need to age it. All of my deer have tasted great with virtually no aging. First day I skin it and quarter it up so it fits into refrigerator or large cooler w/ lots of ice in it. I then start working on large pieces of meat and cut it up into steaks, or make burger out of it. I use a cuisinart attachment for the blended and that does a good job for burger.
Be sure to have a few sharp knives on hand. I like carbon steel (Victorinox/Forshner) since its fast to touch up quick on some ceramic sticks.
Only deer that hasn't tasted good was that 11 pt I got two yrs ago...... ~5.5 yrs old and I think my boot bottom would have been better....lol.
