First deer ever, and some questions about meat

[jackmaster]

And do not put water or ice directly on the meat, just hang it in a cool spot in your garage, wipe it down and clean all hair off the meat, use a I use a 50/50 vinegar water solution and wipe it down, not soak it down , wipe it down, important thing is to just keep your he meat cool, we have let our deer hang until there was a film of mold and then wiped it clean and cut it up, but your is a spike, it's already nice and tender

[DaveMonti]

As far as a cart goes, I suggest buying a bike trailer that is used for kids.  These are made with very lightweight materials (wood will be heavy) and you can probably get one off of Craigslist for under $100.  They really make a huge difference once you hit a logging road.  You can put the deer in whole and it's great for hauling your rifle, bow, and other gear while you pedal.
As someone said, there are a lot of examples on youtube and elsewhere on the internet, but you won't have to do any heavy modifications for it to work. 

[Wake1]

if your hunting with mountain bikes just load it up on the frame with the ass behind the seat and the head over the handle bars. Use some parachute cord and tie it on. I have packed out many deer that way.

[Angry Perch]

I used the term pack board, generically. Any pack designed for large, heavy loads, either internally framed or externally. The bike trailer idea is a good one, if I hunted gated logging roads, that would be the way I would go. Should be a lot on Youtube for ideas.
  I want to commend you and your partner, not to many new hunters venture that far from there vehicle. Most are intimidated, either by the unknown, large predators or being in the dark, the woods can be scary if your unfamiliar with some of the noises the woods make in the dark or the task of getting your game back to your vehicle. Not an easy task, as you have learned.  In doing so you left much of the crowds behind and had a enjoyable, memorable and successful hunt. You have learned things that some take years to learn, you now have a better idea as to what to bring and what was just extra unneeded weight best left at home or in the vehicle. I'm a huge proponent of the idea, "It's better to have it and not need it, than to need it an not have it", but this philosophy gets thrown out, when doing pack in hunts. Weight, space and need become the determining factor.
 Again congrats, now you have a year to fine tune, retool, equip, scout and get ready for next year!

Thanks a ton! Not just you, but everyone on this thread. A ton of very helpful information here.

It was a very surreal experience in hindsight. Definitely walking through pitch-black woods at night with only one headlamp was a bit creepy, and the weight of the animal was surprising, but it was an experience to cherish!

We hope to hunt for elk, but are probably even less equipped in knowing what we're doing! But we have been joking that even if it's 4x harder to hunt elk, and it took us 30 minutes to get our black tail, math would tell us we would have one in just 2 hours.

If you guys get an elk on the first day, I'm selling all my hunting stuff!

[fish vacuum]

Good job getting your first. You're right about getting your hands dirty to really learn what you're doing.
I hunt with an internal framed pack. Bone out the deer, put the meat in game bags, then load it into the pack. To keep things cool, I put the meat (still in game bags) in a large cooler with ice. Do not cover the meat with crashed ice like you would a cooler full of beer! First, put some upside down Tupperware containers in the bottom of the cooler. This keeps the meat off the bottom where any liquid will settle. A few frozen milk jugs are the best way to go for your ice.

Cheap kid bike trailers off Craigslist usually have a 100lb weight capacity. That's plenty for a pack loaded with boned out meat.

[brew]

[
Two questions:
1) Does it sound like the meat is ruined?
2) Any recommendations for what to ask from the butcher? I think I'm going to ask to use beef fat when grinding.

Again - thank you everyone for such an invaluable resource.
[/quote]obviously you want the meat to cool down as quickly as possible...first step is taking the guts out.  even if you have never done this before its basically pretty self explanitory---take everything inside the carcass out.  ive seen people pop the stomach contents (which sounds like happened with the shot), purge the intestines and spill the bladder on deer.  i've also done the vinegar wipe down method with success.  yes the hide does hold the heat in so that is the next obvious thing to take off.  i've never lost a deer due to the outside temp as i have let them hang for a couple/3 days in the current temps we have had--as long as they are not exposed to direct sun.  another thing you may consider is there is always someone posting for sale/free a refridgerator and quarter them up and putting them in that for a week or so using game bags, not garbage bags-they need to breathe.  cutting them up is easy but time consuming...you don't want to leave any silver skin on the pieces you cut to eat...this gives it the gamey taste and you can't chew it anyway...i know a lot of people say to not use water to clean it but a few years back my buddy had a cow elk tag for the cowiche unit and shot one with his muzzleloader on a hot early October day.  we were camping and didn't have big coolers for the meat so we just put the quarters in game bags and put them in the Tieton river under a bridge on Hwy 12 where the sun couldn't get to it and hauled them out the next morning and headed home...meat was fine...i've used my garden hose to clean off numerous deer i've shot, hung them to dry/age and have never had a problem...would not want the meat to sit in water though, think that would create problems.  congrats on the successful hunt

i've always added pork fat to my venison when needed...never used beef

[simpleperson]

Where are you located? I don't have time to read all the replys to see if anyone asked, but if your close to graham I will run over and help you out after work, do not take that deer to a butcher, do it all yourself, there is nothing difficult about it and you really can't mess up

Dang, it's too late - already took everything to the butcher. Thanks a ton for the offer!

[Humptulips]

Check out the Cabalas game hauler if you are looking for something to haul deer or elk behind your bike. I've hauled out many deer and elk with it.
Too bad you didn't have someone to show you how to make a pack out of that deer. No need for a packboard for a spike especially if you had had a cart on the road. You will need the board if you are after elk.
I don't think much of the idea of boning it out in the woods. I'll leave it at that.