You want to hear something silly?

[ljsommer]

I am a 40 year old, self-confident guy, physically fit and have never struggled with anxiety or fear of any kind. I am also a very amateur hunter with only one deer under my belt and it was a morning deer so I got to process him in the daylight.

You know what makes me nervous? Shooting a deer at last light and then trying to figure out how to process that deer in the pitch black with only a headlamp, on a slope (because of course it will be on a slope). I say "figure out how" because it's been so many years since my last deer that I think I'll be starting all over again.
Don't get me wrong, I'll take that shot and I'll figure it out but I don't relish trying to get this done by myself in pitch black.

Now: time to get out there and find that deer.

[cavemann]

Don't sweat it, I still second guess myself if I get one down.  Even when it's a clown show, after I get it out it's all worth it.  You'll figure something out, when the time arrives..  it just makes for a better story when all is said and done

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[ljsommer]

That reminds me...I should throw a 5-hour-energy into my pack for just this sort of situation....

[cavemann]

And a flask..  one pull to calm nerves, the other shot when your done to celebrate

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[GOcougsHunter]

The only thing I would do differently processing at night or be concerned about is making sure you don't accidentally cut yourself on a broken shard of bone or a possible lost arrow in the cavity.   Use your headlamp and/or flashlight.  Gutting by braille is a good way to hurt yourself.

[ljsommer]

The only thing I would do differently processing at night or be concerned about is making sure you don't accidentally cut yourself on a broken shard of bone or a possible lost arrow in the cavity.   Use your headlamp and/or flashlight.  Gutting by braille is a good way to hurt yourself.

On my first deer I thought I was being really clever by tying the antlers to a stump so that it wouldn't slide around on the hill. What I didn't realize is that I effectively created a river of blood that turned the dirt to slippery mud beneath the deer, so i couldn't stand anywhere lower than the deer and had to work from the sides. I'm sure that's obvious to seasoned hunters but to me it was one of those "oh. Huh." moments. I can only imagine how comical that would've been if it had also been at night time.

[Rugsnfeathers]

Darkness makes you imagine things and plays with your mind.  You're not the only one.  Human nature has two choices, you sink or you swim.  I always carry a back-up flashlight, and always watch my six every so often.  You'll survive.  Just imagine that cold beer when you get back to camp, plus probably pain killers. 

[Rainier10]

Water is what I am always in need of when processing at night is water.

Long day hunting, normally have exhausted my water supply for the day and now my day just got longer. Bending over, kneeling down, always make me cramp up if not while processing while hiking out with the heavy pack.

[savagehunter]

There are a lot of things that dictate how you do this. Where the deer is shot may dictate if you go gutless or standard how far of a pack out and what kind of terrain. May be better off hanging the meat and coming back in daylight or if it's 70 yards down to the road drag it whole, down to take care of it in the headlights. How big he is and how steep it is . It is way more likely to get hurt trying to take a big load out in the dark especially by yourself. Also posting for help on here is liable to get a good response I know I would drive anywhere in snohomish county or south skagit to help a fellow member out of a jam especially getting them out safely.

[logola512c]

I bring a bunch of extra lights in my truck.  The ones that make me feel the best are three inexpensive led hanging shop lights that are less than a pound each.  I go about 10 feet in three directions and then hang them facing away from me.  Lights up the night all around me and let's me focus on what I'm doing.  If I'm less than a mile from the truck, I mark the animal with a chem light that I always have in my pack, then go back to the truck for the extra lights. Field dressing with a headlamp can be tough.  I cut myself doing it once, and now I also carry two cut resistant gloves in my kill kit that I wear underneath my latex gloves.  Funny how the latex gloves always end up with little cuts that I don't feel with the cut-resistant gloves underneath. 

[Dark2Dark]

We just had to break a bull down in the dark. And even though there were three of us, the size of the job and the fact we were in grizzly country made us all a little nervous. Luckily, it was our third bull in about 9 days and our sixth in two years so we were feeling pretty proficient. 

If you’re quartering, gutless is fast and the way to go.

If you’re just gutting it, I think it helps to carry a saw so I can cut way up the brisket to the neck. I’ll take a little wedge out of there. Opening it up as much as you can makes it easier to get everything loose and means less blind cutting.

I’m far less concerned doing it around here than I was with the griz around!

[ljsommer]

There are a lot of things that dictate how you do this. Where the deer is shot may dictate if you go gutless or standard how far of a pack out and what kind of terrain. May be better off hanging the meat and coming back in daylight or if it's 70 yards down to the road drag it whole, down to take care of it in the headlights. How big he is and how steep it is . It is way more likely to get hurt trying to take a big load out in the dark especially by yourself. Also posting for help on here is liable to get a good response I know I would drive anywhere in snohomish county or south skagit to help a fellow member out of a jam especially getting them out safely.

I'll likely be about 5 miles in (if I go back to the spot I've been going to the last few years) so it'll be a pack out of some cut debris up to a fire road and then miles of fire roads back out.
I have a mountain bike but I find it really hard to ride a bike with a ton of weight hanging off my back - it constantly pulls me backwards and it's very tiring using my arms and core to counter-balance that.

[ljsommer]

I bring a bunch of extra lights in my truck.  The ones that make me feel the best are three inexpensive led hanging shop lights that are less than a pound each.  I go about 10 feet in three directions and then hang them facing away from me.  Lights up the night all around me and let's me focus on what I'm doing.  If I'm less than a mile from the truck, I mark the animal with a chem light that I always have in my pack, then go back to the truck for the extra lights. Field dressing with a headlamp can be tough.  I cut myself doing it once, and now I also carry two cut resistant gloves in my kill kit that I wear underneath my latex gloves.  Funny how the latex gloves always end up with little cuts that I don't feel with the cut-resistant gloves underneath.

I really like this idea - keeping extra lights in the truck to retrieve just to light up a work space. That already gives me a pretty good idea. Thank you!

[Pacific Ghost]

I've had to process many right before and in the dark. One thing I have become a lot more cautious of is where I set stuff down. Tags & licenses, knives & sheathes, phone, clothing, my glasses (since I only really need them for distance and often times they are just getting fogged up and soaked from rain), and lots of other stuff are harder to remember and find after the lights go out. So I try to put things away or keep them all together as much as possible. And my kill sites are often too far to want to return, so if anyone finds my good hat next to this year's pile of bear bones, please let me know. 

[logola512c]

Final thought -- I heard a joke on the radio the other day.  People aren't afraid of being alone in the dark.  They are afraid of NOT being alone in the dark...