>>806436It goes without saying that you want to keep the meat as clean as possible in the field. Be careful when dressing. Don't puncture the stomach, intestines, or the bladder. Don't take shitty low probability shots. Instead go for heart/lung shots and the animal will almost always be stone dead and properly bled out by the time you find it.
I highly recommend gutless field dressing method. Field dressing is a bit out of scope, so look it up on Youtube if you're interested. I use it almost all the time except for the smallest of deer. If you accidentally gut shoot an animal, do the gutless skinning dressing method 100%. If there is stomach acid in the body cavity, when the gutpile is out, wipe the inside of the cavity dry with paper towel. Always trim away the bruised and bloodshot meat around the entry and exit wounds asap.
Never, ever, ever, fucking ever wipe or wash a carcass or quarters with water. Just don't do it. It doesn't clean very well to start because of the membranes and connective tissue surrounding the meat. It will push bacteria from the surface into the grain of the meat and it just makes a goddamn mess in general. If your meat is severely fouled by dirt, vegetation, or non-blood gut fluids then just wipe with a cloth/paper towel and trim away the thin outer layer with a knife.
When I hang my animal to age I remove the game bags and I don't age with skin on. Some folks leave the skin on during aging, but I find it way easier to skin the animal when it's still a bit warm and pliable. As long as you don't age more than 10 days you shouldn't have much waste in terms of dried crust.
