Do not remove parts important  in identification. Check laws on transportation.

Deer: Draw immediately: that will take care of the bleeding, too. Don't wash the body cavity unless intestine contents have come in contact with the meat: wipe it  out with clean cloth, and cool it out as quickly as possible, propping the body cavity open with a couple of sticks. Unless you plan to take it home or to a locker at once, hang it in the shade where air can get to it: protect it from flies with a cheese-cloth bag or wrapping. Keep the liver and heart separate in a plastic  or cloth bag: these will spoil most  quickly and  should be cooled and used as soon as possible.

Because aging does so much to improve venison, it is a good idea to have the deer aged, cut up , packaged and frozen at a locker plant or meat market. Deer should be aged 4 to 5 days (young deer) up to 2 weeks ( older deer ) at  34 to 36F before cutting up and freezing.

In transporting the carcass, cool it out first and don't carry it on the outside of the car in warm or wet weather or near any heated part of the car at any time. If you skin it yourself, keep the hair side of the hide from touching the meat; cut away all bloodshot areas, and remove the glands in the legs and lower part of the abdomen. Wrap the meat against dirt and insects and keep it cool during transportation. For more details on dressing and care, see the Commission's Bulletin " Missouri's Deer Herd." Every deer hunter should have a copy.

Small game: In field dressing wildlife remove the parts that spoil most quickly or that would otherwise cause bad flavors. These parts are the blood, internal organs and the glands. The rate at which meat spoils depends on the temperature, and the way the animal was shot. The warmer the day, and the more an animal is shot up, the faster the meat becomes tainted. An animal shot through the intestines on a warm day can spoil within an hour or two; one shot through the head in cool weather and gutted  promptly may stay fresh all day. Game shot with a shotgun or other than through the head should be drawn while still warm. That automatically helps bleed it also.

It is usually convenient to draw squirrels, rabbits, doves, groundhogs and similar upland game quickly. The actual drawing takes just a few minutes, which does not seriously interrupt the hunt. You are seldom far from water, in Missouri, where you can stop and field-dress your game. The water is for washing your hands-not the game: just draw,  and wipe out cavity with clean cloth. Leave skin or feathers on during transportation.

This is not so easy in duck hunting: sure, water is usually very handy, but here's a spot where hunting success depends on being ready to take the birds as they come to you- and that might be just when you're deep in the innards of a duck. But you can do one thing: pick up the birds as soon as they fall, and bleed them by cutting the blood-vessels in the neck before the body heat leaves. If you leave them in the water, the blood will congeal around the shot holes and you'll have to soak ir cut it out later.

And you can draw them at the end of the hunt, before you start home. The feathers are good insulation and protection: leave them on during transportation unless you can keep the carcass cool. The law requires that feet, head and neck with  plumage be kept on in tnasporting waterfowl.

Trasporting small game: Small game drawn while fresh, wiped dry and cooled  out will transport well if kept clean and cool. In hot weather you should use a portable icebox. Don't put the meat directly on the ice-keep it dry. Put it in a container on or near ice so water from melting ice won't get to it. In cool weather it'll wtravel well several hours without ice if placed where sun, motor or heater heat won't warm it up. Skinned or plucked wildlife should be wrapped or sacked to keep it clean.

Cleaning for immediate use or storage: In final cleaning, usually done at home, skin or pluck off hide or feathers, clean out all bloodshot areas, remove shot or splintered bone.Remove pinfeathers from birds and stray hair or fur from mammals-both are sources of undesirable flavors, and they're not attractive to chew, either. You can pull pinfeathers out with tweezers, and wipe off stray hairs or fur wih a damp cloth. A bird with enough pinfeathers to make removal a tedious job is often better skinned. If intestinal material has penetrated the meat,cut that part out and throw it away: intestinal juices carried or released into the meat via shot holes promote spoilage and bad flavor, and the best cure is to discard that part. It's seldom a very meat party anyway.

When a fresh carcass is thoroughly clean, inside and out, you can:  1.) cook it at once; or 2.) hold it in meat-keeper of your refrigerator for a day or two; or 3.) wrap it in freezer paper and store it in longer, quick-freeze it in a home or commercial freezer. Be sure to use it before the possesion period expires: check the wildlife code.