As hundreds of deer hunters flock to the woods in hopes of bagging a deer, Chalstroms Bait and Tackle is ready to help those who do find success.

“Today’s an opener and it’s been a very successful opener for a lot of people. A lot of deer coming in. It’s been a steady stream since about 10 o’clock this morning,” said John Chalstrom, owner of Chalstroms Bait and Tackle.

Chalstroms offers meat processing throughout the fall hunting seasons, which allows more people to participate in hunting even if they cannot process their animals themselves.

“I think with the warmer weather we’re probably getting more people coming right from the field with their animals. So, it’s giving us kind of a big early rush,” said Chalstrom.

When field dressing a deer and looking to process the meat, one mistake to avoid is improperly cooling the meat down.

“A lot of people want to have a really clean animal. And they go to wash out their fresh animals with water. And adding water to a hot deer is not good. It really gets the bacteria and things going,” said Chalstrom.

Deer can harbor bacteria such as E. Coli, salmonella, and listeria – and when a deer’s meat is not handled properly, can be spread and cause major health risks.

“You’re not benefiting the animal at all. The best thing you can do for animals is for them to cool down as quick as possible. Cool and dry is what you want for your animals. It’s like a lot of shacks. People will hang them up. And then they’ll prop them open with a stick or something to get some air in there to dump the heat and let that animal chill down. And that’s perfect to do,” said Chalstrom.

Click here to learn more about Minnesota deer hunting.