When the idea of an early hunting season came up, I was intrigued.   Certainly, nobody loves deer hunting more than I.   However, I was also a little concerned at the prospects of killing a deer when the temperature was 90-degrees.    Turns out, at least in some ways, my fears were confirmed. 

A couple of hunters who participated in the early season tell me by the time they managed to get to their deer during the season the meat was already starting to turn.     Speed is always critical, but never more so than when you're trying to get a deer out of the woods with heat nearing 90-degrees.   

When asked about this, Paul Johansen of the DNR agreed with me the clock is ticking when temperatures are that warm, but he made a good point in saying southern states managed to have early deer seasons every year without too much problem.  Places like Florida, Alabama, and Georgia have those warm temperatures even during their regular Thanksgiving week. 

Johansen suggested hunters have bags of ice ready to stuff in the body cavity soon after the kill to cool down the carcass.    Keeping ice around is impractical and inconvenient.  

Furthering the problems with an early season, most of the meat processors who generally handle butchering duties for a fee for hunters were not up and running for the early season. 

There's no denying the state needs to have deer numbers reduced in some parts of the state.   Removal of antlerless deer by hunters is the best way to tackle the job, but I'm cool to the idea of the early season.   I applaud the DNR's efforts to try and find new ways to accommodate additional hunting, but in this particular case I think the idea is flawed by Mother Nature herself.    In my own opinion, it's just too warm to deer hunt in September.