Will the bird spoil?

[shadow]

After shooting a turkey in the morning, can it be left hanging in my garage or basement which is cooler, through the day to show the kids when they get out of school without spoiling? They would enjoy seeing the bird without it being cut up, or in a picture.
 
Can it be put in the freezer whole, then taken out, shown to them and then cut out the breasts?
 
 
 

[Gobblerman]

I am no food/spoilage expert, but I would think you could hang a bird for the better part of a day in a cool spot and not have to worry about it spoiling.  Certainly, if you can throw the whole bird in a freezer, or even a refrigerator, it would keep just fine for a while.  Field dressing will allow the meat to cool more rapidly and, as such, would be preferrable to leaving it uncleaned.  If you throw it in a freezer, and it freezes solid, it will take some time to thaw out to process, so it is probably better not to let that happen unless it is going to be several days before you can process it.  However, there have been times when I have had to freeze game and leave it for a while, and everything turned out fine when I got around to taking care of it.  You don't want to wait too long, though, as it will eventually begin to freezer burn.
 
Jim

[STEROIDCHICKEN]

howdy shadow,
the best thing to do is to field-dress it, then hang it in a cool place or refrigerate it. the bird will be whole for the kids to see. when dressing it out, be sure to get everything out, you will have reach way up there to get it all out.

[shadow]

Thank you both for your wisdom, I will make sure that I do field dress it if the kids aren't around to see it. I thought maybe I could get away without cleaning it out to cool, but I don't want to risk it spoiling. Thanks