This is an example where the regs are not super clear and depending on which CO you ask, you may get a different answer. While overall I admire and appreciate the job that all DNR Officers do...I find this type of ambiguity very annoying. I think I have cut and pasted the relevant language in the IDNR regs that govern tagging and movement of deer, etc.
If you follow the stated regs below, and I think you can and still quarter a deer out and transport it from the field to the freezer, etc., then how can you be fairly fined for quartering a deer? It is not, that I can find, expressly forbidden in the regs. What basis would a CO have to cite you?
TAGGING REQUIREMENTS
The head and antlers (if any) must remain attached to the carcass until it is processed for consumption.
MANDATORY HARVEST REPORTING FOR DEER AND WILD TURKEY
Hunters who harvest a deer or wild turkey must report the harvest to the DNR by midnight on the day after it is tagged, or before taking it to a locker or taxidermist, or before processing it for consumption, or before transporting it out-of-state, whichever occurs first.
Transportation Tag
A Transportation Tag with the date of kill properly shown shall be visibly attached to the deer or turkey within 15 minutes of the time it is located
after being taken or before the carcass is moved to be transported by any means, whichever occurs first, in a manner that the tag cannot be removed without mutilating or destroying it.
This tag shall be proof of possession and remain affixed to the carcass until the animal is processed for consumption. The head, and antlers if any, shall remain attached to the deer while being transported from the place where taken to the processor or commercial preservation facility or until the deer has been processed for consumption.