Hide on or hide off

After the field photographs are taken, the buck is immediately hung on the hang'in rig, or if there is plenty of snow on the ground, it is then skinned and gutted. A long 10 foot cheese cloth bag is then tubed on to the carcass.

 
Without a doubt removing the hide asap prevents having to deal with it frozen on. However, if you have a proper hanging facility that is just above freezing you can hang with hide on. I have found the meat does not darken and properly aged meat IMHO does have a milder flavour with less of the blood/iron flavour of freshly killed venison.

Another option is to cover the carcass in cheese cloth after skinning. This is commonly done with beef.
 
I would imagine beef is hung without a hide for a good reason.. Ever sniff the scent glands on the hide? Cant say i want that touching the meat .

The dried meat on the outside becomes hydrated again and is back to normal once frozen and thawed from the freezer .

Skin the animal
 
Based on a recent thread in which I posted, I'm surprised by the number of you that say you leave the hide on. I would have guessed otherwise.

I leave it on, too. It stays on while the meat hangs and is removed just prior to butchering. We hang anywhere from 7 to 14 days.
 
I know i left a hide on a bear over night because i has to process another bear that night . I marked "B" on the packAge that had the hide left on, it was terrible when compared to the other . They were the same size bears shot in the same field in the same night .

It tasted like wet dog ..
 
Have left the hides on even when I have had to quarter moose. It does help in my opinion to protect the meat from dirt and bush debris. We have hung moose and deer at camps for a week or better in cool temps with hides on. One camp I was in we shot 8 deer during the week, it was cold well below freezing. One know it all loud mouth in the camp insisted the hides had to come off each deer ASAP as to get the meat cooled down so it would not rot ( it was averaging -4F ) ?? anyways it was the one and only time the butcher reamed me a new fundamental orifice for bringing him two dirty deer. Said if I ever brought him a animal with the hide off again he would refuse to take it.

I shot a deer here on Nov 1st and hung it in the shed for 7 days hide on, my wife and I cut it up on the kitchen counter a few evenings ago, the meat was in fine shape, clean, firm, well drained.

There is a butcher just outside of Angus Ont. that advertises in the OAHA mag, he will not take any animal with the hide off period, states he absolutely refuses to work with dirty meat. says it makes his job more difficult and his customers are not pleased with the meat loss due to dirt on the meat that he has to trim and discard.

This subject can, and could be debated until the cows come home, but this my opinion and experiences on the issue.
 
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mrgoat said:
Have left the hides on even when I have had to quarter moose. It does help in my opinion to protect the meat from dirt and bush debris. We have hung moose and deer at camps for a week or better in cool temps with hides on. One camp I was in we shot 8 deer during the week, it was cold well below freezing. One know it all loud mouth in the camp insisted the hides had to come off each deer ASAP as to get the meat cooled down so it would not rot ( it was averaging -4F ) ?? anyways it was the one and only time the butcher reamed me a new fundamental orifice for bringing him two dirty deer. Said if I ever brought him a animal with the hide off again he would refuse to take it.

I shot a deer here on Nov 1st and hung it in the shed for 7 days hide on, my wife and I cut it up on the kitchen counter a few evenings ago, the meat was in fine shape, clean, firm, well drained.

There is a butcher just outside of Angus Ont. that advertises in the OAHA mag, he will not take any animal with the hide off period, states he absolutely refuses to work with dirty meat. says it makes his job more difficult and his customers are not pleased with the meat loss due to dirt on the meat that he has to trim and discard.

This subject can, and could be debated until the cows come home, but this my opinion and experiences on the issue.
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I dont think an argument based on people not being responsible with cleanliness should be based on the quality of meat debate on hide on vs hide off
 
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