Every hunter should listen to episode 227 of the meateater podcast.
A meat scientist goes into great detail about a number of game meat related topics including aging.
Basically, it all comes down to Glycogen. Mammals store glycogen in our muscles which they use for sudden and immediate energy needs. When a mammal dies, that glycogen breaks down as the muscles enter rigor. Once the animal comes out of rigor, the glycogen has been converted to acidic enzymes, which will tenderize the meat. Something like 80% of this tenderizing happens during this rigor cycle. The “aging process” just addresses the remaining 20%, which is why it’s less noticeable.
But wait, there’s more!
Glycogen gets used up by a living animal a number of ways: Bursts of physical activity, stress, starvation, rutting, lack of sleep... basically any physical or mental exertion. Fat gets converted into glycogen to replace it, but the process takes time.
So hunter “A” is hunting in the middle of the Rut, and has hounds chasing a buck for an hour, then he shoots it, but poorly and spends another hour tracking it and bumping it several times before it dies. That deer has zero glycogen left in it’s muscles. It’s burned it all up, and it’s running on fat reserves alone. The meat from that deer is going to be tough, no two ways about it. It will have almost none of the enzymes needed to tenderize the meat.
Hunter “B” is hunting opening morning, when a well rested buck rises from his bed, and walks into his cross hairs. Bang. Flop. This deer still has a huge amount of glycogen left in his muscles, and not only will the meat tenderize in that first day of rigor, but it’ll continue tenderizing as it hangs, as cuts are stored in the fridge, and even in the freezer, albeit slower.
So when folks say “aging doesn’t matter” there’s a lot more to it than just yes/no based on the species. Great lengths are taken to keep domestic animals calm up until the moment of slaughter for exactly this reason. But if for some reason a beef cow had been stressed out and used up his glycogen stores, then the aging process wouldn’t yield the desired results for that beef either.
As hunters, we can control a number of factors to keep the last short while of a deer’s life stress free, but not all of the factors. You may keep pressure low, and make a perfect kill shot, but if an hour earlier that deer was playing frogger in eight lanes of traffic, then it’s still going to be chewy.
Essentially, it’s a question of “what do we have to lose? If temperatures allow it, aging can only improve the tenderness of the meat. But in all cases, at least wait for the rigor process. Don’t go slice those tenderloins and back straps out while it’s still warm.
Anyway, give the podcast a listen. Super informative.
