Do you hang/age your deer?

[shoota]

I intended on stating my opinion and experience, but "thebutcher" pretty much explained it. In beef, aging has merit, tenderness and flavor. In game, the meat is not marbled, it is lean. Hanging any longer than a day is a waste of time. And if you hang it long enough, it will start to slime-up.

I know a hunter that only packs out the meat, debones immediately after harvesting, it works. I still prefer to pack out the carcass, but I no longer hang. Like was said, a big deer becomes a small pail of meat if you do. Often, processing the next day isn't possible, I'd say you have a 3 day window, depending on the temperature.

Today is the day we process my sons deer, his first. It took a few years for him to harvest his first, he went with friends this year, left dad at home, I do believe I was the jinx.

Nitro

This:

"In beef, aging has merit, tenderness and flavor. In game, the meat is not marbled, it is lean. Hanging any longer than a day is a waste of time."

My butcher wants it ASAP if it stays in his cooler for a couple of days there so be it.

For me I shoot, gut in woods and get it out of there, de-hide it ASAP, much easier when the deer is still warm and as soon as the hide is off the meat starts cooling, it's hanging maybe a day to set up and allow me to pick any hairs off then its off to the butcher.

 

[Gofast240]

Stayed at a farmer/rancher guy's place in Southern Sask - hunting Mule Deer from his farmyard - he suggested NOT to field dress the deer in the field - to bring back to his barn as soon as possible - he had a couple horse stalls set up - overhead lariats with pulleys - back in the pick-up with the deer in back - he would case skin the deer as it was being hoisted by the lariats. Quite certain no more than 2 or 3 minutes, if that - much more pulling and peeling, instead of "skinning". Wheelbarrow into area, split brisket, then cut the belly and guts fell into wheelbarrow - that got wheeled out and dumped in pig pen. Obvious to us that this was not his first "rodeo"...

That’s a perfect set up, dad use to always skin and took way too long, then I took 1 to meat cutter in kootneys and he peeled it, been my go to way ever since. Did one with dad just after I learned that and he just could not believe how easy that was. Dad coming from sask, deer were most likely frozen by the time he could get them hanging, which makes a bit more difficult peeling.

 

[ELUSIVE DONKEY]

Thanks Kodiakjack - that was a very through yet succinct way of describing aging deer. I typically do not age my deer at all and just sous vide tougher cuts, but I see how aging could be advantageous and more doable given the right conditions.

 

[cantgetright]

2 minutes holy f***, I take about 15 after it’s hanging from forklift. I wanna know how you do that.

Couple minutes to skin down the neck and over the shoulders hanging off the tractor, then the rest is peeled off with the SxS winch in about 30 seconds.

For a week of hunting we will process deer Tuesday or Wednesday if there are some to do and again Friday or Saturday for any more that have been brought in. I got a buck with the bow in the evening this year that we cut up the next morning. The meat was slimy to work with, would have preferred it to hang another day to dry out but it was Thanksgiving weekend so we did it when time permitted.

 

[remyltr]

 

[Potashminer]

Eastern-Western; North-South - seems to be more than one way - we always hung our deer by the hind legs - the big tendons - head down - I see lots of USA books, they hang head up. Both seem to work out. Also heard of, but never tried - fast way to skin when vehicle or horse available - apparently works better with some snow cover to keep things clean - cut around neck through hide, just below head - work a rock / block of wood under the hide above the spine - to make a lump - put a noose of lariat around that lump. Tie deer head to a tree. Use vehicle or horse to pull on lariat - hide peels off in one long "go" - then gut the animal - no hairs, apparently!

 

[Farmboy]

My first doe this year after not hunting for about 17yrs.

Never gave it much thought before. Basically gut it asap, then either skin it or not depending on the butcher, and keep it cool till we could get it to the butcher.

This year after watching countless Youtube videos with tons of different opinions - Age/Don't age, Skin on/Skin off, Ass up/head up, wash with a hose/ don't use water, 3 day age/14 day age etc... Before even getting into the butchering style.

Pretty sure my doe had zero stress that day and the shot was perfect and she only went about 100'. Picked her up with the tractor, hung her tail up and dressed her right away, not splitting the pelvis.

I decided to age for 7days with the skin on for 2 reasons, we had to drive her over to a relative that has a cooler so the skin helped protect from dirt. Also it helped protect the meat from drying out while hanging.

Yes, it took us a little longer to skin but it wasn't too bad, we were still able to pull a bunch off instead of "skinning"

We butchered her over two days and found it easier to work with than the pigs we did this year that we butchered right away.

Had the tenderloins Sunday night and a stew last night and it's the best deer I've had before. Now, that's comparing a northern Quebec deer to all the corn fed Ontario deer I've had. Before when I've had deer that didn't live near farms I could always taste the game flavor.

Now, that's one deer. My next one might be totally different using the same methods, but I won't be afraid to change it up and try something different.

 

[53Izzy744]

Couple minutes to skin down the neck and over the shoulders hanging off the tractor, then the rest is peeled off with the SxS winch in about 30 seconds..

Or if you dont have a tractor...

 

[Buckmastr]

The last deer I shot went into the dumpster. CWD.

 

[Potashminer]

Zone 46 in Saskatchewan pretty much Canadian start of that CWD thing - reinforced to us about NOT cutting deer bones - not spine, especially - until or unless CWD tests came back - never did and still do not freeze "bone" - all meat removed as "boneless". Have never had any game test positive for CWD, but will always be a first time. We did "chuck" one - a doe, but I do not remember if it was white tail or mule deer - very noticeable odour to it as soon as opened up - meat was a darker "purple" kind of colour - smell just seemed to get worse after skinning it - did not keep that one - no clue what was wrong, but it was "off".

 

[Gun5tuff]

Eastern-Western; North-South - seems to be more than one way - we always hung our deer by the hind legs - the big tendons - head down - I see lots of USA books, they hang head up. Both seem to work out. Also heard of, but never tried - fast way to skin when vehicle or horse available - apparently works better with some snow cover to keep things clean - cut around neck through hide, just below head - work a rock / block of wood under the hide above the spine - to make a lump - put a noose of lariat around that lump. Tie deer head to a tree. Use vehicle or horse to pull on lariat - hide peels off in one long "go" - then gut the animal - no hairs, apparently!

My buddy insisted on trying just what you described on his deer. He was going to pull the hide off with his truck while the head was tied to a tree. Well, the head came off and I just stood there laughing at the idea.

 

[Mik123]

something like this youtube.com/watch?v=H43d6fv_sE8

 

[Isobar1999]

I hung mine overnight , my buddy hung his a week. No noticeable difference in meat texture or taste between the two. The only difference was he lost more meat to trimming of the dry outer crust.

 

[Isobar1999]

something like this youtube.com/watch?v=H43d6fv_sE8

Jesus wept , by the time he got all that crap out of the ranger I could’ve skinned two deer.
Typical American making a simple job complicated lol

 

[mnr]

My buddy insisted on trying just what you described on his deer. He was going to pull the hide off with his truck while the head was tied to a tree. Well, the head came off and I just stood there laughing at the idea.

I've used this method a couple times. What I typically do though is separate the legs at the knee joints, and then make an incision in the inside skin down each leg to a central cut up the belly and to the neck. This way you aren't trying to fully "turn a sock inside out" and instead just peeling the hide off, which will take way less force. Works really good, at least on fresh animals.

 

[Bigbubba]

2 minutes holy f***, I take about 15 after it’s hanging from forklift. I wanna know how you do that.

Copy that! It takes me a solid two minutes to prepare a decent cocktail....jeeze need to see those speed skinning secrets....!

Stayed at a farmer/rancher guy's place in Southern Sask - hunting Mule Deer from his farmyard - he suggested NOT to field dress the deer in the field - to bring back to his barn as soon as possible - he had a couple horse stalls set up - overhead lariats with pulleys - back in the pick-up with the deer in back - he would case skin the deer as it was being hoisted by the lariats. Quite certain no more than 2 or 3 minutes, if that - much more pulling and peeling, instead of "skinning". Wheelbarrow into area, split brisket, then cut the belly and guts fell into wheelbarrow - that got wheeled out and dumped in pig pen. Obvious to us that this was not his first "rodeo"...

So it is not quite like that for us, but very close, and as Potashminer says, its more pulling than skinning. Only need the knife to get the legs started then a couple guys just grab on and pull. A couple good pulls and you are past the tail, 2-3 more good pulls and you are up to the neck. If you know what you are doing, a couple cuts at the front leg tendons and the front legs are loose, a couple cuts at the neck and a good quick twist and the head is off. Now you are done "skinning" so a quick wash with the hose and hang it up to dry.

 

[hunter148]

I've used this method a couple times. What I typically do though is separate the legs at the knee joints, and then make an incision in the inside skin down each leg to a central cut up the belly and to the neck. This way you aren't trying to fully "turn a sock inside out" and instead just peeling the hide off, which will take way less force. Works really good, at least on fresh animals.

This above has worked on more deer than I care to remember. When roping the neck try to stay down a bit from the knuckle behind the head. Cinch up on the meaty part and the head will stay on. Used to have a metal roller mounted on the garage floor and a 12 volt winch bolted to the floor behind it that was slick but when we had 10-12 deer to do in a day it sure saved some time.

 

[tokguy]

I don't waste my time hanging them. Shoot them well ( if you chased it with hounds {'Ontario residents' here} you are likely not gonna fix it...no matter how long you hang it), get it dressed and hang it 24 hrs til Rigor Mortis is gone and butcher it. 4 meat cutters in my circle; one a Fed, they all say " Don't waste your time and money...venison doesn't have the enzymes that beef does to benefit from hanging"
I actually tried contacting Canadian food and drug about it...they were absolutely 'Zero' help at all.

 

[John Y Cannuck]

I have cut deer in warm weather the day it died. That was an experience. It was a road kill in August. Butcher was closed (Sunday) and no place to hang it, so I cut it ground the entire deer and froze it.
The result was that the meat was full of blood, and had to be left above a drip tray when thawed. Tried cooking it bloody, nope, not doing that again yuk.

Deer killed when hunting generally die from massive blood loss, and thus blood draining isn't an issue. It's already pumped itself dry. This is particularly true if it's got the hounds behind it! Only aging is a factor. 24 hrs is what I aim for BUT I will take longer if the weather permits.

Never had any issue with the meat from the close to 40 years we used hounds to chase deer. But that's a topic for another day.

Last year I hung one in the barn for a month (hide on) it was frozen solid, so hide removal wasn't a lot of fun, (read much swearing involved here) but I can't remember ever having more tender venison, it was awesome!

I'm going to have to rig up an A frame in my shop so I can light a fire and warm it up to skin if I do that again.

 

[the_reaper_33]

Meateater podcast (episode 227) has a great episode on this very subject. They interview meat scientists and it goes really in depth. I’ll just paste the description if anyone is interested
Topics discussed: debunking meat myths; how stress affects the flavor of meat; myoglobin and hemoglobin; why you shouldn’t cut into an animal before rigor mortis is complete; muscle is muscle; Steve’s insistence on saying “red cutter,” when it’s actually dark cutter; the benefits of electrocuting meat; to bleed or not to bleed; muscle is 75% water; why you should keep the bones attached; does hanging help?; a certain antiquated way of slaughtering turkeys; why you should wait before freezing; the seven distinct meats in a snapping turtle and PhD. dissertation ideas; what marbling is; the time when Steve ate a sliver of 18-month-aged aoudad that tasted like blue cheese; black fuzzy mold is bad; and more.