Do you hang/age your deer?

[Butcherbill]

Hang and age, I don’t bother. I field dress it right away and get it home and skin it asap, then I quarter and trim any bloodshot meat and get things in game bags and into a big marine cooler. I let the meat rest anywhere from 1-5 days depending on how busy I am and then I cut and wrap, meat is always tender and juicy and it doesn’t seem to matter how long it sits in the cooler for.

The most important thing I find is to cleanly field dress it and get the hide off for cooling asap, while skinning and quartering I make sure to remove all the stray hairs as possible. Meat has always been tasty and good flavour, doesn’t matter if it’s in the rutt or not. Clean handling practices are more important to me than aging.

 

[buckhunter78]

I have shot deer and that night cut and process them , I have let them hang anywhere from 2-10 days depending on the trip I’m on ect, only thing I have ever noticed different is the deer you cut up on day 1-3 will be bloodier than day 4 and on. And the longer you
Let it sit they easier is is to get the silver skin and fat off, for me I’ve never noticed a difference in taste but that might just be me

 

[FreedomIsn'tFree]

It all depends on the outside temp, when hanging in my shed, that determines how long I age deer. It's usually 0-5 days for me because I've shot game from +20 to -20 here, so it all depends.

 

[mctrigger]

University of Wyoming did a nice study in this. Some good information. Found it interesting with antelope and how the texture will
Change so quick.

http://www.uwyo.edu/foods/educational-resources/wild-game.html

 

[blasted_saber]

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.

Listened to this episode while driving from Wawa to Timmins last summer. Great listen for a long boring drive

 

[john-brennan]

From the time of harvest 5-7 days as I hunt with family and if you shoot one the first day and someone shoots there's the last day that could be 7 days right there, that been said I hunt late October so keeping meat is not a problem. I find it makes little difference when it is butchered in less than 7 days or so keep the meat cold.

 

[Chargerguy]

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.

This was a good listen. Thanks for posting.

 

[trevj]

Direct from the last butcher I used on a regular basis. The longer you hang a deer, the more ends up on the floor as trim.
Which bothered him not a bit, as he got paid by the weight on the hook coming in!
I saw deer brought in there that looked like jerky already. Once you threw away half or more, what was left was about as good as any.

I hang them until I am ready to deal with them, no longer. Have cut one or two while still twitching. Tasted just as good as any other. Blood. Sometimes. Sometimes not.

Aside from that the enzymes and fat distribution is completely different than beef, most of the hanging became a common practice before refrigeration became a 'home' thing.