Hanging Deer
- Thread starter timandkimandshea
- Start date
I say they do as I have taken the time to watch a carcass over that 36 hour period. Four hours after you hang it you can't move a leg without moving the whole carcass. Day and a half later it bends and moves without any problems. We have butchered before this period and I and the five others I hunt with can tell the difference. My 02 cents
- Location
- The Conservative part of Ontario
24hrs is my rule of thumb as to how long is minimum.
I did a road kill myself immediately some years back, because it was Sunday, and the butcher shops were closed, and I had no place to hang it in the summer heat. The result was that I had to drain the blood out of my burger before use, every pkg. Yes, thaw, then drain. The steaks were Ok, but all were barbecued, and I wisely did not do roasts. Not draining the blood, and your meat taste is horrid.
I did a road kill myself immediately some years back, because it was Sunday, and the butcher shops were closed, and I had no place to hang it in the summer heat. The result was that I had to drain the blood out of my burger before use, every pkg. Yes, thaw, then drain. The steaks were Ok, but all were barbecued, and I wisely did not do roasts. Not draining the blood, and your meat taste is horrid.
Bigfoot 870
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Nova Scotia
I shoot mine, hanging is cruel
but seriously, does anyone find any differences if one hangs the carcass by the hind legs with the head down or hung by the neck as close as possible to the ears and base of the head, if so what are the differences that you find?
Last edited:
I think ur incorrect.
it canot age if it is frozen ,I like mine hung for at least a week ,had one hung up last week first night it got down to zero it was hung in a shed in the shade with a breeze the next day it got up to 15 and that night it cooled down again .I kept a close watch on it and the meat stayed cool all day after the third day it stay cold and I cut it after one week and boy was it good ,you got to remember the deers temp is around 100 degrees so even at 10 degrees the meat is cooling down just a little slower .when I worked in the butcher shop all beef were killed and put in to the drip cooler for the night it is not near as cold as the normal cooler . and moved to the regular cooler the next morning .cooling them down a little slower lets the meat drip out and relax .we even tried the electric shock treatment on the sides of beef after the were hung and split .the prob was put in the meat and a charge was given for about one minute making the half off beef spazam .kind of weird to see but it worked .I spent 20 years on a kill floor .boy that is hard work for a 16 year old .D
- Location
- Ft. Mac. Alberta
I don't hang my deer as a rule.
Shoot , gut, get it home and process.
Backstraps and tenderloins go into the freezer and everything else gets turned into ground- the wife prefers cooking with it.
She can do a lot more with burger, and it goes further.
The backtraps can be sliced into steaks or roasts , and that is a nice change.
Never had a bad one in all the years I have shot and butchered them that way.
The only time they get hung is if it's late and I get after them the next day!:>)
Cat
Shoot , gut, get it home and process.
Backstraps and tenderloins go into the freezer and everything else gets turned into ground- the wife prefers cooking with it.
She can do a lot more with burger, and it goes further.
The backtraps can be sliced into steaks or roasts , and that is a nice change.
Never had a bad one in all the years I have shot and butchered them that way.
The only time they get hung is if it's late and I get after them the next day!:>)
Cat
longbranch*
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- Victoria,BC.
My feelings exactly. Game meat is not like beef which does require some aging. The longer your game hangs on the pole the more likely hood of spoilage.
use a cleaner pole or locate it in the right temperature and humidity if you are worried about spoiling. The advantages of hanging are clear yet has been lost here in NA where wild game butchers are more concerned with space in the cooler and doing large volumes quickly at lower prices. Production/speed has wiped out/taken priority over methods that were perfected over hundreds of years by the generations before us.
Today we have some people saying this is how I did it for 50 years so I am right.......50 years is a drop in the bucket compared to what has been passed down from generations. Canada and the USA are very young countries compared to those in europe.
I think one of the big issues is that few people have access to proper hanging facilities. No doubt there is an argument to be made against hanging at home but some the arguments I've heard here for not hanging venison because it's different than beef don't even make sense. Oh well, as long as people are happy with their meat in the end I guess it's all that matters but the benefits of hanging in proper facilities are well documented.
M12shooter
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- East St. Paul, mb
What he says...love those dudes "aging" wild meat in the garage when its frozen solid.
Hotwheels81
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- South of GP
The 3 S's
Sausage
Smoke
Salt
No European (except the French maybe) would risk meat spoiling by hanging it on a hook any longer than winter could preserve it...
Europe is better known for it's cured meats than it's freezer's.
- Location
- Brandon....
Deer doesnt have nice marbling like beef...There is NO sense is aging a deer just let it bleed out your good to go!! In high quality beef the barling breaks down over time tenderizing the meat,In deer no,it won't do anything just don't over cook eat it rare-med rare and enjoy sum tender venison
many still have the cold rooms on the farms that have been there for hundreds of years. Meat can be hung for long periods of time in them as the process and room was perfected over many a generation. The ice you bring in in winter lasts till the next winter, nobody is letting their meat spoil from hanging too long.
Hotwheels81
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- South of GP
Lol... Ya because it's cured eaten or frozen before it spoils...
Cold storage of meat and hanging it for lengthly periods is a fairly new idea not an age old tradition... Infact unless you live in a very cold climate hanging meat is the worst way to store it... Most of these "European" ways involve hanging meat and crusting it with salt or smoke depending on your financial ability... Even our traditional North American "farmer sausage" is a hodgepodge of smoke and salt (both fairly cheap post railway) and today we view it as a pleasant treat yet my grandfather's both grew up with it and it meant they were poor and that's how the family preserved the meat.
Prime meat cuts were always eaten first, what couldent be kept frozen hanging during the winter was salted or smoked or both... Ice cellars were used for important stuff like milk that could not be preserved.... I'm at a loss how one would hang a cow or even a 1/4 of one in an average cold cellar... Most were 4' high and packed tight to preserve the cold not some huge room you could walk into...
