I am one of the older hunters who age my Deer as long as I can in my cooler.I also leave the hide on until the day before or the day that I cut them up.Keeps the meat from drying out.Been doing this for 58 yrs.Have only one bad Deer.We have lived on mostly Deer meat since 1968.No gamey taste and lots of compliments from people who would not eat wild meat.We never bother to tell them that it is Deer meat.We must be doing something right.
Hanging your deer
- Thread starter StiffDrink
- Start date
canadian hunter312
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Brant County
This Field and Stream article, along with every other article I've read, says rigor lasts a maximum of 24 hours.
http://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/other/recipes/2006/01/deer-hang-time
I grew up being taught to always hang a deer and remove the hide ASAP regardless of the weather. What I found over the years was plenty of meat was being wasted after the hide was removed as it would dry out and needed to be trimmed off before processing the animal. I also found that the quality of meat (taste and tenderness) was hit and miss with some being great and others only being suitable for jerky or pepperettes.
Then in my teens I started hunting alone and doing things "my way". If it's below freezing I leave the hide on and let it hang for a day or two and in warmer weather I remove the hide and let it hang over night. I remove nearly all of the fat as I find it doesn't taste very good. All of the deer I have done this way have been fork tender, taste great, and no dried out meat is tossed.
My dad still tells me i'm doing it wrong, even though the results are far better
I believe cooling the meat as quickly as possible is the most important step followed by how you cut up the meat.
Sorry if I'm repeating from someone else - I didn't have time to read the whole tread. I shoot small and young deer, so aging is perhaps not as important as it might be for others. BUT, I really like to have my deer hang for at least 2 days, up to 4-5, before it gets cut (butchered, not deboned). I learned this the hard way this year. My regular butcher (only guy I've ever used) retired, so I went somewhere new. The new butcher was over-run wiht deer, so he cut my deer withing 24-hours of the arrow going through it! I had skinned it on-site and delivered it to him ready to hang, but he just didn't have the room at that time. Anyhow, the flavour of the meat is great (pre-rut spikehorn whitetail) but the cuts are very messy - really thick at one end and thin at the other end. It's a much harder product to deal with for cooking that the nice even steaks from my last butcher. So that's my take on it - there are obviously different opinions about the need to hang meat, and this probably depends at least a bit on the species, age, time of the season/rut. But my point is that if you're deboning, then you can probably cut as soon as you feel that the meat is aged. If you're getting it butchered though, you may want to try to find someone who will hang it for a while.
I tend to shoot my first deer early (bow season), so it's way too hot to hang in a garage (even if I had a garage - lol). So my challenge is to find a butcher who will hang a deer for me for a while to let it "set up". I have discussed getting an old fridge that would stay unplugged all year (maybe used for treestand storage?) and building a "closet rod" into it. Then just quartering my deer and hanging the quarters (remember - I DID admit to shooting small deer!). Season starts - take my stands out - plug it in - hang my quartered deer (or whole fawn! lol!) as long as I want and then bring it to the butcher for immediate cutting.
-Dave
I tend to shoot my first deer early (bow season), so it's way too hot to hang in a garage (even if I had a garage - lol). So my challenge is to find a butcher who will hang a deer for me for a while to let it "set up". I have discussed getting an old fridge that would stay unplugged all year (maybe used for treestand storage?) and building a "closet rod" into it. Then just quartering my deer and hanging the quarters (remember - I DID admit to shooting small deer!). Season starts - take my stands out - plug it in - hang my quartered deer (or whole fawn! lol!) as long as I want and then bring it to the butcher for immediate cutting.
-Dave
Everyone process their animal differently. Weather it is cold or warm outside after downing an animal, as soon as I can, I will hang, skin, gut and then wrap in cheese cloth. It is essential that the animals body be cooled-off ASAP to prevent early stages of decaying, and to protect it with cheese cloth from dirt and insects. I use a hanging device, I call it the "Hanging Rig" where it keeps the animal off the ground to prevent it from dirt and hair attaching to the meat when skinning. If temperatures are warm, skin it ASAP and get it to the butcher shop/cooler.
Glad to see most people are recommending to skin ASAP....the quicker the meat cools the better it will taste. I like to hang deer for 3-5 days and butcher it myself. If its to warm outside it goes to commercial butcher plant (skinned and in game bags) and they normally hang it for 5-7 days before butchering.
BrotherRockeye
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Rural Saskatchewan
I used to hang my early season archery deer in the well to keep them cool before boning them out.
BigUglyMan
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- New Scotland
You've obviously not dealt with many dead things. Rigor leaves aster when the conditions are warmer.
Dave, you ned a different butcher, as the problems are with the speed he is cutting, and the sloppy work he is doing, not with how long the meat was hung.
He would have given you crappy cuts, no matter, as he was in a rush.
Or learn to process your own.
Cheers
Trev
indeed!
Thanks Trav and Two-dog. I figured that if it hung longer it would be firmer and easier to get even cuts. Interesting that you both feel that is not necessarily the case. I did briefly consider cutting my own under the supervision of Professor Youtube - LOL. facilities are a bit of a limitation for me, as I am an "urban redneck" - small house, small kitchen, no garage etc... Not impossible of course, especially for my little deer, but hanging is definitely impossible ( unless I WANT to force a divorce! LOL). Fundamentally though, I'd rather be pheasant hunting after I drop my deer, so either way I think that I will try for a new butcher first. Thanks for the feedback boys.
Cheers,
Dave
Hanging the meat will not hurt it, it's just that I've found there is no appreciable difference between a deer that is butchered the next morning or one that is in a cool room for a week. Beef is a completely different story, the longer the better. I find quickness of field dressing and cooling to have the biggest impact on taste and tenderness.
I bet that anyone would find a difference between alfalfa fed to bush fed deer. I've killed some rank old bucks near alfalfa fields and they were excellent eating........tender and tasty! I couldn't say the about the difference in time length of hanging. Usually it is between 9 to 14 days that I leave them hang to allow the meat to age/decompose for added tenderness.
