how long do you hang Deer?

If the meat is going for sausage and jerky, quartered, hung for a few hours to get the blood drain, then straight to the butcher or cut up right away.

If I'm making roasts, chops, and stew, then 14 days minimum at 35 to 40 degrees F.
 
Usually we let them hang until the hide is frozen #### stiff to the flesh and you couldn't skin it with a chainsaw. 10 days minimum.
 
Well, Last year I shot two deer too fast (first week). The first was a button buck, and the second was a 7 point. I wasn't too worried about the little fellow, so he was butchered (by me) on the fourth day (but he was in a cool garage). My rationale was that he didn't need to season (AKA: partially decompose) before I cut him (tender viddles).
The problem came when at the end of that week, I shot the bigger buck. I wasn't sure if he'd be tough or gamey, but I knew it was warm (12 degrees the day I shot him) so I took off the hide right away. Then it was 12 degrees the next day, then 10, then 10 :? (and with warm nights) :? so I kept asking my buddy (who has the garage where I was storing the thing) how it was doing... He was getting antsy (and I don't have a garage :roll: ) so I suggested I'd go out and take off the fat, clean things up, and take it to the butcher. When I got there, the meat was warm (like 12 degrees), and in the corners (by the ribs, where the neck meets the shoulders...etc) there were very very small mold spores starting (like a mm long). I cut out the nasty parts, wiped it down with vinnegar and took it to the butcher. You could feel the difference. I was close to loosing some of it, I think. :shock: So I was lucky. The meat was delicious and tender beyond belief. :D so I think the few days may have helped, but have no way of knowing.
I still don't have a garage, and this year I have three tags + a bull. Need to figure something out. Last year my buddy got the tenderloins as rent, but that was just one deer. :p
D 8)
 
Oh, just to add: "The Moose hunter"- Andre Allen (an outfitter up here) suggests hanging moose for a minimum of a week regardless of temperature, as long as you absolutely cover it with black pepper and have removed any bruised/ damaged tissue.
D
 
I hang 'em till they're dead :)

Seriously, i spoke at lenght to a very talented and well known game butcher about this. He said it's great if you can hang it for 10 days, but that it doesn't make that much of a difference. The MOST important thing is getting the meat cool as fast as you can. The faster - the better the meat no matter how long it hangs.
 
Foxer said:
I hang 'em till they're dead :)

Seriously, i spoke at lenght to a very talented and well known game butcher about this. He said it's great if you can hang it for 10 days, but that it doesn't make that much of a difference. The MOST important thing is getting the meat cool as fast as you can. The faster - the better the meat no matter how long it hangs.
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Thats kinda what I thought and do
we get it back to the house or camp we skin it right away scrape and cut all the fat off cut out any blood shot meet then hang it in the cooler
at 4deg.
 
What Fogducker and Woodchopper said. If you can vacuum pack it, you can age it for a VERY long time - helps make it more tender through enzymatic breakdown of proteins. Personally, I wouldn't hang a deer for more than a week, largely due to the possibility of external contaminants like flies, etc...
 
from 0 - 15 days depending on the temperature.

i shot one deer, it was 27 C out, he went straight to the butcher.

let another hang for 15 days, he had a nice green sheen on him, best roasts ever!

usually i only hang for 1-2 days, then let the meat sit in the fridge for 3-5 days before cooking.

one of my friends shot a late muley a few years back, he just skinned and gutted him and hung him in an unheated shed and carved pieces off as need be throughout the winter.
 
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