Quick questions before my first deer hunt.

zackstab said:
Ok so the general consensus is to hang it for a few days for tenderness. I think being my first gutting.. Imm leaning in the direction of cutting the sternum open. I want the deer as clean as possible.

Is it a lot more difficult to remove everything chest closed or should I be able to do it?
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Skip to about a minute in.

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Also you're going to find tons of conflicting answers whether or not to hang your deer and for how long. There is no real answer. I believe that generally the end result either way gives the same taste and tenderness. The main differences in taste and tenderness comes from the age of the deer, ### of the deer, what stage of rut its in, how much fat is left on the meat, what its been eating, how it was cooked, and most importantly how it was cared for immediately after the shot. There are far too many variables to say one way yields a higher quality meat. Field dress it ASAP, get it hung and get the skin off ASAP. You do probably want to wait until the meat cools down before slicing as it will get firmer the more it cools and makes it easier to cut.

A steak that I leave covered in the fridge overnight tastes the same to me as a steak that I left covered in the fridge for a few days.
 
I don't wait . than again I use a different bullet than most. I usually don't have much of an option when it comes to hanging deer. where I live if it was to hang it would be a frozen block.

this post really makes me thankful for a dad that taught me all the basics.

Thanks pops
 
looch said:
We gut in the field - that's it. Once registered and home, we hang it and cut off the forelegs, split the sternum, open the neck/remove esophagus, and make sure everything is clean. Then we hang it in the cold room, skin on, for at least a week before butchering. Take the tenderloins off after 2 days.

If you hang it with skin off, you are going to lose a layer of exposed meat.
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I would never do this. But you can do as you please.

Hanging with the skin on will give the meat a VERY gamey flavor which most people do not like, does not allow the meat to cool as fast as it should, gets hair everywhere when skinning, which also takes longer, and keeps hemorrhaged meat covered in blood which means you will lose more meat.

Getting the skin off right away gives the meat the chance to cool right away, and is also the easy and fast way to skin any animal. Also allows you to clean up & trim off any gun shot meat so the rest doesn't spoil. And makes for very mild venison.

The skin starts to rot right away - and the decomposing skin is what gives the meat a strong taste - if you don't believe me try this test. Skin one right away, and at the end of the week put your nose in the cavity of the cadaver and take a deep breath - then put your nose up to the skin and take a deep breath..... the cadaver wont smell hardly at all and the skin will be gagging you.

Venison does not need to hang like beef does, mostly because it is not marbled with fat the way beef is. I have had it hang for a week and also for 2 days and there is no difference in taste or quality
 
guts out, hide off, carcass split from pelvis and ribs. Do not puncture bladder or digestive organs.
Bring a few water bottles and blue shop towels to immediately wash off any gut or urine that may get on the carcass in the process.
Bring some good string for tying off it's schlong and also for tying front and rear leg on one side to bushes to make gutting easier.
I bring cheese cloth game socks that fit a whole deer and hang, skin and bag at camp, then off to my cutting table. If temps are below 0 or over 6 degrees, it's butchered right away
If hanging temps are favorable, I don't mind hanging for max 5 days for deer.
NEVER leave the hide on for hanging, I can't believe anyone would recommend that.
I don't eat neck meat from a rutting buck and get it off the carcass as fast as possible.
Rut bucks urinate all over themselves during rut.
Beware the rear leg Musk glands, tarsal/meta tarsal, I will sometimes immediately skin the entire ass end and buck off the rear legs if I've dropped a deer whose ass end looks 'greasy' from the rut. The knife and saw I use for that is not used for anything else.
We all have our ways and constantly learning new tricks :)
 
I, too, have hung venison for hours, days, and weeks. It doesn't change the taste, it only depends on the temperature and the time I have available before I can butcher it.
 
I'm out there on the hanging; can neither prove nor disprove it. My son married the daughter of a family that owns one Abattoir and my daughter works for the other one; one says yay, the other nay.
I'd think shooting it 'cold' ( not in flight mode) and getting the hide off and carcass cooling quickly will pay bigger dividend's than worrying about hanging or not.
As far as methods; everyone is sure their way is right, likely me included. Mostly...you gotta get wet...it's not too bad once you are 'in there'. Don't be too squeamish; but don't do a 'serial killer on Meth' with innards flying. But you will get bloody, 1st time is a bit of a jump sometimes.
It's like jumping in the lake, seems cold if you dyck about; but not bad once you are in there.
Good luck and stay safe
 
Bigbubba said:
I would never do this. But you can do as you please...
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With my father's basement facilities, we end up processing about 20 animals per year. Mostly deer, but also moose and the occasional caribou. We haven't had any complaints - but the cold room is maintained at or below 34 Fahrenheit. Not trying to convince you to change, but your theories as to why it should not be done our way are just plain wrong.
 
Looch
Cold room or not, I cant think of any good reason to hang any animal with the hide still on.
What is the advantage to doing this? Please tell me.

Game bags do a good job of keeping dirt off the meat while transporting from the field, and for sure in some cases the animals must be brought home (or back to camp) with the hide on, but then they can be skinned before transport to the butcher.

Yet I can think of several reasons to hang them skinned right away.
1) They skin easy when hot, and the hair doesn't get everywhere
2) You can clean up the gunshot area right away, so you lose less meat
3) The meat cools faster with out the hide on

So please tell me, why leave the hide on? I am open to reason.
Thanks
 
Bigbubba said:
Looch
Cold room or not, I cant think of any good reason to hang any animal with the hide still on.
What is the advantage to doing this? Please tell me.

Game bags do a good job of keeping dirt off the meat while transporting from the field, and for sure in some cases the animals must be brought home (or back to camp) with the hide on, but then they can be skinned before transport to the butcher.

Yet I can think of several reasons to hang them skinned right away.
1) They skin easy when hot, and the hair doesn't get everywhere
2) You can clean up the gunshot area right away, so you lose less meat
3) The meat cools faster with out the hide on

So please tell me, why leave the hide on? I am open to reason.
Thanks
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On the subject of removing the gunshot area... If I wait until I am home to do this, how much more meat will I lose? (2 hours) Do you know any good videos on the process of it?
 
Bigbubba said:
So please tell me, why leave the hide on? I am open to reason.
Thanks
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He did mention the benefit earlier; that leaving the hide on prevents the crusting of the outer layer of meat, which reduces the need for trimming, which increases the yield of net edible meat in the freezer and reduces butchering time.

For example, even though I was very careful and used a good, sharp knife, I ended up with ~3 pounds of trim from the mule deer buck I processed on Sunday and I spent at least 80% of my time trimming the thin layer of dry meat off each piece. This was only after 2 nights of hanging in my shed.

I have never hung an animal with the hide on, because I do not have the ability to control temperature. If I did, I might try it. Way faster butchering and less wasted meat. I like both of these benefits.
 
you will find that bleding your deer right a way is alwase a good thing I give it about 5 min once i cut the throat
then gut right after bled I can do the field dress in leas then 10 min bled and gutted one of my hunting partners can do it in 7 1/2 min
i use a tiger torch and a rag to remove hair
Hair will give a strong game taste along with fat
 
carverk said:
you will find that bleding your deer right a way is alwase a good thing I give it about 5 min once i cut the throat
then gut right after bled I can do the field dress in leas then 10 min bled and gutted one of my hunting partners can do it in 7 1/2 min
i use a tiger torch and a rag to remove hair
Hair will give a strong game taste along with fat
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Why do you cut the throat?
From what I have read if you properly gut the dear it will bleed out just as much from its torso and makes the throat cutting unnecessary.
 
Man.... If I gave my butcher an animal with the hide on he'd tell me take it elsewhere.
And he's one of the highest regarded domestic and game meat cutters in BC
Animals with hair, don't belong in the hanging/processing area, to me that is gross and unsanitary
 
zackstab said:
Why do you cut the throat?
From what I have read if you properly gut the dear it will bleed out just as much from its torso and makes the throat cutting unnecessary.
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you have to cut the throut right to the vertebrae to not only bleed the deer
you want the jugular cut right throw so after you have ringed the ass and gental and cut your deer open, cut the diaphragm reach up and grab the bottam of the juguler and pull quickly guts com out slick as ####
 
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