Hanging Deer

[BuxnDux82]

I am curious about how long you guys hang your deer for? I was going to ask in the one deer thread but didn't want to hi jack it. We hang ours for about a week or less. I guess thats the perks of having a walk in cooler though....

[baltz526]

i do not want them to skin over if possible. shoot skin, cool out overnight, start cutting next day is prefered. next best is cold and dry, for as short of time as possible, then cut

[Grantspastor]

Originally Posted by baltz526

i do not want them to skin over if possible. shoot skin, cool out overnight, start cutting next day is prefered. next best is cold and dry, for as short of time as possible, then cut

I agree..no reason to hang them longer. They don't tenderize or improve like beef

[BuxnDux82]

Do you think that you get a gamey taste cutting it up so fast?? I like the meat somewhat frozen makes it easier too cut up.

[nevermiss]

The immediacy of success is our determining factor. We generally hunt for a week, and the deer are hung, (unskinned) for as long as the trip lasts. It gets plenty cold at night, so spoilage isn't a problem, nor is flavor. Anyway, that's how WE do it.

[weirdbeard]

The butchers I have talked to say cut as soon as all body heat is gone.

[chummer]

Do a search of aging game animals, there should be a ton of info there as this topic has been well discussed. University of Wyoming has a great pamplet in pdf format that you can download from them.

[huntinfool]

Originally Posted by nevermiss

The immediacy of success is our determining factor. We generally hunt for a week, and the deer are hung, (unskinned) for as long as the trip lasts. It gets plenty cold at night, so spoilage isn't a problem, nor is flavor. Anyway, that's how WE do it.

Note to selfon't eat at the nevermiss house on venison night.

You do realize that they have a nice thick hide to hold the warmth in. Even on the coldest nights, they won't cool down completly and warmth+dead flesh = spoilage. Thats why they make meat sacks.

[RidgeRunner]

I hope that was a misspelling. I sure hope you skin your deer and hang them. The skin is like having a layer of insulation on them. What do you think keeps them warm in the winter.

[Silverback]

Originally Posted by baltz526

i do not want them to skin over if possible. shoot skin, cool out overnight, start cutting next day is prefered. next best is cold and dry, for as short of time as possible, then cut

[zike]

According to a study by the University of Colorado, there is no difference in flavor if you hang with the hide on or hide off. Of course it has to be cold enough to hang. U of C did a study where they skinned 1/2 of deer, elk and antelope carcasses. They hung them and did blind taste tests, the testers couldn't determine which were hung with hide on.

The hide on/ hide off is a regional thing, I went east at Thanksgiving one year. About the time I crossed into South Dakota I started seeing deer hanging with hide on. When I lived in Buffalo, everyone one hung there deer hide on. Same for PA. and Michigan. With The hide on, once it cools over nite, even if it warms up, the hide insulates the meat and keeps it cold.

[wapiteaser]

We skin and hang in cool area over night. If the weather is cool during the day time, I leave it where it is. If it gets up in the high 40's, it goes into a cooler. 8-10 days before I cut. I try not to cool it too fast.

[shedhorn]

i skin asap and cut up the next day or the day after

[TheTexan]

He may also be saying that he leaves the hide on when it's really cold outside. I've left the skin on when the daytime temps don't get over freezing.

[Luckybill]

Its my understanding that the reason we hang our animal is to allow the meat to cool and firm which makes the butchering process a lot quicker and easier in my opinion

[Larry G]

We skin our animals as quickly as possible and then depending on outdoor temperatures we let them hang for 3-5 days. Our animals will skin over and we cut it off when we are cutting them up.

[Dave Miller]

When I was growing up we use to hang them for about a week. We skinned & quarter them as soon as we got them in the barn. We had cloth sacks that were used to cover them to keep the meat clean.There were times when they were frozen solid over night, so instead of cutting them up and canning the meat (we didn't have freezers until the mid 50'S), we just cut off the meat we needed for a meal and ate it that way until gone. In northern & western Maine it is always cold enough to keep game meat cold enough to be safe or frozen, from hunting season on until about the end of March, some years longer, so that way of keeping meat was okay. In the last 45-50 years I am working in the woods and don't have much free time that time of the year, so we cut them (moose & bear also) up as soon as we get home and put it right in the freezer. Its usually stiff enough to make cutting easy within two or three hours of the kill, moose a little longer even though we skin them out and cut up into carrying size pieces right in the woods.
If I had the time and the meat(s) didn't freeze solid over night (which they do 7 out of 10 years) I'd let them hang as I think it makes the meat more tender. I do not think it changes the taste, nor would I want it to.

[James in Idaho]

If I don't have to carry it very far, I leave the meat on the bone until after it has relaxed from rigor. Cut it up at any point after that. If it is really, really cold I'll leave the hide on to slow cooling, cooling too fast can cause the meat to toughen (cold shorting). But then, I haven't had to pack anything heavier than a TAG in a while, and I still have found a good way to cook those!

[chukarchaser]

I was going to say the same thing as James. In Wisconsin (where I grew up) you have to leave the hide on to SLOW cooling. If you want to try venison that you'd swear was shoe leather, eat some that has frozen too fast (cold shortening). Also, it is not true that venison doesn't improve (tenderness and flavor) as a result of aging. To answer the original question though, if I had the luxury of a walk-in cooler that I could keep at a constant temp. I would definitely let it hang for 5-7 days, depending on how quickly I cooled the meat to begin with and how clean it was kept.

Here is some info from another source:

Immediately after slaughter, many changes take place in muscle that convert muscle to meat. One of the changes is the contraction and stiffening of muscle known as rigor mortis. Muscle is very tender at the time of slaughter. However, as rigor mortis begins, muscle becomes progressively less tender until rigor mortis is complete. In the case of beef, 6 to 12 hours are required for the completion of rigor mortis, whereas in the case of pork, only 1 to 6 hours are required.
The carcass is chilled immediately after slaughter to prevent spoilage. If the carcass is chilled too rapidly, the result is "cold shortening" and subsequent toughness. Cold shortening occurs when the muscle is chilled to less than 60°F before the completion of rigor mortis. If the carcass is frozen before completion of rigor mortis, the result is "thaw rigor" and subsequently extremely tough meat. Under normal chilling conditions, it appears that unprotected carcasses with less than 0.50 inch of fat over the rib eye probably will have some reduced tenderness because of cold shortening. Aging a carcass affected by cold shortening or thaw rigor will not alleviate the detrimental effects on tenderness caused by these two conditions. To ensure more tender meat, home slaughtered animals and wild game should be protected from very rapid cooling during the first 6-12 hours after death.

CC

[BrushApe]

Chukachaser, very interesting read. Never heard explained like that before. Often hear guys talk about different elk/deer that were unusually tough or vice versa with no obvious reason. Thanks for the input, will be something to thing about. By the way, what was the source???

[Hunt'nFish]

Originally Posted by baltz526

i do not want them to skin over if possible. shoot skin, cool out overnight, start cutting next day is preferred. next best is cold and dry, for as short of time as possible, then cut

I'm with Richard, I don't like to cut all that casing off. very time consuming.

But since I hunt both east & west sides, with varying levels of temps & humidity, how I deal w/ the meat varies accordingly.
Eastside hunts it's usually a week before I get back home. Many times the meat is frozen or nearly so, so that slows the aging process a lot. But when I get back they get the meat bags taken off and hosed down to re-hydrate the casing and wash off all the little hairs and debris. I like to re-bag w/ fresh clean bags soaked in 50/50 vinegar & water and wring out to remove most. I want a moist bag but a clean bag. The vinegar is an antibacterial. I mist w/ 100% Apple Cider vinegar periodically as needed to keep the meat moist while I cut like hell to get it off the bone and into tubs for the frig.

Western Oregon is wet and humid, we can't afford to waste any time getting the meat into the frig.
If you drag your feet, it will spoil. The vinegar buys me a day or two extra if needed.
Blacktails shot locally get cut up ASAP. It's usually warmer during general rifle BT season and meat will spoil real fast.
Don't let it hang very long at all, start cutting the next day.
Nobody has every said our meat tastes "wild". The wild taste comes from improper care in the field and spoilage. IMO.

I prioritize on getting the meat off the bone and in the frig.
Next I focus on getting the steaks and roasts cut & wrapped.
From there I progress to stir-fry, stew, and burger meat.....making decisions about what will be what as I go. We really like to minimize the amount of burger and if all possible and cut stir-fry & stew meat where ever possible. We always have plenty of burger meat anyway.

We don't waste the neck meat either, it all burgers up fine.
And we have our own grinder (an old Oster Kitchen machine), so it all goes quick.

We use lots of vinegar to sanitize with. No bleach or other chemicals to taint the meats flavor. We mist the plastic table continuously as I cut.

Cutting is my job, wrapping is the kids & wife's job. We like small 1lb packages. We can defrost 2pkgs if needed, but really like to stretch the supply as far as possible.
Hunt'nFish

[BuxnDux82]

Well we are normally out for a week at a time when hunting so the process would be complete with the meat becoming cooled down. We then leave the meat hanging in the cooler for about a week or less. I swear by it honestly that the longer it hangs the better it tastes. i know though everyone has their own opinion thats just my

Thanks though for all your input guys

[Huntin'Around]

we hang ours skin them and if possible take it to the cooler that afternoon. the faster the better. if not let it hang over night and wipe it down with vinegar. but generally we wait no longer than 24 hours, and have never had spoiled meat. also your butcher should be able to tell if the meat did get spoiled.

[Oregonhunter]

If its cool 3-5 days then its off to the freezer....

oh

[Old Guys Rule]

I believe aging does affect the tenderness of the meat and has a small effect on flavor.

I like to get the hide off and cool the meat as quickly as possible - extremely critical in warm weather such as Antelope or early season high desert deer hunting. When I lived in SD we hung it hide on for a day before skinning as it was so cold it would immediately freeze solid. Flavor and texture were not as good if it froze quick. Good explanation of this by Chuckarchaser.

Meat must be on the bone to age properly. If it is boned out don't bother aging, it just sours. The meat must be under tension as it ages or the muscle tissue contracts and the meat gets tough.

I use cider vinegar to wipe the carcass down before cutting meat. Just like H&F says, this works great as an antibacterial wash.

How long do I hang it? Depends on temp and humidity. Aging is a controlled rotting process. Protien structure of the meat breaks down, making the meat more tender and modifying the flavor. What takes 2 weeks at 38 degrees in a locker will take 2 days at 50 degrees in your garage.

This year I shot 2 deer, a spike muley and a fork blacktail. The muley was hung in a tree at camp overnight, packed home, and cut up the next day. Nice young spike, no need to age, right? No way. It is tough and chewy. The blacktail aged for 5 days in my garage over Thanksgiving with temps betwen 35 and 45. Yes I had to trim some rotten meat on the surface where it glazed over but the edible meat is so tender it cuts like butter. IMHO this is a great comparison on how aging makes game taste better.

[Rank Amateur]

Over east we have always got away with hanging, up to a week, hide off of coarse.

Westside it depends on the weather, usually can go 5 days, but we cool off a little more at night up here in the hills.

Wipe down with vinegar.

[loper]

Originally Posted by Rank Amateur

Wipe down with vinegar.

Do you ever do the pepper thing after wiping it down?

Found that to be pretty much mandatory for antelope in Montana.

[fishandcrawl]

Week with walk in cooler, if something comes up leave it longer but it doesn't improve the meat.