Hang ? Or butcher right away?

[philoshop]

Either before rigor mortis,. or after it eases. Depends on temperature. Skinning is always less of a hassle with a fresh carcass, of course, and I don't think I've ever noticed any difference in the taste of the meat one way or the other. A deer is not the same as a fat-laden cow.

[OtiscoPaul]

11 minutes ago, moog5050 said:

You probably make a great point.  I have never hung and cut off the dried crust, but it may be easier.  Never thought about it.  Might give that a try.  I do have an extra fridge.

My experience is the longer it gets good temps + air the better "jerky layer" you get on the outside, not real thick but easier to filet than a couple dozen bluegills.

I have never hung in a fridge but I am really excited to let my wife get a new one for the kitchen (this one is sooo dated!).

Edited October 30, 2018 by OtiscoPaul

[Culvercreek hunt club]

On 10/29/2018 at 9:51 AM, mowin said:

I've let em hang in a walk in cooler for 7 days before processing.  I've processed em after hanging in the walk in overnight, and everywhere in between.  If cooled off completely, I see no difference in tenderness or quality of the meat.  

Age of the deer, if it was killed quickly and gutted and cooled as fast as possible, have a much greater effect on the quality of the meat then hanging for a certain time. 

Handling after the shot and proper cooking techniques are everything. 

[cynthiafu]

Thank you all.  we normally hang for a week but last year it was so cold the skin was so hard to get off. 

[philoshop]

13 minutes ago, OtiscoPaul said:

My experience is the longer it gets good temps + air the better "jerky layer" you get on the outside, not real thick but easier to filet than a couple dozen bluegills.

I have never hung in a fridge but I am really excited to let my wife get a new one for the kitchen (this one is sooo dated!).

A friend of mine bought a big commercial fridge from a restaurant foreclosure at auction. He uses it mostly to dry-age beef because he's does some butchering but it'll hold four or five deer when necessary. He got it pretty cheap, but I'll bet it costs him at least a hundred bucks a month to keep plugged in.

[philoshop]

12 minutes ago, cynthiafu said:

Thank you all.  we normally hang for a week but last year it was so cold the skin was so hard to get off. 

Yeah. It generally takes a tractor and some stout roof structure to get the hide off a cold deer. You can buy mesh bags for a whole carcass to keep most insects and whatnot away. Skin it when it's fresh and save yourself the headache.

[Five Seasons]

2 hours ago, OtiscoPaul said:

 

But I really do enjoy taking a few days off from the stand and listening to music, sharpening my knife skills and savoring the harvest...beats the drag but I kinda like that part too.

this is how i felt last weekend. Good weekend to stay out of the woods and take my time cutting and drinking while watching football or listening to tunes. 

[crappyice]

Yeah. It generally takes a tractor and some stout roof structure to get the hide off a cold deer. You can buy mesh bags for a whole carcass to keep most insects and whatnot away. Skin it when it's fresh and save yourself the headache.

I also know guys who skin them fresh and then just wrap the hide back around the carcass until they are ready to butcher. Works like a game bag I assume


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[Cabin Fever]

I skin while the carcass is still warm. If it's cold enough outside, I'll let it hang overnight. If not, I'll debone and get in the refrig or cooler. Regardless, it's usually ready for processing the next day.  

[cynthiafu]

We normally hunt hard for a week then off and on for the rest . So I'll try something different this year

[OtiscoPaul]

Straps are done I'm going hunting (for turkey or doe) will resume with hinds tomorrow:

[dbHunterNY]

On 10/28/2018 at 5:32 PM, crappyice said:

I have deer fridge to hang quarters at a consistent temp. This year I am going to try 4-7 day hang times




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include a small battery powered fan for air circulation. just don't let it sit in drainage from the meat. same with meat. set a bakers cooling rack on the bottom to keep the meat of the bottom and out of the drained blood. that's what i'd do. you're trying to dry age and not wet age right?

[dbHunterNY]

i'll let it hang if temp is 40 or less and i have time later to deal with it. hind quarters up so blood isn't draining into them and heat isn't trapped in the chest cavity. skin left on to reduce waste and drying out. otherwise it gets boned out and put in meat totes to wet age and finish draining in the fridge drain grate on bottom so the meat isn't sitting in drained blood and body fluid. venison is lean and doesn't have fibrous tissue and fat content like beef. won't do much more for aging after a week or so. aging won't fix you leaving trimmings, fat, and connective tissue on the meat. got to clean as much of that off as feasible even for ground meat.

[Arcade Hunter]

I like to hang them for 5 to 10 days.  This is my son in law's first archery deer and we hung it for 10 days.  Deer was taken in West Clarksville.  He opted to cut the hind quarter roasts into steaks and I took a few of those steaks and cooked them up.  Best venison I ever had!

[wolc123]

12 minutes ago, Arcade Hunter said:

I like to hang them for 5 to 10 days.  This is my son in law's first archery deer and we hung it for 10 days.  Deer was taken in West Clarksville.  He opted to cut the hind quarter roasts into steaks and I took a few of those steaks and cooked them up.  Best venison I ever had!

I bet that a lot of these guys who do not age their venison are the same ones who's wives and girlfriends don't like it.  Most women I know do not like "rare" meat, and even less like it tough.  At least if it is aged, you can give it to them tender.      That there looks like it is cooked just right and I know it was aged properly so it is easy to understand why it is so good.

[Five Seasons]

i don't age and I cook my venison like pictured. My whole family, including my non-deer hunting raised wife loves it.

Edited November 16, 2018 by Belo