Deer meat this year.

[First-light]

I'm a bit disappointed in the meat this year. 2.5 year old buck. Had the inside tenderloins tonight and they were like a regular cut of steak. On the grill 3 minutes each side.

A bit tough but still good. Maybe I got back someone else's deer! lol Back to shooting young does and button bucks next year! lol

[wolc123]

1 hour ago, First-light said:

I'm a bit disappointed in the meat this year. 2.5 year old buck. Had the inside tenderloins tonight and they were like a regular cut of steak. On the grill 3 minutes each side.

A bit tough but still good. Maybe I got back someone else's deer! lol Back to shooting young does and button bucks next year! lol

One of the best things about processing them yourself is that you are always certain it is your own deer.   If the meat was tough, it probably was not aged long enough, prior to freezing, such that the rigor mortis did not have time to break down.  A 2-1/2 year old deer takes about 10 days at 33-43 F, for that to happen.   A 1-1/2 year old deer (buck or doe) takes about a week.  6 month olds can be processed immediately, but even those benefit from a couple days aging prior to freezing.  

I have only had two processed by others over the last 15 years.   (3) years ago, I dropped a 1-1/2 year old doe off at a processor, up in the Adirondacks, because it was 80 degrees on the day I killed her (early ML season) and I had no way to cool the carcass up there myself.  Nolt's in Lowville did a great job, had my meat back in a week, charged just $ 48, freezer wrapped, and I am 95 % sure it was all my deer.  (15) years ago, I dropped a thin, rutted-out, 2-1/2 year old 10-point buck off a a big local processor in Western NY.  It seemed like the amount of meat they gave me back, which included 10 pounds of excellent pepper sticks and a huge box of grind, exceeded the carcass weight of that deer.  I think it must have included at least some from other deer.   It was almost like they looked at the tag, saw "ten-points", and heaped up the box.   I wonder what the folks with does, spikes and 4 pointers got.

There is no way I would drop a button buck of at a processor.   The odds of you getting your own deer back if you do that would be low, unless you have a very good relationship with them. Also, I have never and would never leave the inner tenderloins in a deer when I took it to the processor.  It takes under a minute to cut them out.   They fit easy in the fridge, if it is too warm to hang the carcass outside.  They also never seem to get rigor mortis.  I usually eat them, cooked rare, with my eggs for breakfast the day after the kill.           

Edited April 8, 2019 by wolc123

[Daveboone]

I shot a mature buck this year who was still rutting. He was promptly dropped off at my processor (absolutely no question I get the same deer back), It hung in the cooler for about a week before processing. His meat absolutely has a bit of gaminess too it, and is tougher than the doe I shot three weeks before. Typical for other big bucks in the same condition I have shot in the past. That is why every year I am first a meat hunter....give me a nice mature doe or 1 1/2 year old buck. I am not saying I wont shoot the big boy if he comes by, but for the table, I shoot for meat quality. 

[wolc123]

9 hours ago, Daveboone said:

I shot a mature buck this year who was still rutting. He was promptly dropped off at my processor (absolutely no question I get the same deer back), It hung in the cooler for about a week before processing. His meat absolutely has a bit of gaminess too it, and is tougher than the doe I shot three weeks before. Typical for other big bucks in the same condition I have shot in the past. That is why every year I am first a meat hunter....give me a nice mature doe or 1 1/2 year old buck. I am not saying I wont shoot the big boy if he comes by, but for the table, I shoot for meat quality. 

One week in a cooler is cutting it pretty close for a mature buck, especially if he was over 2.5.   Two years ago, I aged a 3.5 year old buck for 14 days - skinned, cut in half in my deer fridge (where the temp runs a constant 33 degrees), and it was every bit as tender and tasty as any 1.5 buck, or mature doe that I have had.   I only aged last year's 3.5 year old buck for 8-1/2 days. We have eaten just the tenderloins from that one so far, so the jury is still out on if that was long enough.   The aging temperature was a bit higher (I left the hide on and hung it in our insulated garage).  The temperature inside the garage just broke 45 degrees a few times, but the meat temp stayed in the upper 30's to lower 40's the whole time, when I checked it with a meat thermometer.   The higher the aging temperature, the faster rigor mortis breaks down, so I figured 8-1/2 days might be enough.   There was no "gameyness" in the tenderloins anyhow.   

It will be a while until we find out how the rest of it tastes.  There is still a few packs of doe fawn grind left in our freezer as well as multiple roasts from that and a button buck, plus a whole (but badly shot-up) 2.5 year old buck my neighbor gave me, that have to be eaten first.  My buck from two years ago was killed just before the peak of the rut, and mine and my neighbor's from last year were killed right about at the peak.    That had no effect on the taste of the tenderloins, but we will have to see about the rest.  I should know about the 2.5 within the next couple weeks.   To me, as a "pure" meat hunter, using a buck tag on a 1.5 is sort of a waste, because I notice no difference in taste or texture, compared to a 2.5 or 3.5, but I do notice a big difference in quantity.  That is all very dependent on aging time and temperature however.  When you drop it of at a processor, you loose any control over that.     

 

Edited April 15, 2019 by wolc123

[GreeneHunter]

I'm living on last years Venison ...... cry me a river !

[dbHunterNY]

i have no complaints for the processor i used one time other than he uses freezer paper and not vac bags.  meat quality was definitely not as good as when i do it myself though.  i assume it was my deer but don't know for sure.  i've shot a bunch of deer, buck and doe. i haven't noticed a terrible difference  in meat quality between a yearling buck and ones much older.  sometimes depending on the stress they're under or time of the season, etc. things can be effected, same with what they eat, but not enough for me to swear off shooting any particular age class where i'm hunting that's for sure. in all honesty with limited doe tags here it's worth it for me to shoot a middle aged buck that would have a good amount of weight to him. if the opportunity isn't there then so be it. that's what i shoot for.  for doe i've had yearling doe to matriarch doe as old as the fields their feeding on. haven't noticed any difference.

[First-light]

So my daughter is home from college so I thought I would make "inside tenderloin" tonight. I'm only posting this because the first tenderloin was not so tender! lol Here is the meat on a 12" plate. Look like the right cut? Sure looks it. Talking about packages of meat mis marked and all has me suspicious. 2.5 year old buck Steuben county. 

 

Edited April 18, 2019 by First-light

[Fletch]

Call me crazy but the inner loins have never been my favorite. I like the back straps and heart better. I will say though they are better if you just pop them out yourself if you use a butcher. That way you can clean/trim em up right and quick. They are the most susceptible piece of meat to contamination and/or drying out.

[steve863]

47 minutes ago, First-light said:

So my daughter is home from college so I thought I would make "inside tenderloin" tonight. I'm only posting this because the first tenderloin was not so tender! lol Here is the meat on a 12" plate. Look like the right cut? Sure looks it. Talking about packages of meat mis marked and all has me suspicious. 2.5 year old buck Steuben county. 

 

Burt, you have your own land and cabin, why don't you butcher it up yourself?  That's the only way you'll ever know for sure that your eating the deer you shot. I wouldn't trust deer processors as far as I could throw them. 

[First-light]

8 minutes ago, steve863 said:

Burt, you have your own land and cabin, why don't you butcher it up yourself?  That's the only way you'll ever know for sure that your eating the deer you shot. I wouldn't trust deer processors as far as I could throw them. 

I agree but the travel distance back and forth and the time it takes limits me from doing it. We have processed plenty of deer in the past. 9:00 they go on the grill if I post happy faces all good! 

[wolc123]

Those definitely look like the "inner tenderloins".  Maybe those tougher ones you had earlier were the "hidden tenderloins".  If you want to see where those come from, you can check out the Grant Woods Youtube video.   Like Fletch says, the inner ones should be cut out and enjoyed right away, because they dry out if the carcass is hung for a while.  Also, like he say's, they are subject to contamination from piss or spilled "gut juice".   Whenever I kill a deer, the last thing I do in the gutting process is give them tenderloins a quick rinse using the blood that remains in the chest, forward of the diaphram.   That fluid is always there in the right place at the right time, unlike water, and is less likely to promote bacteria growth.  That fresh blood rinse washes out any piss or gut juice that might have got on the tenderloins.  The quicker you get that stuff off, the better they will taste.    I can not recall ever having bad tasting or tough tenderloins.   Sometimes I share them with the kids (if they are on their best behavior).   

[steve863]

22 minutes ago, First-light said:

I agree but the travel distance back and forth and the time it takes limits me from doing it. We have processed plenty of deer in the past. 9:00 they go on the grill if I post happy faces all good! 

Skin and quarter upstate (doesn't take too long at all) and then put the meat in a cooler with ice for the drive home and it can stay in there a couple of days easily until you are ready to complete the rest of the processing at home.  Not like the processor will handle your meat any better than this. 

[kpkot]

49 minutes ago, Fletch said:

Call me crazy but the inner loins have never been my favorite. I like the back straps and heart better. I will say though they are better if you just pop them out yourself if you use a butcher. That way you can clean/trim em up right and quick. They are the most susceptible piece of meat to contamination and/or drying out.

I am with you 100%. I find at times that although it can be the most tender,  it also can pick up a gamey taste. For best results remove asap. I remember leaving a doe overnight once  and the tenderloins tasted like the smell from gutting the deer. Couldn't even eat them- live and learn

[kpkot]

1 hour ago, First-light said:

So my daughter is home from college so I thought I would make "inside tenderloin" tonight. I'm only posting this because the first tenderloin was not so tender! lol Here is the meat on a 12" plate. Look like the right cut? Sure looks it. Talking about packages of meat mis marked and all has me suspicious. 2.5 year old buck Steuben county. 

 

That looks like the inner loins for sure

[First-light]

20 minutes ago, steve863 said:

Skin and quarter upstate (doesn't take too long at all) and then put the meat in a cooler with ice for the drive home and it can stay in there a couple of days easily until you are ready to complete the rest of the processing at home.  Not like the processor will handle your meat any better than this. 

My neighbors camp does that they are from Maryland. 

[mowin]

I've never aged my deer.  Lots of mature bucks and older does.  Shot, hung to cool, processed within 3-5 days.  

Juice, tender, and delicious.  The rule of 7-10 days of aging is hype. 

[First-light]

Well the meat was excellent. The girls loved it and so did I. Very tender and mild tasting. A+

[First-light]

Maybe that pack of tenderloins was mislabeled? Who knows.....nice moon tonight!

[wolc123]

1 hour ago, mowin said:

I've never aged my deer.  Lots of mature bucks and older does.  Shot, hung to cool, processed within 3-5 days.  

Juice, tender, and delicious.  The rule of 7-10 days of aging is hype. 

There are quite a few hunters who think that.  I am surprised that so many have so little understanding of basic biology.   The real test is what do non-hunters, wives, girlfriends etc think about the meat, as far as how it compares to beef, etc.    Do you think that venison, a red meat, is not subject to rigor mortis ?   Why is beef aged before freezing ?    The rule is, the older the animal, the longer it should be aged.   Give it a try sometime, if you are able.   Those who eat the venison I process and age never know it is not beef they are eating, unless they are told about it. 5 days is probably ok for 1.5 year old deer, but the older ones really benefit from a little more time.   

Notice all those who claim to like to shoot 1.5 year olds because "they are better eating".   That makes sense if they don't age or only age a few days.   As I stated earlier, I can not detect any difference in flavor or texture between 1.5 year olds and 3.5 year olds, bucks or does, providing the carcasses were aged appropriately.   Rigor mortis peaks about 8 hours after death.  A buddy once cleanly killed a 1.5 year old buck on our farm in the morning, processed it that afternoon, and froze it almost exactly 8 hours after it died.  He said that was the toughest deer he ever ate.

Here is an easy way to tell if a carcass is properly aged:   Feel the meat when it is fresh killed.  That is how it should feel again, when the rigor mortis has broken down, after proper aging.  If it feels like a pencil eraser, then it is going to be tough.  Even the burger is tough on an improperly aged deer.       

Edited April 19, 2019 by wolc123

[landtracdeerhunter]

The only disappointment is we're down to 60 some pounds of venison. The sausage is going fast. Burger is mighty tasty. Something told me to harvest more deer, dam it.

[wolc123]

2 hours ago, landtracdeerhunter said:

The only disappointment is we're down to 60 some pounds of venison. The sausage is going fast. Burger is mighty tasty. Something told me to harvest more deer, dam it.

Too much is always better than not enough.  Not many meats keep better than vacuum-sealed venison.  I never add any pork to my grind and packs that have been in the freezer up to 4 years taste just as fresh as it did when first butchered.   I hope our own supply holds out until the fall, when the new stuff starts coming in.  I would be in better shape, had I not blown opportunities on a couple of late-season does last year.        

[mowin]

18 hours ago, wolc123 said:

There are quite a few hunters who think that.  I am surprised that so many have so little understanding of basic biology.   The real test is what do non-hunters, wives, girlfriends etc think about the meat, as far as how it compares to beef, etc.    Do you think that venison, a red meat, is not subject to rigor mortis ?   Why is beef aged before freezing ?    The rule is, the older the animal, the longer it should be aged.   Give it a try sometime, if you are able.   Those who eat the venison I process and age never know it is not beef they are eating, unless they are told about it. 5 days is probably ok for 1.5 year old deer, but the older ones really benefit from a little more time.   

Notice all those who claim to like to shoot 1.5 year olds because "they are better eating".   That makes sense if they don't age or only age a few days.   As I stated earlier, I can not detect any difference in flavor or texture between 1.5 year olds and 3.5 year olds, bucks or does, providing the carcasses were aged appropriately.   Rigor mortis peaks about 8 hours after death.  A buddy once cleanly killed a 1.5 year old buck on our farm in the morning, processed it that afternoon, and froze it almost exactly 8 hours after it died.  He said that was the toughest deer he ever ate.

Here is an easy way to tell if a carcass is properly aged:   Feel the meat when it is fresh killed.  That is how it should feel again, when the rigor mortis has broken down, after proper aging.  If it feels like a pencil eraser, then it is going to be tough.  Even the burger is tough on an improperly aged deer.       

We're going to have to agree to disagree.   I've proceed all my own deer. Used to have a walk in cooler in the garage.  Got rid of it because there's no benefit to aging venison, IMHO. 

In my experience, those that don't like venison, haven't liked it for years, MOST don't like it just because it's venison.  Take a prime rib, cook it to perfection, and tell them it's venison, and most will say it's disgusting because it's Bambi.  

[wolc123]

44 minutes ago, mowin said:

We're going to have to agree to disagree.   I've proceed all my own deer. Used to have a walk in cooler in the garage.  Got rid of it because there's no benefit to aging venison, IMHO. 

In my experience, those that don't like venison, haven't liked it for years, MOST don't like it just because it's venison.  Take a prime rib, cook it to perfection, and tell them it's venison, and most will say it's disgusting because it's Bambi.  

I can go along with "no benefit" for you, however aging venison does provide a benefit for many, myself included.  The bulk of our family's protein comes from venison, so I can not afford to put "tough meat" on the table. Google "aging venison" and you will quickly find many articles explaining the benefits.   You will learn about "dry aging" and "wet aging".    You do not happen to can your meat do you ?.  That is one easy way to skip the aging process and still end up with tender meat.  My mom used to do that while I was young, and a few friends still do.  If not, you must have some pretty strong jaws if you are eating mature bucks after hanging for just 3 days.

I can understand where a walk-in cooler might be a pain for maintenance and for tying up floor-space.  The old 1950's GE deer-fridge in our garage (on bottom of sideways photo) does the trick for me when it is too warm to hang in our insulated garage.  It also comes in handy for beer now and then.   I skinned that 3-1/2 year old buck in the photo (named "taco" by my youngest daughter), cut it in half and hung it in there for 2 weeks.  It was as tender as any 1-1/2 buck or doe that I have had.  Last year, the outside temperature was cool enough for just hanging them, with the hides on, inside the garage.  That is definitely my preferred way.  The hide keeps them from drying out and insulates, but it is a bit tougher to remove later.  I usually skin them one evening and process them the next to break up the work load a bit.      

 

 

p.s: I agree with you about the people who don't like venison.  My wife makes a real good bean recipe that uses ground meat.  At family functions, when she brings it, all I have to say is "nothing brings out the flavor of beans like ground deer meat", and my sister in law will not touch it.   That leaves more for the rest of us to enjoy.   

Edited April 19, 2019 by wolc123

[Fletch]

I would say any deer 3.5 and under you will see very little improvement from aging. One thing said though aging deer properly will never make it worse. 

[wolc123]

11 minutes ago, Fletch said:

I would say any deer 3.5 and under you will see very little improvement from aging. One thing said though aging deer properly will never make it worse. 

The only ones that I cut up right away sometimes are the 6 month olds, but even those benefit slightly from a day or two hang.   Those are certainly in a class by themselves however, minimally effected by rigor mortis.   We got pretty spoiled with two of those last year, so I will probably have to wait about four years for another (they have usually come along every other year or so).       

Edited April 19, 2019 by wolc123