Spoiled deer

[cedarsavage]

In the past I've usually cut them pretty quick, but now that I have the space, I'm gonna let them hang a bit. Rarely did I let hang more than a day, but weather permitting I'll let them sit a little longer now. Even though it's kinda tedious I like cutting my own meat, I hate to waste anything I kill and I get a lot higher yield when I do it myself. I haven't taken a deer to a processor since 2006 other than to have a few brats made

[stash59]

To keep deer, elk and antelope from drying out while hanging. After skinning. We made game bags that fit over the whole deer, elk or antelope. Sometimes we let them hang this way for a couple weeks. If it wasn't too hot or as long as they wouldn't freeze. Worked great! No dried out meat to trim off.

It was really the ticket for my buddies antelope. They skinned them at camp same day. Which allowed them to cool. Antelope are best skun out as soon as possible. The full sized game bags kept the road grim off of the carcasses on the long drive home. Where further butchering then took place.

[Horizontal Hunter]

If it's real warm out (anything over 70) my first goal is to get the guts out and cool the carcass off as quickly as possible. Then fill the cavity with frozen milk jugs with water or bags of ice. In most cases this is plenty to buy you some time even in real warm weather.

I do the same but add a quart jug in between the hams and wrap in a tarp. They will stay cold a long time that's way.

Bob

[Dewey]

If it's real warm out (anything over 70) my first goal is to get the guts out and cool the carcass off as quickly as possible. Then fill the cavity with frozen milk jugs with water or bags of ice. In most cases this is plenty to buy you some time even in real warm weather.

I do the same but add a quart jug in between the hams and wrap in a tarp. They will stay cold a long time that's way.

Bob

I also put a ice jug between the hams. Small bags of ice cubes works well too. That is by far the hardest area to cool fast because so much heat is retained. Since a good majority of your meat comes from there it's so important.

[JoeRE]

I am not going to get into the aging debate but I will say the last couple seasons I have focused on letting the deer hang 24 hours, until rigor mortis is gone, and that definitely helps with tenderness as others have mentioned....wish I had realized that years ago.

Do you skin it and hang it? I'm assuming you don't leave the hide on, but some people swear by it.

My grandpa gets all fussy over deer meat, its usually skinned, quartered and deboned within an hour of bringing it back to camp. My buck I shot this last year was skinned, quartered and deboned within 4 hours of me shooting it. And I sat in my stand and let the deer lay for 2 hours. Can't say it was a tender deer, and it wasn't an old buck either.

Yea, completely skin and hang for 24 hrs. Then cut up and into the freezer. I occasionally let them hang 2 days but not often - only with near freezing temps. After 18-24 hrs you will notice a distinct improvement in how flexible the muscles are. I don't try to age it more than that, I think it takes a very specialized setup to do that right.

Take half a deer and let it hang and let your grandpa work up the other half right away - throw each backstrap on the grill and let him decide. Bet you can notice a difference.

[JoeRE]

I am not going to get into the aging debate but I will say the last couple seasons I have focused on letting the deer hang 24 hours, until rigor mortis is gone, and that definitely helps with tenderness as others have mentioned....wish I had realized that years ago.

Do you skin it and hang it? I'm assuming you don't leave the hide on, but some people swear by it.

My grandpa gets all fussy over deer meat, its usually skinned, quartered and deboned within an hour of bringing it back to camp. My buck I shot this last year was skinned, quartered and deboned within 4 hours of me shooting it. And I sat in my stand and let the deer lay for 2 hours. Can't say it was a tender deer, and it wasn't an old buck either.

Yea, completely skin and hang for 24 hrs. Then cut up and into the freezer. It won't dry out hardly at all in just 24 hrs. I occasionally let them hang 2 days but not often - only with near freezing temps. After 18-24 hrs you will notice a distinct improvement in how flexible the muscles are. I don't try to age it for days or weeks, I think it takes a very specialized setup to do that right.

Take half a deer and let it hang and let your grandpa work up the other half right away - throw each backstrap on the grill and let him decide. Bet you can notice a difference.

[mainebowhunter]

I am not going to get into the aging debate but I will say the last couple seasons I have focused on letting the deer hang 24 hours, until rigor mortis is gone, and that definitely helps with tenderness as others have mentioned....wish I had realized that years ago.

Do you skin it and hang it? I'm assuming you don't leave the hide on, but some people swear by it.

My grandpa gets all fussy over deer meat, its usually skinned, quartered and deboned within an hour of bringing it back to camp. My buck I shot this last year was skinned, quartered and deboned within 4 hours of me shooting it. And I sat in my stand and let the deer lay for 2 hours. Can't say it was a tender deer, and it wasn't an old buck either.

Yea, completely skin and hang for 24 hrs. Then cut up and into the freezer. It won't dry out hardly at all in just 24 hrs. I occasionally let them hang 2 days but not often - only with near freezing temps. After 18-24 hrs you will notice a distinct improvement in how flexible the muscles are. I don't try to age it for days or weeks, I think it takes a very specialized setup to do that right.

Take half a deer and let it hang and let your grandpa work up the other half right away - throw each backstrap on the grill and let him decide. Bet you can notice a difference.

Its one of the issues we have with the local meatcutter. During early bow season, deer hang for a few days in a walkin cooler. Time to age a bit, let the muscles relax BUT they are so swamped during gun season, deer get 0 time to hang.

We are looking for a new meatcutter. Unless we decide to start doing it ourselves.