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Deer hunters- cut'em up quick or let them hang?
jimdeere
Member, Moderator Posts: 26,155 ******
I've always heard if the weather was not too warm to let them hang for a week. Now I'm hearing get them butchered right away.
What do you folks do?
Comments
Too hot here, keep em in a cooler for uo to a week(when i get time to cut up). BUT if I had access to a walk in cooler, or cold enough temps outside, hanging for a week is WAY better. At the very least it helps to dry the meat and is 100% easier to butcher!
We processed our deer.I found best to hang them at least a week and 2 weeks were better.I always hung them head down by the hocks in the rear legs.When the big tendons that they are hanging by start to get clear,usually 10 days to 2 weeks the meat is perfect.Its too hot to hang them outside here in SC but we had a walk in cooler at our hunt camp.
Depends on the weather. If the temps will be 30°to 45° that would be perfect for me not worrying about meat spoiling. If the weather is warm 55° or warmer and you don’t have a cooler go ahead and butcher and freeze. When ready to use the meat you can aways age it in the refrigerator after it thaws for 4 or 5 days.
By hanging you are aging the meat. Aging the meat is causing the collagen in the muscle fibers to break down, adding flavor and tenderizing the muscles.
We would hang them skinned for week. If too warm we would fill the deers cavity from being gutted, with bags of block ice and wrap in a old bed sheet. Worked great every time.
Edit to add; We always skinned them as soon as we got them hung. Found they skin much easier, fresh killed than waiting. Secondly I want to get that hide off that may have ticks or other bugs as soon as possible.
Was always told if cold enough let them hang to age. Especially when they are running scared here. Lets the meat relax and break down. Like stated before. If weather conditions don't allow for hanging. We have a few refrigerators the we place the quarters in. Making sure air flow is around each piece.
We hang for a week in a walk- in cooler kept between 35 to 38 degrees . Too warm most of nov.and dec.to do otherwise. When we didn't have a cooler we aged in an ice chest for 3 or 4 days
I gut in the field.
Hang skinned in my climate controlled garage for the night, cavity stuffed with frozen gallon jugs
Cut up the next day.
I personally see no reason to hang longer.
Never had a complaint on the quality of my deer meat.
I fillet the meat off the skeleton then put it in a garbage bag and into the fridge for a few days. Usually we wait till the group has 2-3 deer then spend an evening working them up all hands on deck. One trimming, one grinding, one cubing and one vacum sealing. usually only take few hours to work them up and then your meat is however you want it done up and vacum sealed and in freezer ready to go home…….
Beef is aged, so should venison. If it is too warm, I chunk it and put the pieces in the fridge for 5-6 days cutting it up at my leisure. Grind the burger 4 to 1 with bacon you will thank me. Eddie
I have quartered many of them, and put the quarters in the refrigerator for 3 days.
Even better, I got a big cooler and put 5 gallons of water in there. Dump in a pound of salt and stir well. Add 15 pounds of ice. Put in the quartered deer. Leave for 4 days. The salt is very effective at drawing out the blood
I will admit I generally field clean them and then run them to the butcher. For many years, the place I used was less than 10 minutes from where I hunt. Now I live 45 minutes from the processing place. I usually field dress them and hang them over night and take them in the next day.
I do not try to cut them up any more. My old hands do not handle the process very well….
II agree
I wouldn't do either to a deer hunter; politicians, on the other hand, that's another question.😉
I see what you did,,,lol
My processor is 11 miles from our camp. They will skin, dress, and hang the deer for at least 5 days, then process, wrap, and freeze it. They work on only one deer at a time, so I'm assured that I will get my meat. Two deer this year cost a total of $220 and I didn't have to spend two days packaging my meat and cleaning up the mess at camp.
who do you use?
we tried Dixon right out of Magnolia this year
I can get you some Magnolia/El Dorado/Camden recommendations, but I would think you know them all already!
that would be great around McNeil
we have cut up our own for years but just don't like leaving meat on ice for over a week at a time
It’s always been too warm in my areas to let them hang. Plus, I don’t like bugs and stuff getting to them. I cut them up and put them on ice in a big cooler for 10 days, adding ice as needed and letting the cooler drain continuously.
I found that, when I put the quartered deer in the refrigerator for 2 or 3 days, and then I cut up the steaks and ground up the sausage, that 2 months later when I pulled two-pound package of delicious venison steaks out of the freezer, that when the meat defrosted the package was dripping with blood.
I learned of the technique with the salt water on ice in the cooler for four or five days, that drew all the blood out of the meat. I'm surprised none of y'all have tried this technique.
I use this for smoked deer Backstrom
https://www.mortonsalt.com/home-product/morton-tender-quick/