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Deer hunters- cut'em up quick or let them hang?
jimdeere
Member, Moderator Posts: 26,242 ******
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 Backstrap
https://www.mortonsalt.com/home-product/morton-tender-quick/
That’s what I use. 1 gallon of water with 8 to 10 ounces tender quick and 1 1/2 pounds of brown sugar.
Inject and soak in mixer for 3 or 4 days in the refrigerator, then smoke on a grill until 160°. Tastes just like Canadian bacon.
I remember someone/where I was told folks would let pronghorns hang for a week out in the field. They'll also cut/scrape the off color bits as they show. I took that as rot.
I do understand the bit about getting rid of rigor but rot? Not for me.
In the book Shogun, in 1604 a British captain was in Japan, his boat had crashed and he was stuck there. He was treated as a privledged elite and he had his own house and several servants. Captain Blackthorne had shot a pheasant, and according the the hunting ways back in England, he tied a string around the bird's neck, and hanged him from a beam in the outdoor shed. He told his servants not to touch the bird, but he would wait until the neck rotted so that the bird's body fell to ground. Then the bird would be ready to be roasted and eaten.
This was a dilemma for the head gardener, because the Japanese were spotlessly clean and could not tolerate a rotting animal around the house. On the other hand, it was strictly against the rules to disobey the order from the head of the household. The gardener, after 2 days, went ahead and took down the rotting bird and buried it out in the woods.
That took care of one problem, but having disobeyed the order of his boss, the gardener could not live with the shame and he committed seppuku.
allen griggs - Yeah I saw the original show. Them Engrish are strange folks. Their "cuisine' is part dare and fear factor.
That’s interesting. I was once talking with a real old fella back in Southern VA, and he told me that’s the best way to do it with raccoons. Hang em until the head falls off, trim off anything green, and roast ‘em up.
Frogdog - That dumpster panda "aged" like that would be bloated and real gamey. Like bottom of the chum bucket left out and forgotten in the sun. Mmmm… Garum.
I've got a nice doe out in the garage hanging since last Friday. Going to start the butchering process today.
What the heck! It's only 25 degrees with blowing snow and wind outside. Should be fun cutting in the unheated garage! 😲
Would be a hell of a lot nicer on the Kitchen table!
Totally agree. And Welcome aboard @Mesquite Shop
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If memory serves, we always let them hang for 4 or 5 days. Until recent years, we always seemed to get quite a bit of snow during hunting season, so if we got any deer, we'd gut them while still up in the woods, prop them open with whatever sticks we could find, and pack the inside with snow. Back at home, skin, hang, and cover with a game bag.
Good, stick around.
Do you sell on the auction side?
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Nice. When you sell, post a link to your auction here in the forums.
Sorry for the off track, jimdeere
CONGRATULATIONS ON 60K JOE!
Thanks!!
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