[quote]ORIGINAL: navaman
i didn't notice anyone touching on the subject of leaving the hide on while it was hanging. last year i hung mine for 2 days with the hide in a barn. (it was plenty cold)
anyway a friend of mine had me help him with 3 does he had shot this season.they hung for 4-5 days without the hide. when we pulled them out to begin butcherering i noticed a thin layer of crunchy tough membrane? we spent a whole lot of time filleting that stuff off. for me i believe i will always leave the hide on.
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navaman I agree with you on leaving the skin on. I do not like skinning a deer, let alone having to skin it twice
...... also skinning that tough dried out outter meat section (if you removed the skin) is a lot tougher to do.
xbowberry the
STRONG GAMEY FLAVOR, I find is not so much as to how it was "notbeing correctly field dressed and cleaned out" but more to how the deer was acting before it was shot. A deer in the rut, running or being all worked up will have a strong gamey taste to it. But you are correct is that the end product of meat all depends on how you process the animal and that is right from the point of killing it to the dinner plate. The better you look after the meat right from the biginning to the end, the better you will enjoy it.
srwshooter I love my wild meat (deer, moose, turkey, grouse ect) and the difference in it's taste, but that stronger wild taste I can go without.
DNK, yes there are many different ways to process wild game. Almost as many opinions on that topic as there is on what is the best hunting head to use
. But even your US State web sites that have sections on butchering will say to hang animals 2.5 years or older to help tenderize the meat. Fawns or yearling's usually it is not required to hang them for very long. Hotburn, you grind your deer all into hamburg .......... OUCH ........ that is a waste.
I like my berger, but I want my roasts for the BBQ more then berger.
For anyone that has a good setup and is able to hang deer or any wild meat, they should try to hang it for an extended period. I honestly believe that you will become surprised at the results. I learned the hard way over the years and now will hang it as long as I can.