early

not
beef has marbeling or fat tissue within the fibers
when the fat breaks down (by ageing) it breaks down the fibers and helps the meat become tender

venison has tallow type fat on the outside and not within the fibers

early

game4lunch

My primary point here early is that no, you don't have to age wild game, but I now have first hand experience that it does make a huge difference in the quality of your table fare.
Try it... you'll like it!

bhensley

Will it work the same if I butcher it first and then age it in a refridgerator? Where I am at now, I don't have a place to let the deer hang and age so I have to cut it up right away.
Brandon

BrutalAttack

Sometimes a butcher will charge a small fee to just hang the deer for you so that might be an option.

game4lunch

Actually, that's what I'm doing with my last deer. I have boned it and it is in the bottom of the fridge for 10 - 14 days. So I hope so!

RedRiverHntr

Not to rain on anyones picnic......
but there are more variables involved than just aging. Without trying to ruffle any feathers, the aging process does do very little to compliment the flavor of lean meat (i.e. venison). More important to the overall outcome is the state the animal was in at the moment of impact. Was he/she relaxed or were they alert and/or been scared or running, which increases the lactic acid in the muscle fibers and thereby causes the meat to be tougher.

tschaef

I agree with RedRiver, I have noticed a difference in taste between archery deer that died not knowing what happened, and deer taken on drives with dogs behind them.
That being said, I've heard that you just have to hang them long enough for rigamortis to set in, andthen come out, if you can move their limbs around the've aged enough. We usually hang them untill we have a few and its worth while to start butchering, we would lose too much time hunting if we stopped to process each animal when it was taken.

game4lunch

Yeah, I know the variables like was it on the run or what does it eat or what phase the moon was in. All things being equal, I and my entire family, was stunned at the difference the aged deer tasted compared to the non aged. I shoot mulies in the same neck of the woods each year so diet is not a factor. Will see if it continues to be true.

triggerhappy

I like to dry age and I always try and get the skin off the animal very quickly to start the meat cooling. I will then quarter on site and try and hang in a shaded area until I can get it to proper storage and aging area.

This is lengthy but here are two "experts opinions"

Aging Beef and Venison

Why is beef and venison aged? How is beef aged? What does the aging do to meat? Can all meat be aged? Just a few of the questions I hear from people. Now, here for all to read is my answer to all the questions above.[/b]

Why is beef and venison aged?[/b]
Beef and venison are aged for two main reasons. The first is to make the meat tenderer. The second reason is to enhance the flavour. During the aging process moisture evaporates from the muscle creating a concentration of flavour.
How is beef aged?[/b]
Beef and venison is aged in one of two ways. One way and the best way is to age meat with what is called dry aging. Dry aging is the process by which the beef is stored in a cooler at a specific temperature between 3 Celsius to 4 Celsius, (38F to 40F), for 10 to 28 days. In this process the beef hangs split in two halves or whole quarters and always with the bone in, to avoid dry out and excessive weight loss.Another way to age beef and venison is calledwet aging. The difference here is that the meat can be normal processed and even cut to steaks, if desired, and then it is vacuum packed. This process of aging meat is much faster and without any loss of weight due to dry out and spoiled outer layer of meat. However, wet aging will not increase the flavour of the meat that many people, including me, desire. The reason for this is that the humidity does not evaporate from the muscle and thus there is no concentration of flavour molecules.
What does the aging do to meat?[/b]
Aging does two things to meat, notice everything here comes in twos. One aspect I just described above, the moisture evaporating, so we skip that and move to the second part, which is the natural tenderizer. Aging makes the meat tender. How does that happen? Well, as the meat hangs or is vacuum packed and stored for some time a change happens in form of enzymes, which multiply and begin to break down the fibrous tissue. Depending at the age of the animals, how they have been feed and how tender the meat is desired these enzymes are going to be busy between 7 to 26 days, any longer then that and the enzymes are beginning to die off turning in to bad bacteria and meat rot sets in.
Can all meat be aged?[/b]
As a rule it is best only to age beef and wild game such as deer, elk, buffalo and moose. Do not age any pork or hog and sheep or goat meat. Why not? Sheep and goat develop to much flavouring giving the meat even more "mutton taste" which many people not appreciate. Pork has an acid that turns sour, giving pork a distinct sour taste. The beef recommended to age comes from healthy animals with a good layer of fat. DO NOTage beef from emergency slaughtering. Fat on beef and wild game is good because it serves as a moisture barrier, meaning it prevents that the meat dries out and thus there will not be so much meat to waist. For my money I rather cut of spoiled fat then spoiled meat.
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by Mike Porter

ll venison is not equal. Venison can be consistently excellent table fare, or, with poor handling and preparation, can be about the quality of a boot sole. Many people who do not like to eat venison had bad experiences with improperly handled or prepared meat. Many factors affect the quality of venison, including deer species, deer age, stress prior to harvest, field dressing, contamination of meat, cold storage temperature, excessive moisture during storage, aging of carcass, butchering and packaging.




Venison that has been butchered
and packaged for different recipes.

To keep things simple, these comments focus on the meat of wild, free-ranging white-tailed deer and mule deer. Some of these details would be different for large deer species such as moose, elk and caribou or non-native deer such as fallow, axis and red deer.
Meat from mature bucks more than four years old that are harvested during rut sometimes can have a little off-flavor and be a little tougher than female deer and young bucks. Nevertheless, mature bucks are usually very edible when handled, aged and butchered properly. Genetics most likely impact tenderness of venison, because I have encountered some old does that were more tender than some young does. However, I do not know how a hunter can recognize a deer with the genetics for tenderness.
A clean, quick kill of an undisturbed deer probably provides the best-quality venison. Meat quality usually declines in animals that are stressed or run extensively immediately before death. A deer should be eviscerated (field dressed) immediately after death, but this can be postponed up to a couple hours during mild weather and even longer during cold weather. The combination of evisceration and the bullet or arrow wound usually adequately bleed a deer—there is no need to cut a dead deer’s throat. Also, contrary to popular belief, it is not necessary to remove the metatarsal glands because they do not affect the meat after death. However, avoid rubbing the glands on the meat and avoid handling the glands and then handling the meat without washing well.
Soon after evisceration, the carcass or quartered meat should be cooled and stored at 34-38 degrees Fahrenheit. The carcass is easiest to skin soon postmortem, but skinning can be postponed for a few days as long as the carcass is quickly and thoroughly cooled. Tenderness is generally improved when the carcass or quartered meat is aged at least a week at 34 to 38 F with good air circulation around any exposed meat. Air circulation around exposed meat causes its surface to dry—the dry layer should be trimmed off during butchering. Tenderness continues to improve during the cold storage aging process until about 16 to 21 days. The meat that will be ground and the tenderloins do not need to be aged. Freezing should be avoided during the aging process because it inhibits aging and speeds spoilage after thawing. However, meat does not go bad when it freezes during the aging process. The meat should be kept clean and dry throughout field dressing, cold storage and aging processes. Soiling and excessive moisture increase the likelihood of spoilage.
After the aging process, fat, cartilage, bruised meat, dried outer meat and non-muscle material should be removed from the muscles using a sharp filet or boning knife while working on a clean, cool cutting surface. I believe fat is the most common source of off-flavor in venison. Several chemicals that cause off-flavor are stored in fat. Venison fat usually leaves an aftertaste or residue in the mouth and is less palatable than beef, pork or chicken fat. Cartilage, such as tendons, ligaments and fascia, are responsible for much of the toughness in meat.
For most of my venison recipes, I prefer to separate each muscle and cut slices or chunks across the grain of the muscle. The muscles from the tenderloins, back straps and hindquarters are the best choices for frying, grilling and roasting (these muscles are ranked in order of decreasing tenderness, but all are good quality). These muscles, as well as the neck, shoulder and flank muscles, can be used in other recipes such as stews, fajitas, chilies, smoked meats, sausages and hamburgers. Some recipes that work well with beef or pork may not work well with white-tailed or mule deer because these deer meats tend to be “dry,” lacking intramuscular marbling. Avoid undercooking and overcooking venison when frying, grilling, roasting, smoking or microwaving, because undercooked venison might provide a health risk, and overcooked venison becomes tough and dry.
Unless cooking the meat fresh, it should be quickly frozen after butchering. Meal-sized quantities of meat should be placed into plastic bags. Most of the air should be removed from the plastic bags before sealing. When the meat will be stored in the freezer for more than a few days, the plastic bags should be wrapped in freezer paper; the freezer paper should be sealed with tape; and the packages should be labeled appropriately. Meat prepared and stored in this manner maintains good quality for more than a year. Vacuum-sealed bags probably improve the storage process, and vacuum-sealed bags may not require a second layer of freezer paper.
If these comments cause you to treat your deer meat differently, you will probably enjoy your venison meals more.

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skeeter 7MM

The rigor mortise effect of sugars being turned to lactic acid and then back to sugars happens within 24hours of death. Once this takes place the traditional aging of the meat commences. For proper/safe aging the carcass should be kept between 33-37 dergree F. Lower will halt the process, higher will spead up the process and can cause spoilage.

BTW fridge aging is completely safe as long as your fridge can maintain below 40 temps. It is best to do it other then your main fridge as opening and closing of the door will cause fluxations and could result in a higher core temperature of the meat. When doing it this way with final cuts loosely wrap your cuts in butcher wrap to minimize air exposure to the finished product. If placed boned quarters that still require final trimming then no need to wrap.

As far as aging venison I don't see any benefits for doing such a process. If I wanted beef I'll buy a cow but we prefer the vension flavour and texture so it hangs for a relax period of 1 day min then is trimmed and wrapped for the freezer. I have done it every way from sunday and have found that sometimes you just get a stinker. For the most part deerloin steaks are the first to be depleted in my freezer. The real difference is how it is prepared and cooked. Trimmed off talo, silver skinand hair is a must. I usea room temperature soak in soy/olive oil/black pepper &chopped garlic then fast grilldonerare. I have yet to have a piece of shoe on my plate.

The debate will continue but coming from a line of butcher's they all taught me venison has noneed to be aged. The main reason deer hung inthe cooler was non other than time benefits vs outcome. They stressed the importance of a quick kill, clean carcass, cooling and preperation of the meat for freezer to table being the main determinating factors to what you get on the plate. Being young and knowing it all I had to find out myself though[8D]!