You really don't want the meat to stay wet as in "iced and in a cooler". You need to let the outer layer of tissue dry. This will keep the bacteria from growing as fast. Wet meat will spoil faster.


I skin & quarter mine and put them in the fridge in a big tupperware container. Drain the blood often, and occassionally wipe clean with a clean cloth dampened with a water/vinegar solution.


Edited by - cyclone on 01/15/2002 13:12:21

You never know from one day to the next in WNY what you'll have for weather during deer season. If the temperatures stay cold enough, I let the deer hang in the garage for a week or better. My garage is well insulated, so if the temps rise a little during the day, I keep it closed up, then open it a night for a while to let cold air in again. If it's too warm, I hang the deer overnight, then quarter it and put it in the refridgerator in plastic bags. I pull out the vegi drawers in the bottom, and stand the quarters up, with paper towels in the bottom of the bag to help soak up the blood. It's important that the meat is not laying in a lot of blood. I leave it for 3-4 days before cutting it up. I've done it this way for years. A butcher told me that meat,(ie. beef, venison), can and should hang for up to ten days, in a constant, controled temperature, low 30's, as in a walk in cooler, for optimum flavor and tenderness. Most of us dont have acess to this type of cooler, but the refridgerator works just fine.

For the guys relying on the ice and small cooler year after year, or bits cut up & in the 'fridge, might I suggest building a small closet sized (4'X4' would be plenty big enough) hut in the backyard and hooking in a small portable airconditioner. Well insulated with styrofoam it'll keep your deer cool enough for a week or so, and it won't skyrocket your electrical bill 'cause you plug it in only when you need it.

RC

dunno if I agree with that. I have eatin deer butchered immediatly after they cooled off for a couple hours and also after letting them hang for a few days. Both taste good, that part comes from the meat handling. The breaking down is for Marbled meat which wild game is not. I tried doing meat immediatly after cooling them done (easier to cut then when still warm), it tastes just as great as letting them hang. One thing about letting them hang is cutting off the 'casing' that becomes on the outside of the skin. Waste of meat imo. Granted on our fly out float hunts its all we can do to get them hung and cooled off and they dont get butchered right away. Shot a bou a couple years ago, drove home the next morning, butchered that nite (it was frozen by then as it was -30 when I shot the bou) Butchered that nite after it thawed a little....tastes no different then the ones we had to hang up and down for a couple days, not to mention the drive back, then waiting till the next day to butcher....beef yes...deer (or other non marbled game), sorry I'll pass! just my .02 though.

To each his own, I guess. I have tried eating venison shortly after taking it, and found it to be much tougher. Also, I hang my deer with the hide on,(which a lot of people dont agree on either), until I bag it and put it in the refridgerator, so there is no chance for that 'casing' to form. I suspect we all do them a little differently, and chances are they're all tasty.

we do cool ours off as fast as possible, so its not right from field, hang to get the hide and butcher there is a couple hours where the meat cools mainly to assit in easier cutting. Then again I hear ya there Slo!

I have had deer meat both ways from hanging for days back when my dad hunted Pa and there was snow on the ground most of the winter.He grew up on a farm and believed in hanging deer like beef.Personally I have not seen a big difference in taste at all maybe because here in Pa the majority of deer shot are young deer.If I was to shoot a buck 7 or 8 yrs old I might think about hanging it if possible then I am dreaming anyway.

I have heard of people handing deer for up to 28 days in temps below 40. We typically try to let them hand for 5-7 basically, depending on the weather. This past season I took my first bow kill, weather was in the 50s during the day, shot it near sunset. So we let it hand overnight in the 30s and butchered it the next morning. Tastes as good as the doe last year that hung for 4 days in the 30s. I am no expert, my plan is to always cool the meat down as fast as possible after the kill and after that I hope to get the blood out by hanging it, and the rest depends on the weather.

--Jim

My Dad's been a butcher for 45 years. He's butchered our deer and others for 28 years. We skin them asap because it's much easier when the hide is warm. I know because I've skinned hundres of 'em. Then we hang 'em in his walk-in cooler for atleast 2 days. Only because it's easier to cut the meat from the bone and the meat is firmer when you grind it for burger and sausage, when it's cool. I think the tenderness and taste has more to do with the age of the deer then with how long it is hanging.

venison always taste good.