bowhuntn87

Can a deer hang before it goes "bad"? I had a buddy ask me this... because he has been hanging a deer for about 2 weeks now. The temps are hovering around 10-15 degrees during the day with lows towards -10. The deer is pretty much a frozen chunk of meat, but the hide is still on. The deer is a 1.5 yr old buck if this makes a difference.

halfbakedi420

well, if its frozen, it will last fer quite awhile, usually guys let deer hang to let the rigor go away, but depending on the temps, it could be 4-8 days, but your not supposed to freeze it. personally, livin in texas, we dont get to let anything hang outside, have ta use a walk in cooler.

MeanV2

If it's froze it's not going to ruin in a week or 2.

I'd sure hate the job of skinning that deer!

Dan

pearsontx4

made that mistake a couple of times and trust me it sucks.

halfbakedi420

sounds like it might be easier, but i'll take yall's word fer it.

fishinty

Wow I bet thats going to be like skinning an ice cycle

Valentine

Once I got in warm climates, it was a harvest the deer, get it into the shade, get it home and butcher it. Most meat for the freezer; some for the refrigerator.

And I'll bet 99.8% of deer hunters are not cooking chefs. And for some neither is their wife.

ManofTheFall

When it's cold my taxidermist will let his deer hang for over 2 months if the temps stay cold enough. I would never do that but he says the meat is awesome when it hangs that long.

halfbakedi420

yeah, this is popular in NY...called aged i think, but kinda like dryin it.

Pro-Line

2 months??? That's a long time to let a meat hang that has no marbleing in it.

It seems that it would begin to break down seriously in that time frame...even if it was kept cold.