Deer hanging temp question??
 

Hi everyone,

How long can I leave a deer hang? The temp is 58 degrees now with a low of 50 tonight. No sun, and very cool in garage. Will it be alright to cool for a day or two? Got him this morning with my Omega. I posted here cause this is the best forum and I know a lot ofpeople here already from earlier this bow season!!! Thanks alot!!

chris

RE: Deer hanging temp question??
 

Got this off another site.............I've always heard under 40 degrees.

RE: Deer hanging temp question??
 

Those are great temps for hanging a deer Chris. You have plenty of time to butcher. Wouldn't hurt a bit to wait until the weekend. Keep him in the package/skin and show us some pics.

RE: Deer hanging temp question??
 

Thanks Planter, I figured he'd be alright for a couple days. I'll post some pics later when I get him back. Gotta go get the 4x4 jeep and drag him out! I got him to the old logging trail....lol....

chris

RE: Deer hanging temp question??
 

Chris your temps are a little on the high side, but your probually talking about the temps which the weather man gives for the day correct. When an animal is inside a garage hanging, the temps are usually a little cooler inside there (deep doors closed to help keep the heat out) so this will help you.

2 or 3 days at this temp should be ok, but over all it will shorten your hanging times. What Bigg-BirddVA posted is good info. The higher the temp, the process is faster (why we hang the meat). Not many of us have proper coolers to hang meat at the optium temps so it will become experiance that will guide you. I personally will hang the meat as long as I can. That is, if it is left another day, it will be too late (actually it is about 2 - 3 days not 1, before it crosses the line to spoilage) then I butcher it. I leave the skin on, hang the animal, pry open the chest cavity for air circulation then keep a watch on the inside ribs. If you notice that the inside ribs start to get slippery, then it is time to butcher the deer. This is how I do my animals (over 30 years doing it this way), but there are many different methods as you will probually hear about in this thread.

Good luck.

RE: Deer hanging temp question??
 

Guys, remember that your refrigerators at home come set at 40* for a reason.;)You can change it if you want, but 40* is what is recommended.

RE: Deer hanging temp question??
 

As a former deer processor I can tell you that 34 degrees is ideal to hang a deer for an extended ammount of time. That's what we keep our cooler set at. With temps in the 50's hang it in the shade or a garage as suggested, prop open the body cavity and place a bag of ice in it daily.Get that deer processed inside of 3 days or you may regret it.
That's my 2 cents worth...

xbowbarry

RE: Deer hanging temp question??
 

Go with the flow Buckhunter and the consensus seems to be to butcher asap at those temps. It looks like I know what your gonna be doing Thankgiving morning.

I thought 50's and in the shade would be OK for at least a few days. Except early season I don't mind letting them hang around for awhile. Have fun and keep your knives sharp.

RE: Deer hanging temp question??
 

I consider Planter one of our good sources of info. He has probably done it at them temps and still been ok and is still here to talk about it! LOL!! I have always been told that the out side temp should not get above 45 in the high of day and no direct sun at them temps also. To me I would be nervous of anything over 50. I also am playing with the age meat game. I was not able to process MY eight point since I had to work the weekend after the hunt. But my BB was cut up the next afternoon and it is good eating. The next deer I can get and have time to cut up will be cut up ASAP if I can just to try and figure this aging stuff out for myself, to many mixed thoughts on it. I will also admit I worry about deer meat temps more then I should maybe. My BB was a fifteen dollar tag, that night I spent 40 bucks on ice till the next day! [&:]

RE: Deer hanging temp question??
 

with only 50 deg lows i wouldn't leave it one night.you need 45deg or less.most frig's are not turned down far enough.

RE: Deer hanging temp question??
 

Fifty is perfect for bacteria. It should hover just above freezing. A few butchers have told me that there is no real reason to hang wild game for anytime unlike domestic meats.

RE: Deer hanging temp question??
 

Sorry but I totally disagree with that statement, the no reason to hang part. In a perfect work, I would hang all my wild meat (deer, moose ect) for 2 weeks, but I do not have a proper cooler to do that. When my meat has not hung for very long, I can really taste the difference in the meat. It will not nearly be as tender and it will have a major strong taste to it (the shorter the hang time, the stronger it will be).

The moose camp my family joined a few years ago, used to have the moose butchered within the week (if shot on Thursday, meat would be butchered and dispersed to everyone by Saturday before people left camp), but not now and they now rave about how much better the meat is. There is almost ZERO fat compared to farm fed beef, so you must take care of your preperations better.

But like I have said before, it is mostly personal preference. I want a tender meat without that strong "wild" taste.

I do agree that 50 is too high to hang for extended time. A doy or two at the biginning should not hurt too much (just shorten total time for hanging), but if it has already been hanging for some time, I would butcher it right away.

RE: Deer hanging temp question??
 

deer does not age like beef. there will be no taste differents.moose may be different.

the reason i eat deer is i like the 'wild taste'.

RE: Deer hanging temp question??
 

As a former processor I will say that deer and elkmeat is definitely BETTER when aged. It need not age as long as beef, 10-14 days is best where a beef needs at least 3 weeks and 5 weeks is preferred.
Aging simply makes meat more tender, any "wild" or "gamey" tasteprobably comes from notbeing correctly field dressed and cleaned out.
We once had a deer left in our cooler for 5 weeks, the owner never came to get it and somehow it wasoverlooked, fairly easy to do with 300 deer hanging at once. Anyway, not wanting to waste the meat I proceesed it for myself and that was the best venison I have ever eaten. Remember our cooler stays just above freezing and I inspected the meat carefully when processing so I knew the meat was okay.

xbowbarry

RE: Deer hanging temp question??
 

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.

RE: Deer hanging temp question??
 

I am not a steak Man since the wife does not eat steak and it is hard to cook to different meals at the same time. So I grind all my deer into burger. You can feed burger to most anyone and they will never know. The BB I shot this year was in freezer in about sixteen hours after shot, good eats there! I do not think deer in general are though like beef and the hang thing is not needed IMO. So far a button buck and a 2 1/2 year old buck do not need aged to me, both tender compared to a cow. Will need to try this on a old doe next, but so far I am not into the aging thing.

RE: Deer hanging temp question??
 

What was explained to me was that aging has to do with enzimes breaking down the muscle tissue but it also has to do with fat that is located between the muscle fibers. This fat on wild game is located on the outside of the muscle groups. So I assume that aging helps a bit but not enough to make an appreciable difference. This is what game processors and or butchers have told me. I am just parroting information guys.

RE: Deer hanging temp question??
 

The toughnessof meat is less noticeable in ground meat, I could grind a 20 year oldbull elkand it would be edible BUT age it properly and youWILL taste the difference.
Venison of any kind is best aged with the hide on, this keeps the meat from drying out.

xbowbarry

RE: Deer hanging temp question??
 

[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.
[/quote

navaman I agree with you on leaving the skin on. I do not like skinning a deer, let alone having to skin it twice :D ...... 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 :D . 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. :D 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.

RE: Deer hanging temp question??
 

Hang it, Dang it!! lol. I've been know to start the grill right after cutting the back staps out, lol. the Chinese hang pheasants by the neck til the body falls off! They eat 1000 yr old eggs too, lol.

RE: Deer hanging temp question??
 

Alot of guys think I am nuts for doing this, but like I say, you can eat it faster, with more options like tacos, hamburgers, chili, meatloaf, pastas and the list is endless. You can also watch people eat the stuff and say how good it is and have no idea that it is deer. Most people can peg a deer roast or steak, but mix it and you are good to go!!

RE: Deer hanging temp question??
 

We love our deer burger as well. Like Hotburn said it's great for chili, tacos, meatloaf and more.PLUS it's a lot better for you than store bought burger.

xbowbarry