Have been deer hunting for fifteen years now and this year I finally decided to process it my self. But I maid the mistake of asking guys at work and not coming here first. They said that beef is always aged at least a week and you could do the same with deer, thought this made sense cause the butcherI used to go to said he only did deer one day a week and if you brought your deer in on thurdays the deer would hang till the next wendsday. But not sure if he left hide on or not. Killed my deer on monday and skinned it on tuesday. Hung it in a insulated garage with no heat,34-38 degrees. when cutting up my meat I lost about 25% of it at least due to it being dried out on the edges/outside. I know someone in here has to know how and what i did wrong, please help.

First off, you should have left the hide onuntil you were ready to butcher. The meat does`nt dry out that way plus the meat stays clean and you won`t get that "crust" on the meat.
Your best bet for butchering if not too sure, is to buy any one of a 100 different "how to" books on the subject as you are probably going to get quite a few different answers to this post which may cause some confusion.
Plus, the meat always seems to taste better when you butcher yourself and you know it is your meat. Good luck.

Ron

I leave the skin on till I'm ready to cut up the deer. Left them hanging this way over a week before without a problem so long as its cold enough. Just take the tenderloins out right away as theyre exposed & will dry out. If I'm afraid a deer might freeze I'll quater it & put it in the fridge till I can finish. I dont actually age them on purpose its more of a time thing for me & if I have the time I'll do it right away.
Its not hard at all really to butcher them yourself if you have a couple sharp knives. I learned watching my uncle. We been gun hunting together with his brother for years & split everything 3 ways regardless of who kills what. Uncle Richie always cuts the meat & Bobby wraps while I skin & bring in hunks. Basically what we do is seperate the big muscle groups & cut them into steaks. Everything else gets cut into chunks for stew or burger.
Since I started bowhunting I had to do it alone mostly But it still aint tough because I can spread it out if need be. I now leave alot of big pieces whole & freeze them. Then I can cut them into steaks if I want or make it into a roast. We had one butchered up in NY this year & made the whole thing into sausage but I'v done 3 bowkills so far. I myself, like it better if I do it.

I've always butchered my own deer too. I just hang them by the back legs for about 2 hours since our weather doesn't get that cold. Pull off the skin. Carefully take out the 4 tenderloins. 2 on the back strap and 2 small ones inside the cavity. Someone postd an awesome video clip not too long ago that shows the cuts and how to cut them out. Save those hoofs to make a gun rack.Tie them back with a string and in 30 days they are stiff as a board to make into a gun rack.
Chuck7

I usually skin and quarter the deer ASAP and place in a fridge to keep coldor hang inside my shop depending on temp's.The hide is much easier to remove when carcass is still warm. Also the meat will cool much faster when the hide is removed. I discard the rib cageto my dogs afterI remove the tenderloins/backstrap/neck meat. You could cut some ribs, but not much meat, so I don't bother. IMO, I find that the meat is actually easier to cut if almost frozen. I personally get all the meat packaged within seven days. The dry outside edges are mainly the silverskin. That is usually removed while butchering your final cuts. There will be a good pile of that when done. Not sure if that's what you were referring to. There areseveral ways to actually cut the meat, so that will be up to you.

We never age ours by hanging them. We clean them right away and quarter them up. Then place them in a ice chest with ice and keep them on ice for about 4-5 days draining the water off and adding more ice as needed. The meat comes out excellent. We normally have them cut up and on ice within an hour of being shot.

These were coppied from a book I had or have.
70-65 degrees-----24-36 hours
50 degrees--------3-4 days
40-35 degrees 7-10 days

Young deer I butcher usually within a day or 2.

Good idea! - any special treatment for the hoofs? salting, etc.

I just started cutting up my own this year , and I let it hang just long enough to gut and skin it and cut up the meat . I've had venison that was aged , and venison that wasn't , and I'd be hard pressed to say that I could tell the difference . Beef is hung to age mostly so that the rictus in the muscles can relax , and to allow the enzymes in the meat to break down the tissues to tenderize it . My wife and I mainly eat venison as roasts and stews , both of which are slow cooked and therefore already tenderized , so aging isn't that important to us .

Thanks for all the info guys and I cant wait until the late muzzle loader season to try it again. Also do any of you guys and beef fat or pork to your burger?