Hanging deer after the hunt.

[Wolfe28]

Why is this done, and what temperature? My attached garage is much cooler than the house, but not as cold as outside, so I want to know if this will be an acceptable spot to hang a deer, if necessary.

Thanks,
D

 

[hooky]

I'm no expert, but you need to hang it around 40F or below without freezing it. Don't butcher while rigor mortis has set in. You'll want to wait at least 2 days, 3 is better, 4-6 is best IF you can keep the temp under 40F. The older the deer, the longer you want to hang it. You're basically waiting for the natural enzymes to break down the collagen, otherwise it's tough. Same process behind aging steaks.

 

[jy951]

You hang the deer to help allow it to cool faster. It helps to prop the body cavity open with a stick. It's always good to cool the deer down as soon as possible after being shot. Outside would be better than your garage, especially if there is a breeze.

 

[sbcman]

Deer hanging is mainly done to have a tasteful lawn ornament before Christmas.

Here's a good article on the subject: http://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/other/recipes/2006/01/deer-hang-time

Hanging is done to allow the meat to "cure", so to speak. Hanging them in a garage is fine, so long as the temp will be less than 50 in the daytime. I personally hang my deer for one day in temps below 50 in my garage. When temps are above 50, I quarter them and put them in a cooler with ice for a day before processing.

 

[AGarbers]

I went to the deer processing clinic put on by Perdue last year. They saidto get that carcass down to 38 degrees as fast as possible. They said to getthe hide off to help the cooling process and pack them in cooler with ice. Ihave had better tasting meat since I bring my deer to the processor ASAP. He takes it into his cold room and cuts itwithin an hour. I know because Iwatched.

The big-time hunters I used to know had a small walk-in cooler in theirgarage to hang their game at 38 degrees. I work on commercial refrigeration and any meat locker that is warmerthan that is shutdown due to the danger of spoiling.

The proper hanging of meat is done at the 38 degree mark with ultra highhumidity to keep the meat from drying out. This has to be done under careful observation and I don’t recommend itunless you have the training and facilities to carry it out properly.

 

[selinoid44]

Makes you wonder how they did it back in the cowboys and indian days. They didn't have coolers and you know when they kilt something to eat it wasnt always cold outside.

 

[Mike H]

Unless its freezing, and going to stay that way, I skin and debone immediately.
Deboned meat stays in refrigerator 3-4 days before slicing and dicing. Then packaged and frozen.

 

[hammer24]

I used to be of the hang one night, then butcher school. Now, after several years of hanging deer for about a week before butchering, I am convinced it is the way to go. You need to keep the temp at 38. The purpose of hanging is essentially a controlled "rotting" to soften the connective tissue and tenderize the meat. The temp is important for the purpose of bacteria control.

 

[Sailor]

I butcher mine immediately and get it vac packed and frozen. Canning makes it more tender than hanging. I make sausage and the only steaks I make are backstraps and T.loins.

 

[DragonGunner]

Makes you wonder how they did it back in the cowboys and indian days. They didn't have coolers and you know when they kilt something to eat it wasnt always cold outside.

I butcher my own, if its too warm its getting skinned, cut up an frozen the same day...I did this again this year with a big buck, shot at 8:00 a.m. an in the freezer by 1:00 p.m. Have had several stews, an fried backstraps since then...its all good. I prefer a good cold day an night, but you don't always get that.

 

[revolvers&w]

Makes you wonder how they did it back in the cowboys and indian days. They didn't have coolers and you know when they kilt something to eat it wasnt always cold outside.

The meat was tougher and their teeth were in better condition and stronger because of it.

 

[met eng gun nut]

since moving to Indiana I found the neighbors in the apartment complex less than agreeable with me hanging a deer in the back yard. but back in MO we used to hang deer for three days depending on the weather and when a group gets together to cut and package all the deer hanging. this year we cut up 5 deer in two hours or 2 cases of beer depending on your preferred unit of measure.

 

[AGarbers]

Makes you wonder how they did it back in the cowboys and indian days. They didn't have coolers and you know when they kilt something to eat it wasnt always cold outside.

They ate what they could and left a great deal of it to rot. Contrary to what everyone thinks now, Indians did waste meat when times were good. There are places where they ran bison over cliffs. When they had lots of choices of meat, they ate the best and left the rest. They also jerked the meat. Settlers, salted it, smoked it and preserved it as best they could. They also died at an earlier age than we do now and died from unknown illnesses. Besides not all rot will kill you. I watched a TV program about a group that purposely and carefully rotted meat to consume. It looked nasty. I have also read that the spice trade was important because folks back then needed something to cover the nasty taste and smell of spoiling meat.

 

[Titanium Man]

Makes you wonder how they did it back in the cowboys and indian days. They didn't have coolers and you know when they kilt something to eat it wasnt always cold outside.

They smoked/dried their meats to preserve them. I would presume.

 

[24Carat]

A little trick. If temps will be borderline or be a little higher during the day you can seal moisture in and kill any bacteria by smashing up enough aloe leaf gel to make a quart of gel then mix it with 1 1/2 gallon of tepid water and blend it with an electric hand blender. Put it in a new clean small pump sprayer and coat the carcass inside and out. When you are ready to process it just take a garden hose and rinse it off. Any gel still on the meat is tasteless and actually good for your gut.

 

[Wolfe28]

Thanks all for the replies. I'm planning on going deer hunting the end of this week, so I'm trying to make sure that I do things correctly, provided I bag one.

D

 

[HICKMAN]

A little trick. If temps will be borderline or be a little higher during the day you can seal moisture in and kill any bacteria by smashing up enough aloe leaf gel to make a quart of gel then mix it with 1 1/2 gallon of tepid water and blend it with an electric hand blender. Put it in a new clean small pump sprayer and coat the carcass inside and out. When you are ready to process it just take a garden hose and rinse it off. Any gel still on the meat is tasteless and actually good for your gut.

thanks for the tip!

 

[paintman]

A little trick. If temps will be borderline or be a little higher during the day you can seal moisture in and kill any bacteria by smashing up enough aloe leaf gel to make a quart of gel then mix it with 1 1/2 gallon of tepid water and blend it with an electric hand blender. Put it in a new clean small pump sprayer and coat the carcass inside and out. When you are ready to process it just take a garden hose and rinse it off. Any gel still on the meat is tasteless and actually good for your gut.

+1 for that. never heard of that before. we always do ours in dads garage and have to do it same day if its borderline to warm. i will pass this on to him for a later date. no deer yet this year.