Hanging deer overnight

[Bountyhunter]

Good information on the hanging of the venison carcass. My methods depend on the temperature at season time, if it is cool then we hang, but if it isnt cool enough to effectively cool the carcass, then I bone in field and freeze immediately.

There is some difference of opinion about whether to wash a carcass or flame it to get rid of hair. If I get a heart shot that fills the body cavity with blood, then I will wash out the inside of the cavity asap to get that blood out and since it is wet, I will wash the rest of the carcass and dry it as quickly as possible. I actually prefer to flame the carcass and singe any hair, but I consider a careful job of skinning without getting any more hair than necessary on the carcass important to begin with. If there is, then I singe it, and wipe the singed residue off with a rag soaked in white wine. The temperature then dictates the length of time it hangs. I have a chart somewhere, and I'm lookin for it to share with Paul, that recommends the length of hang for given average temperature.

During my professional life, I coached several winning meat teams, ran steer futurities for about 15 years, and supervised 4-H livestock carcass contests. I dont know all there is to know about meat, but I do serve some real good venison if you come to supper. I also agree about the meat processors pooling the meat. I quit using them over that very reason about 15 years ago. I work hard to take in sweet aged meat, and I dont appreciate getting back dark hamburger that smells like road kill. Going into a country plant and seeing a stack of carcasses shoulder high that have been laying there for two weeks and smell like the rendering truck needs to come pick them up doesnt do much for my confidence in the processor.

There is no good substitute to processing your meat yourself. With the CWD going around the country now, I do not cut a bone on an animal other than to disjoint the shoulders and rear quarters. If the temperature permits a good hang, then I bone and vacuum pack the meat. If the temperature doesnt permit hanging, then the carcass is boned in the field using the old canadian method and the meat is taken directly into the headquarters, and cut and vacuum packed and frozen to come home, and in an hour, I'm back out going for the next one. I really think that the money spent on one of those Food Saver vacuum machines is money well spent.

I am sitting here as I type, enjoying a bowl of chili venison. It is from the '05 buck. Susan just thawed it this evening and cooked it down after we got in from harvesting prickly pear fruit. It cooked down with a beef aroma, no nasty gamey odor like some I have smelled. We eat it often with no flavoring other than salt and pepper, and it is just like eating lean beef. I dont like gamey or strong meat. If I want something strong, then I will make jerky and put hot chili on it.

 

[Slamfire]

Where would one obtain information on this old Canadian method, I'm wonderin' if it was any different than the PA Dutch method I was taught. :v

 

[Bountyhunter]

I read about it in one of Herters old books. He was in Canada hunting moose and he was way far in, and the temperature was up. He wrote about having the animal laying on its side, and splitting the hide down the middle of the back, then peeling the hide down on the ribs. He then disjointed the front shoulder and lifted it out--pulling it out of the hide and disjointing the front leg, then disjointing the rear quarter--pulling it out of the hide and dis jointing it at the hock. He then boned out the loin and neck meat on that side.

The carcass was rolled over and the other side done. Using that method, you get a front shoulder and rear haunch and a big long strip of boneless loin, rib, and neck from each side. Six pieces in all, and only 4 bones that you take out later. Left at the site is the skeleton with the hide mostly on, containing the guts. The only thing that you dont take is the rib meat, but that doesnt amount to much. You could if you wanted. I doubt that using that method that I loose more than 2-3 pounds of meat on a deer. I have used it several times and it is quick and efficient, and waste is minimal. It is a good way to get your meat taken care of quickly and keep it good.

Is that the same method you use?

 

[rabbit03]

Hello Bountyhunter whatcha going to make with the pear??? Jelly?

I had a friend who was a butcher in Dallas a while back. He worked a night job butchering deer for a guy as the second job. He would come in and start processing the carcasses and after the first day didn't get to the bottom of the pile. The next day, same thing and there would be another pile on top of the ones that they couldn't get to the previous night. This went on he said for a week till finally they got to the bottom of the pile. He said the ones that had been there all week were green and stunk bad. He told the butcher about it and the butcher asked him if he could replace the green moldy ones and my friend of course said no. The butcher told him to "Process them" and they did!

rabbit03

 

[Bountyhunter]

This is the second batch this week that we are on. We have a lot of juice frozen now. We figured out how to seed and skin them and have quite a bit of puree, have quite a bit of syrup, and Susan is just finishing making a batch of sorbet. If there were any tequila in the house, we'd have a REAL margurita and then head to bed!!

The juice will make quite a bit of jelly for friends for Christmas. We also use it just as a fruit drink.

 

[rabbit03]

Looks great and my mouth is watering too.

I don't expect any trade secrets on how you de skin and de seed them but is it something you learned on your own or is there info out there on it? And it looks like you have some specialized equipment also.

I am curious also about the syrup you mentioned. I had not even thought about syrup being made from the fruit! Is it like maple syrup in that you just have to boil it down?

Not much for tequila or it doesn't like me I know, don't ask! But that sorbe sounds toooooo goood. Have you seen the ones from Mexico? They are huge and green mostly and sweet as sugar and they people call the Tunas in Spanish.

Take care and thanks for sharing the great pictures I appreciate it,

rabbit03

 

[Blizzard of '93]

Thanks for prickly pear post, Bountyhunter. I'm under the impression then that original marguaritas were made with their juice? Sounds good anyway. We don't have them here but plenty of other wild fruit and berrys. Wild grapes in abundance, delicous jelly.
I hang my kills overnight or two if possible, the meat seems to cut and taste better after rigor mortis passes. This year weather permitting I may try to leave it hang 3-4 days.
I always bone the forequarter/shoulder and hams and on the lower legs just take the largest chunks of meat due to tendons. I cut the ribs out, I love them slow smoked and sauced. I take the chops bone-in, love them carefully roasted and basted over hardwood fire - there is no finer red meat. The saddle I bone or sometimes leave bone-in for roasts. The ham I slice for steaks, country style with gravy. Neck, shoulders, forelegs and any miscelanious I chop up for stew and chili, I have a butcher buddy that I have got to mix that meat 50-50 with pork sausage after grinding, that is really good sausage, always a hit at hunt camp breakfasts making gravy with the pan drippings.
:thumbsup:

 

[Halftail]

Coyote,
That post made me Laugh!Out loud too!I was picturing you rousing the Guts out of your fresh kill and snapping the liver off of the guts and munching out! :rotf:
That would be something I'd love to see! :hmm:
For me the liver goes back to camp(someone might like a feed)It's just a Filter anyway.However a Boiled Deer heart eaten after it cools is pretty tasty.
But like someone said....Whatever floats your boat I guess! :thumbsup:

 

[Bountyhunter]

I dont want to hijack this thread.

I will start a thread down in non muzzleloader on this.

The other thing I am finding is that this darned juice is the most persistent dye that I have come across in a while.

No secrets on it. Just labor intense. Pick them, flame them to get those danged little stickers off, quarter them, and then boil them down. We cooked them for years in a big pot and then strained of the juice.

Who knows, maybe we can come up with a prickly pear marinade for sweet meat.....

 

[CoyoteJoe]

Well, Greenmtnboy has a photo of my eating raw elk liver, I'll see if he can find and post it just for your enjoyment, you can see that I enjoyed it. :grin:

 

[barebackjack]

I agree, all meat can benefit from aging.

Were lucky to be blessed (or cursed) with extremely cold deer seasons, and have let deer hang for 30 days or more. Its called dry aging. And it does benefit deer meat. But the temp shouldnt get much warmer than the upper 30's. Also, keep out of sunlight, and keep in a well ventilated area.

 

[rabbit03]

Greetings barebackjack,

I have never heard of dry aging meat. Will it dry out in the 30 days or so if you do let it go that long? Just curious about how the meat ends up

rabbit03

 

[barebackjack]

Dont skin it.

The inside of the chest cavity will dry out, but we dont save much from the ribs.

Ifn ya dont skin it, she wont dry out. But watch the temperature like a hawk.

Back when we bought wild fur we had a walk in freezer, we would turn it down to 34 degrees and hang deer for a month.

But I live in ND, so MOST years its cold enough to where we hang em in an old machine shed with both overhead doors open, keeps the sun off em, and keeps air moving. Hang em till you have enough to cut all at once (for us its usually four or five).
A couple days hanging is much better than cuttin "warm", and a week or more makes a heap of difference.
I hang everything now. Geese, ducks, upland birds.

 

[rabbit03]

Sounds good appreciate the insight. Down here in the south it is almost impossible to get those kinds of days in a row. I know from being up north though that the meat is just as pretty as the day it was shot after you skin it but I was just curious about the whole of the meat getting dried out after so long. Sounds good appreciate the advice and I bet it is tender too when you finally do eat it! :thumbsup:

rabbit03

 

[Halftail]

Yes!
Please a photo would be great!!I love freaked out stuff like that!
I guess you really do live up to your screen name then... :bow:

 

[Greenmtnboy]

yup fer sure yotieJoe is one weird,backwoods,elkshootin,livereatin,hillbilly
:bow:

 

[CoyoteJoe]

He should have added "handsome" too, and that ain't even my best side! :grin:

 

[Blizzard of '93]

"DO YOU WANT FRIES WITH THAT" :rotf:

 

[Greenmtnboy]

He should have added "handsome" too, and that ain't even my best side! :grin:

dang it I knew I forgot sumptin :rotf:

 

[Black Hand]

I agree with JWP. Beef benefits from hanging due to the marbling (fat) breaking down. It becomes more tender as it hangs. Venison is lean. It doesn't have the marbling. IMHO get it clean and cooled down, the sooner the better. Then process it.

GW

I disagree. The fat does not break down, because if it did, dry-aged beef would NOT have any fat in it. The aging allows the enzymes present in the tissues to start breaking down the muscle fibers. It is this process that tenderizes the meat. Try it yourself, cut a piece of meat fressh off the carcass, cook and eat it. It WILL be tougher than an equal piece of meat from the same carcass that has been aged for a week. I personally age all my deer and elk for at least a week and up to 2 weeks (if the temperature allows). I've never had a bad piece of meat off any of these animals!