I went out and got myself a 4 point (western count not eastern)muley this last weekend and I have it hanging in the shop right now. The question is how long is it okay to let it hang. Right now it isn't particularly cold out, 36 or above at night and 55 or so during the day. My meat cutter is anxious that it's going to go rancid. I don't really agree with him but I am a little nervous myself. What do you all think.

Thats way too warm. You need to atleast put him on ice in a cooler. He will rot quick unless he is in the shade all day long, even then, it's risky.............wapiti7

Let him cut it pronto. When meat is hung, it is held in a cooler from 34-38 degrees. He's right, it will turn rancid. Process it ASAP !!!!

Get it butchered right away, 55 degrees is way to hot for meat. Mine goes from the ground to the butcher right away.

george -

in our climate, 10 days this time of year is just fine, assuming that you are hanging it in an unheated shed out of the sun with hide still on. keep in mind that the nights are getting well below 40 degrees and the carcass remains cold throughout the day. if it were 55 degrees longer than just an hour or two, i would give different advice, but up here it is below 40 degrees longer than it is above, and at night it goes down well below freezing. a carcass will not go rancid in the above conditions.

i just finished putting a deer in the freezer. it hung (hanged?) exactly 10 days, then was quartered, kept in the fridge and cut up within the next couple of days. while cutting it up, there was no bad smell or discolored meat, just tender, perfect-looking steaks. i did of course keep an eye on the weather, but it was only in the 45-55 degree range for very limited times during the day, and the carcass under the described conditions above kept cold through it until the sun started to go down and temperatures dropped. i've been doing this for over 20 years and have never had bad meat or felt like i was playing russian roulette.

it is always good to keep an eye on the weather. as the season progresses, one can leave it to hang two weeks or longer; for myself, i prefer to have them in the freezer by the 14th day. earlier in the season, or in unusually warm weather, 3-5 days would be a maximum.

i should caveat all of this by saying that this is assuming your meat cutter is going to cut it right away. if he is going to have it hanging in his locker for any length of time, take that into account. if you want very easy and thorough instruction on how to cut it up yourself, shoot me a PM.

my dad once shot a deer toward the end of november and it was hanging in the shed until march (much of that time in sub-zero temperatures); i would never do this or advocate it, but the meat off that carcass was in much better condition than i expected it to be, and we were able to use nearly all of it. we lost maybe the outer 1/4-1/2 inch or so, but the meat underneath was actually very good, tasty and tender.

why let it hang? cut it up and eat it...

never understood letting thing hang for long periods of time. the most i've done personally is about 3-4 days in VERY cold weather. we typically cut the day after the kill or the next.

letting game hang or age is an important process. it allows the controlled breakdown of the meat fibers making a more tender and tasty table fare. Size and temp determines the length of time, below freezing does not work for the aging process. Check for meat aging charts in wild game cookbooks.

I usually quarter deer, get the quarters very dry, and put them in white plastic garbage bags in the refrigerator set at 38F.

I change the bags every day and redry the quarters. If things are clean things go fine.

I age young deer 5 days or so. Older guys get more time ... up to 10 days.

Has worked fine for a bunch of venison.

Meat spoils at temperatures over 40 F !!! As far as tenderizing freezing is the equivalent to 5 days aging...Aging should only be done in a temperature and humidity controlled cooler at 36 F !! I don't care for the 'gamey ' taste of spoiled meat so the animal is shot, immediately dressed out , skinned an hung till thoroughly cooled ,butchered and frozen. That process is always within 12 hours ! No one ever complains !

i don't want to get into a pissing contest over this, but over 25 years i've never once had meat that tastes spoiled, gamey or otherwise bad after it had been done the way we do it. i agree about the 40-degree threshold but when the temps are going well below that temp at night, plus the carcass is in a dark shed all day, the temperature stays cold. as j-a-h stated, the exposed areas (whether hide is on or off) dry to a protective film, and the meat inside is very well-protected as long as temperatures and humidity do not get out of control.

the one time i did process a deer immediately (within 12 hours) was about 10 years ago. even though it was a young doe, i found the meat to be tough, ragged and "not right." with those packages, we ended up thawing them out and then leaaving them in the fridge for about 3 days to break down a bit and tenderize. in the case of that deer, freezing was definitely not equivalent to 5 days aging.

i realize that much of this is subject to geography, climate etc., so mileage os going to vary widely. george and i are in pretty close proximity to each other, so i gave him advice based on our region and climate.

Thanks Tas and Just-a-hunter. I was thinking the carcass would be fine and that it was around the same temp's for when my dad and me would let them hang when I was in high school. The last several years I have always had to wait until after thanksgiving to get my deer because of work. By then the usual cold snap had come through and everything froze anyway. I did take him to Windy Ridge meats today though. I don't think he will get to it until the end of the week so it work's out in the end.

P.S. Tas I took him just north of Chinook. A couple miles north of Coal mine rd and red rock creek.

george, i know right where that is and it is great country. i've been hunting just a few miles north and a little east of there on stuker's land. i've been taking my kids (including my 5-yr old), and we've been seeing a lot of deer up there, but due to the extra noise involved opportunities haven't been great since most of the deer i am seeing are running away. lots of good mulies and whitetails, though, we've been seeing between 20 and 30 shootable deer on average per day hunting - and we've already got one in the freezer.

we expect to go again this weekend and start hunting seriously now that we're getting down to the last couple of weeks. i'd rather see my kids tag out and have pretty much relegated myself to walking the brush with the little guy. once they get theirs, i'll worry about mine.

the owner at windy ridge meats (i forget his name) is a good guy. he was going to grind up a lot of leftover steaks for me last year into burger, but i ended up getting a grinder of my own. he's got a great reputation, so things should be good with him. if you have any difficulties, let me know and i'll help if i can.

p.s. -the temps are getting down into the 20s now at night, and while daylight highs are a little warm for my preference, they are only there for a short time and most of the time is spent in the 30s or very low 40s, keeping the meat well in the safe range.

we usually let them hang for a few days,unless unseasonably warm.My brother in law goes 10 days minimum and his venison is first rate.

When I read the headline I thought this was in the wrong Forum, should have been in the Politics forum. I thought you were talking about Hillary!!!

If it is out of the sun, out of the rain, and given the temps you said I think you should be good for a week. Cut off the excess fat and definitely remove the esophagus (rots quick), cut off the thin skin between the ribs and the rear legs so air can circulate a little better in the body cavity. If you see any pools of blood wipe them out so everything is dry. I've done this in similar conditions for more than a week and it results in very good meat.

The main disadvantage is the glaze needs to be cut off and the longer it hangs the thicker the glaze. A little mold is no problem, it won't hurt ya, it is not bacteria. I kinda like to see the mold because it seems to form when conditions are just right. Use some vinegar and wipe it off, it will get cut away anyhow when you take off the glaze. The interior meat will be so tender from enzyme action you will not even need a knife.

I was a butcher for several years. Tas is correct. As long ass the temp is 40 degrees or below there are no worries. If it is getting colder, and does not stay 55 degrees very long and the meat is in the shade, I would njot worry, just keep an eye on it.

In Texas sometimes even durring deer season it can be 90 degrees.

Then I get the meat on ice ASAP.
I keep the meat seperate from the ice and thus out of the melted water. I place the ice in trash bags, doubled, and surround them with ice. I do not seal up the bag until the meat is completely cooled down.

As long as you keep adding ice you can keep the meat like this for several days.

Most of us over here have access to a cooler, reason is that we start basically year round and our roe deer (=poor man's stag) are mostly shot in summer.

We use to age at between +2 and +5 Celsius which should be between 35 and 42 degrees Fahrenheit, between like 1 day for a fawn and usually 5 days for older deer, red stag and wild boar. Aging them longer in my opinion does not make a difference, not aging them at all for sure produces bad quality meat. Aging is usually done in the cape because it keeps the meat from drying.

Freezing meat before aging properly seems to keep the meat from becoming tender, as well; OTOH the ice crystals that form within the cells when freezing seem to break up the fibre structure, too, in a similar way the lactic acid ddoes when aging normally.

I think that the importance of properly hanging (meat, but possibly also of politicians) is usually underestimated, it helps in this regard to tolk to a good butcher and follow his recommendations.

Also very important: Gutting if possible within less than an hour, shooting them well without hurting the guts and cooling (NOT freezing) them as fast as possible.

quote:

Originally posted by 724wd:
why let it hang? cut it up and eat it...

never understood letting thing hang for long periods of time. the most i've done personally is about 3-4 days in VERY cold weather. we typically cut the day after the kill or the next.

I agree, I have always got my game to a butcher right away. The butcher would remove hide and put it into a cooler, it hangs in the cooler for a few days before it is cut up, but it is real cold in the cooler. My game has always tasted great. Remind me to never eat wild game at some of your houses.

quote:

Originally posted by Redhawk1:
I agree, I have always got my game to a butcher right away.

Consider doing your own skinning and butchering, it is not only much easier than you think, you also learn a lot about animal anatonomy, quite interesting, how these critters are mechanically designed.

quote:

Originally posted by Redhawk1:
I agree, I have always got my game to a butcher right away. The butcher would remove hide and put it into a cooler, it hangs in the cooler for a few days before it is cut up, but it is real cold in the cooler. My game has always tasted great. Remind me to never eat wild game at some of your houses.

I personaly have never known of anyone who has gotten sick from aged venison. A good butcher can tell if the meat is bad and you usually won't end up with any of it. I think you have a greater risk of becoming ill from freezer burnt meat than rancid meat.

I envy you guys and being able to age your game. Even the high country hunts here are usually pretty warm. The low level desert hunts are down right HOT! This year it was in the 90's.

Down here if we shoot a deer, we pretty much have to strip the hide open and quarter it as soon as the heart stops pumping blood. You just can't get it done too fast. But the deer here are very small, and the quarters usually fit in a 100-150 qt. "marine" style cooler. Good tips about keeping the ice and meat seperately wrapped to keep the meat out of the ice water too.

quote:

Originally posted by DUK:

quote:

Originally posted by Redhawk1:
I agree, I have always got my game to a butcher right away.

Consider doing your own skinning and butchering, it is not only much easier than you think, you also learn a lot about animal anatonomy, quite interesting, how these critters are mechanically designed.

+1 - very good advice, DUK.

redhawk - whether the deer hangs in your butcher's locker or in your shed out in the cold, dry middle of nowhere for a few days (montana is much cooler than your neck of the woods, and the lack of humidity makes a big difference, too) makes little difference. as i've said for the 3rd time now, in warmer or more humid climates, this would not be a good idea.

in the future, though, you might consider butchering your own. as DUK said, you might learn a lot; also, you have the luxury of butchering it your way (for instance, i prefer completely boneless cuts and to use meat for cube steaks that might normally be ground by a butcher), also, you know that you're getting ALL of YOUR deer.

Another vote for aging. I also cut up my own game and agree there are benefits to doing it.

I have seen more wild meat ruined by hanging it in too hot of weather.I cut mine up and put it on gallon ice jugs and rotate the jugs to age my meat.It pulls the blood out and waiste no meat.I had to teach friends to do it on moose instead of getting maggoty meat.Their underground meat shelters were 52 degrees and the meat rotted.Also debone it as quickly as possible.On moose and elk the bones can hold alot of heat that will ruin your meat.

If you are going to cut up your own game, I heartily recommend:

Dressing and Cooking Wild Game

by Teresa Marone, ISBN 0-86573-020-0

Try Barnes & Noble, used books.

Lee

excellent book - i've got the hardcover and it's been invaluable.

I think it was Jim Brigder that said meat don't spoil in the high coutry, It will last a long time. I hung a whitetail doe in the shed in Nov. and we ate the last of her in late Feb. I'll let things hang for up to a week normally.
The Bison I kill the 2nd of Nov. got in the frezzer yesterday the 15th It was in a cooler most for the time. the big thing is to get the carcus cooled down at first.

quote:

Originally posted by DUK:

quote:

Originally posted by Redhawk1:
I agree, I have always got my game to a butcher right away.

Consider doing your own skinning and butchering, it is not only much easier than you think, you also learn a lot about animal anatonomy, quite interesting, how these critters are mechanically designed.

I have done it many times, it is just so much easier to have the butcher do it. I don't need any antinomy lessons, I have been hunting for over 25 years and think I have it all down pat. But thanks for the advice.

tasunkawitko, I understand aged meat, but as long as it is kept cool, and 55 degrees as was stated in the original post is what I am referring to. 55 degrees is to warm to let a deer hang and age. A far as getting all my own meat, I don't worry about that, I know the butcher and I get all MY meat only. Again I have done the butchering thing many times, but I prefer to have a butcher do it for me, nothing really for me to have to learn. I guess you just assumed I have never butchered my own game.

redhawk, i wasn't trying to imply that it's my way or the highway. the original post asked how long to let it hang and i told him based on my experience and the fact that we're pretty much in the same area.

if a carcass is in a dark shed out of the sun under dry conditions in weather that goes down to 25 dergees over night and then is in that dark shed in the day while the temperatures is in the 20s and 30s, then for an hour or two it is in the 40s, then for an hour or so it climbs into the 50 range, then immediately heads down to the 30s, then the 20s again. how long do you think that THE MEAT was at 55 degrees? i'm pretty sure that the meat never got above 40. if it were 55 degrees all day long i would tell a guy to get it in a locker or in the freezer ASAP.

i didn't assume that you never butchered your own game, and i certainly didn't mean to imply that you were interested in learning anything new - i suggested it. maybe some people have tried it, but didn't learn a good way, and so they got soured on the expereience. maybe when they were younger and more inexpereinced, it took longer and they don't think they have the time. there could be any number of reasons.

as for your butcher, congratulations. i suggested the possibility that a person might not get all of their meat back, and it is a valid possibility. if you know you're getting all of your meat because you know the butcher, then that's a good thing.

quote:

Originally posted by tasunkawitko:
as for your butcher, congratulations. i suggested the possibility that a person might not get all of their meat back, and it is a valid possibility. if you know you're getting all of your meat because you know the butcher, then that's a good thing.

Actually they local butcher block in Malta (Hi-Line or L&L I don't remember which) was quite known for giving people the wrong meat. They did a good job cutting so people kept going back but every once in a while that corn fed calf you had butchered would taste like an old grissly bull.

quote:

Originally posted by Skidly:
letting game hang or age is an important process. it allows the controlled breakdown of the meat fibers making a more tender and tasty table fare. Size and temp determines the length of time, below freezing does not work for the aging process. Check for meat aging charts in wild game cookbooks.

Hanging and aging meat is a VERY SPECIFIC controlled process !!! As stated in my post above, the temperature must be held to 34-38 degrees of steady, constant temperature. Any more than 38 degrees, you are risking growth of organisms that can and will spoil your meat. The best way to age a deer is to quarter it up, seal it in plastic and let it sit in a spare refrigerator for about a week. Once again, they key is to control the temp. It seems that you disbelieve the butcher, who does this for a living. His advice was good, your choice is bad.