Hide on hide off?

[sweeney3]

It's very temperature dependent and there will be varying preferances, as usual.  Try it several ways and see what you like best.  I like to hang them a couple of days if it's neither hot nor freezing, but that's rare.  Really, venison is tasty enough as it is that there's nothing wrong with working them up as soon as the heat is out.

[talkingcabbage]

"Have never let a deer hang, have seen people do it up north, why I don't know.... don't agree with the aging of the meat theory. Never seen a cow carcass hanging to age the meat."

I'm with you.  I've talked to guys that work in meat producers, and they only let the bodies hang for 24 hours at the most, and that's only to bring the temp down to 40 degrees.  Then they butcher right away.  That stuff about the meat getting more tender after it hangs for days is a bunch of bull.  You're just letting the meat rot, imo.  That's why everyone thinks deer tastes gamey.  The quicker you get it cut up and cooled, the better it is.  If a packing house doesn't let meat hang for days or weeks at a time, why should we?

[joevan125]

If i can i leave the hide on and let the deer age for at least 3-5 days in a cold storage and the meat comes out more tender than  any other way than i have tried. Living down here in Alabama i have tried them all and this work better than anything.

[joevan125]

[hunt it]

It's not rocket science. Fact is if you take the hide off asap the meat will cool faster. The faster meat cools the better it will taste period. This is the same if it is plus 40 or minus 40 that hide is insulation. Any butcher worth a dang would not allow deer with hides on them in his cooler. The bacteria,insects,dirt etc in the hide would contaminate good meat. The exception being a butcher that has a seperate cooler just to keep deer in until he gets hide off. Meat will taste better if hung with hide off for 3 to 5 days in a controlled cooler. One has to weigh all the variables first and decide which is best. If at hunt camp and it's snowing and all you have is a pole and no cover then I'd leave hide on vs get meat all wet.

[Longbow Jake]

Same as oldskool.

[Don Stokes]

With all due respect, some of you guys need to research the aging of beef. The best beef is hung until it grows mold inside the body cavity that has to be scraped off. I HAVE hung deer for a week or more, and it does make a difference. The processors that don't age their beef are just taking the easier and cheaper way out.

Certainly deer is good if you don't age it, but that doesn't mean it can't be better, under the right conditions!

Here's the first reference on aging beef I found on the search engine:

 http://www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/nutrition/DJ5968.html

I think they probably know what they're talking about.

[kevgsp]

Hide off asap.

I would not be dunking my field dressed deer in any creek  

[frank bullitt]

Yes, I leave the hide on, and then I take the hide off!    

Jindydiver, is that a gas can next to that hind quarter?

[ArrowAtomik]

Same with the best ham.  It is aged until there is a full layer of mold on the outside.  I've hung deer for 15 days with outstanding results.  I've also butchered immediately and everything in between.  All was good, but the aged loins off the grill... by far the best yet.  I've heard of hanging pheasants by the neck, and when the body separates from the head... it is ready!  Most all meat can benefit from proper aging.

[jindydiver]

Originally posted by frank bullitt:
 

Jindydiver, is that a gas can next to that hind quarter?

That is just a huge bottle of tomato sauce  

[frank bullitt]

Jindy, I was hoping you would answer....HOT SAUCE!    

Good shootin, Steve

[FerretWYO]

If it is cold then I like to leave the hide on that will keep them insulated during the day.

[swampbuck]

Genrally I cut them up where they lay and don't even gut them but...

The one I took this yr was a week ago Sat and the temps have been cold all week.I skun the half frozen deer and started cutting this past Sat after a wk I think it'll be fine either way

[Chris O]

I really appreciate everyone's input! Thanks so much.

Of the two deer I got this year, one I let hang for 3 days and the other I butchered that night. The one that hung tastes much better but I attributed that to it being the younger of the deer.

Thanks again for all the great info and experience. Hopefully I keep up the success so I can try some more ways of aging/not aging to compare.

[BTH]

Hide comes off ASAP. Out here in my deer season we have high heat. I skin the deer asap and hang it in the skinning shed until I go home on Sunday night. Sunday night the butcher is open at 6pm to 7pm to take in deer. He hangs them for about a week in the cooler.