Letting deeer hang.

[Noah Racette]

I was wondering how long you should let the deer hang after you shoot it, and
Does it matter if the deer is hanging by the head or by the rear legs?? Would love to hear an opinion.

[timberghost]

I never let em hang no more than 2 days even in cold temps. Most times I'll have em cut and quartered by the next day. The hide peels off nicely if you do it as soon as you hang em. You can hang em either way as long as they cool quickly and blood can drain out easily. Just my opinion but other may vary.

[spiker]

I agree with ghost.I like to skin the same day and then quarter & butcher 2 days later.This way the meat is stiff and no tearing of the backstraps.

[on_the_fly]

well in past i've alwas hung 5 to 7 days but must be under 45*'s, the idea is letting the rigamortise set in and thats what tenderizes your meat out. always hang head up so the as the blood drains from your harvest the gut area (if any mishap) is runnig out the bottom and not through out the deer.if you use a hose and flush your harvest out you need to dry it back out best you can and need to cover with a game bag to (HELP) keep flies out of your harvest. now a few years ago the weather got above 45 and i had only had my deer hanging for one day and in a panic got on the web and did some serching and found that many people were just quartering up and soking in water and half of them using salt and the other half just water, so i quartered mine and soked for in just water for the remander of the 5 days i like to cure and found that my family prefured the cook taste better than hanging so now for the past 6 years now or better i quarter and soke for 5 days and water change daily removing the bloody water.

[Hunting Man]

I always try to hang deer 5-7 days with or without hide. If temp is above 40* then use a fridge instead of hanging time.

[Noah Racette]

Thanks guys!! Think I will try it a couple of differant ways and see how it works out.Thanks again!

[BruceBruce1959]

there's no need to ever let a deer hang longer than 72 hours which covers the meats Rigor Mortise recovery time...
The best way to handle the venison hanging process is get the deer into the Butchers cooler ASAP and ask the butcher to let it hang in the cooler for 72 hours before processing.

If you plan to cut and package the meat yourself it is Extremely important to keep the deer meat in at least a 40 degree temperature or cooler for the entire hanging time.

Rigor mortis <- be sure to notice the "Applications in industry section regarding Meat Technology"..
Good Luck

[Noah Racette]

Okay, I processed the meat a couple of days ago and it was really cold out there. Around in the teens. So I think the meat was okay. lol

[Hunting Man]

Most really good steaks are aged for 30 days, the ageing process takes many days to occur. That's why in some steak houses it costs $25-35 per steak, not that I've ever had one, mind you!

[traindriver]

Similar to Hunting Man's expensive steak, I've always heard the longer you hang the deer, the more tender the meat. Our family doctor hangs his deer at least a week. I'm no expert on venison, but with beef the aging process allows the collagen in the muscles time to break down (increased tenderness), and provides that "aged" beef flavor. The only downside is that you have more trim loss. We hang all our freezer beef for at least 14 days. Heck - one year we hung it for 21 days.

One of the big challenges we have here in the SE is the big changes in temperature. Bacteria can't work if temps are below freezing, and you don't want the temps to get to high (much above 40 deg).

Maybe venison, being leaner than beef, doesn't need to age as long? I'm not really sure. I've heard leaner beef carcasses are usually hung for a shorter length of time to keep them from drying out too much. That being said, muscle fiber and collagen can't be all that different between deer and cattle. I'd bet aging venison for a few extra days would produce a more tender carcass.