How long do you let your deer hang before you butcher it?

If its under 42 I will let mine hang for 10 to 14 days. That's the way the old guys showed me how to do it when I was young and I have never changed.

 

I just happen to be lucky enough to have PROPER cold storage in a small room in my garage. Not a rigged AC, but a unit that cools down to 34 F. Deer hang skin on for about 5 days, then to the butcher a couple days later. NEVER had one spoil or taste bad with this method.

 

I never, ever want to deal with a frozen deer again. Don't let it happen.

 

Part of the reason I still kill deer is for the fresh meat...I don't consider any animal that's been dead for more than a couple days to still be "fresh meat". I try my best to get them processed within a couple days.

I have, on occasion, just not been able to get it done and as long as temps were freezing I got by okay. I knew people hang deer for a couple weeks but it's still shocking to me to hear it said, lol. There's a local guy here that usually has three or four hanging in his yard from a tree nearly all season (gun and bow) and it doesn't seem to matter what the temps. I've driven by in 60F weather and there's still deer hanging from his deer tree. I don't know how often he changes them out for fresh deer but appearances are not often....grosses me out.

 

My dad-in-law tells stories of when he was growing up before electricity had been brought to the farm, where deer would hang in the barn all winter long as a storage method. They would cut off the meat as they needed it. If it was too warm for that it would have to be canned immediately.

 

Yeah, my dad is old enough to have stories like that also. They had an ice house to store stuff in and used a smoke house a lot also. I love hearing how people managed life back before all the modern conveniences...not that I'd like to live it but it's fun to hear about.

 

Five days in cooler with hide on to protect moisture in meat.

 

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I like to let em hang for about 5 days. Temps don't cooperate in early season, so I've adapted to quartering and putting in cooler and cover with ice. Rinse and flush out cooler daily and add more ice. Seems to work great for me. Haven't had one go bad this way yet

 

Shot in the morning... in the freezer by lunch. Any luck, I am back in the stand by 2.

 

I have a garage that is heated and cooled for pretty much 1 reason to hang deer. 42 degrees is ideal, keep the humidity down 10 days. I cut up a mature deer this year and he will be as tender as a young doe. I am also very particular about processing I don't cut bone, separate the muscle groups and trim all fat and silver skin off.

 

It absolutely does not. Mine hang in a refrigerated walk in box for 7-10 days, hide on. Some buddies sometimes let theres go 2 weeks. We all agree it improves the meat.

 

As long as the temperatures stay below 50 F, I let it hang at least two weeks before butchering.

 

Not even a little bit. Two weeks is actually a minimal time. I'm a retired Certified Working Chef and a Certified Sanitor, and this is an industry norm in the U.S. In Scotland (where I did my apprenticeship), Ireland, and much of Western Europe, they hang the deer/cow until they can no longer see the meat through all the maggots, then scrape off said maggots, and butcher the animal. This produces the finest beef/venison in the world. It is perfectly safe to hang your deer for two weeks or more, as long as the temperatures are below 50F.

 

Not going to scrape maggots but I love aged venisom

 

Yeah the scrapped maggot thing kind of lost me.

I have to process mine before wifey gets grossed out. Two days max. That day is best.

 

No thanks

 

I'm calling BS on this...unless you can provide some sort of link to prove otherwise. Aging meat isn't something that one safely accomplishes just by letting a dead animal hang where ever and however. Meat like that would be so full of bacteria that it would be toxic.

 

The bacteria is actually what makes it more tender. A deer butchered fresh has not had time for the bacteria to start too break down the muscle tissue. Allowing that to happen not only tenderizes but relaxes the muscle tissue so that all the blood can drain out of it....getting rid of any "gamey" flavor whatsoever. This is well known in commercial beef processing....in fact many slaughterhouses hang beef on metal rails which are then charged with electricity to "shock" the muscle tissue to speed up the process. A beef will hang 17-21 days on average before butchering....commercial meat processors are all about money and turnover...so if aging the meat did not make a measurable difference, they wouldn't do it. The quality of meat is undoubtedly better. I usually hang my deer 5-6 days when temperature is ideal...but 2 days minimum even if I have to ice it. We only eat wild game in our house, and I have honestly never had one person complain of a "wild" taste...for that matter most don't even know it isn't beef. To each their own...but in my experience aging makes a big difference.....kindof like my opinion on taxidermy....an average mount looks good...until you put it next to one that is a world class mount...then there is no comparison

 

Look at the context of my post. Yes some bacteria is okay and is what makes aging work but the comment about scraping maggots is just crazy and could get someone killed or very sick. Dry aged and wet aged, neither one...anywhere, allows maggots to infest the meat or allow bacteria growth to continue unchecked. Bacteria growth is controlled by temp, airflow and a layer of fat on the meat. Aged is not the same as rotten.