Obviously weather plays a huge part of this. Just curious how long others let their deer hang before processing. Fortunately I have access to a walk in cooler and I let my deer hang 7-14 days before I cut it up. Lets the meat tenderize more IMO.
I like to let mine hang a week , i usually like to make my butchering day on Sundays Sent from my LS670 using Tapatalk
I generally shoot for 3 to 4 days. I don't have access to a walk-in, so weather plays a factor. I have cut them up after only about 30 hrs, but I prefer not to if at all possible
If I have optimal temps in the range of 35-40 I will go as long as a week. Anything warmer and I will butcher that deer right away. Also if you have an older deer I like to definitely let it hanger for longer periods of time as it helps. Young deer don't have much collagen, so aging for a couple of days is plenty.
If I am unable to hang the animal what I like to do is quarter it and place it in a cooler with a little bit of water and a lot of ice....I used this on several hogs when I was in AL and shot hogs mid summer...all you gotta do is replace the water and add ice every day for three to four days....
I don't believe the difference amounts to a hill of beans. I send mine to the butcher immediately. I know the science behind aging beef, but the only hard evidence I've read about venison points towards these enzymes not being present.
IMO, it doesn't make a huge difference but I think I've noticed *some* improvement. My main reason for letting the deer hang is pure convenience. Its nice to have a place to hang it and not have to worry about spoil until you get time to cut it up. Not a huge issue in the cold months, but warm weather season it sucks killing a deer in the evening, tracking it down and the next thing you know it late as hell and you gotta be at work first thing in the morning. I rarely mess with a butcher anymore. Its nice to get those specialty treats ie; summer sausage, jerky etc but it gets expensive and I'm not 100% sure I'm getting MY deer meat back.
I think someone should do a test on this subject this year. Split a carcass down the middle (same deer, not a huge buck vs a small tender doe) and have one side processed immediately the other left to hang. Later cook up both and serve to someone who doesn't know whether that particular package of meat was aged/not aged. I would put good money on the split being near 50/50 as to which one was better. I understand the convenience factor though for sure! If I processed my deer still, I would leave it hang until I had time to mess with it as well. But that is the whole reason I don't process my deer, lol. $70 and it's prepackaged and frozen ready for me to eat, I wouldn't work an entire day for $70 in wages, and that's how long it takes me to go from skinning a deer to having everything packaged in the freezer.
A close family friend does all our deer processing since he owns a slaughter house.And does it cheap for us since we help him out with other stuff. He wont touch a deer until it's hung for at least a week in his cooler.But they'll usually hang for several weeks since he stays packed out when deer season opens. Personally I can't tell the difference in a fresh killed and butchered deer from one that's hung for a while. Their all good when served with fried taters,gravy,and biscuits.
