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pmparks

New Member
With the weather near the high 70's how long do you guys think i could let a deer hang before skinning out?
 
Skin him quarter him and get him in the frig. I think it is way to warm to hang a deer for any length of time.
 
Find someone with a cooler if you want to hang it or like the others mention above...quarter it and fridge.
 
Never understood hanging deer anyway...they're not beef, it doesn't make an old buck taste any better.

Peel the skin off them while they're warm, it comes off easier. If you don't have time to clean them the whole way, quarter & bag and put in the freezer for a different day.
 
My son's youth season doe I skinned right away. I take the shelves out of my beer fridge in the machine shed and a Rubbermaid storage tote fits perfect on the bottom shelf. I then quarter and clean the deer and stand the shoulders and hams in the tote to drain and cool. I steak the lions and bag any chunks I want to keep off of the rest of the carcass, "neck,rib,etc..". Letting it chill for a couple days makes the meat easier to work with and you don't have to worry about bugs or spoilage that can happen fast during the early season. :way: Oh, P.S. Any deer you want to have mounted should be caped right away and the cape frozen unless your taxi lives close and can do it for you. Slippage of the hair can happen within just a few hours!:way:
 
If weather is cool enough, I always let them hang a day. Have tried it without and it's better if they do. That said, anything above about 45 degrees is too warm in my book to hang a deer for any length of time. Quarter and get in a frig or freezer asap.

NWBuck
 
I always make it a point to skin them while they're warm even if the weather is cool enough to let them hang for awhile (which is NOT the case right now).
They skin about 10 times easier when they're warm!!

I also agree that it really doesn't do much good to 'let them hang' as far as the taste of the meat is concerned. The only reason I let them hang is if I know I'm going to have a more convenient time to get them cut up later on and if it's cool enough to do so.
 
I've only been in this situation once. It was in the low 50's at night and the process I'm going to describe worked out really well!!

I skinned the entire deer and quartered it and went ahead and cut the loins and tenderloins out, then went and bought 2-20lb bags of ice and alternated ice layer and quarter until the body cavity was full. Then I took a nylon rope and wrapped it around the entire carcass and sinched it up real tight, leaving a loop at the top so I could get it into the air to hang overnight. It allowed some blood to still drain out of the meat but hardly any of the ice melted (12 hrs). I also cut some holes along the spine/top of the ribs for water to drain. I just threw a tarp underneath and it held the water just fine. This works!!
 
Honestly, I never let them hang. I just like to get them done. Days like we have now, I've had them butchered and in freezer paper by noon (then a long nap after). Too much heat and insects can ruin a deer quickly.
 
thanks for all the input, the reason i ask is ill be hunting in southern iowa this weekend and not sure how much freezer room we have its just a freeze in the top of frigde so i was'nt sure what to do. Really wanted to shoot a doe friday night.
 
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