muddy
Well-Known Member
The replies you'll get are going to vary depending on where you live. Guys in the south will let deer hang a long time in temps that make me take it to a cooler immediately. I rarely let deer hang more than a day of the day time temps are above 40-45°. I only let a deer hang in freezing temps one time... getting that brick thru the door jam to thaw back out was horrible.
I am lucky a local locker will let me hang my deer in their walk in for $5 a day up to 3 days. That has saved my butt a few times now that I have youth season to deal with.
I am lucky a local locker will let me hang my deer in their walk in for $5 a day up to 3 days. That has saved my butt a few times now that I have youth season to deal with.
CurtisWalker
Well-Known Member
33-40 degrees temperature and you can let it hang for months with the right humidity. But after about 2 weeks you start losing meat faster to drying.
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double lunged
Member
Ive left deer hang for a week in 30-40 degree weather. Just wrapped a bed sheet around it to keep dirt/dust from getting on it helps it with drying out to. Take a beef to a locker most hang for 2 weeks before getting worked up.
Bucksnbears
Well-Known Member
I truly don't think with a deer it matters much?
I hang mine in a cooler at 34-38 degrees for a week. It makes a huge difference in the quality of the meat. Same as ageing beef before they butcher it. With just hanging one in your garage or shed the temperature fluctuations cause issues
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Matters a ton IMO.
Bucksnbears
Well-Known Member
My Late uncle had a butcher shop and cut up 1000s of deer.
He said many times there are MANY factors that come into play on how a deer turns out.
Beef is brought in,killed,gutted n hung.
With deer, way too many variables.
Aging an old buck that had been balls too the walls chasing does for a week, gutt shot and found the next day aint gonna be great tableware no matter how long its hung in a controlled temp.
Sorry
He said many times there are MANY factors that come into play on how a deer turns out.
Beef is brought in,killed,gutted n hung.
With deer, way too many variables.
Aging an old buck that had been balls too the walls chasing does for a week, gutt shot and found the next day aint gonna be great tableware no matter how long its hung in a controlled temp.
Sorry
JNRBRONC
Well-Known Member
When I was butchering deer, I had the luxury of having a spare fridge to hold quarters until I got around to breaking them down. Found trimming “silver skin” and fat, along with not cutting bones to spread marrow was more important than time in the fridge. YMMV
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203ntyp
PMA Member
Totally agree!
ArrowheadMuzzleloader
Member
3-4 days in direct sunlight in 40-50F weather is perfect.
Seriously though, unless you've got a cooler and can hold it in the low 30's, I think hanging will do more harm than good.
Seriously though, unless you've got a cooler and can hold it in the low 30's, I think hanging will do more harm than good.
ArrowheadMuzzleloader
Member
oldie but pretty funny if you've haven't read it before.
I enjoy a good beef steak as much as the next guy, but eating one is a rarity for me. My freezer is stocked with venison most of the time, and my wife and I have literally raised our kids on deer meat. In fact, Shari is something of a venison snob, turning up her nose at the bland flavor and fat-laden nature of beef. It is a nice situation for a deer hunter to face, though I do feel the pressure to kill a deer at the first opportunity to, in the words of the old "Beverly Hillbillies" theme song "keep my family fed."
Obviously, not everyone feels so fondly about the unique flavor of venison. And despite the obvious health benefits of eating wild game, debates have long raged about which tastes better...venison, or beef? Well, thanks to a recent report released by the US Venison Council, this question has finally been answered. Read below, and enjoy!
*VENISON VERSUS BEEF THE TASTE CONTROVERSY ENDS FROM THE UNITED STATES VENISON COUNCIL
*Controversy has long raged about the relative quality and taste of venison and beef as gourmet foods. Some people say that venison is tough, with a strong "wild" taste. Others insist that venison's flavor is delicate. An independent food research group was retained by the Venison Council to conduct a taste test to determine the truth of these conflicting assertions once and for all.
First a Grade A Choice Holstein steer was chased into a swamp a mile and a half from a road and shot several times. After some of the entrails were removed, the carcass was dragged back over rocks and logs, and through mud and dust to the road. It was then thrown into the back of a pickup truck and driven through rain and snow for 100 miles before being hung out in the sun for 10 days.
After that it was lugged into a garage, where it was skinned and rolled around on the floor for a while. Strict sanitary precautions were observed throughout the test, within the limitations of the butchering environment. For instance, dogs and cats were allowed to sniff and lick the steer carcass, but were chased away when they attempted to bite chunks out of it.
Next a sheet of plywood left from last year's butchering was set up in the basement on two saw horses. The pieces of dried blood, hair and fat left from last year were scraped off with a wire brush last used to clean out the grass stuck under the lawn mower.
The skinned carcass was then dragged down the steps into the basement where a half dozen inexperienced but enthusiastic and intoxicated men worked on it with meat saws, cleavers and dull knives. The result was 375 pounds of soup bones, four bushel baskets of meat scraps, and a couple of steaks that were an eighth of an inch thick on one edge and an inch and a half thick on the other.
The steaks were seared on a glowing red hot cast iron skillet to lock in the flavor. When the smoke cleared, rancid bacon grease was added along with three pounds of onions, and the whole conglomeration was fried for two hours.
The meat was gently teased from the frying pan and served to three blindfolded taste panel volunteers. Every one of the members of the panel thought it was venison. One of the volunteers even said it tasted exactly like the venison he had eaten in hunting camps for the past 27 years. The results of this scientific test show conclusively that there is no difference between the taste of beef and venison.
I enjoy a good beef steak as much as the next guy, but eating one is a rarity for me. My freezer is stocked with venison most of the time, and my wife and I have literally raised our kids on deer meat. In fact, Shari is something of a venison snob, turning up her nose at the bland flavor and fat-laden nature of beef. It is a nice situation for a deer hunter to face, though I do feel the pressure to kill a deer at the first opportunity to, in the words of the old "Beverly Hillbillies" theme song "keep my family fed."
Obviously, not everyone feels so fondly about the unique flavor of venison. And despite the obvious health benefits of eating wild game, debates have long raged about which tastes better...venison, or beef? Well, thanks to a recent report released by the US Venison Council, this question has finally been answered. Read below, and enjoy!
*VENISON VERSUS BEEF THE TASTE CONTROVERSY ENDS FROM THE UNITED STATES VENISON COUNCIL
*Controversy has long raged about the relative quality and taste of venison and beef as gourmet foods. Some people say that venison is tough, with a strong "wild" taste. Others insist that venison's flavor is delicate. An independent food research group was retained by the Venison Council to conduct a taste test to determine the truth of these conflicting assertions once and for all.
First a Grade A Choice Holstein steer was chased into a swamp a mile and a half from a road and shot several times. After some of the entrails were removed, the carcass was dragged back over rocks and logs, and through mud and dust to the road. It was then thrown into the back of a pickup truck and driven through rain and snow for 100 miles before being hung out in the sun for 10 days.
After that it was lugged into a garage, where it was skinned and rolled around on the floor for a while. Strict sanitary precautions were observed throughout the test, within the limitations of the butchering environment. For instance, dogs and cats were allowed to sniff and lick the steer carcass, but were chased away when they attempted to bite chunks out of it.
Next a sheet of plywood left from last year's butchering was set up in the basement on two saw horses. The pieces of dried blood, hair and fat left from last year were scraped off with a wire brush last used to clean out the grass stuck under the lawn mower.
The skinned carcass was then dragged down the steps into the basement where a half dozen inexperienced but enthusiastic and intoxicated men worked on it with meat saws, cleavers and dull knives. The result was 375 pounds of soup bones, four bushel baskets of meat scraps, and a couple of steaks that were an eighth of an inch thick on one edge and an inch and a half thick on the other.
The steaks were seared on a glowing red hot cast iron skillet to lock in the flavor. When the smoke cleared, rancid bacon grease was added along with three pounds of onions, and the whole conglomeration was fried for two hours.
The meat was gently teased from the frying pan and served to three blindfolded taste panel volunteers. Every one of the members of the panel thought it was venison. One of the volunteers even said it tasted exactly like the venison he had eaten in hunting camps for the past 27 years. The results of this scientific test show conclusively that there is no difference between the taste of beef and venison.
