Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Aging deer a month?

Some guys have to butcher them right away so they don't spoil.
Others have to butcher them right away so they don't freeze rock solid.

Location, location, location.

When I was a kid around 1970 or so my dad and I were out hunting in an area in northern BC he guided in at times and knew well. We stopped in to visit this old bush rat who lived alone in a little cabin. This guy was the real deal looking around his place it could have been the 1800s never mind 1970. One thing I remember is his smoke house about 2 1/2 feet square and about 6 feet high. It had fly screen on two small openings near the top and a chimney out the top. The old guy saw me looking at it and said have a look inside.. I got a couple geese in there. I opened the door and just about lost my lunch. No smoke involved he was just using the fly proofness of the thing and there were two geese that stunk pretty bad hanging from their bills. He said they're not quite ready yet, once they fall off they're good and tender.

As far as venison goes, at first I used to hang it a week or 10 days in a cool place cause that's what my grandpas did. That's evolved to no aging at all. Usually debone in the field and they're in the freezer within a day. It tastes good either way.

Moose to me is far, far better after 30 days hanging. Deer we usually hold in saltwater for the duration of a hunt and cut in a week or two after. The differences are huge between aged and fresh meat.

I usually leave the quartered meat in a large cooler, tilted to drain, and ice it daily. Two weeks most of the time. Meat is perfect.

Shoot 'em, and quarter 'em, and cut 'em up on the same day. I have done it lots of times.
And when you pull that steak out of the freezer and thaw it, there is blood running all over the place.
That is why I started putting them in the cooler in salted ice water for 3 days at least. Gets all the blood out.

Paid a deer processing place to let one hand 3 weeks once. I gave him a gallon on distilled white vingar and a bag of clean rags to wipe it down.
As long as temps stay low and bacteria is kept in check 30 days, [bleep]...60 days would be fine.
Like dry aging

Thanks, T. You should have tried chewing the one day old bull elk my day Fed us ONCE on a hunt. You have to chew the juice out and spit out a lot meat to fill up, actually after a while you just break a sweat and wear out.

One day old cow elk isn't much better.

Come to think of it Simon, when you cut that ham or back strap across the grain and a light reflection gives a little rainbow reflection, I guess it's just too fresh to eat.

A skinned hung fresh ham has that sharp, acidic, blood smell that turns into a good kind of nutty smell after a few days, too.,

My wife and I hunted caribou in Alaska last week in August. We flew in a Super Cub and piles of meat had black flies covering it at the airport. I cut the maggots off with a fillet knife.
It tasted good.

Definitely a plus to age moose meat

Went over to my Mennonite neighbors one evening, as they were having their supper. They had a can of meat opened up, and were eating it. I had to leave, as that stuff smelled awful. I know they can their deer meat, and other meats as well, so I don't know what it was, although it did look like either deer or beef. I also know that they often let their deer hang for days before butchering, so I figured that might have caused the smell.

I guess they were used to it, as they were eating the crap out of it.

Great idea. I would have been concerned about the meat being sealed by plastic for that long. I know it keeps the meat with more color, while being exposed to ice and water draws blood and color out.

Also, someone mentioned meat cutters cutting the bone in the meat. I dont need any of that with the marrow on the meat. I guess it could be washed off immediately after being cut if aged beforehand.

As a kid I didnt notice the wild taste of venison without it being aged. Now, I sure can.

Everyone to their own.....but this guy will pass on that idea.

I see no point in soaking meat to get all the blood out,same reason I don't soak a big thick porterhouse steak before eating it.

Ive never understood the "soaking" method either? That which Ive seen takes on a very pale nasty look after that long in the pickle jar. To each their own I suppose, I have always cleaned, skinned, and hung for 3-5 days if weather permits.

If you got to hang your deer the instant you whacked it between the eyes with a hammer and provide a very good blood vent while the heart continues to beat you would have well-drained venison.

I thought that is what shooting them with a good bullet was for.

That was my FIL/MIL. Daytime temps in the Eastern Sierra would go from 15 overnight to 55 to 70 degrees and they would let a deer hang in the tres for 3-4 days. They they would drive 6-7 hours home with the deer int he back of their travel trailer where the temp would be high 90's at home. Their venison tasted like chit. I'm surprised no one got sick. I took a deer right outside their old campsite. Cleaned it up, put a bag of ice in the chest cavity and hauled it down the hill to a processor the next morning. He looked it over when we brought it in, took a sniff and said it would it would eat good. He let it hang for a week before he butchered it and it was a very tasty deer.

So, you cooled it down and aged it a day and the packer aged it another week. Sounds good.