Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game Hanging deer/pronghorn etc

What are you trying to avoid at all costs? Not trying to get into an argument. I think people should be civil on this forum. There is another forum for insults. Unfortunately, it has bled into this one. I am just curious. Are you saying you avoid butchering deer right away at all costs or are you saying you try to avoid the gameyness at all costs? When you eat and compared the 2, what is it about the deer that you hung that you found preferable to the one that was not hung? Do you think the flavor is better or is it strictly the tenderness of the meat? What about diet? Where I hunt, the primary forage during hunting season is acorns. We do have some agriculture in the area. Primarily corn and soybeans. I don't know this for a fact but I have heard that deer that feed on sage can have a bad flavor. Is this true? If it is true, I would think concentrating the flavor would be the last thing you wanted to do.

I should have clarified - and I should also caveat that our temps during hunting season are generally cooler than much further south.
When feasible, I like the hide to stay on for a day or two - drainage etc happens and the hide keeps the meat from drying out.

The only gamey venison I've eaten was stuff that went from field to freezer almost immediately.

Like I said, different strokes.

I have a walk in cooler. 10’ x 6’. I hang deer with the hide on a minimum of 2 weeks and prefer 3 weeks. Without the hide 5-6 days 8 being the max because of drying exterior layer becomes wasteful. Flavor and tenderness really show up on a 21 day aged animal. My target temp is 38 degrees. 18 kw AC unit running off a cool bots controller. Rail and trolley system with an electric hoist outside the door on a track system and floor anchor for skinning leave no back work involved. My cooler is my pride and joy come fall. It also gives me time to butcher when it works for me.

That sounds great. I'm very close to doing likewise

I have only eaten the heart the same day. It wasn't bad. Meat that was not hung pulled out of the freezer and cooked on the grill has always been fantastic. What was it that was so horrible about it? Didi it have a strong flavor of some kind? Which cut was it?

Its interesting that you soak the meat which is also considered a major no no in some circles. You are pulling blood out of the meat, not just the coagulated blood around the wound. It can pull out some of those flavors that hanging concentrates. You might find the meat disappointing if you get a walk in and you hang it without soaking it. I don't think it will taste the same but I could be wrong.

I've eaten grilled venison that was was only a few hours post-kill and it was the worst I've ever had. (Fat doe, butchered in the backyard).

I age all mine on ice for 4-8 days, draining water frequently. A lot of my ice is in the form of frozen gallon jugs, which serve to keep the meat very cold, but not always sitting in water. I'd love to have a hanging cooler setup, but a few large marine-style coolers and a bunch of frozen jugs has worked for my last 20 years or so. I also pull the cooler up to the skinning shed and begin filling it full of cold water while I start skinning. By the time I'm cutting off quarters/straps, the cooler is nearly full and I'm tossing the meat in the cold water to bring the temperature down. After it's all done, I drain off the water and this also helps remove stray hairs. Then I ice the meat.

This is how I first aged a deer by accident. Year was 1997. I shot a very nice whitetail buck while out elk hunting. I finished my morning elk hunt and went back to the buck. I got it skinned and broken down. This was before I had a dedicated refrigerator for aging.

Everything went into coolers on ice. I did not have time to process the deer, as I was still elk hunting with a very hard to draw tag. Drained and added ice for 9 days. I finally got my bull and processed the deer. Simply the best deer we had ever had up to that point. We became serious believers in aging and been on a learning curve ever since.

I also take the tenderloins from every deer I shoot and soak them in saltwater in the refrigerator for a week, changing water daily. They are some the best venison I have ever eaten. Mild, but flavorful and can cut them with a fork. If I cut them into bite sized tips before cooking, they melt in the mouth. Absolutely fantastic.