Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting Aging Elk Meat

The aging process produces a lot of dry meat that I've seen folks trim off and throw away. Any thoughts about whether or not it could be put in the 'grind' pile and used for sausage along with other less dehydrated meat? Perhaps mix in a little more pork in the mix? Seems like kind of a waste of meat otherwise.

I shot my first ever elk (yearling spike, on the small side) on Thursday and am unsure how to proceed with aging the meat prior to butchering. Here are the specifics:

Shot @7:15am approx 25 F outside temp. Skinned, quartered, bagged (alaska bags) and set in shade to cool before noon. Temp didn't get above 45F all day. In garage hanging by 5pm on evening of kill. The weather has been nice an cool and the garage hasn't been above 40F at any time since hanging. Night temps are at or below freezing mark. Neck/rib meat, backstraps and tenderloins have been washed and stored in fridge since Thursday evening.

How do I tell when the quarters are ready to be cut into steaks/roasts and frozen? Ditto with backstraps tenderloins? When is it ok to grind the remaining meat into hamburger?

Awaiting some veteran elk hunter wisdom.

I have aged deer elk moose antelope caribou for 3 to 5 days and I have cut up after hanging 24 hrs. Have soaked meat in ice salt water too. Have not noticed a big difference in meat, flavor or tenderness.

I typically will hang 1 to 2 days and butcher it.

For me getting the hide off, meat cleaned up and cooled off ASAP seems to me the most important regarding meat quality. In the early season I get the bones out immediately to aid in the cooling.

These threads always illustrate how many hunters misunderstand what aging meat does, and how to do it right.

Aging meat breaks down the collagen in meat, the stuff that makes it tougher, by using natural lactic acid that forms after the animal dies. Older animals tend to have more collagen, so benefit more from aging.

A young animal like a spike elk (or most deer) isn't going to benefit all that much from long aging because the meat doesn't have as much collagen. Allowing the meat to cool down, then a day or two of aging is usually plenty, though if conditions are right another few days sure doesn't hurt.

There's no reason for meat to dry out while aging. If the weather's so warm the animal must be skinned immediately to get the meat cooled down, or you just prefer immediate skinning, putting the quarters in plastic bags or covering the carcass in plastic will keep it from drying out. Wait until after the carcass is cool, however, before applying plastic. If the weather's cool enough (and it often is here in Montana) aging the unskinned carcass also keeps most of the meat from drying out, though I always pull the filets inside the backbone quickly and put them in a plastic bag.

I have read the COLORADO OUTDOORS magazine saying game meat doesn't benefit from aging, and heard it from a number of hunters. It's absolute BS, as the chemical process is exactly the same in elk and deer as it is in beef. It even works on game birds, making a huge difference in an old pheasant or goose.

The longest I've aged deer and elk is three weeks, and it made a vast difference in the tenderness of old animals, but for 95% of wild animals a week is plenty. The two WORST things you can do is butcher a big game animal while it's still in rigor mortis, or allow the meat to freeze while still in rigor.

These threads always illustrate how many hunters misunderstand what aging meat does, and how to do it right.

Aging meat breaks down the collagen in meat, the stuff that makes it tougher, by using natural lactic acid that forms after the animal dies. Older animals tend to have more collagen, so benefit more from aging.

A young animal like a spike elk (or most deer) isn't going to benefit all that much from long aging because the meat doesn't have as much collagen. Allowing the meat to cool down, then a day or two of aging is usually plenty, though if conditions are right another few days sure doesn't hurt.

There's no reason for meat to dry out while aging. If the weather's so warm the animal must be skinned immediately to get the meat cooled down, or you just prefer immediate skinning, putting the quarters in plastic bags or covering the carcass in plastic will keep it from drying out. Wait until after the carcass is cool, however, before applying plastic. If the weather's cool enough (and it often is here in Montana) aging the unskinned carcass also keeps most of the meat from drying out, though I always pull the filets inside the backbone quickly and put them in a plastic bag.

I have read the COLORADO OUTDOORS magazine saying game meat doesn't benefit from aging, and heard it from a number of hunters. It's absolute BS, as the chemical process is exactly the same in elk and deer as it is in beef. It even works on game birds, making a huge difference in an old pheasant or goose.

The longest I've aged deer and elk is three weeks, and it made a vast difference in the tenderness of old animals, but for 95% of wild animals a week is plenty. The two WORST things you can do is butcher a big game animal while it's still in rigor mortis, or allow the meat to freeze while still in rigor.