Hunting & Fishing deer hanging setup

[hiddenmongoose]

hey guys im looking to see your setups for hanging deer.How long and what temps are you guys hanging them at.Im trying to get some sort of cold room or large fridge(big enough to take up to a medium sized sika) without spending an arm and leg.Iv got a concrete block shed i can convert/use as my cold room/butcher room but just not sure how to go about it.Any ideas or suggestions.

 

[VisionPro Shop]

Re: deer hanging setup

Hi,

We just gut them, wash out and leave them hanging outside overnight. Temps are right around freezing or a bit below, next day butcher. You don't want the sun blaring on them.

Just did two today!

 

[Joey Dean]

Re: deer hanging setup

You can build a small wood shed and install a window AC unit. You then defeat the internal thermostat in the AC unit and it will take it right on down to the mid 30's easy. Obviously, the better insulated the shed, the better.

Route the air so it does not blow directly on the meat. It will dry it out.

 

[LanceS4803]

Re: deer hanging setup

Tough to maintain commercial storage conditions (34-36 degrees at 85-90% humidity) in home use.
So, just makes more sense to rapidly chill the meat and then go ahead and process.

 

[5spd]

Re: deer hanging setup

I field dress, wash out w/water, skin, take home, hang, reclean & process it the same day.

 

[ggmanning]

Re: deer hanging setup

I skin, debone my meat as I go and keep the meat in a cooler of ice. Drain and add ice as needed for anywhere between 4-7 days. Then I process into whatever I am doing with that batch. Some guys around here hang them in an insulated enclosure with a cooling unit.

 

[DCR]

Re: deer hanging setup

I don't hang deer anymore. Skin/debone and toss in a cooler full of ice as soon as i get home. Package it up when time permits. Either that night or the next day.

 

[hognuts]

Re: deer hanging setup

I use a Peterbilt with a 10,000 lbs. crane and a 28' boom, it may be a little over-kill, but it is effective!

I usually quarter mine up and pack them out in pieces as well, this one was taken out whole as it was close to a road (within dragging distance anyway, any more it is getting harder to find areas to hunt with access as many roads that have been shut down by BLM for "wilderness areas") So I have invested in an Eberlestock pack and I just quarter them up and carry them out on my back. The Pete works like a champ, when I have the option though!

 

[hognuts]

Re: deer hanging setup

A guy I knew up in Montana had a pretty slick set-up, he bought a van-trailer with a reefer unit in it and the back room, closest to the unit was a walk-in freezer with a door on it, the next section was a cooler, and the big open section was cool dry storage where you could hang a complete animal to "age it" before cutting it up. When I lived up there and we had a nice cold fall with snow on the ground we would just dress the animal, skin it and let it hang in the shed, or simply lay it on top of the wood pile until we got around to cutting it up. Now I am in Nevada and the temperature usually dictates it getting put on ice and taken to a processor as soon as possible after taking the game.

 

[former naval person]

Re: deer hanging setup

I guess aging is what you are asking about. Montana did a study years ago on aging game meat. Their results indicated that the game animal has different muscle/fat structure from beef. NO benefits resulted from aging the game animal. The overnight chilling does help in game animals...if you bone them out right away, the muscles knot up in chunks, making the meat tougher. Leaving the muscles attached to the bone until fully chilled resulted in longer fibers and more tender meat.

 

[kill_goose]

Re: deer hanging setup

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: former naval person</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I guess aging is what you are asking about. Montana did a study years ago on aging game meat. Their results indicated that the game animal has different muscle/fat structure from beef. NO benefits resulted from aging the game animal. The overnight chilling does help in game animals...if you bone them out right away, the muscles knot up in chunks, making the meat tougher. Leaving the muscles attached to the bone until fully chilled resulted in longer fibers and more tender meat. </div></div>

NDSU did a study too.

There are benefits to aging venison and many other wild game meats.

 

[Creature]

Re: deer hanging setup

Last year I hung my deers for 4-6 days in the mid 30's

 

[MikeeBooshay]

Re: deer hanging setup

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Creature</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Last year I hung my deers for 4-6 days in the mid 30's </div></div>

Higher the temp the shorter the hang. My walkin cooler is mid thirties, I like to hand venison about three to five days in that.

You can ice it in a cooler for four to seven days too, just change the ice and keep the meat out of the water. Works very good and is cheap. Just keep meat covered in ice, out of the water.

 

[hiddenmongoose]

Re: deer hanging setup

Yes im interested in 'aging' the meat. currently all im doing is hanging it for a day to 2 days tops with the temps we have here.But im being told that it will make a big difference(to taste and tenderness) if i could hang it for up to 7 days in a 'cold room'?.

 

[M25BeastShooter]

Re: deer hanging setup

A few years ago I was fortunate enough to kill several deer on an apple orchard using crop damage permits. Being that I didn't have time to process all the deer within a day or two I was able to use the farmer's "apple cooler" to hang the skinned carcasses. When I was finally able to de-bone and process the last ones it had been almost 10 days. THIS MEAT WAS SOME OF THE BEST I HAD EVER EATEN!!

It aged in a 35-38 degree cooler surrounded by bushels and bushels of apples.

As I said before the deer were skinned and the cavities kept open with wood braces to let the air circulate through

 

[Jig Stick]

Re: deer hanging setup

I use an electric winch from Harbor Freight. I have it mounted to ceiling and attach a gambrel to the hook. Works great. And for $100 its well worth it. Its usually pretty cold here so temp isnt an issue.

 

[kraigWY]

Re: deer hanging setup

Hang 'em High

 

[KYpatriot]

Re: deer hanging setup

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: DCR</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I don't hang deer anymore. Skin/debone and toss in a cooler full of ice as soon as i get home. Package it up when time permits. Either that night or the next day.</div></div>

This is what I do, except I salt the ice and add more. The ice/saltwater slush gets COLD. That cools out the meat quick, draws out blood. It doesnt stay in there long though....just long enough for me to process/ bag. If it has to stay in there I drain the meltwater.

 

[threetrees]

Re: deer hanging setup

two(and a half) methods that i learned/used so far:


<ul style="list-style-type: disc">[*]local (alps, temperatures in autumn around 10 degC and below, recommend by a cook from a good restaurant): [/list]
field dress, carry home. hang it somewhere to let the last blood drain out. put a piece of wood or similar to the stomach/rib area to make sure that sufficient air can get in/out for fast cooling. keep in a location with fresh air but without giving cats/dogs/foxes access to the deer. wait at least a week.

this is what i used on a 12 year old chamois, and the meat was amazingly tender (kept it in the cold for 5 days)

<ul style="list-style-type: disc">[*]german area (recommended/used by a german butcher in the hundsrueck area):[/list] field-dress, carry home, remove hide, cut into suitable large pieces, vacuum-pack the meat, put the meat in the fridge (do _not_ freeze it yet). Wait until you see small bubbles showing or when you notice that the vacuum-bag becomes slack. now you know that the meat is/was cured. open bags again, wash meat, repack in fresh vacuum-packs, put in freezer. (you can also ignore the final repacking step and put it directly into the freezer once you notice bubbles and/or slack of the wrap)

i tried that on deer (4 year old) and kept it in the fridge for 6 days before i noticed the bubbles and put it in the freezer. also, perfectly fine meat.

<ul style="list-style-type: disc">[*] cool-room without dragging ticks/etc in[/list]sometimes you might have access to a restaurant-cooling-room. in our area, they would cure/hang my meat in their room but they are (by law) not allowed to put meat-in-hide there (parasites in the hide, etc). so a butcher told me to remove the hide, wrap the outside (where the hide used to be) of the deer in cling film (plastic wrap). the cling film only keeps the moisture in the meet. make sure that the opening in the stomach area etc is still open so that fresh air can get in/out. now with the hide gone, you can usually bring it to the cool-room of a friendly restaurant and cure it there. (mainly a method for summer days when the temperatures are not low enough to cure it at home)

 

[hiddenmongoose]

Re: deer hanging setup

cheers for the info guys.Whats the highest temp you would leave a skinned carcass hanging in ?