# Hanging a deer



## Bluefinn (Jan 26, 2007)

I've been fortunate to harvest plenty of deer over the years & always processed them that day or the next if an evening kill. Letting them hang in the right temps I know ages the meat & makes it more tender. A constant low 40"s in a meat locker is preferred. If I got one tomorrow with the temps around the 40 degree range but below 30's at night for the rest of the week seems like a time to try letting it hang. Does it really make a difference in the meal ? Just curious if you guys that let your deer hang, how many days with the right temps do you do it ? And with the below freezing temps at night will the meat freezing & thawing hurt the process? I"ve read leaving the skin on while hanging keeps the meat from drying out, is this true?


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## Bluewalleye (Jun 1, 2009)

We have always tried to hang a deer over night when the temp is below 40. If it is going to be warmer then that we would 1/4 it up and put it in a big refrigerator. Then cut it up the next day if it was late evening when we were 1/4 it. The meat has always tasted great with out hanging it for days on end... 
We also have found that it is easier to skin the deer when done while the body was still warm. Not frozen and stiff....


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## Bluefinn (Jan 26, 2007)

That's what I've always done. Yea, sure is easier skinning a warm one! Just wondered if there's any big advantage in letting one hang for days?


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## sherman51 (Apr 12, 2011)

if you have a meat locker where you can keep a constant tempura around 40 then its supposed to make the meat tender and taste better. but I/ve never tried a meat locker. I have left them hang in my garage for over a week with the temps being in the upper 30's and lows around 30 and the meat turned out pretty good.
sherman


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## James F (Jul 2, 2005)

I have done both ways, depending on the weather. I prefer to hang for at least 5 days or longer.I have processed all but one myself.I know how and it's not that hard.I don't waste any meat,I have a good grinder, that is what takes the most time.


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## Bluefinn (Jan 26, 2007)

Always enjoy cutting my deer & yes it takes time to trim all the white off, part of hunting . But,do you notice a difference in taste or texture in the dinner plate by letting them hang or cutting them right away?


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## Dana.Birrell (Apr 23, 2012)

I remember when I was young, our neighbor would hang everyone's deer for them. We brought over two deer to hang, and he added ours to the twenty two or so deer he had hanging.


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## buckeyebowman (Feb 24, 2012)

The best venison I've had has always been from deer that I was able to let hang for a while. Our problem as hunters is, we're usually hanging the deer in a garage or something, so we're at the mercy of the weather. I'm also one for hanging the deer with the hide on, if I can. The hide acts as an insulator, like a thermos bottle. Once you get the carcass cold, (ice bags or external temps) the hide helps keep it that way.

I've never had all that much trouble getting the hide off a deer that had been hanging. And if the deer is hanging in an enclosed structure, it has to get bitterly cold for that carcass to freeze. But that reminds me of a late muzzleloader hunt I went on with my BIL in southern Ohio. It was phenomenally cold! I shot a nice doe, and we just laid it behind the cabin. It went down to 5 that night, and might have gotten to 15 the next day! It was like that the whole time we were down there, just brutal! We checked the deer the next afternoon, and it was frozen as solid as a brick! We loaded it up, stiff as a board, and hauled it back to my place where I hung it in the garage. In a few days it warmed into the upper 30's and allowed the carcass to thaw and "relax". 

After about 8 days in "cold storage" I took the deer in to the processor. When I went to pick it up the processor's wife told that he had remarked that this was one of the easiest deer he'd cut that year, and complimented me on the condition of the deer when I brought it in. As far as cleanliness goes, yes, I'm kind of a freak about that, but the rest was up to Mother Nature! 

So, you just have to keep an eye on conditions, and play the hand you're dealt.


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## bassfisher0866 (Nov 24, 2014)

I have done it both but i would rather let it hang for a day in the cold because i think it is easier because the fat and skin come off better. also if it is to warm you have to make sure your meat does not go bad but i have not noticed any different taste in the meat its all good and natural.


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## wildman (Sep 3, 2008)

Yes it makes a difference.. I ones hung one for a month.. Granit, it was frozen for 75% of that time and it was very good.

Remember the Indians like whitetail because it kept so well..

Do what you want but here is the science behind it.. 

Here's a link:: http://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/other/recipes/2006/01/deer-hang-time


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## fastwater (Apr 1, 2014)

Have done it both ways. And surely prefer to let hang if possible.

Don't have a walk in cooler. So if I shoot one in bow season and it's warm it gets skinned, quartered, put in bags and iced down in coolers. If the days are gonna bounce in the low 40's and nights in the 30's, I'll leave in hang (hide on) in the shade with ice in chest cavity. 

If the forecasted weather is gonna be right (40 degrees or below), I let it hang , hide on for as long as I can for up to a couple weeks. Shot a deer opening day and it hanged till Sat. Would still be hanging but till the end of this week but my schedule didn't permit it.

IMO, the ideal setup would be a walk-in cooler in which we could skin and let hang for a month or so just like beef. 

I believe venison, just like beef, is better when it gets to the plate if allowed to let hang. The natural breaking down of the tissue makes it more tender. Can surely tell the difference in cuts such as steaks. The difference being having to use a knife to cut the steak without hanging/aging versus almost being able to use a fork to cut it with hanging. Too, a buddy of mine is a big time 'smoke head' and will smoke a whole hind quarter. He believes it makes such a difference that he almost absolutely refuses to smoke a quarter unless it's been hung.


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## wildman (Sep 3, 2008)

I just butchered a buddy's deer today that was killed on Monday. The doe was on ice and hanging in a barn. Everything was good other than the blown out front left shoulder.. LOL 

When I hang then for a week to ten days when the weather is 40 or below I swear the meat is more tender..


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