Bow season opens tomorrow

[leatherneck]

If you don't have time to make the jerky right a way you need to freeze but you really aren't doing anything about bacteria by freezing it. If the bacteria is there it will be there when it thaws. I normally take my deer to a processor to have it cut up. They put the cuts in vaccum sealed bags for freezing. I freeze it just to keep it from spoiling and eat on it through out the year.

 

I know a lot of guys that hang their deer for a couple of days before doing anything with it. You obvioulsy can't do that in 80 degree temps but when it gets cooler it doesn't hurt (like in the 40's).

 

Letting it hang before it's frozen is what fancy beef restaurants call aging and charge more for. Actually, by letting it hang and age, the enzymes actually start breaking down the muscle, making the meat much more tender.

 

Heck, when I was stationed in South Carolina, I had a fellow Marine officer buddy that was from Charleston. His Momma's family owned (and still own) several thousand of acres in the ACE Basin. It was a former rice plantation. We'd deer hunt in the late Fall. Now keep in mind that in the low country of South Carolina it's pretty dang warm up to January (and even then, it can be warm). They drive deer down there with dogs and folks on horseback blowing horns (I think the horns were really just to keep the hunters (called standers) from shooting a horse since the vegetation was so thick and green that visibility was often rather poor) and the standers used shotguns with, what else, buck shot. First drive deer would be taken to the barn on the back of a horse and dropped off; no field dressing; second drive deer treated the same. After the second drive, it's lunch time. And I mean a big old lunch. The last lunch of the season was like something right out of an English hunt magazine. Fancy linens, china, real silver utensils, leaded glasses, fantastic game on the "menu", along with fried chicken, beaten biscuits (food all cooked by descendents of former slaves still living on the property), good wine and okay bourbon (I did have to introduce them to good bourbon though) all outdoors under big old Live Oak trees with Spanish moss hanging down. It was almost surreal.

 

But it was only after that big old lunch that the deer would be dressed and butchered. It could be quite warm before the deer were processed. Deer always tasted fine and I ate a lot of it. Never got sick one bit. When I commented on the length of time they waited before dressing and butchering, they gave me that "you're another dumb yankee" look and told me the deer would be fine. True story. I've always tried to get the venison refrigerated as soon as possible, but I don't worry about it all that much based on what I observed in South Carolina. But do so at your own risk. If someone gets salmonella, it's not my fault.

Edited September 21, 2010 by spindoc

[Whackem'n'Stackem']

Letting it hang before it's frozen is what fancy beef restaurants call aging and charge more for. Actually, by letting it hang and age, the enzymes actually start breaking down the muscle, making the meat much more tender.

 

Heck, when I was stationed in South Carolina, I had a fellow Marine officer buddy that was from Charleston. His Momma's family owned (and still own) several thousand of acres in the ACE Basin. It was a former rice plantation. We'd deer hunt in the late Fall. Now keep in mind that in the low country of South Carolina it's pretty dang warm up to January (and even then, it can be warm). They drive deer down there with dogs and folks on horseback blowing horns (I think the horns were really just to keep the hunters (called standers) from shooting a horse since the vegetation was so thick and green that visibility was often rather poor) and the standers used shotguns with, what else, buck shot. First drive deer would be taken to the barn on the back of a horse and dropped off; no field dressing; second drive deer treated the same. After the second drive, it's lunch time. And I mean a big old lunch. The last lunch of the season was like something right out of an English hunt magazine. Fancy linens, china, real silver utensils, leaded glasses, fantastic game on the "menu", along with fried chicken, beaten biscuits (food all cooked by descendents of former slaves still living on the property), good wine and okay bourbon (I did have to introduce them to good bourbon though) all outdoors under big old Live Oak trees with Spanish moss hanging down. It was almost surreal.

 

But it was only after that big old lunch that the deer would be dressed and butchered. It could be quite warm before the deer were processed. Deer always tasted fine and I ate a lot of it. Never got sick one bit. When I commented on the length of time they waited before dressing and butchering, they gave me that "you're another dumb yankee" look and told me the deer would be fine. True story. I've always tried to get the venison refrigerated as soon as possible, but I don't worry about it all that much based on what I observed in South Carolina. But do so at your own risk. If someone gets salmonella, it's not my fault.

 

I'll look into this "aging" process. I may do this come november when the temps dictate. I'm always up for providing the best tasting venison cutlets for my friends and neighbors. My wife wants nothing to do with it.

Edited September 21, 2010 by spindoc

[leatherneck]

I'll look into this "aging" process. I may do this come november when the temps dictate. I'm always up for providing the best tasting venison cutlets for my friends and neighbors. My wife wants nothing to do with it.

 

Read: http://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/other/recipes/2006/01/deer-hang-time

[Watusi]

Aging is the way to go if you have the means, which in our fall climate means a meat cooler or refigerator most of the time. Leatherneck is dead on about the enzymes breaking down the tissue to make the meat more tender. Ideally, the meat needs to be hung for a few days to a week or more in temps consistently just below 40 degrees, but don't let it freeze. It is very beneficial to the overall quality of the meat.

 

I think more mistakes are made in the handling of a deer carcass between the taking of the deer and the time getting it to the cooler than any other thing that affects the table fare. Clean, efficient field dressing and handling of the deer is essential. You can put off field dressing for a short time if desired to avoid getting tons of dirt in the carcass during transport, depending on the shot placement, but I wouldn't personally wait more than an hour or two on a chest cavity shot. And I would always field dress immediately any deer shot below the diaphram. But once you get it field dressed, you need to think "clean and cool" from that point on. The sooner you can cool that animal down, the less chance for bacteria to grow. And be careful to keep flies from getting to the meat. Like someone said earlier, I always hose it down after I hang it to clean out all dirt, blood-shot tissue, fecal matter and urine, stomach matter, and things I might have missed during field dressing. Not everyone would agree with me on all these things, but I have always subscribed to the better safe than sorry school and I have rarely had any meat that I thought was tainted.

 

Butchering is another story. I prefer to remove as much bone as possible and I would never use a saw on bones that are left in the meat (round steaks). The marrow that gets on the meat will taint it in the freezer, IMO. But that is another debate I guess.

[theguru]

Test post.

[Colonels_Wear_Blue]

Aging is the way to go if you have the means, which in our fall climate means a meat cooler or refrigerator most of the time. Leatherneck is dead on about the enzymes breaking down the tissue to make the meat more tender. Ideally, the meat needs to be hung for a few days to a week or more in temps consistently just below 40 degrees, but don't let it freeze. It is very beneficial to the overall quality of the meat.

 

I think more mistakes are made in the handling of a deer carcass between the taking of the deer and the time getting it to the cooler than any other thing that affects the table fare. Clean, efficient field dressing and handling of the deer is essential. You can put off field dressing for a short time if desired to avoid getting tons of dirt in the carcass during transport, depending on the shot placement, but I wouldn't personally wait more than an hour or two on a chest cavity shot. And I would always field dress immediately any deer shot below the diaphragm. But once you get it field dressed, you need to think "clean and cool" from that point on. The sooner you can cool that animal down, the less chance for bacteria to grow. And be careful to keep flies from getting to the meat. Like someone said earlier, I always hose it down after I hang it to clean out all dirt, blood-shot tissue, fecal matter and urine, stomach matter, and things I might have missed during field dressing. Not everyone would agree with me on all these things, but I have always subscribed to the better safe than sorry school and I have rarely had any meat that I thought was tainted.

 

Butchering is another story. I prefer to remove as much bone as possible and I would never use a saw on bones that are left in the meat (round steaks). The marrow that gets on the meat will taint it in the freezer, IMO. But that is another debate I guess.

 

I agree with you completely. Almost everything below the diaphragm is going to be part of the deer's digestive tract, and as such, will sooner or later be a detriment to any meat it contacts. The sooner all of that can be removed and washed clean out of the cavity, the better. Three or four days of aging is always an ideal, in my opinion, but make sure that meat is clean! :thumb:

[leatherneck]

Sorry spindoc for the word filter vio. Frankly, when I read and type in this forum, I often forget I'm even on BGP because it seems so outside of the normal BGP arena. Again, my apologies and thanks for the edit.

[Whackem'n'Stackem']

Read: http://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/other/recipes/2006/01/deer-hang-time

 

Thanks Leather.

[Whackem'n'Stackem']

Aging is the way to go if you have the means, which in our fall climate means a meat cooler or refigerator most of the time. Leatherneck is dead on about the enzymes breaking down the tissue to make the meat more tender. Ideally, the meat needs to be hung for a few days to a week or more in temps consistently just below 40 degrees, but don't let it freeze. It is very beneficial to the overall quality of the meat.

 

I think more mistakes are made in the handling of a deer carcass between the taking of the deer and the time getting it to the cooler than any other thing that affects the table fare. Clean, efficient field dressing and handling of the deer is essential. You can put off field dressing for a short time if desired to avoid getting tons of dirt in the carcass during transport, depending on the shot placement, but I wouldn't personally wait more than an hour or two on a chest cavity shot. And I would always field dress immediately any deer shot below the diaphram. But once you get it field dressed, you need to think "clean and cool" from that point on. The sooner you can cool that animal down, the less chance for bacteria to grow. And be careful to keep flies from getting to the meat. Like someone said earlier, I always hose it down after I hang it to clean out all dirt, blood-shot tissue, fecal matter and urine, stomach matter, and things I might have missed during field dressing. Not everyone would agree with me on all these things, but I have always subscribed to the better safe than sorry school and I have rarely had any meat that I thought was tainted.

 

Butchering is another story. I prefer to remove as much bone as possible and I would never use a saw on bones that are left in the meat (round steaks). The marrow that gets on the meat will taint it in the freezer, IMO. But that is another debate I guess.

 

I agree with alot of what you say. I field dress immediately taking great care to skin the carcass and remove all the insides in one pull. I never have to hose off meat b/c I hang it from the back of my vehicle and it never touches the ground. Once skinned, I take off the top/bottom and i rounds for hamburger and roasts. I then take the sirloin on the hind and butterfly for steaks. Next the backstraps for steaks and the sirloin tip as a steak as well. The rest is for hamburger. I will try the aging process this year but fear coyotes if left hanging in the barn.

[Watusi]

Do you skin the deer in the field? If so, why?

 

In the areas where I live and hunt, you are generally going to have a pretty good drag ahead of you after you make a harvest. I usually field dress the deer in the field pretty soon after the kill, not skin it, just getting the insides outside. And if I am going to be a while going for help dragging, or getting the truck or whatever, I will prop the deer cavity open to aid in cooling and drying. The dragging process is unavoidable and will get some dirt and leaves inside the cavity of the deer, no matter how careful you are. But after you get him hung up, a quick washdown of the inside of the deer cavity will usually clean him right up. If you live in a place where you can get an ATV or vehicle very close to your deer, then you are lucky. I used to hunt with a guy who it seemed every time he shot a deer, the dang thing would run towards the road or the truck. Every deer I shoot usually runs away from the truck, into thick cover, and usually downhill leaving me with an uphill drag. :madman:

[Whackem'n'Stackem']

Do you skin the deer in the field? If so, why?

 

In the areas where I live and hunt, you are generally going to have a pretty good drag ahead of you after you make a harvest. I usually field dress the deer in the field pretty soon after the kill, not skin it, just getting the insides outside. And if I am going to be a while going for help dragging, or getting the truck or whatever, I will prop the deer cavity open to aid in cooling and drying. The dragging process is unavoidable and will get some dirt and leaves inside the cavity of the deer, no matter how careful you are. But after you get him hung up, a quick washdown of the inside of the deer cavity will usually clean him right up. If you live in a place where you can get an ATV or vehicle very close to your deer, then you are lucky. I used to hunt with a guy who it seemed every time he shot a deer, the dang thing would run towards the road or the truck. Every deer I shoot usually runs away from the truck, into thick cover, and usually downhill leaving me with an uphill drag. :madman:

 

Sorry if I confused you, but I field dress the deer, hang it up, skin it, and debone the meat, put it in ziploc bags, take home and trim,cut,wrap, and date for later enjoyment.

[spindoc]

Sat thru the heat this evening with the midget. Saw nada. Got pelted by all the stinkin' acorns landing. There'll be no shortage of mast this fall, that's a guarantee.

[Watusi]

Sorry if I confused you' date=' but I field dress the deer, hang it up, skin it, and debone the meat, put it in ziploc bags, take home and trim,cut,wrap, and date for later enjoyment.[/quote']So you field dress, hang it up, skin it and debone the meat all in the field? Then take it home and do the rest. Right?

[Whackem'n'Stackem']

So you field dress, hang it up, skin it and debone the meat all in the field? Then take it home and do the rest. Right?

 

Yes, I bring a cooler and ziploc bags to put the meat in for later processing/wrapping at home. I have a deer hoist that hooks into the receiver hitch of my 4runner and I hang the deer in the field after dressing.

[Whackem'n'Stackem']

My friend went down my farm last night and put the last of our apples down. 4 does started moving and eventually made it to the apples by dusk. They were right under his climber but too dark to set a pin on. Oh well, I prefer getting it on film anyway, but he was just looking for some meat.