# Hanging your deer



## moonwolf (Sep 20, 2004)

After you field dress your deer and hang it, do you skin it 
And then let it hang a few days, or do you hang it with skin on
For a few days, then skin it?


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## vicker (Jul 11, 2003)

Here in SC I've never known anyone to field dress a deer, just bring it in, skin it and gut it. If the weather cooperates I like to hang mine for two or three days, but most quarter them up, put on ice for a day or so and process. Field dressing was popular in WV, and people would typically hang them for a few days. Some would hang with the skin on, but I like to go ahead a skin them before I gut them. (I don't field dress.)


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## hawgsquatch (May 11, 2014)

Most of our deer are shot far from a road. They also average less than 150 lbs. each, so most get boned and packed out or field dressed and then hung after skinning. It is so hot during our deer season that hanging for more than two days is overkill.


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

If it's cool out, skin then let hang.. the more it weighs, the longer you wanna to let it hang. If it's over 40f, you want to go ahead and bone it out...


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## JoePa (Mar 14, 2013)

I field dress the deer then bring it home and hang it upside down with the skin on - if you hang it with the skin off the meat dries and discolors - after a day or so I skin the deer - cut it up in large sections and put them in a refrigerator I have in the cellar just for that purpose - I have large plastic containers that I cover - after a couple days of aging and when I get the time I cut up the sections into the pieces that I want - I know some people say that you don't have to age deer meat but I'll tell you something - it makes a big difference - I always age my deer for about a week in the refrigerator -


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## Riverdale (Jan 20, 2008)

The hide comes off alot easier when the carcass ia warm......


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## unregistered5595 (Mar 3, 2003)

Shoot it first.

It seems like the season to revisit this story. (it's not entirely true) Still a good read.



> I had this idea that I was going to rope a deer, put it in a stall, feed it up on corn for a couple of weeks, then kill it and eat it. The first step in this adventure was getting a deer. I figured that, since they congregate at my cattle feeder and do not seem to have much fear of me when we are there (a bold one will sometimes come right up and sniff at the bags of feed while I am in the back of the truck not 4 feet away), it should not be difficult to rope one, get up to it and toss a bag over its head (to calm it down) then hog tie it and transport it home.
> 
> I filled the cattle feeder then hid down at the end with my rope. The cattle, having seen the roping thing before, stayed well back. They were not having any of it. After about 20 minutes, my deer showed up â 3 of them. I picked out a likely looking one, stepped out from the end of the feeder, and threw my rope. The deer just stood there and stared at me. I wrapped the rope around my waist and twisted the end so I would have a good hold. The deer still just stood and stared at me, but you could tell it was mildly concerned about the whole rope situation. I took a step towards it...it took a step away. I put a little tension on the rope and then received an education.
> 
> ...


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## copperhead46 (Jan 25, 2008)

We have started letting the animal hang a few days then skin it. We have learned that we have so much less hair on the meat when it cold than when it's warm and sticky. We have a cool room that can be brought down to low 30's and let one hang at least a week, it does help the meat.


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

Hang ours, wash inside out, let hang long enough for it to dry some, Skin and cut up. If it is cool and we are tired will let it hang over night with skin on.

Lots of times it is just way too hot. Last Deer I killed it was coverd with Flies before I Field Dressed it, like I told my wife we had to work it up soon as I got it home.

Seen a Guy lose an Elk because instead of just opening it up where air could get in the cavity he shoved snow in it. The meat soured he lost the whole animal.

big rockpile


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

we field dress right away , then take back to teh house , if it is real cold 20 or lower we don't bother to get the hose out , we just bring out a few buckets of water and toss them up into the cavity to rinse things , then they hang till that night or the next depending 

if it is not 20 or below we will generally run the hose , it is kept in the shed drained we hook it up and wash it out good 

we bone everything out before leaving camp pack in 2 gallon bags in coolers , ice if warmer than 40 

hanging in the wind gets them to cool down fast 

on rare occasion it is warmer than 40 and we register them and quarter them up and put them in the big cooler with ice


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## littlejoe (Jan 17, 2007)

I've always field dressed where they fell. Waited to skin till I had a good clean place. but always tried to skin as soon as possible. If weather was cooperative, I've let deer hang a month or maybe more. I never worried about the rind that forms although I trimmed it off. It seems to make them better.

This season was abnormally warm and we dressed on the spot, took it to camp, skinned and boned out on the hide...put it in gallon ziplocks and on ice. Took it home to finish washing, cutting and wrapping, and immediately into a freezer. We handled three big deer that way. Been grazing on it for three weeks now, and it's all good!

I've learned to be careful with the water and washing on a carcass.


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## kycrawler (Sep 18, 2011)

I field dress and skin as soon as possible and if it is cold enough that they will freeze i will let them hang cut quarters off and work them up a little at a time no need to rush if they won't spoil right now I have 2 does hanging in the wood shed that I am going to cut up and start pressure canning tomorrow may be a little work to get the quarters inside as it is supposed to be 6 degrees tonight


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## Mallow (Aug 4, 2006)

We generally field dress, then bring it straight home to skin/quarter. We have a chest freezer that is converted to a fridge that we keep the quarters in till its time to break out the grinder. We have never left them hang long even when its cold enough. Also we generally hang them from the neck where I know other people hang them from back feet for skinning.


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## MDKatie (Dec 13, 2010)

Around here they're field dressed, then they hang skin-on until processed. If it's cold, they hang a few days. If it's not cold enough, they get cut up right away.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

we generally hang by the neck , just cause it is easy and pine needles and debris don't fall in the cavity


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## doingitmyself (Jul 30, 2013)

1st deer of the season field dress, haul to butchering tree at home, hang by neck, cape out, (if old Doe cut exterior fat off), remove back straps, put them on the grill immediately with a brush of Italian Robust salad dressing, debone the rest, eat the back straps, grind the rest all course, add 10 pounds of ground hog, regrind to med. package and freeze. We use ground Venison in everything.

2nd deer of season field dress, haul to butchering tree at home, hang by neck, cape out, remove back straps throw on grill immediately with a brush of Robust Italian salad dressing, remove front shoulders, remove ribs, remove hind quarters, cut two roasts out of hind quarters, eat back straps, debone everything else, wrap everything in saran wrap and then butchers paper freeze, then grind the rest.

If I have help it usually takes less than 3 hours from caping to clean up, if no help, the grinding can take a full hour by itself extra time. 

All the deer here are corn fed, no i see no reason to hang it, it all tastes like beefier beef. Never had any bad tasting venison around here I have buddies that say I should hang however, none of them even do their own butchering anyways so i put little weight in their advice. 

If i got a late season deer i would consider injecting the hanging carcass with a tenderizer/flavorizer of Dr. Pepper and spices but the temps would have to right, but honestly I have never done it. An old boy down the road told me about it. It sounds like it might be awesome.


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

Something different. Years ago knew Guys that would Hang, leave Skin on, Wash inside cavity with Salt Brine, rub Salt along edges, Leg Joints and end of Neck. Cut off what was needed, rub salt over cut area. Leave them hang until Deer was consumed.

Like said we work ours up soon as they are killed. Wrap Cuts of Meat in Cling Wrap, then put them in Zip Lock Bags. Keeps over a year. Anymore Back Strap is cut in Steaks, rest ground in Burger, put in Bags we get from Butcher Supply Shop.

big rockpile


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## Mallow (Aug 4, 2006)

When my dad was younger he would salt/sugar cure the hams if they ran out of freezer room. I haven't tried it yet but it is on my list of things to try.


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## doingitmyself (Jul 30, 2013)

JoePa said:


> I field dress the deer then bring it home and hang it upside down with the skin on - if you hang it with the skin off the meat dries and discolors - after a day or so I skin the deer - cut it up in large sections and put them in a refrigerator I have in the cellar just for that purpose - I have large plastic containers that I cover - after a couple days of aging and when I get the time I cut up the sections into the pieces that I want - I know some people say that you don't have to age deer meat but I'll tell you something - it makes a big difference - I always age my deer for about a week in the refrigerator -


Joe, what to the deer in PA eat? They are corn fed around here. I have never hung a carcass but perhaps i should try it. I like em from around here unhung just fine, but if hanging would produce an even better meat i would do it.


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## M5farm (Jan 14, 2014)

we have a cooler but 99% of the time we bring it home skin it and debone it hanging. put in an ice chest with drain open for atleast 7 days and keep it covered in ice. It only takes about 20 min from hanging to washing the knives. 

I guess the years I spent as a butcher and my fathers 45years as a butcher is worth something.


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## doingitmyself (Jul 30, 2013)

^^I'm always in awe watching a for real butcher work over a front shoulder.^^^ I just part it from the carcass and wrap whole thing in paper cook it whole all at once slow on the grill!!


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## Mallow (Aug 4, 2006)

doingitmyself said:


> ^^I'm always in awe watching a for real butcher work over a front shoulder.^^^ I just part it from the carcass and wrap whole thing in paper cook it whole all at once slow on the grill!!


If its a small deer I do the same with shoulders and hams. Toss them in a sealer bag whole and put them in the crock pot all day. Pull it apart like pulled pork and smother in the following bbq sauce:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/neelys-bbq-sauce-recipe.html

My wife changed the recipe a bit but that sauce you could put on pine cones and make them good.


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## doingitmyself (Jul 30, 2013)

^^BBQ pine cones^^ Good stuff right there!


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## JoePa (Mar 14, 2013)

doingitmyself said:


> Joe, what to the deer in PA eat? They are corn fed around here. I have never hung a carcass but perhaps i should try it. I like em from around here unhung just fine, but if hanging would produce an even better meat i would do it.


There are a lot of corn fields around my house - the farmers are cutting it now - the deer feed on it big time - when it is standing and once it has been harvested and some corn is on the ground - whenever I shoot a deer during the rifle season - starts Dec 1 this year - the deer's stomach is full of corn - I started aging the deer meat after my son did it and told me how much better the meat was - it was real tender - heck they hang beef up to get it tender why not deer - some say you should do it for about a week to 10 days - naturally it got to be cold enough - kinda like in a refrigerator -


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## TRellis (Sep 16, 2013)

Back when I lived in northeast PA my buddy and I had it down to a science.

We would field dress as soon as got our hands on the deer. Take it home to where we had built a butcher building with a 6' X 8' walk-in cooler inside with the temperature set to 38 degrees F.

We would skin the deer outside using the golf ball method with a backhoe doing the pulling. We went to great lengths to ensure that no deer hair entered the butcher building (it did not always work, but we tried).

After skinning was complete the carcass was moved into the cooler and left to hang for at least one week, but generally for two weeks. We had room in the cooler to easily hang six deer at a time and in a pinch we could hang a dozen without any major headaches. 

When we decided to butcher we would just go into the cooler and cut off a hind quarter and start to bone out the meat. We usually laid out six to eight stainless steel bowls on the counter to toss the boned meat into. Steaks into one bowl, stew meat into another, roasts into their own bowl, etc. As each bowl filled it would go into the cooler for later packaging. 

We had a huge Hobart electric meat grinder with #32 plates. That bugger came equipped with a meat tray that would easily hold 80 lbs. of meat and grind through it all in about three minutes. It was too powerful to be useful in stuffing sausage so we did that with a hand-powered sausage stuffer. 

Sometimes we would use the meat slicer to make venison minute steaks and such. For a long time we would use the food grade bandsaw to cut chops, but stopped doing that due to fear of Chronic Wasting disease.

After everything was either ground up or cut up how we wanted it to be we would just start sealing everything with the vacuum food sealers and then toss everything into the chest freezers in the butcher building.

We got to the point where we could butcher and bag up to five or six deer in a long day. We would also knockout about a six-pack each. :buds:

Yeah we had it down to a science or at least he still does. Being in the south now I have to quarter the deer out right away and then make room in the fridge to let the meat age for two to three days. Not fun!!!

I miss my old set-up.

TRellis


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## TRellis (Sep 16, 2013)

JoePa said:


> There are a lot of corn fields around my house - the farmers are cutting it now - the deer feed on it big time - when it is standing and once it has been harvested and some corn is on the ground - whenever I shoot a deer during the rifle season - starts Dec 1 this year - the deer's stomach is full of corn -


Where you live in Lehigh county there are a lot of corn fields for the deer to forage on. Where I lived in Pike / northern Monroe county there are not so many corn fields. The deer ate a lot of acorns, huckleberries and such there and you could always find them browsing along the fairways of the golf courses.

TRellis


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## JoePa (Mar 14, 2013)

TRellis said:


> Where you live in Lehigh county there are a lot of corn fields for the deer to forage on. Where I lived in Pike / northern Monroe county there are not so many corn fields. The deer ate a lot of acorns, huckleberries and such there and you could always find them browsing along the fairways of the golf courses.
> 
> TRellis


Years ago I used to live in Wilkes-Barre and did most of my deer hunting up in the Poconos where the deer ate mostly acorns and browse - after moving down in the corn country and hunting the corn fed deer I definitely noticed how much better the deer meat tasted - another thing I noticed too was the thick layer of fat that the deer had under their skin -


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## MichaelZ (May 21, 2013)

Here is what I do. Might be overkill, but the meat is ALWAYS good:
Always field dress immediately or ASAP. The inerds hold a LOT of heat, and getting them out goes a long way to quickly cooling the meat. Register the deer.

If the temps are 30-40F, I will hang the deer and then skin. Then leave it hang for a day or two. Then cut it up after the meat chills firm and ages a bit. 

If the temps are 41F or greater I will skin the deer and quarter it up and toss in the freezer in large bags for maybe 8-16 hours to quickly cool and partially freeze. (Some might argue 45F or greater but I play it safe). Before the large pieces freeze up solid I cut up the deer. 

If the temps are 30 and expected to get 20F or lower, I will skin the deer right away cause there is nothing harder to skin than a rock-solid frozen deer! I will let it hang til it partially freezes (a day or two). Then cut up before it freezes too much - a rock solid frozen deer is not too easy to cut up either.


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## whistler (Apr 20, 2005)

Here is our procedure.

We have ATVs to haul deer back to camp. Consequently most drags are 50-200 yards.

We have begun bringing the deer back whole (not field dressed) within an hour or so of shooting. While the deer is on the ground in camp we slice the hide around all four ankles and the neck. Then we use a butt out tool and leave the end of the colon hanging out. Put it on a gambrel by the back legs and hoist it up, head down. Slit the hide from ankle to corresponding ankle and from the anus to the slit around the neck - do not cut into the abdominal cavity yet. 

Peel the hide off while it is warm and hasn't hit rigor mortise yet. Cut off the head.

Get all the random stray hairs off the outside of the body. Use a hose, a pump-up lawn sprayer used only for that purpose, or buckets of water.

With the butchering knife cut off the brisket meat and other meat that will be exposed when the cavity is opened. Throw in the to-be-ground bucket.

Split the ribs/brisket from the neck to the diaphragm to allow the blood to drain out. 

Very carefully cut open the abdominal cavity starting between the legs and moving forward finally splitting the brisket/ribs at the diaphragm. You should have a large bucket/barrel underneath to catch the entrails as they fall.

Cut away any internal connective tissues and clean out any remaining entrails - usually the lungs. Thoroughly wash the body cavity with copious amounts of water.

With the knife remove any meat that will dry out from exposure: the tenderloins to be grilled up immediately and flank meat and belly meat for grindings.

If the temps are generally going to be below 45 during the day and colder at night we will wrap the deer and let it hang 2-7 days depending on how long in camp. If warmer, we will cut up everything immediately.


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## Farmer Willy (Aug 7, 2005)

I don't field dress on my place, no need to leave blood where I hunt and no need to lure in the coyote.

Hang it, skin it, gut it, then quarter up for the fridge. I will chill a deer, but don't worry to age it. I'll bone it off the next day, vac seal, and freeze.

Beef I'll age, prefer a wet wrap, but deer just gets boned and sealed. I found the quicker I get the hide off, the carcass cooled and the meat boned off the better tasting. Oh yeah, I cut off all the fat and silverskin I can get off as well.


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

Anyone here skin and Debone in the woods without gutting. I've done this few times, thinking of taking small Piece of Plastic to help keep Leaves and dirt off.

Makes it a lot easier and I might do it more often.

big rockpile


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## Mallow (Aug 4, 2006)

big rockpile said:


> Anyone here skin and Debone in the woods without gutting. I've done this few times, thinking of taking small Piece of Plastic to help keep Leaves and dirt off.
> 
> Makes it a lot easier and I might do it more often.
> 
> big rockpile


When killing crop damage does when it is 90 degrees out we sometimes do not gut the deer. You do lose the little loins but not much else.


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## M5farm (Jan 14, 2014)

Mallow said:


> When killing crop damage does when it is 90 degrees out we sometimes do not gut the deer. You do lose the little loins but not much else.


You can cut the belly from between rear legs down to top of stomach and get the tender loins out. We never gut one. As I said before we debone it hanging. You lose the ribs but that's not a big deal.


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## alleyyooper (Apr 22, 2005)

One year at deer camp the temps got high enough we didn't want the deer hanging in the higher temps. We butcher our deer at home but didn't want to return the 6.5 hours home and not fill the remaining tags. We took them to a processer there. They lost the antlers from one and about half the meat from an other.

We went to a estate sale and bought a big fridge and freezer side by side combo. Took all the racks out of the fridge side built a rack inside. We skin the deer cut in half and hang them in the fridge. Is tight but can hang 4 deer in there. Bought a big cheap alum pan to place under them to catch any dripping stuff like blood.
We now also do some butchering while there as we can freeze the cuts after finished.

 Al


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## MichaelZ (May 21, 2013)

alleyyooper said:


> One year at deer camp the temps got high enough we didn't want the deer hanging in the higher temps. We butcher our deer at home but didn't want to return the 6.5 hours home and not fill the remaining tags. We took them to a processer there. They lost the antlers from one and about half the meat from an other.
> 
> Al


Yeah, you have to watch who you work with. I once took meat to a butcher and when I stopped to pick it up, I went in the back room. Green meat scraps on the floor! And the burger I got did not taste right. That was the last time I went there. Generally I either grind my own burger or take deboned meat to a place where I know it is handled properly. I will partially freeze the meat I take into be ground.


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## GREENCOUNTYPETE (Jul 25, 2006)

with a temp of 43 Sunday , the 1 measly deer we got hung from 1pm to 4pm , then deboned and ground before dinner


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## simi-steading (Sep 27, 2012)

I shot my deer today under the perfect tree with a branch sticking straight out. I tossed a rope over the branch, tied one end around the neck of the deer, and the other end to the 4 wheeler and backed it up and hung the deer.. I slit the gut and let all the innards fall straight down... It is SO much easier to do it this way, than try to do it on the ground, or to hang it by the rear legs and have everything falling into the chest cavity.. 

All you have to do after getting it slit is reach up inside and grab a hold of the lungs, heart and esophagus and pull straight down. It will all fall out.

I dropped it, took it to the barn where I have an eye hook and strung it back up by the neck. I used the tractor to pull it up and left it tied to the tractor..

I then cut a slice around the neck, then the skin down the center of the chest, a slice down the inside of each leg,

I pull back a flap of skin on the back of the neck, Place a rock inside the skin, and tie a rope around that. Then I took the winch on the jeep and hooked it to that rope on the skin.. Then I winched the skin right off the deer... I will leave it hanging probably 3 or 4 days.

My neighbor that's been deer hunting for years was pretty impressed at how easy I made it all look... and he said from now on, he will always gut them hanging by the neck.. Matter a fact, he got an 8 pointer today and did the same and said he loves that way...


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## Lilith (Dec 29, 2012)

I have always heard the expression - there is more than one way to skin a cat. I suppose this applies to wild game as well!

I'm a little gal - 5'3" and 130lbs - so I do most of my work on the ground. I always drop the guts asap! Then, I get it back to the truck - skin on. If it is over 50 degrees when I arrive at the truck, the skin comes off immediately and the animal goes into game bag(s). If it is cool, I leave the skin on to help keep the meat clean. If I am within 60 miles of home, I take the meat to the shop (summer it is for race cars, fall it becomes a meat locker) before I get home I call and ask grandma or Mom to turn on the AC to it's lowest setting. It is usually about 40 degrees in there when I arrive, open the shop door, back in, and either hang it, or skin it and wash ALL the hair off it.

With the shop at a steady 40 degrees on climate control, we let antelope hang 3 days - a week, Deer 7-10 days, elk 12-14 days, and moose hangs 14 days till we get it cut up. If any animal develops cadaver mold - we cut it as fast as possible. This has only happened to us twice when it was 80 degrees plus, and it showed up within 48 hours. 

Now, there is a reason we dry age our meat. Dry aging allows extra moisture that causes spoilage to drain out/evaporate. Dry aging also allows the flavors from the fat in this very lean meat to spread evenly through the meat - this also helps gamey flavor in wild game to ease up a bit and not be so sharp. It helps to break down the fibers and tissues in the meat that makes the meat tough. So, dry aged game results in a full flavored, consistent meat, that you can cut with a butter knife (in most cases).


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## tamarackreg (Mar 13, 2006)

I field dress then hang and rinse, rinse, and rerinse, removing all hair, fat, damaged meat etc. Then it is skinned, rinsed and cleaned profusely. Immediately I begin deboning, cutting up steaks and roasts and rinsing every piece, inspecting it and wrapping it while it is still dripping. Burger meat goes in a clean bucket and to the amish for grinding ASAP.

Very little meat is lost when done this way. And there is something to be said for working on warm meat in frigid temps. 

If I won't have time to process a deer immediately after hunting then I don't go.


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## heyrakes (Sep 1, 2008)

tamarackreg said:


> I field dress then hang and rinse, rinse, and rerinse, removing all hair, fat, damaged meat etc. Then it is skinned, rinsed and cleaned profusely. Immediately I begin deboning, cutting up steaks and roasts and rinsing every piece, inspecting it and wrapping it while it is still dripping. Burger meat goes in a clean bucket and to the amish for grinding ASAP.
> 
> Very little meat is lost when done this way. And there is something to be said for working on warm meat in frigid temps.
> 
> If I won't have time to process a deer immediately after hunting then I don't go.


just wanted to mention, for you people that are annal about hair on your venison. you can scorch it off. real easy and doesn't harm the meat


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## farmerDale (Jan 8, 2011)

I hunt alone, on our land only. So when I get a deer, IF I can get it in the truck myself, I do so and take it home for dressing etc. If I can not get it into the truck, then I dress it and hope I can get it in the truck at that point. if not, I drag it home across the snow, skin on. Take it home and skin it. 

I once shot an elk on our land 16 miles from home, but I only had our honda accord, I never figured I was going to get one that night. Murphy's law, huh? lol

Any way, the main thing here is that deer season is usually so dang cold. Got my buck on friday morning, it was -40 windchill, so the trick is to not let the thing freeze solid after skinning. I took this one in to have sausage made, otherwise it would have been a deer-sicle in a few hours, time which I did not have. 

Getting the carcass to cool? No problem. But keeping it warm enough is, and depending on what is going on that day, and being without a good place to hang it and have it at the proper temp. (something I need to rectify someday), my deer usually get made into sausage. Elk and moose are for steaks and roasts, not deer.

Someday I want to get into sausage making etc. But too much on the go at this stage of life...


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