HANGING DEER WITH HIDE ON ??

[Miles]

In NH we would leave the hide on until it was time to cut the deer up.  Hunting season there was normally in the low 30s but could be a lot lower as well.  There were days were your hands would freeze if you tried to skin a deer.  I can also remember bringing them into the heated garage just so they could thaw and you could get the hide off.  We never had a deer spoil.   It all depends on temps and location.

[birddogdad]

in WA with elk season so close and 13 days following rifle deer, I bone and put the parts in my spare fridge in garage on all the shelves until I return from elk season every year... dry age a couple weeks.. remember, a "stinky" deer or elk, does not mean the meat has gone bad!

never hung with hide on in previous years, was taught that was not a good thing. guess only way to really know would be side by side hide on / off hang . try the meat after process and see if you can taste a difference? 

[runningboard]

I always leave the hide on in cooler weather until the next day, sometimes for many days if cool enough, whitetail hides are not thick enough to hold in heat.

never had a problem with meat going bad or tasting "funny" by leaving the hide on until butchering. don't know if it's true but was told when younger that the skin pores tighten on the hair and it doesn't pull out a as easy so less hair on meat if you wait until it's cool to skin, my thought is that the meat is less moist to the touch and the hair will not stick to it as easy when cool during skinning.

elk? get it off ASAP, I always tell the kids in my Hunter Education classes that my elk are still kicking when I start skinning.

[DOUBLELUNG]

Like Jackelope and Miles stated, until I moved west I never saw an animal hanging with the hide off.  I've occasionally let one hang with the hide on overnight out here, and skinned in the morning, with no ill effects, but I generally either bone them out in the field, or skin and hang if temps are appropriate for just a couple days; if not, then quarters go in the garage fridge.

[blackveltbowhunter]

As a general rule I always take the hide off. Even if not necessitated by transport, I usually do once its hung. But I have on a few occasions left hide on with no ill effects. Not something I will make a habit of, but not something foreign either.

[jstone]

If the bucks are in the rut and yo leave the hide on a few days it will make the meat smell like rutty deer. Bad idea

[predatorG]

The one we got this year we left hide on and let it hang for 2 days because it was too warm to do any longer.

Our relatives back in Montana say they leave it skin on and let it hang a couple weeks until maggots start to show up right on the outside of skin. I've never tried it because it's too warm here, but there where it's low 40s or colder I might consider it. Damn good meat though.

[bobcat]

If my deer hangs long enough and in warm enough temperatures that it's got maggots in the meat, sorry but I'd be throwing it in the garbage.   

[predatorG]

If my deer hangs long enough and in warm enough temperatures that it's got maggots in the meat, sorry but I'd be throwing it in the garbage.   

That's exactly my outlook on it. It's sounds nasty and like a terrible idea. The maggots might be BS but they do hang them for over a week.

[birddogdad]

If my deer hangs long enough and in warm enough temperatures that it's got maggots in the meat, sorry but I'd be throwing it in the garbage.   

 

why I put in fridge bob...oh, and make darn sure there are no flys inside when door gets shut...

[huntingbaldguy]

Wife and i gutted then hung my deer, then skinned it.  Once skinned and hooves cut off, we washed it down with cold water, then sprayed with vinegar/water mix.  Not that we really have a fly issue or that it was warm enough for them, but there was no issue really.  People say bugs hate vinegar and it tenderizes the meat at the same time.  Thought we would give it a try.  It only hung for 24 hrs though, then we quartered and trimmed the carcass and had it in the fridge for another 4 days.  Just finished today and the meat had no gamey smell to it at all.

[krout81]

I skin everything as fast as I can. 

[Karl Blanchard]

bone em in the field, bag em up and put them on ice in the cooler.  IF its super cold out then bone em in the field, bag em up and just put them in the cooler with no ice.  All this business of hanging, skin on and off, spraying meat, etc seems like a lot of work just to get to the same end result of boned out meat.  Just my 

[Gobble]

ALL my animals are skinned and boned out within an hour of being killed, then packed on ice in coolers. Cooling the meat down quickly provides the best table fare hands down and is the key to great tasting venison, no comparison.  I learned this the hard way like everyone else, most all my animals now are cut into steaks and roasts, very little is made into hamburger because it was gamey 

[Piscatory_5]

Never left hide on deer while hanging, and after this years deer being infested with ticks I cannot see how that would be a good idea. I removed hide when I hung the deer and didn't touch it until butchering 4 days later and after moving the hide the ticks were moving all over it. ICK!