How long is too long to hang?

[huntingfool7]

When it stinks, it's been too long.

[lokidog]

When it stinks, it's been too long.

That's when you hope they give you someone else's meat.....       

[Sitka_Blacktail]

In my younger days I spent some winters camping and trapping and hunting on Afognak Is. north of Kodiak. I would regularly hang deer with hide on for two weeks and sometimes longer. Temps were usually in the 20s-30s with an occasional warmer day.  The hide kept the meat clean, and free from rain which could sour it and also kept birds from pecking at it. Also, once the meat froze, if you had a warmer day, the hide helped keep the meat cold. After I got a deer, I'd gut it making the smallest cut possible to get the guts and lungs/heart/liver out, then hang it head up so any excess blood drained out. Then would use it as needed only skinning what I needed at the main camp. Would start with one hind quarter, then the other.and finally the ribs, backstrap and front quarters. The neck was last. I always hung deer at least a quarter mile from camp and across a large salt water lagoon so as not to draw brownies into the camping area. Usually they'd den up by December, but once in a while there would be a late bear wandering around. I'd hang them up 20 feet or more but a couple times I still lost part of a deer to the bears. Never had a problem with bad meat tho. The longer it hung, the more tender it was.

[wapiti hunter2]

It wasn't skinned???  YIKES....I have never heard of a butcher taken a deer with hide on and putting it in their meat locker.  My meat locker is a no hair, no gut, no funk zone....PERIOD!!  I don't like to hang my deer for much over 7 days and my elk for 10-14 days max.  Not sure I would use that butcher again.....my opinion.   

Exactly. If it wasn't skinned, I'm guessing you will have major meat loss.

[kentrek]

Prolly depends on the cooler temp but what's worse about having the hide on is every one else's animals that comes into contact with it.....never known anyone to leave the hide on once it's hanging in a cooler

I'm sure it's fine but wouldn't be going back there

[pianoman9701]

No need for concern. It's good to hang meat for a while, it makes the steaks more tender.

If it's dry and cold, you can age red meat for months. The longer it ages, the more must be trimmed. But during the hang, enzymes work to break down sinew. A delmonico steak (NY) which has aged for 3-6 months can be easily cut with a fork and has a wonderful flavor. Most butchers won't hang it for that long because they have too much game coming in. Consider yourself lucky.

[jagermiester]

what is the name of your butcher?

[jackelope]

We used to hang whitetails back east with the hides on them with no issues, but again, it was cold as heck.

[Skyvalhunter]

How cold is HECK?

[jackelope]

Cold. Really cold.

[Skyvalhunter]

cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey?

[Bill W]

If the hide's left on to age the meat then there's no need to trim the outside of the meat off (because it dried).

[Smoke]

as long as the temp in the hanging cooler was below 40, it will be fiine.... most butchers prefer it skinned first to prevent shed hair. mites, ticks, ect,  from contaminating other meats in the cooler, but it's not necessary if it's hung in such a way as to protect if from other stuff in the cooler... in fact with the hide still on it, the outer meat won't dry out, and you lose less from the need to trim it off....

[elkboy]

Last November, I had a large, very "rutty" Idaho whitetail hanging in the garage (between 35 and 40 degrees at that time of year).  8 days of hanging was enough to create a very mild flavor and make the meat absolutely tender.  I personally think of 7-8 days as a long time to hang a deer, but some folks I know hang it for up to three weeks if the temperature is close to zero. 

[C-Money]

We let them hang with the hide on in Pennsylvania for a few days...less than 5, if it was very cold. Frozen solid by morning cold. PA butchers take deer with the hide on, but they have a handful of skinners working on the deer pile before they go in the cooler. Since I have lived in WA, I skin my deer ASAP, and process it with in a day or two. If the OPs deer was frozen, it should be fine...I hope!