How long to hang

[hillbillyhunting]

How long would you hang your deer in the weather we have been having on the west side? high of 60-65 low of 40

[kselkhunter]

Get the meat below 40F temps as fast as possible to stop bacteria growth:
http://wdfw.wa.gov/hunting/meat_safety/

[fishngamereaper]

I've done 2-3 days. But my shop stays cool during the day.

[brew]

we just hang ours up and skin them...then quarter them up or bone them out and put in our beer fridge in the garage for a while.  I've put a whole cow elk in a fridge by boning it out and a blacktail will fit with the hind quarters bagged and both front shoulders bagged and bone out the rest.  You can even still fit some beers in there if you work it right.  After 4 or 5 days just cut it up...works perfect

[andr3wxmma]

id process it fairly fast with 60 degree temps

[brew]

i've gone on Craigs List and found numerous refers you can get for free-you will need to spend an hour or so to clean them out with some anti-bacterial cleaner but they are perfect for cooling meat

[predatorG]

Couple days maybe. The best way is to let it hang for a couple weeks, temps provided. Look up aged beef. Studies have been done, and I believe the ideal length is 21 days. It's a little warm where you are, but we've hung for a day or two with no problems. Relatives have 4 deer, an elk and an antelope hanging out at the farm rn. It's pretty cool there though. If anything they're trying to keep it warmer. They've had to bring them into the basement to dry out before, imagine walking downstairs and seeing what appears to be a buck standing there!!

[hillbillyhunting]

Thanks for the quick responses... I was up in the air if I should cut up the deer tonight or Wednesday.  It is always hard to decide how long to hang for me.  I am probably more of a risk taker than most.  I was up in the air on this decision and your quick responses helped me out. 

FYI: I hung the deer in my uninsulated garage from sat afternoon until this evening and the meat looks great.  I cut the quarters, backstrap, rib meat, etc off the carcass tonight and put it in the fridge in game bags.  I will butcher and package on Wednesday.

[PolarBear]

we just hang ours up and skin them...then quarter them up or bone them out and put in our beer fridge in the garage for a while. 

 
If I can’t keep it constantly inder 40 degrees it goes in my beer fridge the next or the day of hanging. Back straps and tenderloins get cut out, cut up and frozen immediately. The rest I cut up over the next week as I feel like.

[HntnFsh]

Game animals aren't beef. The meat isn't marbled and hanging them for extended periods of time does nothing. I have butchered deer and elk the same day I shot them, and have hung them for a week. No difference. That said for some reason I usually shoot for 3 day when under 50 degrees.

[dvolmer]

My Partners grandpa was a butcher in Waitsburg and Dayton for years.  He processed thousands of animals.  wild game and livestock.  He always told us deer you hang just long enough to cool the meat before cutting it up and freezing.  Elk hang 7 days in cooler if you can and then cut, wrap, and freeze.  Beef hang 21 days in cooler before processing.  He sais it had to do with the fact that fat in livestock is your friend and fat in wild game was your enemy when it came to flavor of meat.  Not sure all the details of that but its what I try to do.  All my animals are de-boned where the die.  I don't pack a single bone out except the skull.

[pcal]

You really need to read "12 reasons your venison taste like hell"by will Brantley. Read and heed. Has anyone ever made a bad shot and had to track a deer hours to finally seal the deal and then declare that it was the worse meat ever? Hanging  for 2 weeks at 38% would help but it will never be as good eating if the buck would have died asap,cooled off promply and processed to the freezer.Deer need to not be stressed by predators,drought, fires or rut fighting to be good eating,too.pcal

[nwwanderer]

At those temps, cool and process

[JakeLand]

we just hang ours up and skin them...then quarter them up or bone them out and put in our beer fridge in the garage for a while.  I've put a whole cow elk in a fridge by boning it out and a blacktail will fit with the hind quarters bagged and both front shoulders bagged and bone out the rest.  You can even still fit some beers in there if you work it right.  After 4 or 5 days just cut it up...works perfect

Boned out and on wire shelves stacked in beer fridge

[C-Money]

We bone out our deer after hanging them in the barn for a night or two. Meat comes off pretty quickly at my house. It goes in the fridge and is processed soon after.