Hanging deer

[michiganman]

we very seldom shoot any thing big enough to mount we shoot about 5-10 a year a hang from the head
i take the front legs off,cut out neck meat,and take loins from neck down.i raise up the deer being held by a come along then cut of both back legs.

fast and easy,was taught head down,i also have mine only hanging 1 night,as tempts are always too warm.then in fridge at 33 degrees for about 5 days.doesn't really matter how you hang ,or cut it up as long as it works for you.

from this point on is were it really matters how you cut up the meat.my friend mother was Canadian ,and taught me how to cut up and clean it.this is the most important steps to good eating venison

[bbbwb]

Ideally I always field dress at kill site and hang with head up having propped open the body cavity to promote initial cooling. I leave it this way while I prepare to transport out of bush area. This allows drainage to go out bottom. Transport out to camp and then hang with hock stick with head down in order to skin. Skinning when still warm is easier than when cold. Once skinned, protect with tarp for cleanliness and allow to fully cool over night or longer if weather is suitably cool. Upon time to depart for home, wrap in cheese cloth and twine tie. Once at home hang by hocks, leave covered with cheesecloth until you are going to cut up,wrap and freeze.

bbbwb

[wabi]

head down

[saxman]

Head down

[prossbow]

This should have been a poll. Looks like it boils down to personal preference (unless having a mount done)

Thanks guys

[sam northern ont]

Head up on deer. most hunters do head up or down not knowing why. the reason for head up is to stop leaching of the tarsal glands into the meat.

[Pun'kin Slinger]

Hang head up to cool and drain body. Head down to butcher. Just the way I was taught.

[Undertaker]

It would be distasteful to read my professional explaination in detail, so I shall simply save it and let you know that once eviscerated, hanging from either end works fine. The blood will not travel from the toes to the nose, nor will it get in gear and go head towards rear. Hang it nicely for the camera, yet securely for the knife.

Cold meat cuts better, which is why old butchers have bad hands.

For factory/assembly line butchering, I can see where a preference would/could exist. The speed at which they kill then hang is important. There, blood would travel with gravity. They would want it butt up, and so now I will butt out.

BTW- the effort you exert with proper killing and then handling makes a difference in the taste, but no where near the difference their diet has already made.

[BUS314]

I have always wondered about hanging to age some------what is the highest temp that would be safe??

[warningshot]

usually head up ...but if i ever caped a deer it would be head down ....

[Worriedman]

We always bring a deer in to the "horn house" to dress them. (No "field dressing") Skin them first, using a 4-wheeler or tractor, attach deer by the head to a tie down, with the attachment 3' off the floor, leaving the back legs on to keep the body suspended till the hide is off. Hook the gambrel in the back legs and raise it to keep the carcase off the floor, once suspended by the back legs, remove entrails. Hose the carcase off and let dry via fans. We then quarter for aging.

[groundpounder]

I never take my deer to a hanging cooler. I usually get processing on them right away. If I do wait a couple days to process it is already quartered up and in the cooler. My ideal way to quarter up a deer though is head up and NOT field dressed. Sometimes weather temps and when I'll be able to get in the cooler will not let me do this though. But I hang my deer from the head, skin, take neck meat, then front shoulders, then backstraps, then hind quarters. It works for me

[FJB]

Head down, that way it is easier to skin, no need to rotate it around when the time comes to skin. When we hang it we take out the windpipe as well up to the jaw so it can drain completley. Just my 2 cents.

[Mike P]

I have always wondered about hanging to age some------what is the highest temp that would be safe??

It should always be 40 degrees F or lower when hanging meat to age. We would age beef on the ranch always at 37 to 38 degrees.

Of course you want to maintain the temperature above 32 degrees so it does not freeze during the aging process.

Oh, and like the hundreds and hundreds of cattle I have butchered or help butcher during the days of my youth, we always hang head down.