Hanging a deer with temperature fluctuations?

[groundpounder]

Has definitely been some good reading here and some great stories. I will not say that I disagree with any of the methods or reasonings given. But for me I always try and get them processed as soon as I can. I live in Georgia and our temps are never really cold enough to let them hang for long. And for taking them to the processors cooler, I wont do it. Prices that processors are now charging are insane for what is being done. Usually I have a cooler with me and quarter them up not long after being down and process them myself as soon as time permits with in a day or two. As far as tasting gamey or not, doesn't really bother me and will vary from deer to deer for various reasons. There have been several reasons mentioned by others and I wont knock any of them. If you want your deer to taste like beef, shoot a cow. I want my deer to taste like deer.

[DanO]

Where do you get the good waxed brown paper? I have relatives that use freezer bags and they don't work well. Too much freezer burn through the plastic.

Can anybody suggest a good source if a guy wanted to learn how to butcher the deer on his own? Any sites or books. I have some idea how to do it since we butchered our own pigs but that was a long time ago.

Dan O.

[groundpounder]

My Wal Mart carries freezer paper. Comes on a wide large roll and is waxed but is white paper and not brown.

[Esox]

... Just remeber life begins at 40... 40 degrees F.....

[VixChix]

Double wrap with saran wrap, making sure there are no air bubbles next to the meat. Then wrap in freezer paper.

[Daniele]

I too believe in processing ASAP, however i leave my boneless meat in fridge for 3-5 days before packing and freezing; i found some does stronger tasting sometimes, other times it was the bucks, here is a link someone posted here way back about processing.
http://home.rochester.rr.com/sevendzero/
Daniele.

[Pydpiper]

I got a massive roll of freezer/butcher paper from a bulk store in Brantford called "Cash and Carry", 30" wide and 900' long for $25. Didn't even dent it with the deer.
You can talk to a butcher shop and see if they will sell you some, or even pick some up for you on their next order if you are not in a hurry.

[DanO]

Thanks Daniele that was a great site and I'll butcher my own next time. It looks time consuming but not that difficult.

Dan O.

[Pydpiper]

I used a book from Wall-Mart called "Processing and cooking wild game" it had excellent step by step instructions on how to deal with the animal from the kill to the gravy, full color photos.
For those who have not tried to do it yourself it really is fairly simple, an experienced person could probably get better cuts on the meat for the simple fact they don't have to fumble around the muscle groups. I got the cuts I was after and have some excellent chunks for pepperettes.