PHX Valley hunters: where to you hang your meat?

[Airbusdriver]

I'm in a bit of a quandary. I may try an early bow hunt next week, and was just wondering: what are my options for hanging & cooling my meat. I usually do a Michigan hunt in the fall or winter hunt here in AZ, so keeping the meat cool to age is not a problem.

 

What do you all do to age your meat in the late summer months? Obviously, the first step is to get the carcass skinned out, but what then? Are there places with walk-in coolers that will let you hang a carcass for 4-5 days for a small fee?

 

Would enjoy hearing some ideas..thanks.

[firstcoueswas80]

I just take it to the processor and let them handle it.

 

That, or quarter it and let it sit in coolers with fresh ice until you are satisfied. That is what we did with my New Mexico antelope I shot with Borderland Adventures last year.

[reganranch]

Website seems to make everyone double post done it a few times myself.

[Flatlander]

I have never aged meet on the early hunts, its a luxury that we just don't have. In fact, I rarely age deer from AZ cause the temps are just too warm during most of the hunts.

[firstcoueswas80]

^^^ Yep, unless in December, I try to get my deer to the processor that day, or the next at latest.

[GotBowAz]

Coue’s deer IMO doesn’t need to be aged. It’s the best tasting deer meat I have ever had and it isn’t tough. I get it cooled down as fast as I can. Get the hide off pronto, no gut method, quarter it up or debone it and hang each piece of meat to cool as quickly as possible. I like to use old pillow cases for this. Then hump it back to camp and get it into a cooler and rotate the meat every couple of hours until it is cold all the way through.

 

I process my own meat so when I get home I cut it up the way I want it. If you want to age the meat you can take your time with the processing and age it in the cooler. Just keep adding ice and rotating the meat every few hours. Just be sure to have the plug or cap off of the cooler to drain and you shouldn’t have any trouble. You could feasibly do this for a week. I have never seen the need for this though. I have done it with elk but only because it was such a big job to process it took me a few days every night after work to get it finished. BTY Coue’s deer back strap cut a little over an inch thick with thick cut pepper bacon wrapped and BBQued over charcoal briquettes is to die for.

 

I'm from Michigan too and we hung deer hide and all for up to like 3 days. They still do this. I think it makes the deer taste way worse IMO. BTY, I hunt up there every year in the late archery rut. Since I have been here in Az. and the key to keeping good meat is to get the hide off and get it cooled down I have used that practice back in Michigan and my mom has been impressed with the taste. Up until then she got to the point she didn’t like deer anymore. My 02.

 

GBA

[PRDATR]

Cattle have fat marbled through the meat so ageing it works. Deer on the other hand have no fat so ageing it does nothing for it. The University of Wyoming did a case study on game and the results are on their website. It was a pain to find the first time I did so a few years ago but if I have some free time I'll look for it.

There was a lot of eye opening information in the paper. It is under their public infor section and is a PDF. It also goes into testing the meat for tenderness using some sort of needle like gauge which is pushed into the meat. Evidentially this is one way beef is rated, Choice, Prime etc.

They also found that by leaving the hide on in cooler weather kept bacteria from growing on the flesh as opposed to removing it right away and then transporting it to be processed.

[GotBowAz]

That’s both interesting and surprising to me. I either butcher my deer right away or get it into an ice chest or cooler for transport. It surprises me that bacteria would grow that quickly. Why would it do that in Michigan and not in Arizona? Doesn’t make since to me. The one thing that does come to mind is how long they wait around to take it in for processing. Over a couple of days, yes I can see bacteria growing. But I have hung elk in the shade for 24 hours or longer in 80 degree weather and didn’t lose one piece of meat.

 

When I was a kid, and they are still told the same now, the hide is left on to age and the deer and hung to drain out all of the blood for taste. It was never about bacteria. It is usually so cold back there during the hunt seasons that bacteria would take a long time to produce. I'm not saying your wrong about the report, I just don’t buy it. Getting the hide off ASAP and cooling that meat down is way more important than leaving it on. Hide of any kind, especially with winter hair keeps in heat. I have even heard of deer and Elk spoiling on the bottom side and laying on snow because the hide kept the heat in.

 

GBA

[Sam]

I debone the meat first and fit what I can in the refrigerator. Then I leave in their for a few days.

I have also used coolers for aging meat. However, I have a steady supply of frozen bottles (2 litter soda bottles or milk gallons) on hand and replace them every day - this keeps the meat dry. If it is warm out, I wrap the cooler with an old comforter or sleeping bag. I keep elk like this for 2 to 3 days after I get home. Of course, the meat may have hung at camp for a few days prior. My first priority is to debone the meat as quickly as I can. If you grind meat into hamburger or sauage, no aging is necassary.

 

I have used this approach for 25 years and every cut of meat is great.