How quickly should a deer be skinned?

[superior]

I've had venison that tasted really gamey...almost stinky....and then I've had some that made my toungue slap my brains out....Loved it! Could the difference be in the way the meat was handled after it was shot? How long after being shot should a deer be skinned? How long should it be hanged. How soon should it be butchered and frozen? I know it depends on the ambient temperature, but I would appreciate some tips. I've been a varmint hunter all of my life and have yet to shoot my first big game animal. I just want to make sure that my meat is tasty...the way it SHOULD be ! I WILL get a deer this year, and with a cast boolit to boot!

[j23]

You are correct on two of your assumptions...

1. The way the deer is processed is 90% of how it will taste on the table.

2. Ambiant temps call the shots.

I have killed, butchered, and eaten many, many of West Virginia's deer (along with Ohio, and Pennsylvania's) and here is how I handle it.

If the temprature is ABOVE 45 degrees, not just for like two hours on a sunny afternoon, but the average temps... then take the deer inside your meat shed, garage, kitchen or what have you, and skin it up, butcher it and put it in the freezer (except for the liver, kidneys, heart and backstrap... the organs are for eating that night or the next day for lunch.. the backstrap will be served for the next day's dinner!!!)

If the temps are between 33 and 45 degrees, skin it and leave it hang for about 24-48, even 72 hours, then butcher. The warm (but not too warm) temps will 'age' the meat, and the bacteria growing on it will soften the tissues (think, yogurt.)

If it is under freezing (again, mean average temps for the day, not just 'a dip' one night... then leave the skin on and let it hang for a few days to a week. Bear in mind however that skinning it after it has 'frozen' (the meat will get some frost on it, but dont worry, it doesnt freeze per se, like in a freezer...) is a little tougher, though less messy. The meat is really good this way if you are blessed with a cold winter. The meat again, ages, though slower and more controlled, because of the low temps.

That is what me and mine have always done. Good luck and let us know how you fair this year. If you need any butchering help along the way, give me a shout.

[outdoorfan]

Here in Minnesota the temps during mid-November are usually running in the 20's thru 40's. I used to let the deer age for awhile. I had at least a couple of them that turned out a bit gamey. Now I usually have the meat deboned and in the cooler within 24 hours of the kill. So far I really like doing it this way, and I haven't had a gamey deer in years. But there are other factors too, like what the deer have been eating, etc.

[Down South]

This time of year here, as fast as you can.

One thing that seems to help in the warmer climates is to at least quarter the deer and put it in a large ice chest. Cover the meat with ice and water and let it soak. Drain the bloody water off a couple times a day and keep this up for at least a couple days. It even works better if you can butcher the meat then soak it in ice water. This seems to help get rid of the gamey taste some deer acquire.
Handling of the deer while skinning is very important too. There are glands that need to be removed while cleaning the deer too.

[MT Gianni]

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthr...gonew/1#UNREAD

Here is a long interesting post.

[flounderman]

here in north carolina, the weather is usually warm, to hot. I try to get the deer cooled out and bagged and put in a refridgerator I keep for this purpose. it needs to age a few days. I soaked the meat from some rutting bucks in water that froze a skin of ice and changed it several times for maybe a week. these deer would have been strong if they had not been soaked out and they came out without any, objectional taste. if it is a rutting buck, it needs to age hanging, if it is cold enough, otherwise cooled out in a refridgerator, then soaked out. keep it clean and wash your hands while working with it so you don't transfer what you are handling from the hide to the meat. if you can shoot the deer in the neck, instead of the body, you will have a better deer to start with. theres no need to cut the head half off after the deer is dead. it bled out the holes you put in it. you will just get more hair on the meat. keep it as clean as you can. if you can get it home in a reasonable amount of time, I wait to gut it when I get it home. it stays cleaner. keep it clean, age it, soak the strong smelling deer, or you can soak all of them. if it is cold enough, age them with the hide on. once the meat is frozen, you can't age it, but the meat will benefit from proper aging.

[dk17hmr]

I dont know for a fact but I think shot placement has alot to do with it also and how long they ran before they stopped kicking. I have shot deer that ran several hundred yards and some that dropped on the spot. The ones that drop ussally have a better tasting meat, all the extra stress of running before they give up works there muscles out where as a head/neck shot deer just goes limp.

We ussally get after them right away during bow season. It is warmer and I skin them out the day I shoot them. Ill let them hang over night and have them cut up and in the freezer or on the grill the next morning.

My shop/meat shack isnt heated so if its cold cold where they will freeze and stay frozen I get a couple buddies over we fire up the grill get a case of beer and get to work. That is ussally during muzzleloader season. Rifle season the deer get shot and hang until we come home from camp so at least a week maybe two.

The deer we shoot/pick up (roadkill) here at the house feed on corn and soy beans all summer so its about like eating beef, they are cut up into steaks and chops. The deer we shoot at camp have a bit harder life living in the swamps eating whatever they can find, they ussally get ground up and made into sausage.

I have heard soaking them in milk before you cook them takes out any gamey taste they might have.

[RugerFan]

In south georgia, its fairly warm through deer season. I don't have the luxury of hanging anything. I keep very large 120 qt cooler in the back of my pick up. Any deer or hog we kill gets gutted on the spot and put in the cooler. Then we're off to the nearest quickee-mart for lots of ice. The critter will be chilled to the bone within an hour or two of death. It then gets butchered within 24 hours. Meat is always tastey and never "gamey." Unlike flounderman, I have never had a rutting buck taste any different.

[JIMinPHX]

First off, stay away from those scent glands on the rear legs, where they urinate on themselves. Those things can taint meat in a hearbeat. After that, I've seen different guys do things differently. I know some people who swear by always getting the skin off ASAP & even go as far as packing the carcass with snow as soon as it's gutted. I know some guys that hang the deer for a week or two in a cool barn & others who freeze it as soon as they can get it cut up. Some Portuguese guys showed me a neat trick for skinning them. Just make 1 small cut in the skin above one of the front hooves & stick an air gun in there. If you blow them up like a balloon before you gut them, then the skin just peels right off. From what I've read here, it sounds like J23 is probably the guy that I would be listening to for better details.

[Lloyd Smale]

Ive tried it over the years about every which way. Ive never found that aged venision is any better then when you cut it up imediately. Unlike marbled meat venison doesnt have a lot of fat that needs to break down. Anymore i skin and butcher as soon as is possible.

[725]

Just the way I do it:
Field dress ASAP. Leave the heart in the body cavity to keep it clean during transport from the field. Prop the rib cage open with a stout stick at field dressing to expedite cooling. ASAP, like back at the truck, I pack the body cavity with a bag or two of ice. Transport, hang and skin directly. If it's cold out, I let it hang for awhile. If it's above 40 dergees, I quarter and place in the shop fridge. I cut the lower rear legs off as soon as practicle and keep any contamination from them from tainting the meat. Wash your hands and tools at each of the various stages. The skinned carcas or quarters can then be butchered at my leisure. Unless there are body fluids involved or dirt/debris, I try and keep the meat away from water. If it needs to get rinsed off, rinse it off and pat it dry. Otherwise, if I do a good job of it, and the meat sections are free of hair/dirt/etc., I butcher it, wrap, vacum seal it, and freeze it. Sometimes, I can it with mild spices and put it away on the shelf. Lately, I've been canning more & more. Melts in your mouth, easy to use, and doesn't depend on electricity/refridgeration to keep. More work up front, but nice benefits later.

[largom]

I skin my deer within an hour of it being killed.Hams, shoulders, back-straps, etc. are removed, washed, and put in freezer.
I de-bone and cut the meat up after hunting season is over. I am verry fussy about my meat. I remove all sinew, membrain, and large blood vessels before the meat is cut into steaks or cubed for canning or grinding. I have never had gamey[?] meat.
Larry

[Boz330]

I had the importance of gutting right away proved to me one year when my buddy's daughter shot a doe at last light and we didn't locate it till morning. The deer was field dressed and we skinned it when we got it back to camp. While skinning it, it had an odd smell but the temps were cold enough that it shouldn't have spoiled. I took some of the meat and cooked it and it didn't taste spoiled, but it didn't taste good either. I tried soaking the meat in salt water and that helped it tremendously. Lesson learned gut as soon as posible.
I know a lot of hunter that don't do that they let the butcher shop take care of it.
We usually try to hose the deer out and then pack it with bags of ice if the temps are too warm. Normally we hunt extended weekends so then I butcher during the week at my shop when I get back. For me business is typically slow that time of year anyway.

Bob

[waksupi]

Since I tan the hides, I hang them by the neck, and skin them immediately. Skinning from the head down, leaves all the meat on the carcass, not the hide. Only need to cut around the neck and legs, then pull the hide without using a knife. Leaves a perfect tanning hide.

I usually let mine hang for 4-7 days, not to age it, but that is how my schedule usually runs.

If you have gamey tasting meat, you most likely have a, gut shot it, b, not removed the sinew and connective tissue, and c, cut it up with a saw, dragging the marrow through the meat. You do NOT cut up a deer with the bone in.

[dk17hmr]

I know a lot of hunter that don't do that they let the butcher shop take care of it.

I know some guys that love hunting but dont/cant gut their own. I didnt know a Butcher would do it. I dont have a problem with that job but my brother does, he can get about half way through and then starts throwing up in his mouth, thats about the time I take over. He took a frontal shot on a buck one year and it took use a bit of time to find him because lack of blood trailing. When we found the deer he had blown up a bit, Zac stuck the knife in and up came his lunch. Oh memories.

[6pt-sika]

In the past I used to gut in the woods , skin at the house and immediatelt take it to the processor .

Now I bring them to the house on the ATV ungutted .
Hang them up .

If I have time to do it all I skin first and then gut . Followed by a cavity rinsing . Then I cut the backstraps and tenderloin off and bag . The rest of the meat is cut from the bone and bagged to go to the freezer .

If I don't have time to cut them up that day I leave the hide on and just gut and rinse and usually cut up the following day .

Temperature is not as big an issue with me as some . And it is not always cold here either . However if I can keep them in the shade and keep the flies away I have no problems .

[Junior1942]

Doug, I'm like your brother. I can't stand the smell of guts.

[Old Ironsights]

I gut where it falls (or thereabouts) unless I need to drag it through a swamp.

Early fall Bowhunts are too warm, so it's "Tag, Gut, Check, Skin, Quarter". I usually only keep the flank/flats off of the ribcage anyway so I'm only chilling the hams & shoulders (Straps & loins are for dinner/breakfast)

November gun season usually stays between 30 & 50, so I will take more time in cutting it up.

Never used a bone saw yet.



I also exclusively debone & disasemble. Don't care to futz over "traditional" cuts, just make a few good steaks, a couple of roasts and the rest becomes whole tissue Jerkey & Sausage.

[MT Gianni]

Great points. I always use one knife to gut and another to start the skinning process.

[superior]

I did help to butcher a deer twice. We used a 1957 agriculture book as a guide. In the book, it showed a method of skinning that involves tying the deer to a tree and using a pickup truck to pull the hide right off! I kid you not ! Has anyone tried that ?