handling the deer from field to table

You are logged on as a guest. You can only read, you cannot make comments or start new posts. Also, not all areas are available to guests. Many are reserved for members only. Once you join, you will see more areas. Another reason to join is we have prize drawings each month for members from nationally known manufacturers of hunting products. Guests are not eligible to win. Membership is free so why not join today?

[wolfie1]

this has always been a sore subject with me.
I have had people tell me that they won't eat venison because it tastes gamey.  I am a firm believer in that the taste isn't caused by the animal, but how the animal is handled once it is downed.  First and formost, strive to make a clean, quick kill.  Injured deer that run for long distances are pumping their bodies full adrenaline which will affect the taste.  Recover the animal as quickly as possible, don't wait til the next day to find it.  They make lanterns to help look for it after dark.  Field dress it quickly and keep it exposed meat clean.  Get the hide off before it has a chance to cool.  I do this for several reasons mostly because it's easier to skin while it's warm and the meat cools more evenly.  I am convinced that leaving hide on gives the meat a gamey taste from the fat between skin and meat.  Let the meat hang overnight and cut and process it the next day.  This is my philosphy for handling a kill, what do you all think?

[talk tom]

wolfie1 you make some great points.  I have never thought venison tasted gamey but have always been very careful about how I handled the meat.  A quick clean kill is defantly where it starts.  Here in southern alabama even winters are warm.  Leaving a deer lay is never an option.  Recovering the deer and cleaning it quickly is very important.  I always clean and rinse the meat well then place it in a large icechest with plenty of ice and water to soak overnight.  Usually I soak it in ice and water for a couple of days then de-bone and get it ready to process.  I think proper handling and cleaning of any game is important and failure to so is where that gamey taste comes from.  Thanks for starting a good thread.

[ddejong]

Great points.  I often cannot get my deer skinned right away so I will fill the body cavity with ice. 

[zos41]

Great points Wolfie, I handle my deer similarly, but often butcher and debone the same day I shot the deer if it is taken early in the day. Care in handling makes all the differance in the world in the taste

[cowmanhunter]

Agrre with everyone taste is in the handling of the meat first and foremost.

[ToolMan]

vwolfie1 – First, thanks for starting a very good topic.  I agree with your sentiments when people tell me that they don't like venison.  There are several reasons that they may have this feeling. First and foremost is how the deer was processed, and secondly, how it was cooked and what spices the cook used.  You can ruin a T-Bone steak if you use spices that you don't like....

However, back to your point of handling the game.  I have a very point by point routine that I take very serious. As Talk Tom stated about Alabama, the winters here in Texas are warm, and taking care of that game correctly, is very important. Here are my steps in processing. Some we all may use, and maybe some are new to some.

1. The cleanest kill possible. Give the deer 20 to 30 minuets to expire if you don't see it drop in it's tracks.

2. When I approach the deer, Cut the throat to start the bleed and cooling. Opening the esophagus allows the hot air in the lungs out and cooler air into the body cavity.

3. Remove the musk glands from the hind legs to prevent the fluids to drain back into the blood vessels.

4. Open the chest cavity and field dress it.

5. If I can get it to a cold storage facility right away, I take it, get it into the cooler and then skin it. Then I hang it for 7 to 10 days  to allow it to age. If not, then I hang it in camp to skin and quarter it.

6. Wrap each quarter in a heavy duty (3 mill or thicker) trash bag and place it into a cooler.

7. Pack the cooler with as much ice as I can possibly get into it, being sure to have ice below the meat and in between the bags.

8. Open the drain plug on the cooler. I take great care to never let the meat touch the water. (Would you soak a T-Bone in a cooler of water before eating it?) As long as the meat stays cool and dry, it will hold in that cooler until I get back into town. (A day or two.)

9. Once I get it home, I take the quarters out of the bags and place them in a refrigerator that I have in the garage that I bought just for aging deer. It has wire metal racks, not glass. The meat must be exposed to the air on all sides. The meat can not touch the sides of the refrigerator or other pieces of meat.  The temperature must be kept at 38 degrees. I leave it in the refrigerator (aging it) for 7 to 10 days turning the meat daily.

10. Now it is time to start the packaging of the meat. During the aging process, a crust forms on the outside of each quarter, very similar to the texture of jerky. This layer is trimmed away, leaving the meat very dark red and is in my opinion is superior in tenderness and flavor. During the dry aging process, the juices are absorbed into the meat, enhancing the flavor and tenderizing it.

11. As I butcher it, I take great lengths to avoid packaging any bone, fat, silver skin or sinew.

Now, this probably sounds like a long drawn-out process, but it’s worth every second and precaution that I take. I have turned many a venison skeptics and venison haters into diehard venison lovers.

As you said in starting this thread, it irks me to have someone say the meat taste gamy!

[NJ Bowhunter]

Have a plan and keep to it.  I like your reply Toolman.

NJ

[BOGO]

I agree....I hate it when I hear someone say it taste "gamey" I have had some bad deer meat, Handling is everything. If I can smell it before it hits my mouth something ain't right. Some folks just don't know what they are doing I guess and I believe that is why some people do not like venison. I have always heard people say " I tried it once and it was not good and it smelled". Well most of the time it had to be because who ever fixed what they tried could not have known what they were doing because if they did they would like it. It took a while for my wife to start eating it. She had one bad experience and judged all deer meat on that bad experience.  Good trend!!! Thanks for sharing your point of view.

[BLUETOE]

good point and nice plan-- I get them down and gutted and in a walk in or hanging as quick as possible depending on the outside temp. If it is cold below 40 degrees I hang them over night with the hide on-- skin and cut up next day- if it is warm 45 and up I take them to a walk in cooler hang over night and skin and cut up the next day -- my deer taste fine and this is what works for me-- but everyone should get their game gutted and cooled ASAP and keep them clean- don't rinse them out in the creek unless they are gutshot which mean you already screwed up part one, that is the number one thing you have to do wherever you are or it's gonna taste peculiar- I don't like the word gamey either deer taste like deer.

[wolfie1]

toolman
i have what i refer o as a ritual as well, but was trying not to have too lengthy of post to get this started.  I am from South Dakota so our temperature during hunting season allows us to hang deer outside to cool.  As a matter of fact, I talked my landlord into allowing me to build a new small outbuilding so i could hang my deer without having the neighborhood cats feeding on them.  As for aging, that is getting to be a lost art.  We used to age deer when we lived on the farm, but now I don't have the luxury of time to leave them hang that long.  Maybe I can do that with my new building.

I'm glad to see that there are others out there that feel the way i do about this.  My father always had a rule to live by...Never trust the skinny cook.  Good luck all and happy feasting.

[hawghunter65]

great points by all.  i let mine age up to 7 days in 40 degrees or colder which michigan in the late season usually has plenty of.


 

[Goinhuntin]

What is a "gamey" taste? Is it something put out by Hasbro or Milton Bradley? JUST KIDDING!!!   I myself Agree with the general consensous. Clean kill, Quick cleaning, and aging if possible. I also remove all bone and as much sinew and silver skin as possible. I season to taste as I would prepare any red meat.

Happy Huthin'

[4CORN]

i've had one bad batch of venison. i think either the meat wasn't refrigerated properly or i got another hunters venison. the meat was terrible. since then i process my own deer and haven't had a problem since.

[kyhareraiser]

  if it' going to be cool  couple,three days i'll let my deer hang after i skin it out.found it's easier to skin while warm if possible .then during the days i leave it hanging ,i let all he blood that will drain out andin my lax time i trim off some of the fat and scrape of some of the few hairs that get on it. then i;ll do one section at a time ,backstraps firsr ,slice them 1" thick and butterfly them .then move to a ham,seperate the muscle slice of the silver stripes and slice thin so i can make some jerky  and after i get through being picky i break out the grinder and bag the reat for chili's ,soups' summert sausag ect,,then i'm ready to get another deer down

[T. C. Thunder]

I think you are right on track. I was raised treating our deer in the exact same manner.