Meat hang times and options

[northernmadman]

Just curious what people do for hanging their meat after the kill? We have a tripod made up in the field off the end of the cabin. It hangs there loosely covered by a tarp till it’s time to go home. Temps drop below freezing most nights. Pack up, drive home and by the time we get home 3 days later the meat is still cold and right into my fridge. I have had 4 moose and 4 caribou in the fridge at once, darn tight but did it. I keep the temp in the fridge at 3C and open the door a couple times a day to inspect and air out a bit. We try to leave it hang another 3-5 days but people need to get back to work so butchering happens a little sooner than I would like.
Does it make a difference to hang for 2+ weeks?
I lucked out on my fridge, makes butchering a little less stressful knowing the meat is going to stay cool
We did have a power outage once that knocked my fridge out, ended up loosing 2 quarters out of 8, could have been much worse.

 

[ManBun]

I have a buddy who has a meat locker that he keeps the temp in the mid 30’s (would be like 2C I think) that hangs his elk and deer up for close to a month before butchering. Not my style, longest I’ve gone is a week and that’s if I shot the animal on the first day and helped out the hunting buddies the rest of the week. I can’t taste the difference between the 2 if the animal was cared for in the field right away. But that’s just me.

 

[Nykki]

We used to hang a moose for a week. But the last couple it's been cut and wrapped within a couple days. Hasn't been a noticable difference between them and the ones that hung longer.

 

[2-Stix]

I like hanging for 3 days and let some of the fluid drip out.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I’ve cut down a lot of trees and lashed a pole between other trees.

I always tear them down so anybody passing though dosent have an easy time of it.

 

[Fireflyfishing]

You’ve heard of aging meat, right? That’s what you’re doing when it hangs longer. I’ve aged a full deer hind quarter for like 60 days and it was awesome. Crazy tender and tasty.

 

[northernmadman]

I end up letting it sit in my fridge for up to a week on a drying rack to let more moisture and blood drain if I am serving it to someone who is not a big fan of wild meat. The outside goes a little dark and gets trimmed off before cooking, is that what happens when hanging for 60 days? How do you manage the humidity levels?
I might try it with a caribou quarter this fall to see how it turns out.

You’ve heard of aging meat, right? That’s what you’re doing when it hangs longer. I’ve aged a full deer hind quarter for like 60 days and it was awesome. Crazy tender and tasty.

 

[Fireflyfishing]

I end up letting it sit in my fridge for up to a week on a drying rack to let more moisture and blood drain if I am serving it to someone who is not a big fan of wild meat. The outside goes a little dark and gets trimmed off before cooking, is that what happens when hanging for 60 days? How do you manage the humidity levels?
I might try it with a caribou quarter this fall to see how it turns out.

It’s a leap of faith when you start aging meat. Do some YouTube searches on how to age meat. Watch Guga. He’s done crazy experiments with aging. That will help quite a bit. I winged it the first time and it still turned out right. I didn’t worry about humidity and wouldn’t today if I did it again.

You will have waste on the outer husk that develops on the meat. You will have less waste if you can leave it on the bone.

I tried these vacuum style aging bags and they work too. Another option:
Aging bags

My biggest indicator if this were working right was using my sniffer. Don’t judge using your eyes, because it will look funky. You’ll know if things go south by the smell.

Lastly, when your timeframe has expired and you’re ready to butcher, you’ll shave off the out husk that I discussed above. The meat should be purple, and smell like normal game meat. Get ready for some tasty meat!

Side note: Aging won’t fix bad meat handling in the field. If you leave your deer on the hood of your Cadillac for three days while your at the bar celebrating, it will still look, smell, and taste like something a coyote would eat on the side of the road.

 

[Berksbowman]

I’ve killed 3 moose. 2 were butchered right away, 1 hung for a week. Night and day in flavor and texture with the aged being way better!