Hanging/aging deer meat question

I age my deer on ice for 3-5 days. Drain the water and add ice daily. This will bleed out the meat. No gamey flavor and a nice pink color.

I'm not sure I'd want to eat a deer that hung for several days in 60-70 degree temps. That's too warm.

And in a bag as well.

Usually a processer can tell if it's gone bad. Did it stink?

Don't hang 'em unless it's under 45 degrees. If it's over 45 then you need to quarter the deer and put it on ice. I age my deer on ice for 3-5 days. Drain the water and add ice daily. This will bleed out the meat. No gamey flavor and a nice pink color.

I'm not sure I'd want to eat a deer that hung for several days in 60-70 degree temps. That's too warm.

Don't hang 'em unless it's under 45 degrees. If it's over 45 then you need to quarter the deer and put it on ice. I age my deer on ice for 3-5 days. Drain the water and add ice daily. This will bleed out the meat. No gamey flavor and a nice pink color.

I'm not sure I'd want to eat a deer that hung for several days in 60-70 degree temps. That's too warm.

Don't hang 'em unless it's under 45 degrees. If it's over 45 then you need to quarter the deer and put it on ice. I age my deer on ice for 3-5 days. Drain the water and add ice daily. This will bleed out the meat. No gamey flavor and a nice pink color.

I'm not sure I'd want to eat a deer that hung for several days in 60-70 degree temps. That's too warm.

A quick an easy way is to buy a cheap refrigerator and put in some racks and you can quarter up your venison and hang it for a week or so. Put in a pan on the bottom that will catch the blood and drain daily. I travel a lot and using the ice chest method with draining it daily is not an option for me. And if I don’t get home in a couple of weeks the meat will keep.
There are tons of cheap refrigerators on Craig’s list daily.

I agree with Land Pirate. I skin and de-bone my meat (deer/hogs) and ice and drain for 3-5 days. Everyone loves my meat bc it doesn't taste gamey at all.
But, since you are taking it to a processor, you will probably get your loins and back straps and maybe your hams if you wanted them whole, otherwise your rotten deer is getting ground up and mixed with all of the other deer that are brought in. This is exactly why I process my meat myself!

otherwise your rotten deer is getting ground up and mixed with all of the other deer that are brought in. This is exactly why I process my meat myself!

If you skinned the deer before hanging it, that will be better... skin holds in heat longer...

Thanks on the bass, 10lber from Fork. I dont have a meat grinder, that's why I get it processed. On smaller game like like 50-75lb pigs I'll do it all myself, but on those we dont ussually have to store it cause it'll all get eaten or taken

Thanks on the bass, 10lber from Fork. I dont have a meat grinder, that's why I get it processed. On smaller game like like 50-75lb pigs I'll do it all myself, but on those we dont ussually have to store it cause it'll all get eaten or taken

That's way too warm to hang a deer.

Would you leave a steak out on your counter in 60-70 degrees for 2 days?


We quarter them, rinse, then dry, and put in the fridge for 3-7 days.

Above 40degrees, bacteria(in raw meat) doubles every 20 minutes!

PLEASE do not take that to a processor and make a bunch of other people sick!

I wouldn't feed that to my dog - even if I burned it to charcoal!
Ain't worth the hospital bill!

. . . and took it to the processor Monday evening. . . .

Everybody seems to forget about windchill and shade. That's the reason we let it hang. Wasnt just out in the sun on a 65 degree day. I want to get a meat grinder but dont they usually add more meat to it than just venison? I need to learn how to do it..

Everybody seems to forget about windchill and shade. That's the reason we let it hang. Wasnt just out in the sun on a 65 degree day. I want to get a meat grinder but dont they usually add more meat to it than just venison? I need to learn how to do it..

Guys like this are why I process my own as well.

Better yet are the ones that hang them for a couple days at 65-70 and then strap them to the hood and drive several with them in the sun and cooking form the engine heat.

i was ok until you said flies.

Now, what about that deer that gets arrowed on the open weekend of bow season when its 90 degrees outside, and lays for three or four hours while you try to find it?
Is it completely ruined?

Probably not.

Time and Temperature are the factors; the bacteria that form the toxins (naturally present everywhere) can reproduce about every 20 minutes when (meat protein) temp is above 40 degrees. More-so at higher temps, but below 135. Keeping meat at 40degrees or lower stops the process.

In your case, first few hours would be (3*60)/20 = ~ 9 rep. cycles, at most. Toxin production is due to (microbiologic) crowding. 9 cycles = very little crowding; maybe some very small amount of toxins would be present but likely very very dilute, and wouldn't cause much problem for anyone.

OP had his at 65-70 for 48 hours, much of that in the blowing wind (C.B. spores are naturally present in the environment & soil,and are easily transported on windy days; normally harmless, unless give a medium (meat protein) and favorable conditions (medium warmer than 40degrees), & TIME!
OP's deer was way above 40 degrees, and a very long (micro-biologically speaking) time.
(48*60)/20 = 144 rep cycles.
A single clostridium botulinum spore present could have reproduced to
2 to the 144th power = 223 with 40 zeros after it ( i dont even know what that number is, but I sure wouldn't eat it).

LMAO! What did you just say lol. Just giving you a hard time lol!

Yeah, I gotta stop watching CSI . . .

That's nasty!

A buddy of mine is a local farmer. To help him out I'd hit his cotton and corn fields late at night and shoot pigs. These fields were adjacent to county roads and weren't fenced. One night I shot a huge boar hog that was too big for me to haul out of the field. I called my buddy and told me not to worry about it, that he'd run over there with a tractor, load it and haul it away.


LMAO! Man I've got to figure out how to get these little cartoon icons you guys use, apparently I'm not smart enough to figure it out....that's funny though. Must have been a whole fam damily that drug that thing out of there, crazy. Since we're story telling......before I moved outside of the city limits of Rockport I actually had someone come & steal all the meat out of my big ice chest I had sitting in my driveway by my garage door. I had trapped a couple of nice hogs & had them packed well in ice, (big pieces of meat). There was this alchoholic/dopehead bum on a bicycle that used to always stop at my house & ask me for fish or beer whenever he saw me unloading my boat. I quit giving to bums years ago so I always told him no & to get on down the road & leave me alone. I'm pretty shure it was him that stole my meat, no animal could have dug through that much ice & pulled out those big pieces of meat IMO. Not to mention you had to actually get into the ice chest first & dig through several inches of ice. Anyway, when I got up the next morning to see if I needed more ice all of my meat was gone. I was PI$$#@ off & actually called the police. They showed up & I explained & then couldn't help but laugh about the whole thing, must have sounded pretty funny to the police officer. I'll be the first person to help someone that's actually trying to help themselves first but dadgum....steal my meat! He didn't even know what kind of meat it was lol! Well hopefully it fed some hungry mouths, but IMO a thief is a thief....doesn't matter what they're stealing. Stole my meat lol....

That hog laid out there all night in 80+ degree temps. I drove by the next morning about 10Am and buzzards were on him already. About noon I went back by and the pig was gone. I called my buddy and he said that he hadn't made it there yet. I told him not to worry about because somebody had already gone in the field and picked it up.

I can only assume that they took it to eat. Then

I don't doubt that. It seems that the rats run to until the land ends and they just pile up along the coast.

I love the coast and plan to retire there, but there are some serious sand crabs living down that way.

Or maybe round 'em up, offer 'em a free offshore trip then skuttle the boat with all of 'em onboard.

Don't hang 'em unless it's under 45 degrees. If it's over 45 then you need to quarter the deer and put it on ice. I age my deer on ice for 3-5 days. Drain the water and add ice daily. This will bleed out the meat. No gamey flavor and a nice pink color.

I'm not sure I'd want to eat a deer that hung for several days in 60-70 degree temps. That's too warm.

Well, this is actually a pretty serious matter.

Since you won't believe me, I contacted the USDA; read for yourself:

Ask Karen: Thank you for contacting AskKaren. How may I help you today?
Gary: UnRefrigerated venison - stored 48 hrs at 65 to 70 degrees F (quartered deer - raw & unprocessed) - safe to prepare (cook) and eat?
Ask Karen: Unfortunately, no it is not safe. We say to refrigerate game immediately at 40 degrees or below. If it was left for 2 days in a warm temp it is not safe.

Ask Karen: It has to be stored at 40 degrees or below.
Gary: Well, I kinda know that; can you give me something to tell buddy who thinks otherwise?
Ask Karen: Yes, give me a minute let me find our fact sheet on wild game.
Ask Karen: We have this answer in our Ask Karen feature and now I will get the fact sheet for you.
Answer Link: http://askkaren.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/149
Ask Karen: Fact sheet on wild game, there is a section in the fact sheet about how to handle game safely: http://www.fsis.usda.gov/Fact_Sheets/Farm_Raised_Game/index.asp#11
Ask Karen: The fact sheet even has a section on what bacteria can be found in wild game, maybe that will help convince him it's not safe.

Gary: How sick (potentially) can he get from eating it?
Ask Karen: Very sick, foodborne illness can potentially kill.
Ask Karen: Salmonella and E.coli can be found in wild game.

Gary: Will cooking resolve that?
Ask Karen: No, some bacteria produce a toxin, cooking does not destroy toxins.

Gary: Ok, thanks.
Ask Karen: Your welcome. I hope that helps. Bye.

LOL, I once ate a pig that had gang green. I mean the entire front section was a stinky green mush, did I mention it really smelled bad lol. I cut that thing in half & kept the hams & half of the backstraps. The rest of the meat still looked good & smelled good, my attitude back then was, "it ain't nothin' 350 degrees won't cure", so I cooked & ate every bit of it that I saved & enjoyed it. Now, understand that I was in my early 20's & thought nothing could hurt me lol. I would NEVER take that chance now, especially if feeding it to my family lol. I really really wanted that meat lol! Hell I even ate road kill one time lol.

A quick an easy way is to buy a cheap refrigerator and put in some racks and you can quarter up your venison and hang it for a week or so. Put in a pan on the bottom that will catch the blood and drain daily. I travel a lot and using the ice chest method with draining it daily is not an option for me. And if I don’t get home in a couple of weeks the meat will keep.
There are tons of cheap refrigerators on Craig’s list daily.