Aging big game meat

My Grandpa used to hang his deer on a tree for a few days, my dad told me sometime it would smell pretty strong. He skinned them first.

Never had any of mine in a walk-in cooler.

I don't believe venison actually ages when frozen, seems more like suspended animation. Some aging may occur while thawing.

I try not to shoot deer when it's warm. Warm weather deer are generally processed ASAP. I'll ice them down with the hide on if need be. I have access to a cooler that's large enough for a quartered deer, so I may try the ice with drain open trick some time. For those that do this, is the meat under or over the ice? I'd think you'd want the meat over the ice, separated by something so there's no direct contact.

If overnight temps are in the 30s and daytime temps in the 40s for the most part, I'll hang them hide-on for about a week in a cool spot out of the sun.

You can definitely tell a difference in meat quality between deer that's processed right after the kill and deer that's hung for at least a week in the right conditions.

From what I've been told, beef is aged because of the fat marbling while deer don't have that. I usually shoot and get cut up asap, then into the freezer it goes.

I firmly believe that what happens with and to a deer before it's shot has just as much or more to do with how it tastes and how tender it is. No matter how long it hangs after being shot.

A deer that has been eating browse instead of corn and beans will taste much stronger. A deer that has been running before getting shot will be tougher. I've been on the taste end of both of those types of deer and that is my experience.

When hunting Antelope, my cousin, who lives in Wyoming said don't shoot a buck that has been running a while, or chasing does to keep them in his harem. He will be stronger and tougher than a buck that hasn't been running.

True Dat.

90°F temps. Shot both a buck and doe Antelope. Neither was running or breathing hard. Both went less than 20 yds after being shot. Immediately field dressed, filled the body cavity with ice and tarped them for the 1 hr ride home. Once there, they both were skinned and processed asap. Both were fork cutting tender and very good tasting.

I shot a buck in Wisconsin that got past the drivers and they went back in and pushed him out. He dropped in his tracks. Immediately field dressed and hung in below freezing weather. He hung like that for almost 3 weeks. Brought him in and it took a day to thaw enough to skin and process. Tough and pretty strong taste, not like Indiana deer.

Here I field dress them asap (some take an hour after being shot) and wash out the body cavity with water, then cool for a day to 4 days, then cut up. No complaints at all.

CANNING is the best!!! We started after losing several deer to a 3 or 4 year old chest freezer that quit on us. Once you get your recipe down, its like money in the bank. All deer taste good and are fork tender after canning.

I must be brain dead. I can other stuff and never thought of canning deer.  Thanks

I've heard of folks that use the water bath method, but to be safe it really should be pressure canned. My brother has a really good recipe that involves heating the meat and mixing with cream of mushroom soup before canning. Other recipes are simply cold-packed.

Please post that recipe!