Meat Facts

[HunterHarry]

I've been a butcher for 27 years, but learned some very valuable info this year.
I first started the year by shooting a nice Blacktail with my bow.
I shot him just before dark.
Not wanting to spook him into the next county, I reluctantly waited till morning to retrieve him.
I quickly found the bloodtrail in the morning, and promptly gutted him.
He was still a bit warm on the underside.
I brought him home, skinned him and then took him to a refrigerated meat locker, where I hung his carcass.
I butchered him about 4 days later, boned him out,and froze the meat.
That buck was one of the best eating deer I've ever had.
Tender & non gamey.
A couple months later I am in the high country rifle hunting Blacktails.
I am spiked out on a big ridge overlooking a steep rough canyon.
I make a fabulous shot on a nice 4x4 buck.
I put my backpack on, cross the canyon and find my buck.
This is VERY nasty, rough country and the only way to get the buck out of this wilderness is on your back.
I take some nice photos, then skin and bone out the buck on the spot.
His muscles are still twitching as I run my knife through him.
After a gruelling hike out, I finally get home, and process the meat and freeze it.
This buck ate like shoe leather!
I mean my jaws were sore after one steak!
Both bucks were probably about the same age, both were in great shape and had LOTS of fat covering them.
Neither were anywhere close to rutting and still had their summer coats on.
These two scenarios are perfect examples of Meat Science.
Buck #1 cooled very slowly and allowed rigor mortis to set in with the meat still on the bone.
Buck #2 was chilled immediatley, and boned out before rigor mortis set in.
The muscles then contracted tightly upon themselves creating a dog ass tough piece of meat.
The first buck was allowed to rigor on the bone, where the muscles were not allowed to constrict upon themselves. The muscle fibres were kept from tightly constricting by their attachment to the skeletal structure.
Everyone strives to cool their meat real quickly, but as this example shows, it is possible to cool it TOO quickly.
I don't age my meat too long, as I hate to throw away that leathery outside covering that accumulates on a buck that hangs too long.
My findings were backedup by a Federal Meat inspector that I know with a 4 year degree in Animal Science.
I also highly recommend boning out your vennison.
Most of the gamey flavor comes from the bone marrow.
When cut on a band saw, that marrow is smeared onto every cut of meat, contaminating it with the gamey flavor.
Most meat shops process with speed in mind and don't want to take the time to prepare your meat boneless.
I also add a considerable amount of Beef fat (about 25%) to my ground vennison, it really sweetens up the meat.
I love buck burgers!
This was a valuable lesson.
Just thought I'd pass it on to you guys.
HH

 

[MichaelJ]

Great post HH and thanks for the tips!!

Michael~All Gods creatures welcome... right next to the mashed potatoes and gravy.

 

[RACKMASTER]

I love deer boogers too!
rm

 

[257Tony]

I also love deer burgers. But I dont like the beef tallow, though. I prefer to mix a little Jimmy Dean sausage in with it, yummy!

 

[antlerfool]

We usually let our wild game hang for about a week without skinning the hide off. I read that you should do this to allow the enzyms or what to break down tenderizing the meat. But, I would also have to agree with all that you said. Nothing beats good ol' tender wildgame!

 

[kilowatt]

This past season I found a guy in Elko area that does meat cutting, packing and freezing, he works out of his home. He told me that ALL GAME ANIMALS that he does are "boned out", no saws at all. The band saws are for cattle only.
Did a great job too.
In 2004 we took our deer into a local meat shop in White Sulphur Springs, only one there too, and they likewise did ONLY BONED OUT PROCESSING. Took only two/three days to do the game and turned out great.

Brian

 

[polarbear]

I do boneless on everything that I cut up, whether it be game or beef, the only exception is on a couple of beef roasts.

Eric

 

[LIK2HNT]

I always bone them out. And when hunting in the heat of California I try to get them boned out and packed out a soon as posible. I hate dragging deer and in alot of the places I hunt you could not drag one out alone. This does create tougher meat. The worst was a few years ago when I arrowed a buck one morning at the begining of a hunt about 500 yards from my truck. I had planned on hunting all day and there was a dirt road about 50 yards from where the buck dropped. I jogged back to my truck. Drove up as close as possible and drag my ice chest over to the buck. I bone him out, through the meat on the ice, and hunted till dark. That made the most chewyist buck I ever ate.

I guess you could gut, shin, and hang it up in a deer bag. Hike back in latter to de-bone and pack it out.

Bill

 

[HunterHarry]

My highcountry hunts are like that.
Sometimes you really have no choice but to bone them and backpack them out ASAP, especially in bear country or coyote infested areas.
There are times when you do have the option though, and in that case, let it cool slowly on the bone for better meat.
HH

 

[fletch]

I have also have had the experience of tough boned meat. I avoid it at all costs now. Like HH said sometimes you cant help it but if given a choice I leave bone in...hang for at least 3 days and then cut and wrap it boneless. We do all of our own butchering too for a nice clean product...yum

 

[wile]

I'm to understand that in South America in their beef export business to France they kill and skin then wrap the carcass in a cloth bag and cool it much slower than they do here in the states. This process seems to yield tender tasty grass fed beef so it probably would work for deer.

 

[larrbo]

I have been in the meat business all of my life. I worked in a butchershop and locker plant as a kid and skinned hundreds of deer per year starting at 9 years old--(that would be against the law now). 43 years later I am still in the meat business in the distribution end.
I have learned in my years of hunting and being in the meat business how to take care of game for the best eating.

1. When field dressing an animal make the smallest cut possible and only remove stomach and intestines.\
2. Leave the heart and liver in the animal. The smaller opening in the animal will allow less dirt and other material the enter inside the animal.
3. Get the hide of of animal as soon as possible. This will allow the animal to cool off properly. You want a glaze to form on the outside of the animal to protect the meat, be careful not to allow the carcass to get wet.
4. Put your animal in a good game bag to protect it from flies.
5. Allow your animal to hang during the night to cool off, during the day if it is warm, wrap it with a sleeping bag to keep cool.
6. As soon as posible get your animal to a locker plant or someplace with refigeration.
7. If you were able to take these steps with the carcass, you should be able to age the meat at least 14 days before you cut it up. This will break down the muscle fiber and make the meat more tender.

I realize that there are different circumstances every hunter comes up against in taking care of their game. This has worked for me over the years.

Larry

 

[HunterHarry]

I completley agree with most of your statements.
Like I said in my other posts, I dont really like to age my meat that long, I feel that you just lose too much to trimming.
I assumed that I knew all the ins and out of the meat business , but found out a few interesting things by talking with my federal meat inspector friend.
I cannot remember the scientific term, but he told me about how when meat is immediatley chilled, it constricts the muscle fibers, creating a tougher product as compared to a gradual chill.
This statement kind of flew in the face of my long standing belief of rapidly chilling wild game.
Had this statement been made by anyone but this highly educated professional, I probably would had blown him off.
That is why I made my post showing the differences between the two circumstances in my two blacktails.
For the most part you are certainly correct, and nearly all hunters would be just fine in following your advice.

 

[larrbo]

I know that in alot of large meat plants now, they use electric stimulation on the carcass imediately after it is skinned to help make the meat more tender.

 

[JACKELOPE]

I know there are probably other threads on here regarding this question, but it sounds like the ones who will know are here...
we hunt mid october, 40-50 degrees during the day. we skin and game-bag our deer immediately and always worry about the temps. goes down into the low 30's at night. we don't leave them hanging very long before processing, usually the next day. with 45 degree temps during the day, is it safe to leave it hang an extra couple days assuming the meat cools off nicely in the evening?? maybe like someone said earlier wrap a sleeping bag around it??
thanks in advance for any input.

 

[HunterHarry]

Wrapping a sleeping bag around it is a great way to insulate it.
I think you will be just fine.
HH

 

[JACKELOPE]

THANK YOU.

 

[HunterHarry]

In my original post, I forgot to mention that another big source of gamey flavor the the bucks fat.
All of it should be trimmed off for best flavor.
HH

 

[eelgrass]

Very interesting HH. A few years ago I shot an antelope at the "last minute" in Nevada. I was due back to work the next day so quickly skinned and boned the meat. I immediatly headed for town and put the meat on ice and headed for home. That was the toughest darn meat I've ever eaten. Now I know why!

Steve

 

[txhunter58]

Jackalope: I have kept many deer hanging under the exact conditions you describe (25-35 at night and 40-50 in the day). We gut them immediately, and skin them ASAP. After that, we have let them hang 3-4 days under these conditions with NO problems, and they are more tender. You could insulate them with sleeping bag/etc. during the day, but we have had no problem with just hanging them in the shade with a game bag on.

txhunter58

venor, ergo sum (I hunt, therefore I am)

 

[Gator]

If you hang them for a few days make sure they are covered to keep blowflies off them even in 40-50 degree weather you will get some flies.

 

[Canoe]

Great Post HH! There is a lot of great information in your post and those of some of the other guys too. Thanks for the contribution.

 

[Phantom Hunter]

Great Post HH. I, too have found that it is better to wait to bone the meat until after it cools. Most times we remove the hams and shoulders and pack them out whole (horses help). We then bone the backstraps and neck/rib meat. The only steak meat that is boned immediatly is the backstraps and it is a very tender cut anyway.

Phantom Hunter

 

[SMELLYBUCK]

HH,
Thanks for your post. I was always taught to get the meat gutted as soon as possible. I was under the impression that a deer left over night would be rotted by morning. You have calmed some of my paranoia with caring for meat.
CI

 

[KNOPHISH]

Sounds like if you have to bone out the entire animal you might as well make burger or sausage out of the whole thing except the back straps. I didn't get the part above keeping water off the carcass. I try to wash off any blood & hair with water if available. I also heard from my butcher to leave the fat on until butchering.

 

[larrbo]

If you allow your deer to hang for a few hours it will dry and crust on the outside. You can wipe away any hair with your hand. If you need to wash the inside of your deer, go ahead, you just want to make sure that it dries out. Remember if you want to hang that deer for 2 weeks so it is more tender, you have to take good care of the animal. If the animal is washed off and doesn't dry, you could have a problem in doing this. Bacteria really explodes in a wet enviornment which could cause the animal to have mold if you allow 2 weeks to age.

 

[Colville]

Toughness is primarilly about hang time after accounting for the animals age etc. Muscle fibers begin breaking down with time and temp. Field boned animals appear tougher imo because they get cut and to a freezer quickly. Little or no hanging, no aging. Age meat too warm and you'll get unpleasant flavors, but tenderness.

I've an uncle in meat packing for his adult life and I've talked with my butcher and one other on the subject. They don't seem to subscribe to bones and rigor having anything to do with end game toughness. Leaving ruting and age of animal out of it for the general statement, they attribute tenderness and gamey flavor to too much HEAT for too long after death and too brief a hang time or aging at appropriate temps. And obviously fat.

On boned meat that went right to the freezer, try turning your fridge down to mid high 30's of degrees and after thawing putting that meat in there for a week before eating it. If it's going to soften up it's got to age sometime. Problem is that aging should be done in the high 30's not 45 or 55 out in the trees. Some butchers won't age game animals unless outdoor temps have been near freezing all along as they can't attest for how much time the meat has spent at what temp already. ymmv

 

[stanley]

In the day & age of posts full of meaningless minutia, this is GOOD info.

Rock solid post, and good info HH!

S.

 

[HunterHarry]

Coleville,
You are correct for the most part.
The main reason for my post was the glaring examples between the two bucks I mentioned.
However, The Rigor mortis is a definite factor in the rapidly boned out (tough) meat equation.
The rigor sets in much more rapidly and much more tightly when the muscles are rapidly chilled with no skeletal attachments to keep the muscle fibers seperated.
Yes, aging will help, but you lose a huge amount to trimming (the entire outside surface).
After 27 years as a butcher, I found this info to be a real eye opener and had many examples throughout my hunting carreer to back up this theory.
When explained in detail by a highly educated federal meat inspector it all rang true to me.
HH

 

[woodruffhunter]

Finally, a thread with meaning. Thanks HH, you have answered a
lot of my questions.

-woodruffhunter

 

[Hoosierbuck]

Leaving the fat on until butchering will help limit some of the trimming HH alludes to as it will form a protective layer on the meat and prevent a little of the drying. Rigor mortis (in humans anyway) comes and goes in about 48 hours. Here in IN I hang my whities, skinned, in the garage for a day or three before I bone them out. Sometimes they are in the fridge another day or two before wrapping and freezing. Compare these conditions to what HH has described as ideal, and figure in the fact that the deer around here eat alfalfa, soybeans and corn, and you have some of the best table fare in the deer world.
HB

 

[redrabbit]

Good thread with some good info.

I have heard about the rigor mortis factor before. How long till rigor sets in and then how long before the muscles relax again?

For many years, I have kept the my quartered deer and elk in ice chests covered with cubed ice and the drain plug open, until I could process it at home. Never had bad meat. This year, a butcher/processor told me thateven with melted ice draining, the water gets into the surface muscle fibers and this is not good. Transporting the meat home in coolers could by done with frozen water jugs/soda bottles, or getting some dry ice at the first store.

RR

 

[HunterHarry]

Unfortunatley it seems like sometimes your options are limited.
Tough meat beats spoiled meat!
At worst, you can always have tough meat ground into burger.
Once it's spoiled though, that's it.
When I process my meat, I make steaks,(chops) out of the backstraps & hindquarters the rest I make into burger.
HH