Processing questions

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dennishoddy

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Been told that the "standard" upright freezer is easier to organize and get to your different cuts of meat much easier. Floor or chest freezers can hold a lot but i would think it would get tiresome to have to always dig for items that are not right on the top. Just my opinion.
100% agree. Upright is the way to go and not a self defrost. Your meat will keep longer in a manual defrost.
 

Lakenut

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Not to argue.....i always thought you wanted to keep the meat in tact vs. deboning when aging. The ideal way to do it would 've to skin the deer and hang the entire thing for a couple of days. Not real practical for most unless ma nature helps out.

I usually quarter animals then set the quarters on racks in a spare fridge. This allows dry aging. Not sure that wet aging in a cooler is the way to go.

Just.my .02

Lem makes a great grinder btw. Lots of friends bring me their venison to grind. Mine is starting it's 5th season and sees 6-10 animals a year. I agree with spending a bit more and getting the bigger units.
 

dennishoddy

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Not to argue.....i always thought you wanted to keep the meat in tact vs. deboning when aging. The ideal way to do it would 've to skin the deer and hang the entire thing for a couple of days. Not real practical for most unless ma nature helps out.

I usually quarter animals then set the quarters on racks in a spare fridge. This allows dry aging. Not sure that wet aging in a cooler is the way to go.

Just.my .02

Lem makes a great grinder btw. Lots of friends bring me their venison to grind. Mine is starting it's 5th season and sees 6-10 animals a year. I agree with spending a bit more and getting the bigger units.

I think they are saying to put the boned out meat in a cooler to get the blood out and drain daily before processing.
 

tslabaugh

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Glad I found this thread. This is something I have been too afraid to try in the past... Going to attempt doing my own deer this year. I hope to hunt speed goats out west next year, so I want to get comfortable doing it.

What do you guys do if you hunt out of state? Just keep it cool and out of moisture until you get home?

Everyone I see who hunts out of state buys dry ice and says it is frozen after their long drive home. Wouldn't this mess up the aging?
 

dennishoddy

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Glad I found this thread. This is something I have been too afraid to try in the past... Going to attempt doing my own deer this year. I hope to hunt speed goats out west next year, so I want to get comfortable doing it.

What do you guys do if you hunt out of state? Just keep it cool and out of moisture until you get home?

Everyone I see who hunts out of state buys dry ice and says it is frozen after their long drive home. Wouldn't this mess up the aging?
I was afraid to do it in the past, but after the first time, it becomes a challenge to see how many clean white bones you can leave after processing all the animal. In my experience, depending on what processor you use, it can be a "maybe" if the meat you get back is actually your deer.
I know one that just has them dumped into a pile, he processes and distributes the meat no matter who shot them or carried them in their truck for two warm days to brag on it.
If you don't know a processor personally, do it yourself.
If you're hunting out of state, it all depends on the weather.
When I'm elk hunting, it can get to 25 below zero. The temps coming back into OK are usually just above freezing, so my elk is delivered frozen. He hangs it for 20 some days. It's thawed a day or so afterward while hanging.
Contrary to uneducated popular opinion, meat that thaws can be refrozen without losing anything, but possible a little flavor. My processor does one at a time for each hunter.
I cringe everytime I hear someone say their freezer quit and the meat started thawing, so they threw it out.
If it's still within the USDA temps for preserving meat, get the danged stuff refrozen, and you have lost nothing.
You can buy cheap freezer temp alarm units to alert you if it gets into the 30 degree range. Still frozen, but getting close to unfrozen.
 

retrieverman

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What do you guys do if you hunt out of state? Just keep it cool and out of moisture until you get home?

Everyone I see who hunts out of state buys dry ice and says it is frozen after their long drive home. Wouldn't this mess up the aging?

I can’t remember all the details to the story, but I knew a guy who lived in TX and hunted in KS. For some reason, he killed a buck, immediately loaded it in his suburban with the guts in it, and drove home with it. He cleaned it when he got home. He’s a weird guy, and it was a weird story. I’ll see if my brother remembers the details.

I’ve been hunting out of state for 15 years, and my deer processing procedures are the same no matter where I hunt.
Hang it.
Skin it.
Quarter or debone into a cooler.
Soak meat in cool water to cool the meat and remove any hair.
Ice it down (never heard of anyone using dry ice).
Haul off the carcass.
If it’s a doe, I keep the lower half of a front leg, and if it’s a buck, I’ll have the head.
Knock on wood, but I have never been ”stopped” by a game warden.

I did meet Ben Bickerstaff while hauling off three carcasses several years ago. He was parked in my easement gate on a “stake out” looking for road hunters...really nice guy.
 

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