- Jul 29, 2014
- 50,176
We do mega-drives at the end of gun season where it's does and wall hangers only. If you shoot a BB, you have to kick in a 30 pack of Bud.
The OFFICIAL 2015 Bambi Whacking Picture Thread
- Thread starter iH8DemLibz
- Start date
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We do mega-drives at the end of gun season where it's does and wall hangers only. If you shoot a BB, you have to kick in a 30 pack of Bud.
j_h_smith
Ultimate Member
- Jul 28, 2007
- 28,516
There are times that you may not be able to see if it's a bb, so what happens then?
Years ago a friend was in on a lease with some other guys and their rule was if you shoot a buck you have to get it mounted! That will deter you from shooting a small one. I don't believe they had a penalty for a button buck being it is sometimes difficult to tell.
- Jul 29, 2014
- 50,176
We end up with 4 or 5 30 packs at the end of the day. It gets drunk. There's a lot of us.
I alway thought that it's better to let it hang longer till the rigor mortis goes away and then the meat is not as tough?
- Jul 29, 2014
- 50,176
It's called dry aging..
itsslow98
Ultimate Member
Aging venison is a debateable topic anyways, some say there are no benefits to letting them hang.
wilcam47
Ultimate Member
I think gutting them and hanging them as soon as possible eliminates a lot of the "gamey" flavor. Rather than how long to hang them..
j_h_smith
Ultimate Member
- Jul 28, 2007
- 28,516
Agreed.
Hanging them out will be determined by the outside temps. In this weather (80 degree+), I wouldn't want to let them hang for long. As a matter of fact, in my younger years, I'd buy 2-3 10 lb bags of ice and leave them in a cooler. If I did harvest a deer, after gutting, the deer would be put in the back of the truck and the cavity would then be packed with a couple bags of ice.
YMMV and I will allow you to do what you think is best. I'm nice like that...
wilcam47
Ultimate Member
I think it might have been in this forum but they were saying to drain the water in the cooler periodically, this helped to reduce the gamey flavor too.
In my mind I think there are many things that depend on the final taste of the deer.
- How its harvested...Was it a clean shot, no adreanaline or was it a gut shot that caused the deer to run for a few miles?
- Time of year killed, what its eating
- How quickly you gut and cool the meat
The esphogaus starts to decay with in 30 mins or so after death, important to get to the deer pretty quickly and cool it off. I usually let mine sit in the fridge overnight just due to convience. I'm not sure there is any real benefit to aging deer meat.
Yes...draining the water in the cooler is almost like a "brine"...flushes some of the blood out of the meat.
Gunlawyer
Active Member
At our place we are simply hip deep in spikes and forks, then a much smaller amount of 6s and small 8s/10s, then a small handful of really nice bucks and one or two insane bucks-the type you hear rumors about. I try to only arrow bucks from that next to last category (pretty much never see the HUGE ones from the rumor category at our place) but sometimes I zap some from the 6s and small 8s/10s pool. There is no QDM here as the parcels are all small and we are crawling with desperate bambi blasting rednecks so if you don't arrow/blast it, there is very very good chance someone on the next parcel of woods over will and you will never see that deer again alive. That is a darn shame but it is the way it is.
As far as meat quality, I have found that getting the deer skinned and quartered (and deboned depending) ASAP !!!!! and buried in ice in a huge cooler eliminates gamey (which is nature's way of telling you it has spoiled) flavor. I like to drain the bloody ice water out a few times and the water comes out pretty much clear after a day or two. Never had a problem with such deer meat submerged in icy/ice water even for more than a week. That's how I roll anyway. Your mileage may vary.
CT
As far as meat quality, I have found that getting the deer skinned and quartered (and deboned depending) ASAP !!!!! and buried in ice in a huge cooler eliminates gamey (which is nature's way of telling you it has spoiled) flavor. I like to drain the bloody ice water out a few times and the water comes out pretty much clear after a day or two. Never had a problem with such deer meat submerged in icy/ice water even for more than a week. That's how I roll anyway. Your mileage may vary.
CT
I was always told to never leave the meat lay in water in the ice chest. I was taught to bag the meats and put it onto of the ice and pack ice around it. Then open the drain on the chest so no water builds up. But really I don't think it matter just so long as the deer is kept cool.
- Jul 29, 2014
- 50,176
That is exactly correct. Meat sitting in water breeds bacteria quickly. To properly DRY age deer in a cooler, you want the meat sitting on top of the ice with a good water barrier between. Remember to rotate the meat every so often to keep temperatures consistent.
iH8DemLibz
When All Else Fails.
The best deer I've ever tasted came from the ones I've skinned out and processed myself.
No difference between itty bitty Bambi and lamb. Uber-Tender and no sign of iron/gamey taste that you get from aged deer meat. If you have the time, try it.
And a trick for ground deer meat to help get rid of the iron/gamey taste: Put the bag of grind in a round container with the opening facing down. Take a knife and punch a couple of holes in the opposite end of the bag. In 3 to 4 days time, all the blood/iron taste will drain from the meat. Huge difference.
I think the processors age the meat because it's easier for them to cut and grind colder and harder meat.
No difference between itty bitty Bambi and lamb. Uber-Tender and no sign of iron/gamey taste that you get from aged deer meat. If you have the time, try it.
And a trick for ground deer meat to help get rid of the iron/gamey taste: Put the bag of grind in a round container with the opening facing down. Take a knife and punch a couple of holes in the opposite end of the bag. In 3 to 4 days time, all the blood/iron taste will drain from the meat. Huge difference.
I think the processors age the meat because it's easier for them to cut and grind colder and harder meat.
foxtrapper
Ultimate Member
I got all 3 of mine last year when temps were cold ( 40 or less), and I gutted them smoothly despite using a headlamp and having to feel up in the chest and just pulling and cutting in the top. Some of you might like my style if there is no gut shot on your deer LOL. They were gutted within 10-15 minutes of the kill. Then a drag that took maybe 20 mins at most. Once I got them in the truck bed I propped a stick in the cavity and also tried to be sure the deer was on it's back as much as possible. My last deer, a big doe, was steaming away, as it was below freezing. As soon as I got home ( 40 mins first 2 and maybe 50 mins the last one- stopped to get gas- yeah the Ceciltucky redneck way) I had my dad help me hang them, then after resting a couple hours, I went out and skinned them, and removed the windpipe/esophagus. Then they hung in the cold shed for 2 days or so until I butchered them. Oh yeah, I did not get all 3 deer at once LOL, they were spaced apart- standard modern firearm, late muzzleloader, and late firearm. I wouldn't want to have to do 3 deer at the same time!
I think if I went hunting in warmer temps, I'd quarter right after skinning and let them cool in the fridge a while, plastic bag them, then let them sit in the fridge another day or so. I'm tempted to hunt early muzzleloader if the temps aren't too bad, the bucks are still around then and starting to rut.
I think if I went hunting in warmer temps, I'd quarter right after skinning and let them cool in the fridge a while, plastic bag them, then let them sit in the fridge another day or so. I'm tempted to hunt early muzzleloader if the temps aren't too bad, the bucks are still around then and starting to rut.
engineerbrian
JMB fan club
Well since our annual picture thread has turned into the annual deer aging thread, i guess i'll join in too
Here are a few bullet points on what i do
• Gut deer ASAP
• Never drag deer through a creek or stream
• Skin deer and quarter ASAP
• Clean meat ASAP
• Hang quarters for 1 week and then process into family size portions
• If outside air temps are below 40 degrees the quarters hang in my garage on a homemade rack
• If outside aire temps are above 40 degrees the quarters hang inside my garage refrigerator that has racks in it that hold meat hooks. The fridge door is opened at leAst once a day to allow fresh air in.
Ok can someone kill a deer and post a picture dammit!
Here are a few bullet points on what i do
• Gut deer ASAP
• Never drag deer through a creek or stream
• Skin deer and quarter ASAP
• Clean meat ASAP
• Hang quarters for 1 week and then process into family size portions
• If outside air temps are below 40 degrees the quarters hang in my garage on a homemade rack
• If outside aire temps are above 40 degrees the quarters hang inside my garage refrigerator that has racks in it that hold meat hooks. The fridge door is opened at leAst once a day to allow fresh air in.
Ok can someone kill a deer and post a picture dammit!
- Jul 29, 2014
- 50,176
If I know I have to drag the deer across a creek(and two of my happy hunting grounds have creeks), I wait to gut it out on the other side.
Yea there are varying opinions on it. I'm originally from the midwest and still hunt there, and have had deer hang for up to a week in some cases weather permitting. I haven't noticed any big difference between deer that were cooled and packaged in a day or two and those that were aged longer. I think the main things are getting it dressed out and cooled down as soon as possible, and a quick clean kill to prevent a stressed out animal running with a lot of adrenaline in its system for an extended period of time.
