Hanging deer

[kevfish1]

I got a deer last night and have it hanging in the garage. It was 60 degreees last night and fell to around 45 over nite. Now today the temps are going to start dropping mid day and it is currently 45 degrees in my garage. should be cold enough tonight. Do you think I am ok with letting it hang for a couple of days in the garage. 1st day warm and then dropping??

[schmoe147]

Yes that will be fine, by the looks of the forecast it might freeze in your garage in the next couple days !!

[TonkaBass]

I agree. I wouldn't worry about it. However, I do just try and get a deer processed and in the freezer ASAP instead of hanging it.

[WIMN]

I let one hang outside in 50s/60s over the weekend. Shot 7 AM Saturday, quartered it and took out the backstraps at 5PM Monday. Was fine but the bloody meat was starting to smell kinda funky. Gonna be a pain in the rear to actually go and butcher it up, I threw the quarters in a garbage bag and into the freezer because I was crunched for time.

[MJ1657]

I put a bag of ice in the chest if in doubt.

[CANOPY SAM]

Your deer will be fine as long as the temp drops below 45 in the garage, and stays below that temp.

Hung two deer in my garage for 5 days (caped) with temps consistently at or below 35-40 degrees. Meat is tender, moist, and perfect for processing, or packaging and freezing. No foul smell, no bacterial growth, just tender venison, aged to perfection.

Just a heads up. DON'T put your meat in a garbage bag. Garbage bags are not intended to contain fresh meat. There is some sort of chemical that leeches out of them, and into the meat. It won't hurt you, but it will make the venison taste like a plastic bag.

[not_nuf_time]

Garbage bags work fine, haven't noticed any tainted meat over the years.

[certified jumbo]

your meat should be just fine.

ideally, i like to hang my deer for around 3-4 days if temps allow. if i harvest deer in early season, i quarter them and put them in my fridge. your meat will be more tender if you hang them.

typically, you don't want to put meat in bags. you want your meat to be able to breathe. if you do put meat into garbage bags i've read your supposed to use the white bags and not the black bags. would highly recommend not putting meat in a garbage bag though. a quick google search will support that.

[hockeybc69]

If using bags garbage bags are not recommended. White or black.

[WIMN]

Are we talking just short-term storage? I'm leaving the quarters in there until tomorrow, hopefully a few days in the freezer won't have hurt it too bad.

[sportfish]

I don't hang them any longer than I have to, sometimes they only hang for a half hour and other times over night . I think getting the hide and bone off the meat is the most important thing. Some of the best tasting and tender meat I have had was shot and butchered and put on ice to cool , no hang time ,killed and iced in 2 hours !

[hockeybc69]

WIMN

i guess the simple answer is garbage bags are not considered food safe bags.

Will it hurt for short term? Probably not.

Long term no way would i try it.