Quoted: Here is a .pdf of skinning a deer using the old "golf ball" trick. I've seen it done once and it did work. The prep work doesn't take long. wildlife.tamu.edu/publications/TAEXWildlife/WILDPUBS/A011.PDF

Interesting.

+1 for aging.  In the south I age it in quarters in the spare fridge in garbage bags.  Every couple of days--rinse and replace bags.  I will do this for about 2 weeks.  Natural enzymes, etc will break down the meat to where it is much more tender and less gamey.  I do also cut off the "silver skin" and fat.  That is the source of much of the gaminess.

I have converted many who once tried venison and did not like the way ot tasted.  They try mine and they are now asking for handouts each year.

Quoted: I bought a grinder and a dehydrator after getting back some bad meat from a processor. It had hair, bone, and grass in the ground meat. I quarter and store the meat for a week in a cooler of ice, draining the water and adding ice when needed. It helps a little with the cold shortening of the meat fibers. I then wait for my wife to go to sleep, and debone and pack into ziplocks at the kitchen sink. I do my grinding a little at a time as I need it: a hand grinder is a lot like work. No one will treat the meat the way you will. My ground looks fresh and red, like it came from Publix, while the stuff I used to get from the processor looked greasy and brown like re-dated Food Lion beef. My father-in-law has started raiding my freezer when he is in town, so I've had to learn to hide the backstraps!! ETA, the tenderloins can still be reached without gutting, you just have to hold the intesines away and be careful.

I've found it is best to just grind all of mine at once.  Seems like once I freeze it, it takes too long to defrost, and then to grind.  

I use two large stainless steel bowls.  If you have a partner helping top bag the meat it goes pretty quickly. If you don;t have a partner, just remove the entire grinding head off the grinder base and refrigerate it while you take a break.

BTW, if you have your own home grinder, watch for beef briskets on sale.  They make a nice hamburger/chili meat for alot less than store-ground meat.

TRG

How about we sticky this thread?

It is a regulation in WV that you field dress the deer where it dropped. You are not to move the deer until it is gutted.

Quoted: Western hunters probably have different thoughts on this subject, but that's how I see it. - Tim

Well mainly the geography difference is probably the biggest thing.  Dragging a complete animal out of a messy clear cut versus dragging it a short ways across flat, clear ground.  If an animal is shot next to the road and I am in a hurry, I have gutted it out at home.  It is so much easier to leave the guts in the woods though.

Quoted: It is a regulation in WV that you field dress the deer where it dropped. You are not to move the deer until it is gutted.

You know I hunt in WV sometimes (state line is about 4 miles from my house) and I had no idea about this.

I always just toss the deer on four wheeler/truck and gut it while hanging, so much easier.

deers got wermz!

Quoted: You can now leave your meat to age almost indefinitely.  Just replace the ice as it melts.  The temp in the cooler will be above freezing, but won't go bad, and the meat will age.

Whoa.  

Not to say that you are wrong, but that is not good information.

Aged meat, that can remain almost indefinately, is different from letting it sit in a cooler for 3-5 days.

Aged meat should be air dried, not wet packed.  It has to do with bacterial pathways in to the meat and the process by which internal bacteria 'eat' the meat from the inside out. The internal bacteria are what softens the celullar structure and tenderizes or 'ages' the meat.

Done properly, the meat should be left on the bone, and all hair and detritus (fecal material, dirt, hair) removed.

Rinse with a cold water solution (no salt) and hang it in a cool, dry and unlit area.  A good light breeze is recommended. Even a fan can help.

The meat will begin to air dry and internal juices will drip away for a few days.  After a few hours the outer layer of the meat will be dry and will seal the internal meat from an invasion by airborne bacteria.  

Once it is air sealed, the meat can continue to hang.  I have heard of venison hams (uncured) that were allowed to hang for 5+ months.

You want to be certain that no sunlight is allowed to hit the meat  since it will warm the surface and cause a water pathway to open that allows bacteria inside.

Temps above freezing are recommended, since the ice can also allow bacteria inside.

I have air-dried hams before and the method is sound.  Texas winters just don't cooperate.  The longest I was able to leave mine just hanging was 10 days.  After that, the weather warmed above 50 and I had to cut the meat down.  

Nighttime temps @ 34 and daytime temps to 45 are fine.  Above 45 and you risk the skin seal splitting from internal water expansion.  Once it breaks the outer seal spoillage is likely.

However, a cold room storage would be fine for months at a time.

The outer layer will get increasing dark.  Check it for spoilage by using your nose. Although it will get a different smell from aging, you should be able to easily tell if it has gone rotten.

When you are ready to eat the meat the entire piece of meat should be processed, since cutting off a hunk will allow bacterial invasions.

TRG

Quoted:

pray ill have  pics of different ways by sunday!

Quoted: It is a regulation in WV that you field dress the deer where it dropped. You are not to move the deer until it is gutted.

I don't believe this is true.


Field Tagging, Checking and Transporting

Each person killing a deer must attach a completed field tag to the deer or remain with the deer and have upon their person a completed field tag before moving the carcass
from where it was killed. A person who does not have a field tag must make one. This tag must bear the hunter’s name, address, hunting license number (if required) and the
date, time and county of kill. Immediately upon arriving at a residence, camp, hunting lodge, vehicle or vessel the field tag shall be attached to the deer and must remain on the carcass until it is tagged with an official game checking tag.

The unskinned carcass or the fresh skin and head of each deer, shall be delivered to a conservation officer or an official checking station for checking and retagging:

1.  before it is transported beyond the county adjacent to the county of kill,
2.  within 72 hours from when it was killed or 24 hours from the close of the respective season, whichever comes first.

All deer killed in Logan, McDowell, Mingo or Wyoming counties shall be checked and retagged at an official game checking station in the four-county area within 24 hours of
the time of kill. Deer killed outside these four counties may not be checked within the four-county area.

A hunter may not hunt deer until the day after any previously killed deer has been checked, except for that portion of the antlerless deer season during which two deer may be taken on the same day on private land provided the first deer has been legally checked.

No person may transport wildlife killed by another hunter, unless the wildlife or parts thereof is accompanied by a paper tag filled out legibly bearing the signature, address,
date of kill, hunting license number (if required) and the official game checking tag number (if required) of the hunter who killed the wildlife. The tag shall also specify the species and quantity of wildlife.

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good thread, nice pics, but I always wear surgical gloves...we have some nasty tick invested deer up here in NY....Lyme disease is no fun...They do run a bit larger than down South though

OST!