Necessity of hanging?

[Rhys]

Hey Guys, My brother in law and I are getting ready for our moose hunt up in 7-09 near PG Sept 21-oct 1st.

We are meeting my uncle and cousin who live up there for the hunt. We are trying to figure out what to do when/if we get some game down. My uncle says that is should be hung for a week then butchered, which takes 10-14 days up there.

I don't necessirily hang my deer when I get them unless we are going to be around for a while , I will usually bring them home right away and butcher it at home.

Is there anything different about moose that requires it to be hung up to cure? or would we be okay to hang it in camp if its cool enough, then throw it in the truck and head home as soon as possible?

i dont feel like making another trip up there to collect meat from the butcher at a later date.

Any suggestions?

Rhys

[meat hunter]

I bring mine home in quarters,then to the butcher. It's usually cool enough to do this in October.

[mainland hunter]

all meat should be aged 1-3 weeks ive been told for tenderness and flavor, however no harm in butchering it when you get home, ive eaten lots of moose that hasnt been hung for long and it was all good

[416]

http://www.uwyo.edu/CES/PUBS/B-513R.htm some info on the subject......at the bottom are references to other papers written about similar topics

[quadrakid]

great info in the link posted by 416, reccomended reading for all. thanks

[huntwriter]

game is usually aged to achieve tenderness and more flavor. Unlike mainland hunter wrote, no offence, not all meat should be aged. To age or not to age meat depends on many factors. Pork for example can not be aged. Also older animals should not be aged. The best meat to age is that of young and healthy animals.

How long should meat be aged? Between 4 and 24 days. It is advisable that you only should age animals with a good layer of fat for more than 7 days.

Is aging necessary? The short answer is no! However, the carcass should be hanging at least 24 to 48 hours before it is cut up. The reason for this is that the carcass is given enough time to train and cool down completely.

If you do decide to age a wild game animal you should not skin it as this will prevent dry out of the meat. Leaving the pelt on the animal makes it necerssary to store it in a very cool place, like a cooler.

For more detailed info on aging meat you can visit my meat information website where I elaborate more on the subject.
http://members.shaw.ca/masterbutcher/aging_beef.html

Hope this information is useful to you.

[Rhys]

Thanks for the info guys.

I will keep reading. It looks like if we get something down, we will most likely hang it for a few days and then transport down south to either butcher ourselves or drop it off at the butcher.

It makes me feel a lot better that I dont neccisarily need to leave it up there if we get animals down early in the trip.

Rhys

[brotherjack]

I've either done or sampled meat that's been aged anywhere from a couple hours to a couple weeks. IMHO - once it's aged (hung or otherwise) to around 48 hours, it's not going to get much (if any) better. However, if you cut and freeze it too fast (especially within the first couple hours after the kill), it's likely to be exceptionally tough (I presume because of rigormortis).

Also, I did a bunch of reading on the subject once, and most of the more scientific minded of the reading available backed up my field experience.

[Jelvis]

I have 2 cents worth to add to the piggy bank of info. One, in U of BC study said, 72 hrs is all that is needed to break down tissue and get by rigor mortice. If you hang longer you just lose moisture content and the meat will get dried out on the outside so you can leave skin on. If its at all warm still, in sept/oct you better take the skin off. also bone sour can happen if it doesn't cool enough insde of the thick moose meat at the bone. Bone sour is real

[30-06]

Rhys ill be up there hunting in 7-09 same dates

[Steeleco]

I for one skin an animal ASAP. If shot locally it comes home or to the butcher and they can cut it when it's my turn. For your moose trip get it to camp hide on, it helps to keep things clean if you can do it. Hang and skin on your meat pole. Spray with vinegar/water mix to help cool and keep the bugs off, if there's any around then!! Bag the meat and carry home when your done hunting. These days with the price of gas, another trip up north to get your cut and wrapped meat will only add to the already pricey trip. That and you then need to fly home before your meet starts the thaw, or take a ton or coolers!! When we hunted up north of Pink mountain, we hung our meat till the last day and planned to drive after dinner and drive all night. Mind you that was in Aug also!!

[Schmaus]

We usually kill the moose, quarter the moose, take the moose back to camp, hang and skin, we never let a moose hang for more than a couple of days especially if it is even a little bit warm. The meat will turn greenish and get a smell then it is no good. I find the tricks to a good moose is this
1. Get the guts out as quickly and cleanly as possible
2. Cool the meat down as quickly as possible (skin and fur holds in the heat for a lot longer than wanted.
3. If your going to hang the meat for a while outside either wrap it in cheesecloth or spray with vinegar and water untill a sort of hard skin covers the meat (just so flies won't lay eggs in your meat)
These aren't going to be the same rules that everybody follows but they have worked for my family for a lot of years and even more moose.

[mark]

my 2 cents, i was taught to age meat, but have since learned not too. like steeler said get to camp with hide on then skin asap. we take ours to the butcher asap and bring ours home cut wrapped and frozen, no mess. meat is always great, no regrets. i dont believe in hanging anymore!

[Schmaus]

wow steeleco you totally sniped my post while I was writing it, I guess I had better get faster at typinghttp://bestsmileys.com/lol/3.gif

[mainland hunter]

huntwriter, i was just repeating what id been told before, i thought it was good to hang pork. good to know. By the way i visited your website, good link to www.petakillsanimals.com (http://www.petakillsanimals.com) i enjoyed that

[huntwriter]

huntwriter, i was just repeating what id been told before, i thought it was good to hang pork. good to know. By the way i visited your website, good link to www.petakillsanimals.com (http://www.petakillsanimals.com) i enjoyed that

Thanks mainland hunter. I fight PETA & Co on every corner for well over 20 years. As an animal behaviorist I used every interview and other media apperance, like TV Sohws, to "bad mounth" them in a polite and factual way. Like I said no offence meant.:) I checked your website out as soon I saw the banner here on HBC and I think I know who is going to do my taxidermy work for me in the future.;-)

[mapguy]

you need to hang game in a coolerfor at least 3days there's a butcher just south of quesnel that will hang it .with the warmer weather were getting
a lot of meat goes bad due to improper cooling

[Ddog]

i have read many different opinions in many different books, i have done both cut game the evening it was taken and also hung game either at a butchers or in my own house, in short I have never been able to taste a difference or was there a difference in tenderness. in my experience i will not hang the game if i am able to do it right away. Game does not need to be hung. my .02 worth
cheers ....ddog

[Caveman]

I've hung moose for up to seven days when it was 22degrees thru the day and -2 or -3 over night with the hide on. Flies were heavy during the day but once the sun went down they left. No problems. Kept the hide on to protect from flies, maintaining a smudge fire under him smoking the rib cage so the flies would stay away. Skinned and butchered him when we got home. tasted great. The big thing is to get the body heat out in the first twelve to eighteen hours, the rest is easy. I prefer not to skin an animal right away because if you do your own butchering you have that heavy dried skin to deal with, it also keeps things clean in transport. Back to hanging, according to a butcher I use, you will find no real benefit in hanging for more than four or five days. Hang it long enough to get the body heat out and then it's just a personal choice after that.