Deboning quarters - do it right away, or wait for rigor mortis to be done

[BRvalley]

Hung this year's moose (12 - 14 years of age) for 20 days.
Butter soft & excellent flavor.
Always hang them!

Cheers

we certainly noticed that too, was expecting aging to create more tender meat of course, but the improved taste was surprising, the gf is not huge on deer, sensitive to the gamey taste....last years whitetail was 4.5 years old, big bodied, and he aged longer and she felt the taste was improved, virtually no gamey taste except for a few bone in cuts, not sure if that was just a well fed buck, lots of farm fields nearby but he was certainly great eating (I always like my whitetails, rarely notice gamey flavour myself)

one of the many projects to get around to is a home cooler, start aging my game and be less reliant on butcher when weather is warm or work is too busy to deal with

[IronNoggin]

we certainly noticed that too, was expecting aging to create more tender meat of course, but the improved taste was surprising,

one of the many projects to get around to is a home cooler, start aging my game and be less reliant on butcher when weather is warm or work is too busy to deal with

I concur. Not only do they get softer from hanging, I too find the flavor improves with time.

Helps to have a local cattle farm with a HUGE walk in cold room (Can deal with up to 10 head of cattle at a time!)

Cheers

[TheObserver]

Depends on weather conditions.
Most winters I engage in the late archery season for whitetails (OK) as I will be doing so again this week.
I always leave the hides on for this hunt.
The carcasses will be almost frozen, I have to pack them into my SUV to get them home, then hang for a few days.
As Mod7 noted above, the end result is clean meat with no "skin" to worry about.
Never ever had a "gamey" one from those hunts doing this for well over 20 years now.

Cheers

Lots of variables. Have to be flexible. I usually remove bones based on how far I have to pack it. If it’s close enough and I have time I’ll leave the bones in the quarters and make more trips. If it’s further or I have limited time, I’ll fully debone and make less trips.
I’ve always done my own cutting so aging will depend on what I have going on. For me it’s mostly sheep, goat, deer, caribou and sometimes deboned sheep, goat or caribou meat will get stored in the mountains for over a week. Sealed in plastic and sunk in creeks or dug down to bare earth and covered with moss or hung if possible and weather depending. Then can be 2-3 days to hike out, then get home, and then find time to cut. Sometimes I cut after only a few days but I’ll leave all the packages out or in a fridge to continue aging for 3-5 days.

For deer I don’t have to carry, this has been the best result for me. I’ve hung them head down, whole for up to 10 days with the hide on and only the guts and organs removed. This is a great method when you get warm fall days but cool nights. The hide keeps the animal at an even temperature and prevents the outer layer of meat from drying out. I’ve taken the hide off in those conditions after 7-10 days and the meat is clean, cold and fresh. Very little trim loss and great eating. Tenderloins always come out right away though because there’s nothing protecting them from drying out, especially if you remove the fat and tissue covering them on the inside of the body.

I’ve done it many different ways and it all depends on the situation.
A big benefit to keeping the bones in the quarters is that once you finish cutting the meat, cut those bones into pieces and freeze in packages. Then use them for making batches of bone broth. Very easy to do and awesome nutrition.

The worst thing I ever did when I first started was hang a quartered and skinned deer with fans blowing on it.

Interesting, I always remove skin immediately, wouldn't have ever thought to leave the hide on unless I was dragging it.

Ive heard, no experience with this scenario but ive heard another thing that can make meat really tough is if it freezes really fast after kill. Would make sense to keep the hide on to insulate it for a bit in that event if it is true it results in tough meat (but not sure about that freezing fast makes it tough now from some of the replies here).

[MOOSE MILK]

I just listened to Meateater's Podcast, and now I know why that bison was so tough it was unchewable. Thanks for sharing that Podcast.
MM

[mod7rem]

The biggest reason to get hide off right away is for cooling, especially on thickly muscled animals like moose and elk.
Deer are a lot thinner and cool a lot easier. No problem cooling as long as the temps are reasonably cool and hung with body cavity open.
In my experience, leaving the hide on a hanging animal or on hanging quarters has no negative effect on meat taste unless it isn’t able to cool. But the hide itself isn’t the cause of gamey tasting meat.

I’ve read similar that rapid cooling in animals with high percentages of collagen can effect meat tenderness and will need more aging time to counteract. Slow cooling apparently is better.

We’ve eaten a lot of pronghorn meat since 2012 and it’s a favorite of my wife and kids(adults now). Mainly because it’s always tender no matter what you do with it. I’ve read the reason for this is pronghorn meat doesn’t have a lot of collagen compared to other game.

[HarryToolips]

Depends on weather conditions.
Most winters I engage in the late archery season for whitetails (OK) as I will be doing so again this week.
I always leave the hides on for this hunt.
The carcasses will be almost frozen, I have to pack them into my SUV to get them home, then hang for a few days.
As Mod7 noted above, the end result is clean meat with no "skin" to worry about.
Never ever had a "gamey" one from those hunts doing this for well over 20 years now.

Cheers

OK awesome good to know..