Skin on or off

I have always let my deer hang skin on when aging. Really seems like a no brainer, but I've had people recently that suggest skinning them and letting them age the way they do beef at the locker. Seems like I end up with a dry meat whenever I leave hang outside. I think a locker can better control humidity etc. I want to hear your takes!

Lot easier to skin warm.

Personally I prefer to have em in the fridge deboned within a few hours( my best time was within 1.5hr of kill) of getting em home. I want em cold and out of the air ASAP. They can wet or dry age in a fridge or cooler depending on what you have available.

i peel them asap. hang for a week if the temps stay under 40.if higher, i bone out and into the garage fridge for that week. my buddy skins, butcher, bags and into the freezer. can't fast the difference!

My deer are killed and completely processed the same day.

Same here ADC.

I don't think you get the same benefits aging venison like you do beef. I process asap.

fishnhunts -

I'm pretty much in agreement with you. We usually hang for at least 5 days, but our temps are usually between 35 and 40 degrees. I've taken the same deer, butchered half the day of kill, hang the other half for 4-5 days. Compare the tenderness and taste of the two halves, and the aged meat, at least to our palates, is noticeably better. I usually skin the hanging deer, and to get away from the outside "jerky", we shroud the skinned carcass with game bags soaked in very salty cold water. This shrouding draws out the blood and crusts up, leaving the carcass super clean and without the dried "jerky" on the outside. Almost no trimming. It took me a couple decades and many big game animals to figure this out, but I'd never do it any other way now.

Jack

With deer, I don't think it matters.

Skin on. As for it skins easier warm, it only takes a couple minutes to skin a deer cold or warm. We're trappers skinning either way really shouldn't be an issue

true but less hand cramps when theyre warm. plus it helps the meat cool faster getting its blanket off.

If you skin a buck and let it hang for days, you're going to have to throw away all that dried out meat off the outside right? Pretty much waste the inside loins if you left them to age I'd think.

I think it is a north eastern thing to hang them with the hide on. Only ever seen one guy do it out here, and his family came from the northeast. I'm going to jerk that hide off of it when it is warm so it will cool out better. Now I often don't hang them at all, cut them up as soon as I get the chance. At times I hang them for a few days when I am busy and it is either cold out or I hang them in a walk in cooler. If I am going to hang them outside for any length of time I wrap them in a sheet or quarter them and put them in meat bags to prevent them drying out so much. Used to hang bigger bucks, particularly those in the rut, but honestly can't tell the difference myself in toughness or taste.

ADC,
those inside tenderloins often never get to cool down on mine, more often than not they get sliced into steaks and hit the frying pan while they are still warm. I will say that they seem to have a little stronger flavor when cooked still warm without cooling down, but I like the slight gamy taste (not the rank, rutted up buck taste that you have to scrape off the roof of your mouth).

We have a large walk in cooler converted from a refer truck body. I hang my deer two weeks with the skin off. Meat is not dry. Not nearly as dry as good aged beef. Our cooler has excellent air circulation as well.

Have hung deer for three weeks but the surface gets tacky and ground meat can be mushy after three weeks. Two weeks is perfect for me. Skin off.

I do about 5-6 a year, sometimes more if grandkids hunt.

The inner loins get taken out hide on or off first and go in the skillet here.

Cheese cloth helps with dehydration for the skin off hangers.
Deer do not have the fat layer like beef.

I like skin on if conditions are right and handled proper.
Just like the pre-refrigeration ancestors.

Deers cause a lot of troubles on here lol.

Good question for experienced processor.

kill skin remove catfish and loins. process the next day if cooled out

Skin on unless you have a humidity-controlled locker like they do for aging beef.

For those who don’t think aging venison doesn’t improve the quality of the meat; they have either never done a true comparison or just don’t know.

Whether you believe in aging or not, skin on prevents the outside meat from dehydrating while it hangs, and protects the meat from dust, etc. While my shop is cold, it is still a wood shop. Pull the inner loins as soon as you wish regardless.

If you are worried about it being tough to skin (trappers...really?? Lol), they skin well using the truck and golf ball method while they are cold as well.

Maybe I like chewing? You never thought of that, did you??

Discriminating against those who like chewing! Sheesh!

X2

kill- skin -cut up and age in fridgeator

If you leave all the meat on the carcass, when you skin it, that little bit that drys out isn't going to affect anything. I like to let them hang for awhile after skinning unless it's too warm. Not in the sun. If it's a young deer, it probably doesn't matter much, but it makes them more tender.

Skin off

Chewers of the world unite!

Skinned within hours hang 3-7 days depending on weather.

Skin, quarter, put in ice chest, cover with ice, drain water every other day and add more ice. After a week, butcher .

I hang my skin off when it is cold enough, if not, I skin it ASAP break it down and put it in a cooler with the plug out of it and tilted so the water drains cover in ice and add ice if needed, either way cut it up in about 5 days. As far as the inner loins, I pull them out as soon as the deer is gutted, that is breakfast the next morning after soaking overnight in salt water and lemon juice.

Seems to be about a 50/50 consensus, which I find suprising. Many of the processors around here won't take them if they are skinned unless you have them deboned as well. I appreciate all of the responses. I do have to skin immediately often due to temperature and age in the refrigerator, but I was fortunate to have sub freezing lows and highs not coming out of the 30's for days after I killed my most recent deer. I have no trouble skinning a cold deer as long as it's not frozen and I believe that aged venison is better than not.

Gulo, the salted game bags are intriguing, do you say that improves the flavor and/or tenderness of the meat, or do you just do that to keep the outer layer of meat from drying out?

Hang the deer from something strong and start the skinning by hand. Take a golf ball or a baseball, put it inside the skin and tie a rope around it so the knot keep the ball inside the skin. Take the other end of the rope and tie it to the ball on your truck. Tighten the rope and the weight will do most of the work for you. Pull a little harder and you have a giant skinning machine.

ive done it both ways,if you skin it and want to let it hang,simple an cheap,wrap in saran wrap