to all you deer hunters....
 

Is it typical to put a cleaned deer in an ice chest, load it with ice, and let it "bleed out" for a few days? Is there a noticeable difference?

couldnt have put it any better !!

i do this when i am at the lease in Texas. But just b/c we dont have anywhere to put it and its stays pretty warm down there. so i drain the blood every afternoon then put more fresh ice on it. but if im at my camp in LA and i kill a deer, im usually only there for a day or so. so i just quarter it up, put it in ice chest, and take it to the butcher. only meat i really eat off a deer is the backstrap and tenderloins. rest of it, i usually just make sausage. im sure it does taste better if u drain all the blood like capt d is sayin.

Thanks D... Would have never thought to leave it in there for 10 days and would have prob thrown the meat away if it turned white.. lol

[QUOTE=specktator;118864] so i just quarter it up, put it in ice chest, and take it to the butcher. QUOTE]

What butcher do u usually take it to? Murda said he pays 120 and the guy cleans and packages the deer and that sounded like a good deal to me

[quote=Armand16;118870]hahaha yeh jordan is pretty lazy and lucky! jordan's hunting property is about 4 or 5 miles from a guy named Brent (T-Brent) Soileau in Lebeau. If Jordan kills something he barely even loads it on the 4 wheeler! You bring it to that guy Brent. He will charge you $30 to skin and gut it for u. he used to only charge like $20 so i guess alot of ppl do this. I have never had someone skin and gut a deer for me. but $30 really is pretty reasonable. and he will cut and wrap it for u or whatever u want. and he makes some awesome jalepeno smoked sausage but its not cheap.

they also have tiny's house of meats in broussard across from the mcdonalds. they season your meat for you and everything. pretty sweet i have brought some hogs and deer from texas over there. they even make roasts and stuff them and everything if u want. they are very reasonable with pricing too.

I was told by a butcher a long time ago that the reason for leaving deer meat in an ice chest or hanging it for 3 to 4 days is to wait for rigamortis to be over before it is cut up. And also to age the meat a little to let the stuuf that binds the meat together(i think he said protiens) break down so the meat will be a little more tender. As for the fact of bleeding the deer out I found that most of the cut areas and the bullet hole area to become white but not all of the meat. I also have a buddy that puts a few tablespoons full of vinegar into the chest every time he drains it. He says it is what is in itallian dressing that gets the wild taste out. I have tried it and didnt notice that much of a difference.

Thanks for the input!!

The most important thing to do with Vension..........is get cooled / iced down as soon as possible. This is even more important when the temperature is above 65 F.

Gut the Deer ASP to allow the meat to cool, even if it is a cold day [ie. < 50 deg].

Think about this.....would you buy a steak at the store and leave in the car or on the kitchen counter for hours before you put it in the Refg or Freezer? All meat starts to spoil at room temperature.

[quote=specktator;118872]
is this the guy who owns Soileau's meat market in Rosepine ?

[quote=Jordan;118950]no this is a guy who does it out his house in Lebeau, LA. it is just north of Opelousas. Not far from the main entrance to Thisawhaite(however u spell it)

Armand are you killing deer right now? I wouldnt be surprised!

just trying to bleed one out. meet is almost white. lol.. nah, but this weather has my mind on hunting.

Same here buddy! I went to spot in Opel yest and jumped bout 100 teal, mallards, and woodies!

I bet yall spot in PI has thousands. It would be worth the trip out there just to see all the ducks..

I know Jordan and Walley went pick up their go devil about 3 weeks ago. And said it wasn't anything out ordinary. But I bet there's more now!

We bleed ours out for about a week and a half. (trust me im the one who always pulls the drain and adds ice while dad is at work)

I usually bleed my deer until the water stays clear. I just finished bleeding some meat for 2.5 weeks. I drain the water and add ice everyday until just clear water comes out. If I'm going to make sausage with some, I'll let it soak for about a week then cut it up and let it soak some more to really get the blood out of the interior pieces.

Dang! Of the over 100 deer killed b/w my dad and I cannot say I have tried these bleeding tactics once. Do they really make a difference in taste?

I'm not sure because we have always bled ours this way. It sure does look alot better when the blood is out of the meat though.

I have never bled my deer either. If it is cold enough and we are at the camp, I will leave it hanging in the tree for a few days and pull the white skin stuff that gets hard on the meat off everyday. If it is warm I ice the meat down for a day or so....Usually until I have time to mess with it.

If you had a butcher cut a few steaks for you and when he set them up on the counter they were white from no blood, would you eat them?

Yeh that's always been how we have done it.

When we kill a deer all we do is gut it. We leave the hide on and let it
hang in the cooler for about 2 weeks.
Then we take it out skin it and either cut it up or debone it.
If you leave the hide on, the meat will stay pretty and not turn dark.

I find that if you leave a quatered deer in an ice chest for at least 4 days, the meat tastes night and day better. I did that with my deer in '08 because I was to lazy to cut it up and I'm glad I waited. I'm pretty sure my deer from last year stayed in about 4 days too. The ground meat came out awesome.