cleaning and hanging deer


woodshed

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Re: cleaning and hanging deer

I usually don't hose them out unless like firefighter said they are full of leaves, dirt, or if you get into the guts. I just get them cleaned out good in the field, hang them until they cool down and then start deboning them. Unless it is an early season kill, then they hang overnight and we get them cut up as soon as possible.

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Re: cleaning and hanging deer

We have never really hosed ours out. I usually have a large bottled water in my backpack and i use this to clean my hands and to rinse it out just slightly. Would aggree if you had gut shot it or got into the guts pretty bad that it would be a good idea. Why do they say that it is not a good idea to hose it out? Guess i never have heard this, but we have processed our own meat since as long as i remember.

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Re: cleaning and hanging deer

I always rinse mine out...I know that day I'll be pulling out the tenderloins and their hitting the frying pan.

When hunting with snow on the ground I'll fill up the cavity with snow as well to help cool the animal off ASAP!

The only thing I can even think of as for any meat proccessors reasoning, to Not Rinse, is If the water you use has a very high Iron or Sulfur content...that could add an unsavory flavor to the meat.

That could be a problem if the meat is simply deboned and ground, or cut into steaks, without the fascia(silver skin) on the muscles of the interior cavity removed.

Even so if the deer is processed within a couple days and the exterior of any exposed meat is discarded there still wont be any problem.

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Guest Herd_Bull

Re: cleaning and hanging deer

whenever we kill an animal, we just hang them up and wipe them down with some rags and a bucket of water...just to get the hair, dirt off of it, and then let it hang....we do this with everything(moose,elk,deer)...

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Re: cleaning and hanging deer

Rinsing them out is okay. If the temps are warmer than the low 40's rinsing them out with water does increase the possibility of bacteria growth. This comes from a friend of mine who's dad owns and runs a processing plant. He said they rinse most every animal with a hose after skinning -

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Re: cleaning and hanging deer

i have heard that you have to be careful of the water used on the meat - chemicals, parasites, etc. I don't think rinsing it off would really cause too much trouble, but, i don't rinse mine. i do wipe it off with a damp rag tho.

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