Processing my first deer RIGHT NOW

[hobbeeman]

Drove home after gutting it and placing a bag of ice in its chest/abdominal cavity. I have peeled the skin off and removed the backstraps. The temperature is supposed to stay in the 30's tonight but get into the high 60's tomorrow. I can't age the meat myself, no place to do it. Can I go ahead and cut off the leg quarters and stick them in the refrigerator? If so, what do I do with the ribcage?

 

[hobbeeman]

More Questions

Is there anything I can do with the skin?

 

[mete]

The skin can be tanned ,though it's best to send it out. Forget about aging .That should only be done in a proper butchers cooler at 34-38F.Cut up the deer ,package it and freeze it.

 

[longtooth]

Good job finding him. Rib cage??? Most of us feed it to the dog or throw it away. Not enough there to fool with.

 

[Sharps Shooter]

Congratulations on the deer!
Since you have the skin off, I wouldn't worry about getting the quarters in the fridge tonight. Especially if you have it hanging out in a shed or unheated garage and it's going to get down in the 30s. That's about the normal temperatures around here during deer season. And it always seems it's the middle of the night for us too by the time we get the deer home and skinned out. We just let them hang in the shed overnight and cut them up the next day. I've never believed in letting wild game meat "age."
There just isn't much meat on a deer's rib cage and what there is, is usually blood-shot. So we usually end up throwing both sets of ribs away after cutting as close to them as we can. We might have an advantage on you there - we live out of town so I just take the rib cage and bones way out in the back field and bury them deep enough so the coyotes don't dig them up. The hide is worth $5 to $8 at a recycle place in town, or we sometimes take it out to the Indian Reservation where they'll trade us a pair of cheap buckskin gloves for it. I've never been interested in tanning one, but some folks do. I guess if you don't have a place around that accepts deer hides, you'll just have to find a way to dispose of it.

 

[GRB]

Congratulations on your first deer.

 

[Byron Quick]

Put the various pieces in a large ice cooler. Fill it to the top with ice. Open the drain plug. Put a brick under the opposite end so the cooler will drain the melt. Keep putting ice in as needed. Cut it up, wrap it, and put it in the freezer in five days. That will age it.

 

[Bottom Gun]

When I took the hide off my first deer, I was disappointed to see that it did not have all those handy dotted lines on the meat.

I have discovered a couple of things over the years:

If you put it into the freezer until it's almost frozen, the meat will be much easier to work with.

I always bone mine and I never saw through any bones. I also trimoff all the fat I can. I learned that bone marrow and fat can give the meat a gamey taste.

If it does have a bit of a gamey taste, try soaking the meat in milk overnight in the refrigerator before you cook it.

Hope that helps.

 

[Lennyjoe]

I de-bone my deer as well. I also take the flanks and every bit of meat I can from around the rib cage to use for jerkey. As for the ribs themself, I don't keep them. Not worth the hassle.