Initial meat handling for a fresh game kill on a hot day

[Taffylad]

Hello everyone, been shhoting for a while and and about to go on my very first hunting trip with a friend. We are targeting dear and hope to fill our freezers.

I've been doing lots of research but had some questions on a couple of gaps I can't seem to find the answer to. It seems the general consensus is that hung or aged meat is the best way to go. I'll be travelling around 10 hours to my hunting site and will likely break up the animal to store in a cooler for the way home.

Everyone says to hang the meat to cool before eating, sometimes up to a week, and I see guys in cooler weather hang the whole carcass in a tree for a few days before processing. I will likely be hunting in 20-30 degrees Celsius. How long should I be hanging the meat or leaving to 'cool' in weather like this before it starts to spoil? Keeping in mind I will need to break down to transport home. Should i break to whole animal down the get straight in to cooler? Or hang for a bit then break down? What is best practice in the Aussie heat?

I don't have any facility to hang or really age the meat at home apart from maybe a second fridge in the garage ( I live in a small concrete jungle suburban home)

All info is greatly appreciated as it's my first time hunting and I want to make sure I treat the meat with the respect it deserves and it comes out at the best quality within my means.

[Small Fry]

Hi Taffylad,

Hanging does nothing for flavour but tenderness. The main reason for hanging is to allow rigor-mortis to do its thing, you want the enzymes to start breaking down the muscle. Some people think you hang to allow blood to drain out. If shot and bled correctly there will be very little blood left in anyways.

Breaking it down into primal cuts will be best, just don't separate into individual muscle groups. In your situation you are limited to what you can do and to cool it, so don't stress to much. In most cases normal household fridges don't compare to a chiller in any ways due to no air circulation

My biggest thing, especially with heat is to manage bacteria /contamination and follow good hygiene practices as bacteria multifaction goes up as the temp goes up. I would suggest searching on Youtube for breaking down / gralloching deer in the UK. Most shot deer enters the human food chain so they are very strict in meat handling and hunters must complete a deer course that includes field dressing, ethical shooting, markmanship etc... some really good meat handling practices in the field.

[on_one_wheel]

Small Fry summed it up really well, hygiene and getting it cold asap are the most important things.
He's spot on about hanging, it just makes it easier to work with,.
During the cold months you can get away with hanging outdoors overnight if you can manage to kill something in the evening.

If your killing large animals it can be difficult to get the meat cool if your only option is to brick eskys full, it's often easier to manage by only keeping the prime cuts.

A big roll of freezer bags, knives pre-sharpened to a razors edge, a steel to keep your knifes sharp, some big clean tubs, a bucket of water + soap, decent table to work on will make life easier.

[Blr243]

In hot weather the only thing I hang in a tree is my rifle so I can concentrate on getting that thing in the freezer asap