So, I'm wanting to get into processing my own deer from start to finish, especially with CWD at our doorstep (and probably already here, honestly). Call it paranoia if you want, but I'm not taking a chance, no matter how small, of feeding my family meat that could be infected.

So my plan for now is this: Once I kill a deer, I'd like to put it in a fridge/freezer for several days to age a bit. While it's aging, there should be plenty of time to send it off to test for CWD - most tests come back in a couple of weeks from what I've read, and it seems a couple of weeks is perfect for aging anyway. Once the results come back and it gets the all-clear, then I'll go ahead and "process" it (cut it up, grind what's going to be ground, package it and freeze it).

My thoughts were that I'd find a used fridge or upright freezer to put in my shop where I could let it age at 35*ish (or whatever the optimal temp is). Question is, does it matter if I quarter it up and let the quarters sit directly on the racks, vs truly hanging (and not touching anything)?

I don't have any wisdom about your question, but I agree. Taking deer to a CWD emporium (processor) doesn't seem wise. Especially when you probably won't get your own meat back, and even if you do, it's been in contact with lots of other meat/tools.

I wouldn't think so...you're reaching the same end-goal of draining blood and giving enzymes time to do their thing inside the meat.

I deal with my own deer, and do a lot of dry aging, hanging would be more ideal, but letting it sit directly on the racks is ok as well, the main thing is to watch out for moisture or any points where it's laying against a rack or another piece of meat where things can stay wet. That's where bacteria growth can start. If going on racks try to get it dried ff best you can first, and just check it regularly. That's been my experience at least.

Yeah, I know many of them claim to give you back YOUR deer, but even if that's their intention, accidents can happen. And some of them I don't think even try, they just give you Xlbs of meat, based on how big the deer you brought in was. I'm not down with that.

And, CWD/meat quality aside, I just think it will be a lot more rewarding to do it all myself, start to finish.

my father and I have always processed our own deer and have two methods for hanging/aging. If it's the right time of year (lows in the 30's or 40's) we just leave it hanging in the garage for 3-4 days, if its the really cold time of year we might even let it hang for a week or so. if its warm out we use an old refrigerator to hang quarters. we have one with a rack we rigged up a mount for about 6" from the top (just enough room to get your hand on the top side) and we use that to tie the quarters to. as mentioned, its best when everything stays dry and if its touching anywhere it wont dry out properly. we've done as much as two weeks that way and the results are always nice tender meat, but the longer it hangs the more you have to trim off when you're processing. its gets dry and very dark colored on the outside.

I've even toyed with the idea of removing all shelving and drilling a single hole in the top of a fridge so I could put an I-bolt through it on the inside, where I could just hang the entire skinned out deer in there, whole, on a hook. Of course, I'd have to reinforce it on top on the outside to help spread the weight of it out.....just not sure if it would be better to hang it whole or to hang individual quarters.

I cut out the Hams,Shoulders and Backstraps and put them in a BIG cooler with Block Ice and a little water. Drain every day for 2 weeks and then process it....works fine for me.

So you soak it in water?

I want to learn to make pemmican from deer for long term non refrigerated storage. But probably never will. Looks like a ton of effort. Which most likely is why the wives of the Indians were the makers of it way back in the day.

Yep never had a problem and I used to process for money just dont leave the carcass in cooler for 2 weeks run a risk of creating bacteria

Do you soak your steaks in water? Your chicken? Your pork chops?

Been doing mine for as long as I can remember. Just another aspect of the hunt
for me, and very rewarding. And I KNOW I am eating what I killed and how it
was handled.

Good luck with processing. I do all my own deer unless I'm in a real bind time wise. My two cents: aging deer isn't as big of a deal as it is made out to be. I know most on here love watching Meat Eater, so how many times does he say...."can't eat this cut cause I haven't waited the 2.8 days it needed to age." Answer...Never. My deer are in our cooler (walk-in) from 1-7 days. I rarely cut deer on the day I kill them. However, the difference in taste and tenderness I believe has more to do with what happens between the shot and the cooler than between the time you put it in and start cutting.

Secondly, CWD has been around for a long time and no reported transmission has occurred between deer and humans (to date). Many families (like mine) are eating deer in areas where CWD actually has been detected. Under your logic you better not let your kids in your car, in the ocean, walk on a sidewalk, or play any sports. Not trying to pick, but CWD is about the least of your worries. Start with fresh fruits and veggies if you want to protect your kids from food pathogens.

I soak mine in saltwater for every other day salt then fresh first 2 days...not trying to be a smartass but I promise I've been cutting meat since I was 13 I no what taste best I processed for several years also everyone said it was the best they ever had
And I do soak my quail in water 😁

I'm not going to argue or debate the topic of eating (or possibly eating) a CWD infected deer.

Not allowing your kids in a car, playing sports at school, etc is virtually impossible to avoid. Having a deer tested for CWD is stupid-easy and you might as well if you want to age the meat anyway. There is a lot we don't know about CWD, other than it appears to be a lot more prevalent than it used to be. There's simply no reason to risk it when it's as easy to get it tested as it has become.

By the way, I am worried for those of us that grew up eating tons of small game. Not fun spitting out the missed lead shot and now wondering how many were missed. So, if you are concerned for your family make sure you do a good job in the field with shot placement and field dressing. Plus, removing any meat that may have come in contact with guts or the bullet is a must.

Reminds me that I need to teach my kids how to put lead split-shots with their teeth.

I'm not a "soaker" of deer meat, but some of the best chicken and turkey has been brined, to be fair. And really good cookbooks/chefs will advise you to do this.

Never heard of it with red meat, though.

It's not individual slices I'm talking quarters...just to get more blood out...is why I do it

I get it. I just don't worry about that. The last 3 years the deer I have shot in Firearms season have been tested (mandatory). One issue is that I like to shoot does in the head. Well, if you are anywhere near the neck the animal cant be tested. Plus, the results come back about 6 weeks later. By then I have already eaten some of the meat anyway. Don't eat marrow, brains, and lymph nodes if you are worried.

Another issue is other species. A guy could drop off elk sausage or something. Are you going to ask to see his test result?

We can agree on one thing. If you are living in Alabama privately sampling and sending your deer off to get tested for CWD is stupid. (oh, i didn't see that easy part)