Deboning/quartering and rigor mortise - does it make a difference?

TauPhi111

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Something I've always wondered is whether rigor mortise ever affects the meat when you have to quarter or debone an animal shortly after death, as often happens in a back country hunt. Having only hunted deer and bears where I could get them out whole minus the guts, I've always been taught that you should let an animal hang ideally 24 hours, or at least about 12, before you start removing muscle from bone so the muscles can go through rigor and relax, and you're not cutting muscle fibers in a contracted state, leading to tough meat.

In a lot of situations, be it hot weather or a huge animal way in the back country, waiting that long is not an option. I'm curious as to whether quartering, or possibly even worse, boning an animal out, shortly after it dies affects the tenderness of the meat. I imagine that quartering but leaving it on the bone would be far better than boning since the muscles still are connected to the bones to relax against, but then what about the backstraps, neck, etc? What are your experiences and opinions? I'm wondering if the conditions in which the animal was deboned or quartered are really to blame for the "randomly tough animal" people seem to encounter occasionally.
 

pods8 (Rugged Stitching)

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In the last 5 years I've brought out 1 of 13 animal whole (a doe) and the rest has been in pieces (usually bone in legs but that doesn't do anything for the backstraps). Meat is in coolers until I can cut and freeze it which may be between 12hr to a number of days depending on the hunting situation. Properly cooked I haven't ran into any issues and regularly get complimented. Don't over cook it and/or dry it out.
 

5MilesBack

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I normally debone everything and have never seen an issue. One thing I can tell you is that they are much easier to skin out the closer to death you start cutting them. The bull in my pics from your other thread was down and dead in about 3 seconds. I took a couple pictures and started skinning. That first side just about pulled away from the body with very little slicing needed.
 
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TauPhi111

TauPhi111

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I normally debone everything and have never seen an issue. One thing I can tell you is that they are much easier to skin out the closer to death you start cutting them. The bull in my pics from your other thread was down and dead in about 3 seconds. I took a couple pictures and started skinning. That first side just about pulled away from the body with very little slicing needed.

yes thanks for those pictures. I try to skin quickly after death too if I'm not going to hang it to age. I was more concerned with separating meat from bone
 

Poser

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I've never been able to tell much of any kind of difference in meat quality or taste between cutting a game animal up
Immediately vs waiting. I worked for awhile as a whole animal butcher doing mostly hogs, but some lamb and quartered cattle, so I have a pretty good idea of the difference between the immediate and animals that have been hanging. As mentioned above, the skinning process is always easier when the animal is still warm, so I usually jump in asap. When I squirrel hunt, I immediately skin them as well as they are significantly easier to skin while still warm.


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wytx

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We hang and age all of our quarters with the bones in, have never noticed a difference between hanging with bones or not. Straps don't hang as long but get some aging on older cows and bulls.
 

Flatgo

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I don’t think boning makes a difference I think it’s more how fast you cut them up. My toughest elk was a bull I had to cut up the next day because I had to head out of town the next day for work. This bull was packed out with bone in. I’ve cut up other elk that have been bone out and sat for a day longer that were a lot less tough. I think letting the meat relax for at least a day or two really helps with toughness
 

JFKinYK

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I heard Hank Shaw on some podcast mention leaving the bone in thru rigor results in more tender meat. Googling found an article stating it:

He was certainly right to hang that deer and leave it hanging for a whole day, assuming it’s not too hot or cold. Temperature willing, that dressed deer should hang, skin on, for a full 24 hours. That means even those fresh tenderloin and top-loin (a k a backstrap) steaks have to a wait a day.

The reason: Allow the muscles to go through the complete rigor mortis cycle and relax while still anchored to bone. Slice that steak off too quickly, and it will contract and be tough.

Dave Orrick: A hunter’s guide for perfect venison – Twin Cities
 

lcpaul22

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Sep 24, 2017
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I don't think it makes much difference how long the animal is dead before you debone. That is of course, in reference to tenderness. If you believe in hanging for x number days for tenderness, that can be also done off the bone.

I have cut a lot of game meat, and in my experience the hanging of game meat for days allows for an easier animal to cut, but does not ensure it is more palatable.

I found that the way the animal is handled prior to hanging in the cooler, has the greatest effect on the meats outcome. Keep it clean, get it cool, do it quick.


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