When it is necessary to transport a deer on the hood of a car for a long distance, it will help preserve the meat to place some sort of insulation between the animal and the car if the temperature is above freezing. It might be better to make the trip in the cool of the night instead of the heat of the day. Of course, the later in the season the deer is shot, the less trouble there will be in keeping the carcass cool during transportation.



Many people think that for venison to be good, the deer should be left to age for an indefinite period of time. This depends on individual tastes. The person who has to transport his deer on the hot hood of a car for any great distance has a deer which needs no further aging and one which should be taken care of as soon as he arrives at his home. The aging of meat should be under controlled conditions and not in someone's shed or back yard, and least of all on the hood of a car.

Controlled aging improves most meat and if the aging process could be halted at the right time it would be a good idea to permit a deer to hang until it reached the right stage for the best eating. Unless the meat is frozen or is in cold storage, this aging continues so fast that there is only a short period of time before decay begins. If we wait for a deer to age before starting to eat the meat, some of it is sure to spoil before the entire animal can be consumed. I usually skin my deer as soon as possible after I arrive at my home and often start eating the meat on the day after the deer was killed. Any freshly killed meat is a mild laxative, so care should be taken about over eating fresh venison.

The rib and flank sections are the first to lose the body heat, therefore they should be eaten first. The back (loin and chops) comes next. The tenderloin, choicest cut of this section, is about the most susceptible to spoilage and, being in close proximity to the viscera, is often affected if these organs are ruptured and their contents permitted to come in contact with the meat. The rear legs should be eaten after the back has been consumed and the forward quarters should be saved for the last. By following this procedure, the entire animal will be uniformly good. Aging of the fore quarters makes them almost equal in quality to the more choice cuts of the deer.

The edible organs?kidneys, liver, heart and tongue are good or poor according to the individual's taste. I have never eaten the kidneys from a deer. Friends who have, tell me that they are good, but I have always owned cats which had to be fed and they seem to relish these organs. My cats usually received most of my deer livers. Perhaps if I had taken the trouble to prepare these organs in such a manner as to remove some of the bitterness to which I object, I might relish this meat. I like the heart and the tongue, but seldom bother to use the latter because of its small size. I used to skin and prepare the deer that a neighbor would kill and he always insisted that I skin out the head so that he could use it. He said that it was good, that he cooked it the same way that people cook calves' heads. He also used the brains, a food which is not popular in my part of the country.

Controlled aging improves most meat and if the aging process could be halted at the right time it would be a good idea to permit a deer to hang until it reached the right stage for the best eating. Unless the meat is frozen or is in cold storage, this aging continues so fast that there is only a short period of time before decay begins. Hunters must know the way to keep the meats before it decayed.