Does anyone know of a cooler/locker where I can hang my deer/elk meat to age it until I am ready to cut it up. I am willing to pay for the time that the meat hangs in the cooler?
I am looking for something relatively close to where I live. I live in the Echo Lake area (Snohomish county near Maltby).
thanks
Joe Fishin

Did you try talkin with kelso meats out in snohomish. There's also marzolfs over on phobes hill(spelling) or I keep seeing a sign on the old monroe snohomish highway for a place called oneway meats. I don't know if any of them will rent you locker space but it would be worth a shot.

I wouldn't let kelsos cut up your deer if hanging isn't an option. You may end up with random sized steaks, some with 8 ounces of bone and 2 ounces of steak, some with no bone, all randomly packaged together in very convenient portions...

Thanks for the advice. I called Marzolfs and Kelso Meats. No one will hang the meat unless you pay them to cut it up (75-85 cents per pound).
Joe Fishin

Unless you're just too busy, there's no reason to "age" your venison.

Tell me more Cupo. I have always aged the game that I got, but have never tried to cut it up shortly after skinning and hanging it. Doesn't aging the meat tenderize it?
Is this true for elk and moose?
Thanks
Joe Fishin

There are opinions for and against aging.
You can ruin an entire animal if things like temperature, air flow, and humidity aren't right.
You cannot ruin an animal by butchering it within a couple days of the kill.
From what I've read, old animals benefit most from being aged because they have more of the tissue that bonds their muscles together, which is the tissue broken down during aging.
I don't age deer and have no complaints. I've had venison that people aged and didn't notice a difference.
Just personal opinion, but I think things like gut shots and overcooking have more influence on meat quality than how long it hung. Hanging a deer in a controlled environment probably won't hurt the meat, just don't think it HAS to be done.