How do you hang your deer head up or down

senior said:
For REDD; "NEVER CUT THE THROAT,"
Then how do you ? "removing the asophagus is a good idea"
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BR is refering to cutting the throat to "bleed out" a dead animal. Removing the wind pipe is done after skinning and is necessary to reduce the amount of bacteria aroung the neck section. They are two different things.



senior said:
"Fluids that are left are more easily drained with the head down"
How do fluids drain more easily that way?? Down is the same direction either way you hang a deer :rolleyes:

"Deer are much easier to skin hanging from the hinds"
A lot of us find they are much easier to skin from the head :)

"Hanging by the back legs is just easier.... and smarter"
Sorry bud I see no evidence to support your theroy :p
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If you go to ANY abatoir, ALL the skinning and hanging operations are done, head down. If it was easier to do it otherwise it would be done.



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:eek:
senior said:
I'll stick with this old guy :) he appears to know more than the rest :)
Head Up--Hide Off

For REDD; "NEVER CUT THE THROAT,"
Then how do you ? "removing the asophagus is a good idea" :confused:

"Fluids that are left are more easily drained with the head down"
How do fluids drain more easily that way?? Down is the same direction either way you hang a deer :rolleyes:

"Deer are much easier to skin hanging from the hinds"
A lot of us find they are much easier to skin from the head :)

"Hanging by the back legs is just easier.... and smarter"
Sorry bud I see no evidence to support your theroy :p
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You must be having a alzhiemers moment senior:p

Google search (How do I hang my deer?) or ( Butchering big game) or ( Preferred method for hanging meat by Butchers)... 99% will tell you to hang by the back legs... :eek:

Hanging by the neck or horns is just sillyness... the old way... no reason for it whatsoever... foolishness... make work project... complete and utter waste of time and effort... totally without ryhme or reason... old hunters myth without any justification... and those that do it cannot be convinced otherwise.:p
 
We have always hung ours by the head. Did a little looking and there seems to be no real consensus on up/down. Kinda like this thread. :eek:

Any butchers out there who can verify this:
Stretching muscle fibers in the process of hanging can have a tenderizing effect. Hanging from the hind legs may be best because this will stretch muscles in the hams, a major source of meat on a deer.

Hanging the carcass by the hind legs is preferable because it allows the fore legs to stiffen in a more natural position, making it easier for the meat cutter to produce acceptable cuts.
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You search engine must be out of steam Fall Guy....:p
How many butcher shops, meat lockers have you been in?
Who cuts your meat for you?
Ever been to a Beef processor or an abbatoir.:confused:

I love this thread... it's like cartoons only better.:D
 
BIGREDD said:
You search engine must be out of steam Fall Guy....:p
How many butcher shops, meat lockers have you been in?
Who cuts your meat for you?
Ever been to a Beef processor or an abbatoir.:confused:

I love this thread... it's like cartoons only better.:D
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Lets see, I say I do something one way and then offer 'evidence' to counter the way that I am doing it. I don't understand your comments.

As far as I can see, no one has come up with a definitive reason(s) as to how a deer should be hung and why.
 
senior said:
I'll stick with this old guy :) he appears to know more than the rest :)
Head Up--Hide Off

For REDD; "NEVER CUT THE THROAT,"
Then how do you ? "removing the asophagus is a good idea" :confused:

"
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if you asked how to remove the esophagus without cuting the throat after to hang it reach down into the rib cage grab hold of it and follow it down till you get to the end then carfully slice it off as close to the mouth as possible works like a charm just a little more messy
 
Tie the head to a tree and the separate the hide from the carcass at the base of the skull.

Tie off the hide to a big rope and attach it to the bumper of your truck.

Drive away. Skinned:p

Who posted pic last years of the moose in this set up using an old army truck??

Priceless.

Oh ya, head down.;)
 
Where it gets fairly cold we hang by the head and leave the hide on until we get them home.We then hang them by the hind end and skin them.As simple as that.I find that for me it is {as I stated earlier}easier for me to do a final clean up back in camp.Oh by the way we do not hang our Deer by the Horns as they have antlers and not horns as earlier stated by someone who should know better.
 
BIGREDD said:
NEVER CUT THE THROAT, the only thing that cutting the throat accomplishes is giving the butcher a good laugh after you leave.
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Are you one of those hunters that takes their whole deer to the butcher for skinning and butchering? :p I have heard some will even gut them for you. If not, how would the butcher know you cut the throat, as the head is usually gone when mine go to the butcher.

Most butchers I talk to find it more humourous when people show up with there skinned out animal covered in hair, grass, leaves and even FECES and expect them to clean it before processing. Then they blame the butcher for a poor job when they have to pick hair out of their hamburger.

BIGREDD said:
Keep it clean get it cooled quickly and you will have good meat.
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Agree, 150%

BIGREDD said:
Hanging by the back legs is just easier.... and smarter.
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Still not convinced of this. I hang mine, head up, head down and yes even sideways once, its a long story. Head up if cool/cold and hung outside at camp (for shedding rain/snow and transporting), head down if hung inside at home (easier and cleaner skinning).


Here is a question for folks, assuming you properly field dressed your deer, how much blood do you usually see below the animal after it has hung for a few days. I would say most of my moose and deer bleed very little after being hung up, even in the proper head down fashion:rolleyes:
 
I have little deer hunting experience, but have been involved with the dismantling of quite a few caribou. In the north, the skin comes off immediately, the animal is gutted, and cut up, on the spot. Front legs off, carcass cut in half to separate the rump from the ribcage, lower legs off at knees/elbows. Much easier to skin a fresh warm animal than one that has hung around for several days. Meat cools faster, too. If you do your own butchering, the meat should be cold enough that it is firm. Easier to produce uniform cuts. Wrap the pieces to keep them clean and to keep them from drying out.
 
BIGREDD said:
You search engine must be out of steam Fall Guy....:p
How many butcher shops, meat lockers have you been in?
Who cuts your meat for you?
Ever been to a Beef processor or an abbatoir.:confused:
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BR is right about this one. All commercial beef and pork is head down for a reason. It is easier to handle the carcass after killing, it postions the muscles properly for cutting.

Hang your game any way you want, but 100% of all comercial meat is head down and a VERY high % of game animals is the same, and for good reason.




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grouseman said:
head down, hide on...

if people have trouble skinning a hanging animal thats had it's hide on for a week; they must be doing something wrong...
just use your weight and pull on it, its that easy.....
that way you won't have a crusty out side layer
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I can't for the life of me see how a week old, half frozen hide is easier to skin out than a fresh killed/still warm one. I've skinned many thousands of mink and other animals from my traps and many other deer and moose. To the one, the fresh killed ones were, by far, easier to skin.

As for that "crusty layer" ......... that is the naturally drying out of the outer muscle, nothing else. I don't even trim it out for grinding when I'm cutting. Properly hung beef is hung w/o the hide attached and this enhances the aging process.




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I didn't say it's easier as opposed to a fresh hid, but it certainly makes up for the dry crusty layer( you know the way it gets on the hams?)

and I can see why it would be difficult with small things, but with a deer thats been hanging for a week or more, I can literally pull of the hide using my own weight
im serious ;)
 
Kenny_G2 said:
Are you one of those hunters that takes their whole deer to the butcher for skinning and butchering? :p I have heard some will even gut them for you. If not, how would the butcher know you cut the throat, as the head is usually gone when mine go to the butcher.

Most butchers I talk to find it more humourous when people show up with there skinned out animal covered in hair, grass, leaves and even FECES and expect them to clean it before processing. Then they blame the butcher for a poor job when they have to pick hair out of their hamburger.

Still not convinced of this. I hang mine, head up, head down and yes even sideways once, its a long story. Head up if cool/cold and hung outside at camp (for shedding rain/snow and transporting), head down if hung inside at home (easier and cleaner skinning).
Here is a question for folks, assuming you properly field dressed your deer, how much blood do you usually see below the animal after it has hung for a few days. I would say most of my moose and deer bleed very little after being hung up, even in the proper head down fashion:rolleyes:
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You are so new you are shiny Kenny... :p
All I am going to say is I have gutted skinned and butchered more deer than you will probably see in your lifetime.
I gutted or helped process 21 deer last year in three weeks... this was just our camp during the gun and muzzle loader hunt... how many did you put the knife to?:eek:
Take a number and sit in the waiting room.... I'll debate you when you have the semblance of a good argument.:rolleyes:
 
BIGREDD said:
You are so new you are shiny Kenny... :p
All I am going to say is I have gutted skinned and butchered more deer than you will probably see in your lifetime.
I gutted or helped process 21 deer last year in three weeks... this was just our camp during the gun and muzzle loader hunt... how many did you put the knife to?:eek:
Take a number and sit in the waiting room.... I'll debate you when you have the semblance of a good argument.:rolleyes:
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I am still waiting to hear valid reasons why the deer must be hung head down. All I have read so far are opinions.

If it just because the abattoirs/slaughter houses do it that way because they find it easier (or maybe it is a Federal industry requirement?) in a production environemnt, fine. If there is no real reason, then it simply boils down to preference. Debate over.
 
a rule of thumb guide for me........if the deer has been gutted..... its head down........ if not gutted yet its head up..
any deer shot in our camp is only minutes to the meat pole
 
Hung up head down, cavity spread to let the cold in. Hide on or covered in cheese cloth until ready for butchering to keep contaminates off the meat.

If I can speculate here for a second, I would say that the best reason to hang any mammal head down is pretty simple:

The vascular system of any mammal resides primarily in the upper 1/3 or upper 1/4 or the mammal. That is to say, the "pump" and the majority of the "hoses" reside there, and that the "pump" is designed to pump up from the extremities, and let fluid flow down into them. If you remove the inner workings (gut the animal) and then hang it head down, it follows that the majority of fluid in the system will run out. If you hang it head up, the majority of the fluid will pool in the lower extremities with no where to go.
 
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