Skin big game right away or wait?

Hunt&Hook

Hunt&Hook

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Hi all,

Traditionally, I've hunted big game close to home and have had the luxury of having my game home within a half hour to butcher in the comfort of my garage. I generally skin first to keep hair out of everything, then gut them and let them hang a day or two before cutting them up.

This year, however, I've been drawn in a zone 500km from home. I am familiar with the land and quite a few landowners there.

I will field dress anything I may harvest on site.

My question is, would there be any negative effects of leaving the hide on until I get home? (2-3 days)

I'm thinking that the hide would be the best protection for the meat.

Discuss.
 
I should clarify.... mule deer is the quarry. Weather is supposed to be 4 deg C at the warmest and down to -6 deg overnight.

Will cheese cloth keep dust out? I guess I could pack Rubbermaid tubs for the actual transport.
 
game bags here.
I always get the hide off as soon as possible.
Hides aren't clean by any means and the less bacteria causing stuff attached to my meat the better.
gut it, skin it, 1/4 it and bag it. Hang it in a tree as soon as possible to get the meat to skin over and ya, at those temps you are golden
 
Here's my advice, get some fancy game bags or cheap pillow cases, You'll need preferably four for a mule deer. I personally prefer to split all quarters, neck meat, backstraps, etc, in four bags to allow cooling on anything larger than an antelope. (Antelopes I do 2 bags).

Do the gutless method (you're pretty much doing that if you skin before gutting). Get the quarters up in the wind/breeze ASAP and let them cool off. If there's snow, rest the bags on snow. As for the travel portion, make sure you have a cooler and ice if your quarters are not completely cooled, otherwise, at that temperature you will get some meat spoilage in transport.
 
You can knock apart a deer on the ground in about 20 minutes. Bring him home in a tub, that way the job is half done when you get home, no hairy bloody half froze carcass to deal with.
 
Deer are a lot easier ti skin when warm, however thats not always possible depending where you are. Game bags are the way to go, if your far from home.The temperature where you will be will not be a problem, it will be colder than a fridge for you.
 
Heat is your enemy - the quicker you can skin the carcass the better (A lot of heat is retained in the hide). The game bag idea is a good one.

As was mentioned it is a lot easier to skin an animal when it is still warm as opposed to after when rigor has set in.
 
Deer are thin-skinned and if the warmest temperatures you are expected are less than 6 or 8 degrees during the day then leave the hide on. Gut and cool them as quick as possible after being shot by hanging them.

Leaving the hide on when possible keeps the meat clean as well as prevents it from drying out. There is nothing more miserable than re-skinning the dried meat layer off a deer that has been hanging for several days with no hide on.
 
'Boo said:
Deer are thin-skinned and if the warmest temperatures you are expected are less than 6 or 8 degrees during the day then leave the hide on. Gut and cool them as quick as possible after being shot by hanging them.

Leaving the hide on when possible keeps the meat clean as well as prevents it from drying out. There is nothing more miserable than re-skinning the dried meat layer off a deer that has been hanging for several days with no hide on.
Click to expand...

This is absolutely truthful in it's entirety. I have left the hide on many, many deer when temperatures were suitable
and never had an issue of any kind. Of course, if daytime temps are high, the hide must come off to prevent spoilage.
Dave.
 
Higher temps, hide off to stop the meat from souring.
Cooler temps I still take the hide off and clean it up. Mattress covers, pillow cases, cheese cloth bags are all good for protecting meat from flies and dust. I have seen sheets from thrift stores washed and sew for meat bags. Meat souring around big bones is the bad from not cooling quick enough.
 
I always get the hide off as quick as possible, quartered and into game bags. We left one hanging this year overnight as it was dark by the time we got back to my buddy’s place. It was snowing and the carcass had cooled down by the time we had it washed out, the next day it got skinned and put into game bags.
 
I have always skinned and cleaned as soon as possible. Have been using game bags for over 25 years. Works well.
Some of those mulies can reach 400 lbs on the hoof, and you need to coolas quickly as possible. If that heavy and with a good layer of fat, you will also want to cut the heavy muscles down to the bone (hind quarters) to let the heat out too, such as you would do on a moose or elk.
 
I usually skin and quarter same day....then take the quarters, wrap them tight with a plastic (saran?) wrap so they don't dry up, then place them in my basement fridge (hang with hooks) where I can control the temps.... Once in the fridge, I can cut up and debone at my leisure.....
 
If you plan on leaving the hide on for 3 or 4 days with -6 or colder nights, take a big set of pliers with you and be prepared for very sore hands because that hide will be froze to the animal and long past the "easy knife skinning stage"

As others have said jerk the hide when it hits the ground and bone the meat, easily done in an hour. With it laying on the ground flat-side, skin one side & cut all the meat off then roll the critter over and do the other side. There might be a bit of hair on your meat but you can easily keep it out of any other unwanted stuff (dirt for one), the hair is easily scorched off with a hand-held propane torch in 5 minutes.
 
Did many mule Deer hunts in Sask. away from home.

We bring game hoist and hanging pole or make one.

Check the forecast.

If it doesn't freeze at night I wouldn't hang for more than 1 day.

A few years back 4 of us got drawn.
I tagged out first.

The night I hung my buck froze hard.

It took a couple more days as the others tagged out. All the Deer were skinned and split and hanging on a pole. Covered with a tarp.

On the evenings the other deer hung it didn't freeze.

On way home we hit Saskatoon and it was + 18.

The only Deer that didn't spoil was mine and it hung the longest.

The point being IF meat is cooked quickly it can hang for several days and not go bad.

If you hang warm meat, in warm temps it's gonna spoil.

Last year we asked farmer if we could bring apartment sized freezer and plug in at his water well site where he had power.

We cut up our Deer and Antelope every evening and packed in freezer.

What I would do.

Skin, split and hang in shade.

Dry meat with paper towel.

Torch meat to burn hairs.



If it freezes at night your golden.

If temps are going to be warmer....no frost you need to line up a method of cooling....
 
You can make game bags from old sheets to keep you meat clean. If you have none to spare, think garage sale or thrift store.
I have always skinned deer ASAP.
 
Not to sure where your hunting . In the mountians where I'm at I will gut it leave the hide on then find a nice clean mountian creek or river toss the carcass in the creek for an hour to cool off and rinse out . Crack a couple beers and wait for an hour or so until it is nice a cool. Then hang it . Then use the rock or golf ball method and a quad or tuck to skin it . Keepz everything cool and clean. If there is no clean stream or river do as they rest say skin it right away. You dont want to end up with beaver fever or other sickness throwing it in a dirty river .
 
I normally skin and put in game bags. If its going to freeze solid I'd remove the hide before that happens for sure.
 
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