Skin right away or not..

BC Bigbore

BC Bigbore

CGN frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
41   0   0
Location
BC's Peace Country
In my area, the general season for deer is in November and it's usually cool enough to safely hang 'em in the garage for a week or so before boning them out and making sausage, steaks and jerky. Now myself and everyone I've known have always skinned out our bucks as soon as we hang them. However, a friend who hails from Ontario always leaves the hide on his buck until he's ready to cut up his deer. I was curious about this but it's what he was taught so I thought "what the hay" and this year I hung my whitetail buck up and left the hide on. And for a good measure for this test, I didn't remove the leg glands or testicles either (blasphemy :eek: ) After a week passed I decided to skin it out and butcher it up. Wow! After removing the hide (which was surprisingly easy to do) I found the meat to be moist and pink. And I didn't have to re-skin all the dry outer crust off my cuts, thus saving time :) The meat tasted as good as ever. From now on, the hide stays on till I'm ready to butcher. I guess this old dog learned a new trick ;) So what's your way of doing things?...KF
 
The key there is November, and the fact that its a deer.
The muscle is a lot smaller on a deer.
I don't know if I would try it with a moose or elk and definitly not during the not so cool months. You'd be surprised how much heat the hide holds in and how much longer it takes to cool off the animal.

Brambles
 
Yes, it's true, many northern Ontario deer camps (pretty much ALL of them where I hunt) leave the hide ON. We can hang outside for two full weeks as long as the temp is Ok, and not lose anything. Meat is always tasty.
Makes handling easier too, when they need to go home, just throw 'em in the truck, no need for tarps or bags, unless the roads are salted and sloppy.
If they freeze solid, the hide will be considerably harder to remove though.
 
We skin them as soon as we get back to camp because it's much easier when they are still warm. We do however have an outside covered work area to skin them & an inside cool protected hanging pole, & our venny goes to the butcher at the end of each week! We used to do them at the end of the week but when it froze the hides were a ##### to get off & there's always some guys that would just have to get home early & not contribute:rolleyes:
Our way is bad for pics but were not trophy hunters, were meat hunters anyway & a few minutes each day & the chores are done:)
 
I usually skin moose right away to cool them off quick.

Hide on while aging but I skin deer the day before they are butchered. I find it gives the meat enough time to crust over just a little so the carcass is easier to handle and any loose hairs that got on the meat during skinning are easier to pick off once the meat hardens a bit.
 
It depends, My buddy with the reffer wont let hair on animals in it so that's a done deal, but if the temps Ok and the animal has'nt been gut shot or left lying(tough tracking) with the guts in, I have left the hide on. Unless you are 100% sure of where the critter was hit and assuming the guts are taken out right away, and the blood has'nt pooled under the hide, why not.
 
I've always skinned caribou up here before I gutted them. In the fall the hide laying hair-down on the ground gives you a place to work without getting the carcass all covered with twigs and leaves. In the winter it helps with cooling. It also doesn't hurt that we don't have to leave evidence of ### on an animal (caribou or moose) here.
 
If it gets down to close to freezing during the night I always leave deer un-skinned until I butcher them. As you found out you loose a lot less meat that way due to a crust not forming .

Moose, bear and other large critters get skinned as soon as possible. Caribou especially as even when it is below freezing their hollow hair traps heat so well that the meat will sour quickly.
 
Depends on the temperature. If it is in September the skin comes off right away. Late season and cold, the skin stays on.
 
I got to two different camps here, and both do it the same way. Hide on, while it hangs, remove hide just before it gets butchered.
Never had any problem with getting the hide off, or any problems with meat taste either.
 
We gut it (and take out the genitals), cut the pelic bone and hang them from the head. We also like to take a small piece of wood to jam between the hind legs to keep them spreaded (better air circulation). Usually 7 days after that we will skinn it and bring it to the butcher. We hunt at the beginning of november and almost everyone from around here does it the same way.
 
I've left the hide on, worked out very well. It was tougher pulling the hide off of a cold animal, but I think it was worth it. I also killed that deer in the morning of a very warm day, then hung for 10 days in perfect weather, and it was like veal.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom