how to skin a deer?? need help asap

[HareSplitter]

hey i need some steps on how to skin a deer.. seeing as there is one hanging in my porch ;).. need help asap, ive read several ways but i wanna by you fellow hunters, if this helps its a fallow deer (doe)
kind regads jono

[bowhunting4eva]

no-one on this site is helping until we get pics and a story lol. was it bow shot. well done. will let the seniors help you on this one

[Antarcher]

Start by hanging it upside down. Hang it by making an incision through the skin between the leg bone and the tendon on each leg. This is where you can hook it up from. Start skinning from this point down the leg. Pull the skin towards you and slide the knife in where the skins is joined to the meat. Cut close to the skin as this will mean you are cutting the sinew that attaches the skin to the meat. Don't cut the meat as you will make a mess of it.

The nasty bit, being a doe, is that once you get near the reproductive parts, you need to cut around it. Push the knife in next to it and simply cut a circle around the anus and the vagina. This will then aid in the removal of the stomach contents if it hasn't already been done. Itis easier to skina deer before you gut it if you can recover it that way.

Once you have done the legs, simply continue all the way down the body and pull the skin down and away as you skin it away with the knife. The skin on the back of the deer may be pulled down and off simply by force. Use the knife when it is too tight.

Make a cut up the inside of each front leg and skin them before skinning the neck and chest. This is very hard to explain in words, but I gave it a crack anyway. Best to find someone with experience if you can and get them to come over. Also try not to cut the meat and have it attached to the skin. Make sure your knife is very sharp as it will help a lot. Start with small cuts and you will get better at it as you get the feel for it.

[jindydiver]

Ant has covered it well

Take it slow at the start. The outside of the thighs want to stay with the skin and the meat will tear if you just go to town on a cold carcase. But once you are past the hips you can go a lot faster. There is a blanket of meat each side of the cut where you gutted it. This meat will stay with the skin if you have the beast hanging. To keep it with the body you skin the chest and work your hand in either side around the ribs and then punch your hand upward towards the hips. The blanket comes away from the skin easier and your skin will be cleaner and easier to salt if you intend to keep it. The blanket can also be used in a slow cooker rolled around some tasty treats :)

Have fun and don't worry if it isn't perfect

[Blakey_boi]

if you have ever skined a rabbit before, it's just like that except alot bigger.

I had to skin and gut one of our cattle on the weekend (for the freezer obviously).
Three tips i can give you are...

Spread each leg outwoods as much as possable! it will make it a hell of alot easier.

Dont be afraid to get your hands dirty (it actually feels kind of cool) but, be very very safe when your hand is around the knife. obviously all you would need is a tiny cut and all the crap thats in the deer will get in your cut and thats not good!

If you are going to gut it too, try and lay a bit of tarp or some kint of cover down before you start cutting the strings that hold the orgens in. One of the mistakes i made on the weekend was to just let them drop on the ground and when i went to pick them up afterwoods some of the organs fell apart and made a hell of a mess.

[howie]

A big congrats. Once cleaned - a butcher told me this, place the hook thru the anus and allow to set. This way there is no stretching of the back legs and the end result is a less stretched rump.
Nothing worse than a stretched rump I hear you say.
Someone might put an article up on how to do these tasks and leave it as a sticky........

[iancoombe]

don't know if you have a cool room but it is best to hang it with the skin on for about 7 days just cut down the brisket and spread the ribs with a stick keeps the air moving

[jindydiver]

A big congrats. Once cleaned - a butcher told me this, place the hook thru the anus and allow to set. This way there is no stretching of the back legs and the end result is a less stretched rump.
Nothing worse than a stretched rump I hear you say.


Short hanging is how I have heard it described and we do it to any deer that we don't split the pelvis on. I have a loop of cord I double through the bung hole and hang it off that. The muscles in the leg are more relaxed and softer when you eat it.

[derek_webster]

Check out youtube.com search for dressing a deer or deer skinning

[HareSplitter]

thanks for the help lads,guted and skinned it last night and hung it up in the fridge (took all shelves out, just thaught id say that in case some one said "how the heck did you get it in the fridge" :D) and got a family friend to come round and butcher it for us this arvo,
regards jono